Cloud playout that runs your channels.

M-FAST is a cloud-based playout solution that helps broadcasters, streaming services and content owners launch, manage and monetize live, linear and FAST channels without relying on traditional on-premise playout infrastructure.

It brings content management, scheduling, automated playout, advertising, graphics, monitoring and channel delivery into a single platform. This allows teams to turn existing VOD libraries and live sources into continuously running channels while reducing the need for dedicated hardware and manual broadcast operations.

A cloud playout solution moves the functions traditionally handled by physical broadcast playout servers into a cloud-based environment.

Instead of maintaining dedicated hardware for every channel, broadcasters can upload their content, create schedules, manage graphics and advertisements, and operate channels through a centralized software platform.

M-FAST provides this cloud playout workflow for live, linear and VOD content, giving broadcasters a more flexible way to launch and manage channels.

FAST stands for Free Ad-Supported Streaming Television. FAST channels are scheduled, linear-style streaming channels that viewers can watch without paying a traditional subscription, with the service monetized primarily through advertising.

FAST channel playout is the technology that continuously schedules and delivers the content, advertisements, graphics and other elements required to keep a FAST channel running.

M-FAST allows content owners to turn existing content libraries into 24/7 FAST channels, schedule programming and integrate advertising into the channel workflow.

Yes. M-FAST is designed specifically to simplify the launch and operation of FAST and linear channels.

Content owners can use their existing VOD library and live sources, organize them into playlists, create schedules and add advertising and graphics. Because the platform is cloud-based, there is no requirement to build a traditional hardware-based playout facility before launching a channel.

M-FAST currently cites a typical channel launch time of 48 hours for its production deployments, although the actual timeline depends on the content, integrations and requirements of each project.

Yes. One of the core use cases of M-FAST is turning an existing content archive into an always-on linear or FAST channel.

For example, a content owner with hundreds of movies, episodes or sports programmes can organize that library into a continuous programming schedule rather than leaving the archive unused. The channel can then run automatically according to the defined playlist and EPG.

This makes it possible to create themed, genre-based, regional, promotional or pop-up channels without building a separate physical playout operation.

Yes. M-FAST supports workflows involving live sources, VOD assets and linear programming.

Teams can combine recorded content with live sources within their schedules, making the platform suitable for broadcasters and streaming services that need to manage different types of programming from one environment.

This is particularly useful for channels that need to switch between scheduled VOD programming and live events.

Yes. M-FAST is designed for automated 24/7 channel playout.

Once content, playlists, schedules, advertisements and graphics have been configured, the system can continuously execute the channel schedule without requiring an operator to manually trigger every piece of content.

Automation helps reduce repetitive operational work and makes it easier to run multiple channels simultaneously.

M-FAST provides a drag-and-drop scheduling interface for creating and managing daily and weekly playlists.

Broadcasters can schedule programmes, advertisements and graphics in advance, while the platform can also import schedules from EPG, XML-EPG and supported native playlist formats. Missing-content alerts help teams identify potential gaps before they affect the broadcast schedule.

Emergency content can also be configured so that operators can respond quickly when normal programming needs to be interrupted.

Yes. M-FAST supports importing schedules through EPG and XML-EPG, along with supported native playlist formats.

This makes it easier for broadcasters that already maintain electronic programme guides to move their existing scheduling workflows into a cloud playout environment rather than rebuilding everything manually.

Yes. Advertising can be incorporated directly into the channel playout workflow.

M-FAST supports dynamic advertising and monetization capabilities, including server-side ad insertion (SSAI), client-side ad insertion (CSAI) and header bidding. This enables content owners to create advertising opportunities around their scheduled programming and live events.

SSAI stands for Server-Side Ad Insertion. It combines advertisements with the video stream on the server side before the content reaches the viewer.

M-FAST supports SSAI as part of its advertising and monetization workflow. For broadcasters and FAST channel operators, this can help create a more seamless advertising experience while allowing different ads to be delivered to different audiences or viewing sessions.

Yes. M-FAST supports Client-Side Ad Insertion (CSAI) in addition to SSAI.

Having both approaches available gives broadcasters and streaming services more flexibility when designing their advertising architecture and working with different ad-serving environments.

M-FAST supports multiple approaches to video monetization, including AVOD, SVOD and TVOD, as well as advertising workflows for live and VOD content.

For FAST channels, AVOD is particularly relevant because viewers can access scheduled programming for free while the channel generates revenue through advertising.

The platform can therefore support different channel strategies rather than forcing every service into a single monetization model.

Yes. AVOD and FAST are important use cases for M-FAST.

Content owners can create scheduled, ad-supported channels from their existing libraries and use dynamic advertising technologies to generate revenue from viewers.

This provides an opportunity to monetize older or underutilized content by turning it into continuously available programming rather than relying only on traditional VOD consumption.

Yes. M-FAST is designed to support centralized management of channel playout workflows.

Broadcasters and content owners can create different schedules, programming blocks, advertising strategies and feeds depending on their business requirements. This makes the platform suitable for organizations operating multiple linear, FAST, regional or pop-up channels.

Yes. Cloud playout makes it easier to experiment with temporary and themed channels.

A content owner can create a pop-up channel around a specific event, season, genre, franchise or audience without making the same infrastructure investment required for a traditional broadcast channel.

This can be particularly useful for sports events, festivals, seasonal programming, promotional campaigns and special content collections.

Yes. M-FAST supports UHD workflows and is designed around broadcast-grade playout automation.

The platform combines automated scheduling and playout with live controls, graphics, content management and resilient infrastructure, making it suitable for professional broadcasting and streaming operations.

M-FAST is designed for continuous channel operation with a redundant, multi-region architecture.

The current platform describes Blue-Green deployments and automatic failover as part of its resilience approach. This is intended to reduce the risk of service interruption and help keep channels on air even when individual infrastructure components experience problems.

Yes. The platform supports low-latency live playout through integration with the TR-07 protocol.

This can be important for live sports, news and other time-sensitive broadcasts where reducing the delay between the source and the viewer is a priority.

Yes. M-FAST includes media asset management capabilities for organizing and preparing content for playout.

Content can be uploaded through FTP, SFTP, Azure, AWS S3 or the M-FAST dashboard, and the platform supports common formats including MOV, AVI, MP4 and MPEG.

Built-in quality checks can identify content playability issues during ingestion, helping teams catch problems before an asset reaches the scheduled playlist.

Yes. M-FAST performs quality checks when content is ingested to help identify assets that may not be playable or suitable for broadcast.

This gives operations teams an opportunity to resolve content problems before they become an on-air issue, which is particularly important for channels operating around the clock.

Yes. M-FAST supports advanced broadcast graphics and branding elements.

The platform can integrate HTML and Adobe After Effects graphics and supports elements such as L-bands, tickers, picture-in-picture effects and multi-layered templates.

This allows broadcasters to maintain a branded visual identity across their channels while reducing the need for separate graphics workflows.

Yes. M-FAST supports integration with third-party systems for subtitles and closed captioning.

This helps broadcasters make their programming more accessible and address accessibility requirements across different markets and distribution environments.

Yes. M-FAST includes analytics capabilities designed to provide insights into video and viewer engagement.

Analytics can help operators understand how channels and content are performing and make more informed decisions around programming, scheduling and monetization.

For a multi-channel operation, these insights can be particularly useful for identifying which programming blocks or content categories are generating stronger engagement.

Yes. M-FAST can be introduced alongside existing broadcast workflows rather than requiring an organization to replace every component of its infrastructure at once.

Its cloud-based architecture provides an alternative to traditional hardware-heavy playout environments while allowing broadcasters to connect existing content sources, schedules and downstream workflows according to their requirements.

This makes it suitable for organizations moving gradually from traditional broadcast infrastructure toward cloud-based operations.

Traditional playout often requires dedicated servers, broadcast hardware, physical facilities, maintenance contracts and ongoing infrastructure management.

Cloud playout shifts much of that infrastructure into software and cloud services. This can reduce capital expenditure, simplify channel launches and make it easier to scale or experiment with new channels.

M-FAST is designed around this model, offering cloud-based automated playout without requiring dedicated physical playout hardware for every channel.

Cloud playout can reduce the capital and operational costs associated with traditional hardware-based playout, particularly when launching additional channels or experimenting with new programming concepts.

M-FAST eliminates the need for dedicated playout hardware as the core channel infrastructure and is designed to reduce manual operational requirements through automation.

The actual savings depend on the number of channels, existing infrastructure, staffing model and operational requirements of each broadcaster.

M-FAST is designed for broadcasters, streaming services and content owners.

Broadcasters can use it to modernize their playout operations. Streaming services can use it to launch linear and FAST channels, while content owners can turn existing libraries into monetized 24/7 channels.

It can also be useful for organizations looking to launch regional feeds, pop-up channels, themed channels or ad-supported streaming services.

Yes. M-FAST is well suited to FAST and connected-TV businesses that need automated channel creation, scheduling, playout and monetization.

A FAST operator can use an existing content library to build scheduled channels, integrate advertising and distribute those channels through its connected-TV or streaming ecosystem.

The cloud architecture also makes it easier to experiment with new channel concepts without making a large upfront infrastructure investment.

M-FAST currently cites a typical channel launch time of 48 hours based on measured production deployments.

The actual launch timeline depends on factors such as content preparation, branding, EPG requirements, ad integrations, distribution endpoints and other technical integrations.

For straightforward FAST or linear channel deployments, the cloud-based architecture is intended to significantly shorten the time normally associated with procuring and configuring traditional playout infrastructure.

Yes. This is one of the strongest use cases for a cloud playout and FAST platform.

Instead of offering an archive only as on-demand content, a content owner can organize it into a scheduled linear channel and monetize viewing through advertising.

For example, movies, television episodes, sports archives or niche programming can be organized into themed 24/7 channels and monetized through an AVOD or FAST model.

The biggest difference is the infrastructure and operating model.

A traditional playout system typically relies on dedicated hardware, physical infrastructure and significant operational resources. M-FAST moves the playout workflow into the cloud and combines scheduling, asset management, advertising, graphics and automated channel operations within one platform.

This makes it easier to launch channels, scale operations and experiment with new programming models without treating every new channel as a major infrastructure project.

Yes. M-FAST is designed to support multi-country feeds through cloud-based playout.

Content owners can use the platform to create and manage different feeds according to regional programming, scheduling and distribution requirements.

This can be useful for global media companies that need to operate localized channels while maintaining centralized control over their content and playout operations.

An OTT platform primarily focuses on delivering on-demand or live video experiences directly to viewers through applications and websites.

M-FAST focuses on channel playout: scheduling content into continuous linear channels, managing programming, inserting advertising and graphics, and keeping channels running 24/7.

The two technologies can work together. For example, M-FAST can power the continuous FAST channels while an OTT platform provides the viewer-facing apps and streaming experience.

The best way to evaluate M-FAST is to see how it fits into your actual channel workflow.

MultiTV can demonstrate how your content library, live sources, schedules, advertising requirements and distribution model can be handled through cloud playout.