US FAST channels grows by 13.1% and totals nearly 2,000

The total number of unique FAST channels in the US from 2023 has risen by 13.1% to 1,943 in 2024, according to The FASTMaster.

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Analyst Gavin Bridge behind the publication The FASTMaster revealed in his latest report The State of Fast, over a period of a year, 225 new FAST channels have launched in the US. It also marks 47.3% increase and an addition of 634  FAST channels from 2022.

Findings showed that total volume of channel is growing at a faster rate than available channels which began to drop off last year. The total volume of FAST channels went up by 23.% from 2023 to 5,264 in 2024.

The report noted this was down to services launching more channels that already exist, rather than licensing exclusive channels or launching owned-and-operated ones.

According to The FASTMaster, the News genre is now the second-largest channel source by volume, with 19% of total volume, following general entertainment channels accounting for 58% of total volume.

Following the debut of FAST channels from major sports brands such as the NBA and Formula 1, demand from platforms for sports content has increased at a higher rate to 115.5%, than total available channels at 77.8%, the report found.

The report also cites is that Warner Bros. Discovery only entered the FAST market last year but has gone from being the fifth-largest General Entertainment FAST channel distributor in May 2023 (with 14 channels) to the largest in May 2024 (with 46).

Bridge said: “Over the course of the last five years the industry has seen a content shift, where services who used to have to beg for video content are now in the enviable position of being able to pick and choose which channels they feature in their line-ups.

“Yet the FAST market of 2024 is markedly different to that of 2019. Whilst even back then entertainment brands like A+E Networks, Paramount, AMC Networks, Scripps Networks, Blue Ant Media, BBC Studios, Sony Pictures, FilmRise and Electric Entertainment had begun to dabble in FAST, they had few channels. Fast forward to today and these companies boast often channel counts in the tens, and have been joined by the likes of Fox, NBCUniversal and Warner Bros. Discovery,” he added.

“The domestic FAST space is definitely maturing. As this report will show, the growth in available channels has begun to slow as the market approaches 2,000 unique channels across tracked services, but it still continues to grow month-to-month.”