C15 Studio is a FAST channel operator, and broadcasting service. It was launched on Wednesday, with multiple investments from Venture Capital Funds with sports ties.
Initial channel partners include Formula One and the martial arts promotion ONE Championship. Triton Poker Series, Professional Squash Association, and others will be added later. C15 Studio’s first distribution partners include Samsung TV Plus Amazon Freevee Pluto TV and others that have yet to be announced.
C15 Studio has the backing of Lloyd Danzig’s venture-capital and advisory firm Sharp Alpha Advisors, sports technology venture capital fund KB Partners, and Raptor Group, another venture-capital fund run by former Boston Celtics minor owner Jim Pallotta. Joe Nilsson, Amory Schwartz and others founded C15 Studio in the year 2023.
Nilsson was previously the international streaming manager for Jukin Media. Schwartz founded North American Sports Network, which was purchased by Disney for $120 million in 2006.
FAST is the acronym for free, ad-funded, streaming television. Nilsson, CEO of the studio, said that FAST is “TV delivered via the internet.”
“If you’ve never heard of (FAST), that’s just a waiting audience. It’s free. Nilsson said, “It’s free. “Sports are well-known for being the best vehicles for audience acquisition on IP and broadcast.”
He also hopes that binge-watchers will flock to the FAST channels to consume as much content as they want.
C15 Studio has the live broadcasting rights for each of its channel partners, except Formula One. Formula One has a broadcast agreement with ESPN until 2025. Formula One races are broadcast on the channel five day after they have aired live. The Formula One channel will air post-produced shows such as Tech Talk and Jolyon Palmer’s Analysis, as well as pre- and post-race shows. It will also feature documentaries and features like Beyond All Limits , Inside Story, and Chasing The Dream .
Nilsson said that Formula One, in particular, has a lot of content released during race weekends. “Whether someone comes in for a brief moment during [the weekend] schedule and leaves, then returns to watch the full race replay on the Formula One Channel, you can get the whole story.”
C15 is the newest player in the FAST sports space. Roku, a streaming service, is paying MLB $30m to air games on the Roku Channel. This includes the Sunday morning package which aired on Peacock during last season.