Ionic Studios partners Questar to grow travel channel GoTraveler on FAST

Shafi Mustafa (left) and Jonathan Plowman

US-based Ionic Studios and Questar Entertainment Group have formed a joint venture to operate GoTraveler, described by the companies as North America’s largest travel channel on free, ad-supported streaming television (FAST).

The partnership, structured as Ionic Questar Holdings, sees Ionic serve as publisher, contributing its advertising operations, audience platform and distribution infrastructure, while Questar brings the GoTraveler brand and a content library built up over four decades. Both companies hold equal stakes in the venture.

GoTraveler is currently distributed across FAST platforms including DirecTV, LG Channels, Vizio WatchFree+, Xumo, Sling TV, Dish Network and Plex, among other connected TV platforms in the US. Its programming includes franchises such as Anthony Bourdain’s A Cook’s Tour, Rick Steves’ Europe, Smart Travels with Rudy Maxa, Curious Traveler, Dream of Italy and America’s National Parks.

Shafi Mustafa, MD of Ionic Studios, said: “GoTraveler has built something genuinely rare in FAST: a channel with a clear editorial identity and a viewer who comes back for it intentionally. That is the kind of supply that deserves better than open-auction CPMs and broad-stroke demographics.

“With this partnership, we are putting GoTraveler in front of advertisers who understand the difference between reaching someone and reaching someone in the right moment, and we are building the channel into the destination the travel category has been missing in connected television.”

Jonathan Plowman, CEO of Questar Entertainment, said: “GoTraveler is the connected television expression of a travel content business we have been building since 1985. Partnering with Ionic gives us the monetisation, distribution, and commercial execution to scale that work the way it deserves, in front of the travel advertisers who should be in this environment.”

The deal arrives as FAST audiences in the US are projected to reach 131.4 million in 2026, representing 54% of all connected television users, according to eMarketer, while US travel industry digital ad spend is on course to hit US$9.4bn this year, nearly double its 2021 level.

The joint venture will focus initially on expanding platform distribution, investing in new and refreshed programming, and activating direct advertiser relationships across the 2026 and 2027 commercial cycles. Ionic said its portfolio currently reaches more than 100 million US households on 94 exclusively represented channels.