Backbone, Palatin partner in joint venture focusing on FAST channels

European TV companies Backbone Media and Palatin Media have teamed up to launch a 50/50 joint-venture to publish and distribute free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channels in Europe.

Richard Maroko

FAST Media, based in Munich, has launched with three FAST channels up and running in France and Switzerland. Enquêtes de Choc (Shock Investigations) is devoted to investigative news reports, while two channels are centred on French TV shows: the gameshow Motus (Movement) and talkshow Y A Que la Vérité qui Compte (Only the Truth Matters).

The channels are broadcast on Samsung TV+ in France and Switzerland and will soon arrive on other platforms such as Molotov, LG and Rakuten, said FAST Media. Other channels are already scheduled for launch in late 2022 in France, Spain and Germany, the company added.

Backbone Media was founded by CEO Richard Maroko last October, after he previously worked at Mediawan Thematics as CEO and before that at AB Groupe and TMC. Based in Paris and Munich, Backbone makes shows such as factual series Man Made Disasters and the adaptation of Couple’s Therapy, as well as distributing FAST channels.

Palatin Media, meanwhile, was founded by former TeleMünchen Group MD Bernd Schloetterer in 2011. The company produces and distributes fiction and non-fiction content and owns stakes in companies including distributor Kinostar, production company Aventin, AVoD firm Video Solutions and UK-based Rocket Rights.

In May 2021, Palatin launched Cractiuon TV, a FAST channel focusing on feature films and series in the genres of action and crime, and in August 2022 it unveiled two more FAST channels: Top True Crime and Naruto, dedicated to the eponymous manga brand.

FAST Media said its business would be built on the expertise of Maroko and Schloetterer as well as Palatin’s activities in the FAST space so far and said its ability to do multi-territory acquisitions and launch channels based on popular brands would allow it to “respond to the market’s craze for FAST channels.”