The expansion of live news in the free ad-supported TV (FAST) marketplace is continuing. According to an exclusive report from Television Business International, VICE Media is preparing to launch a new FAST channel in the United States “very soon.”
The announcement came at the Media & Entertainment Leadership Summit in London, where VICE Media’s executive managing director of distribution Bea Hegedus touted VICE’s hard-hitting work across other media platforms.
“[VICE World News] is producing authentic deep dives into the news around the world – they are doing really amazing on TikTok and they are doing amazing on Twitch,” Hegedus said. “These guys are making incredible documentaries about news events around the world, so we are launching a channel in the US first where you can watch all this.”
A survey from 2021 found that news was the most in-demand type of FAST programming. There is no word yet on which services will carry the new VICE FAST channel, but it’s likely to be highly in-demand, meaning major ad-supported services like the Roku Channel, Tubi, and Pluto TV will likely pounce on it quickly.
“There are different genres doing well on FAST and the fastest growing genre is news behind drama,” Hegedus said. “So we are launching a news feed to capture that audience.”
VICE has been less active lately in expanding its streaming presence. However, in June 2021 the company did extend its licensing agreement with Hulu. The partnership first began in 2019, and the extension included an additional 50 hours of programming, much of which is now available on the streamer.
VICE is not the only news entity looking to further expand into FAST channels. NBC recently announced it was expanding its offerings of news content on the Roku Channel, including both English and Spanish-language channels.
Pluto TV also made an addition to its free news offerings lately. In September, the service announced it was launching a channel dedicated to the news stalwart “60 Minutes,” which is now available to all Pluto users.