Live sports and news are the new heavyweights on FAST channels

Free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) channels have always offered something different from other streaming options, but that difference has never been as pronounced—or new—as it is today. In stark contrast to origins shaped by curated videos from the internet and classic TV, today’s FAST channels offer more new content than old. 

As of July 2026, 51.7% of the programming on global FAST channels was produced within the last six years.

The percentage of newer content has been higher on FAST channels than traditional SVOD services in recent years, but the evolution of what attracts viewers to FAST channels is tipping the scales even more. Key growth categories like news and sports are driving much of this shift, as the programming within these genres doesn’t typically have a long shelf life.

At the channel level, sports and news are now the second- and third-most prominent across global FAST channels, with year-over-year channel counts increasing by 13.8% and 52.9%, respectively. And the increases have viewers tuning in. Adweek, for example, recently reported that CNN Headlines, the network’s FAST channel, has nearly doubled its audience since January 2026.

At the program level, FAST audiences have 26.6% more news programs and 37.5% more sports programs to choose from than they did a year ago. And many of those sports programs offer live competitions. In July 2026, just under 31% of the sports content on FAST channels was new and live competitions.

While the influx of news, entertainment and sports programming is having an outsized impact on the overall newness of content across FAST channels, they aren’t the only genres driving the shift. The percentages of new content across other popular genres, including comedy, documentaries and dramas, are rising as well.

Channel- and program-specific genre and category growth notwithstanding, FAST channels continue to build audiences. Gracenote’s most recent streaming consumer survey found that 86% of streaming viewers are watching FAST channels, with 22% saying they split their time evenly between FAST channels and SVOD services. And viewership across established and newer FAST services continues to climb.

Missing metadata is hampering advertising opportunities

Amid the rise in channels, programming and viewership, FAST has yet to fully capitalize on its full potential. Ad-supported by nature, the global FAST market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 16.9% to reach $40.2 billion by 2033, according to Grand View Research. The effectiveness of FAST advertising, however, is increasingly dependent on metadata. That’s because 85% of global CTV dollars are handled programmatically¹, which places a massive premium on the signals in the bidstream that inform real-time buying and selling decisions.

Here, FAST programming often lacks the signals needed to drive meaningful outcomes. A recent analysis of programming headed for FAST channels in the U.S., for example, found significant metadata gaps across TV shows and sports programs. Here, key attributes like original air date, genre and episode title were often missing, hampering advertising opportunities, as well as search and discovery, enhanced EPGs and niche content curation.

The upside here is that the creators submitted their programs for metadata normalization and enrichment, which dramatically increased the percentages of programming with this key information.

The video landscape has become increasingly congested, but compared with the early days of streaming, ad-supported models have grown dominant. Through this lens, high-quality content is no longer the only key to success. Content needs to be discoverable by audiences, as well as by the programmatic systems that have become the gatekeepers of most CTV ad transactions.

For additional streaming video insights, visit the Gracenote Data Hub.

Note

1. The IAB’s 2025 Digital Video Ad Spend Report