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Television has never been more accessible—or more complex. Audiences now watch across smart TVs, mobile devices, connected-TV platforms and traditional linear channels, creating extraordinary opportunities for advertisers and agencies. In this evolving landscape, FAST channels—free, ad-supported streaming television—have emerged as one of the most important developments in media.
For Get After It Media, the rise of digital television is not a departure from television’s heritage. It is an expansion of it. Get After It Media’s portfolio, including The Heartland Network, The Family Channel, RetroTV and Hasbro Legends, demonstrates the enduring value of curated, professionally programmed content. These networks serve distinct audiences and interests, while Heartland + brings GAIM’s channels together in a modern streaming environment offering live programming and video on demand. Together, these platforms create a bridge between the familiarity of linear television and the flexibility of digital distribution.
Curated Channels, Connected Audiences
That bridge is particularly valuable to advertisers. The first virtue of FAST channels is reach. Audiences increasingly expect content to be available whenever and wherever they choose to watch. FAST platforms meet that expectation without requiring a paid subscription, making them accessible to broad and diverse viewing communities. For advertisers, this means reaching viewers who may have moved away from traditional pay television but remain receptive to professionally produced programming.
FAST also offers the power of context. Advertising is more effective when it appears alongside content that reflects a viewer’s interests, mood or values. A family-oriented brand may find a natural home within The Family Channel. A marketer seeking nostalgia-driven engagement may benefit from RetroTV. The Heartland Network can provide a meaningful setting for brands seeking to connect through familiar stories, regional sensibilities and community. Hasbro Legends offers another distinctive environment, rooted in recognizable entertainment properties and enduring fan interest.
For agencies, this programming specificity creates stronger opportunities for strategic media planning. Rather than treating streaming as a vast, undifferentiated inventory pool, agencies can build campaigns around programming environments with clear identities. This enables more thoughtful storytelling, stronger brand alignment and deeper audience engagement.
Digital television also delivers flexibility. Heartland + reflects the dual nature of modern viewing by aggregating Get After It Media channels for live streaming while offering video on demand. A campaign can reach audiences during scheduled programming, extend into on-demand viewing or support a broader cross-platform strategy.
Turning Advertising Into a Lasting Media Asset
A distinctive advantage for advertisers working with GAIM is the launch of GAIMChanger, the company’s full-service, in-house brand content production agency. Led by Sebastian Trujillo, GAIMChanger is designed to address the growing disconnect between high-quality branded entertainment and measurable audience performance across connected television.
Beyond traditional spot advertising, GAIMChanger will co-produce original brand-integrated series, lifestyle programming and specials, as well as develop custom-themed 24/7 FAST channels. It combines content development, distribution, audience intelligence and digital commerce within one connected ecosystem.
This gives brands greater control over the long-term value of the content they help create. Following an initial distribution window on GAIM’s networks and Heartland +, brand partners retain ownership of their intellectual property for global distribution. In effect, an advertising investment can become a lasting media asset rather than a campaign that disappears once its media schedule ends.
GAIMChanger also brings together interactive, e-commerce-enabled web experiences and performance reporting. Through GAIM’s proprietary app ecosystem, advertisers can access granular, full-funnel viewer metrics designed to illuminate audience behavior, engagement and conversion. This helps brands move beyond impressions and better understand how entertainment contributes to measurable business outcomes.
The result is a more complete brand entertainment infrastructure: creative development, premium distribution, audience measurement and commerce working together. Advertisers gain the opportunity to build meaningful relationships with audiences while retaining a clearer view of return on investment.
Television’s Next Chapter
Another important virtue is the continued strength of the television experience itself. In an era of endless online content, professionally programmed channels offer reassurance and ease. Viewers do not always want to search or make another decision. Sometimes they want to turn on the television and discover something worth watching. FAST channels preserve that lean-back experience while adding the convenience of digital access.
The advent of digital television platforms is therefore not the end of television. It is television becoming more adaptable, accessible and responsive to modern viewing behavior. Through its network portfolio, Heartland + and GAIMChanger, Get After It Media brings together content, community, technology and commerce.
For advertisers and agencies, the opportunity is clear: FAST channels offer reach without sacrificing curation, flexibility without losing the television experience, and digital capability without abandoning trusted programming. GAIMChanger adds something further—the ability to create premium content, own it, distribute it at scale and measure its real business impact.
Joel Wertman is CEO of Get After It Media, a Nashville-based television network and station owner serving audiences through broadcast, free ad-supported streaming and its Heartland + app. A veteran music and television executive, he previously led Sire Records and Eureka Records and worked with artists including the Goo Goo Dolls, No Doubt, Bush and Heart. His television writing credits include Hart to Hart and Taxi.
