Australian independent content distributor Fred Media has launched its first FAST channel in Europe.
Available on the LG Channels platform in seven territories, including the UK, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden, Life Down Under is a premium FAST channel featuring lifestyle, documentary and factual content originating from and telling stories about life in Australia. All titles are from the Fred Media program catalogue and have been produced by its parent company, WTFN.
At launch, Life Down Under features series such as The Wild Life of Tim Faulkner, Travels with the Bondi Vet, Keeping Up with the Joneses, Lee Chan’s World Food Tour, Tattoo Tales and Tony Robinson’s Time Walks.
Additional WTFN series will be added over time, including Paramedics, Emergency, Mega Zoo, Space Invaders, Sydney Harbour Force and Code 1: Minute by Minute. All titles have previously been broadcast in primetime slots on leading Australian networks including Seven, Nine, Ten, ABC, Foxtel and SBS.
Lee Chan’s World Food Tour
The deal with LG was negotiated by Derek Dyson, WTFN Group’s chief commercial officer. Dyson said: “We launched an early incarnation of Life Down Under in Australia and New Zealand in 2023 – on Samsung TV and Hisense – and quickly became aware that it had much broader appeal than solely a domestic audience. This new deal with LG showcases some of the very best Fred Media and WTFN content and meets a real demand from Australians living in Europe and European viewers keen to have a constant stream of top-rated, authentically Aussie series at their fingertips.
“We are excited to launch our first international FAST channel in Europe, bringing content from across our extensive library into one focused broadcast destination. We now look forward to expanding our offer with Life Down Under, adding new content and growing the channel’s global footprint.”
Fred Media and WTFN’s long-running title Bondi Vet already has its own successful FAST channel in Australia and New Zealand, managed by the business. The company has recently struck a global partnership with Blue Ant Media, whereby Bondi Vet is a flagship title in its rapidly expanding Love Pets FAST channel.
See also: How Jon Penn is securing homes for Blue Ant Media content across APAC region
Tattoo Tales
About Fred Media
With a focus on developing, financing, distributing and monetising content, Fred Media is the largest independent, full-service distributor operating in Australia. It boasts a growing catalogue of more than 2000 hours of programming across a range of genres, focusing primarily on lifestyle, reality, documentary, factual and kids.
Since its launch in 2012, Fred Media has been an integral part of the WTFN Group, an independent company that is now home to WTFN Entertainment (production), WTFN BE (branded content), Empire Talent (talent management) and, most recently, Radar MCN, a rapidly expanding digital content business.