UKTV, the multichannel broadcaster owned by the BBC, is launching four new streamed TV channels featuring content from its Dave, Drama, W and Yesterday brands.
Part of BBC Studios, UKTV operates a mix of free and subscription channels in the UK, as well the UKTV Play streaming service.
Its new FAST (Free Ad-Supported Streaming Television) channels will initially launch on Samsung TV Plus, the free streaming service available on the brand’s smart TVs, and on Paramount’s Pluto TV service.
UKTV Play Laughs will offer a line-up of comedy shows originally commissioned for Dave, including Hypothetical and Mel Giedroyc: Unforgivable; UKTV Play Heroes will feature shows following blue light services; UKTV Play Full Throttle is built around planes, trains and cars; and UKTV Play Uncovered will explore factual topics such as history and engineering.
They’ll be followed by the launch of streamed channels on the UKTV Play app.
UKTV’s Jonathan Newman said: “FAST is a fantastic opportunity to reach new audiences with our rich content catalogue and showcase a wide array of genres across the four new channels.
“Thanks to the hard work of a group of passionate experts from across UKTV, our new FAST channels will be a valuable complement to the existing channel network and will help supercharge the UKTV Play streaming service by further extending its reach.”
To launch the channels UKTV has partnered with cloud provider Amagi which is providing playout and distribution services.