NBCUniversal Brings 40 FAST Channels to Smart TV Partnership

 The quiet and often under-considered success of the Roku Channel may be leaving its own mark on the entertainment landscape. Last week, NBCUniversal announced a partnership with LG Smart TVs that will see 40 new FAST channels launch. Our entertainment lawyer in the know, Brandon Blake of Blake & Wang P.A., unpacks this exciting new development for us.

 

                                                                        Brandon Blake

 

New FAST Offerings

 

These new FAST channels will cover a broad range of subjects, from “standard” entertainment to sports, news, true crime, and even a dedicated Spanish channel. The deal includes key live event shows like Dateline 24/7, NBC News, and Today All Day alongside their extensive TV show library and films from the Universal Pictures studio library.

 

It’s easy to see the appeal in the deal for LG. After all, while the entertainment industry was focused on the post-pandemic streaming boom on classic streaming platforms, Roku smart TVs quietly carved themselves a notable niche— buoyed mostly by the FAST services on the Roku Channel. Trying to emulate that success could be a smart move if done well.

 

Building on Suits Success

 

This expansion of NBCUniversal and LG Channel’s partnership follows their recent deal around the uniquely popular Suits TV show, which recently performed incredibly well with new viewers despite being (at the time) a legacy series.

 

With a vast collection of Telemundo Spanish-language programming to offer, as well as popular reality series like The Real Housewives, Million Dollar Listing, and Top Chef, they may manage to replicate that success. They will also be introducing Pay-TV and shoppable content.

 

For this ad-supported programming, the two entities will share the tech platforms and offerings— namely NBCU Checkout and LG’s webOS pay. This has been another area of recent focus for NBCUniversal as it seeks to gain a hold in the current streaming environment.

 

Will this new partnership manage to make inroads into the market dominance Roku has established on the US smart TV landscape? It will be interesting to see how this works out for them.

           

 

 

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