Gracenote, the content data business unit of Nielsen, announced that its Data Hub has been expanded to include insights on nearly 1,850 active Free Ad-Supported Streaming Television (FAST) channels, offering a comprehensive view of global streaming trends. According to the company’s Q3 2025 analysis, the number of FAST channels increased by nearly 14% since the first quarter of this year and by 76% compared to 2023.
First launched in November 2024, the Gracenote Data Hub was designed to provide industry intelligence on subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) catalogs from major platforms, including Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, Disney+, Netflix, and Paramount+. The enhanced platform now covers more than 645,000 TV, movie, and sports programs across SVOD, alongside more than 197,000 programs on global FAST channels.
The findings highlight notable differences in programming strategies between FAST and SVOD services. Nearly half of current FAST programming was produced within the last five years, compared with just one-third on SVOD platforms. Extending the analysis to the last 15 years, FAST carries almost 80% recent content, compared to 68.5% on premium SVOD services. FAST channels also remain dominated by television content, with 93.1% of available programming consisting of TV episodes, slightly higher than the 88.8% share observed across SVOD services.
Genre performance revealed sharp contrasts. News emerged as the fastest-growing genre on FAST, with programming volumes up 37% year-to-date, while horror grew 30%. Documentary content accounted for the largest share of FAST programming at 16.1%, followed by drama at 10.6% and news at 9.9%. On SVOD platforms, sports delivered the largest growth in the last three months, climbing 13.2%, compared with a 10% increase for movies and 9.2% for TV content. On the FAST side, sports programming dipped 3.7% in the quarter but remained up 14% year-to-date.
The latest report also tracked platform-specific performance in SVOD. Amazon expanded its catalog the most in the quarter, with titles up 12.6%, followed by Paramount+ at 6.4%. Overall, leading SVOD platforms grew their combined content libraries by 9.8% over the last three months.
Drawing on Gracenote’s Global Video Data, which spans more than 70 languages and 80 countries, the Data Hub is positioned as a key resource for video services, content owners, and advertisers. By delivering visibility into both FAST and SVOD ecosystems, it enables stakeholders to optimize content distribution, licensing, and media strategies. Gracenote noted that the dataset also provides reliable reference points for media analysts seeking to measure and understand the ongoing evolution of the streaming industry.