Allen Media Group enters into FAST channel pact with Amazon Fire TV

Allen Media Group has entered into a FAST channel distribution deal with Amazon that will make its Spanish-language TV channels and Weather Channel available for free through Amazon's Fire TV and Echo Show devices.

The deal covers 21 television stations owned by Allen Media Broadcasting, including stations in Honolulu (KITV), Flint, Michigan (WJRT), Fort Wayne, Indiana (WFFT), Tucson, Arizona (KVOA) and more. It also includes Allen Media Group's Local Now streaming service which integrates local news feeds from more than 200 markets across the United States.

“Local Now FAST channels are powered by proprietary technology that feeds daily news content from newsrooms across the country and aggregates 500,000 video stories per day. The channels are curated by the Local Now newsroom – managed by in-house journalists and technologists. Local Now partners with hundreds of news and entertainment programs,” said Allen Media Group.

CEO Byron Allen noted that the growth of the FAST channel universe has made it an important distribution platform for the company.

“We're excited to offer Amazon Fire TV subscribers free premium news, entertainment, sports, weather and more from Allen Media Group,” said Allen, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Allen Media Group. “Free access to Local Now, The Weather Channel en Español and our Allen Media Broadcasting television channels is a vital necessity and speaks to the core mission of Allen Media Group's news and entertainment brands.

Free and ad-supported linear streaming channels have proliferated in recent years as the overall streaming market expands and the linear domain contracts. Amazon's Fire TV played a key role in popularizing the concept of free 24/7 services built around genres and themes.