May 22, 2025
Fuse Media, a minority-owned and operated media company, on May 22 announced record-setting FAST viewership performance for the first quarter of 2025, marking the strongest quarter in the company’s history. Minutes watched surpassed 1.2 billion across all owned and operated channels, representing a 60% year-over-year increase from the first quarter of 2024.
The company says this growth was fueled by momentum across the company’s portfolio of multicultural FAST channels.
Shades of Black, Fuse’s FAST channel focused on Black culture, entertainment and lifestyle, delivered a 67% increase in viewers year-over-year.
While El Rey Rebel, which features Latino-focused action and genre films, recorded its sixth consecutive quarter of growth, achieving its best quarter-to-date and its strongest month ever in March, with viewership up 166%.
Latino Vibes, Fuse Media’s network celebrating Latino culture, also saw 16 months of growth, resulting in delivery up 45% in the first quarter of 2025.
Additionally contributing to record growth across Fuse Media’s FAST portfolio is OUTtv Proud, in partnership with OUTtv, which serves LGBTQ+ audiences, which reports a 250% increase in viewership within the past year.
Backstage, which offers an all-access look at icons across film, music, sports, politics, and true crime, continued its steady growth with March viewership up 30% versus a year ago.
“In the rapidly evolving FAST landscape, where competition is fierce and attention is fragmented, Fuse Media continues to thrive by staying true to our mission—amplifying underrepresented voices and delivering measurable value for our partners,” said Patrick Courtney, Chief Business Officer at Fuse Media. “As audiences demand more meaningful representation, Fuse Media is not only meeting the moment—we’re shaping the future. These wins reflect the power of our content, the strength of our partnerships, and the passion of the team driving it all forward.”
Building on this audience growth, Fuse Media has also launched Amplitude, a comprehensive advertising platform designed to offer custom, cross-platform ad solutions that empower brands to amplify their presence across today’s dynamic media ecosystem.
Fuse Media is known for its inclusive content and global multi-platform footprint across FAST, linear and SVOD with a combined audience of more than 52 million unique monthly viewers. Programming across Fuse Media’s platform offerings targets culturally diverse young adults with purpose-driven stories.
The Streaming Wars is intentionally ad-free
We don’t run display ads. Not because we can’t, but because we don’t believe in them.
They interrupt the reading experience. They cheapen the work. And they burn advertisers’ money on impressions nobody actually wants.
So we chose a different model.
We say the things people in this industry are already thinking but don’t say out loud. We connect the dots beyond the headline and focus on explaining why things matter to the people working in this business.
If you believe industry coverage can exist without clutter and interruption, you can support it here → SUPPORT TSW.
Support is optional. But it directly funds research and continued coverage — and helps prove this model can work.
Support TSW →





