Nielsen’s Gracenote inks FAST deal with A+E Networks EMEA

Gracenote, the content solutions business unit of Nielsen, is working with A+E Networks EMEA to advance its Free Ad-Supported Streaming TV (FAST) offerings through a new commercial agreement. By leveraging rich Gracenote metadata, IDs and imagery, A+E Networks EMEA ensures the programming delivered by its new Inside Crime, Mystery TV and World War TV channels available on Amazon Freevee in the UK can be easily discovered and watched by viewers. This enables A+E to maximize engagement on its FAST offerings from launch and better monetize the advertising placed against its factual and entertainment programming.

Previously, A+E Networks had provided descriptive metadata for its programming to downstream aggregation platforms. Using Gracenote Distribution Service, the network now benefits from increased FAST channel and content discoverability enabled by the underlying Gracenote descriptive metadata, program imagery and connected IDs.

“While FAST services provide content owners new opportunities to monetize their programming through engagement and advertising, old challenges around content discovery can limit potential upside. With a long history serving the global video ecosystem and unmatched metadata expertise, Gracenote understands these challenges well. We are pleased to play a key role in ensuring A+E Networks’ valuable content is easily findable and watchable on their new UK FAST channels, and are confident that viewer engagement and monetization will naturally follow,”  said Vikram Kulkarni, VP of Strategic Initiatives, EMEA at Gracenote.

A+E Networks EMEA is a leading media network reaching 58 million homes across 100 countries. With its global portfolio of popular, high-performing and creative brands – History, Crime+Investigation, History2, and UK free to air Blaze – the network entertained and inspired audiences for over 20 years.

Meanwhile, Gracenote is the content solutions business unit of Nielsen providing entertainment metadata, content IDs and related offerings to the world's leading creators, distributors and platforms. Gracenote technology enables advanced content navigation and discovery capabilities helping individuals to easily connect to the TV shows, movies, music and sports they love while delivering powerful content analytics making complex business decisions simpler.