Future Today Takes Center Stage at IAB NewFronts 2025

Future Today Expands Fawesome’s Premium Content Portfolio with partnerships with Gusto TV, Pangea Entertainment and Bold Baking Network

Launch of Chuck E. Cheese Media Network to Deliver Content on HappyKids and Standalone FAST App

Powering Privacy-Safe, Interactive Ad Experiences Across CTV

/EIN News/ -- MENLO PARK, Calif., May 07, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Future Today, a pioneer in delivering cutting-edge CTV ad-supported solutions, will unveil its latest innovations in content and advertising at IAB NewFronts 2025, reinforcing its commitment to transforming the FAST (Free Ad-Supported Television) landscape. The company will spotlight new collaborations, original programming and innovative advertising solutions aimed at enhancing viewer engagement while empowering advertisers with privacy-compliant, addressable targeting strategies across its growing channel portfolio.

Founded in 2006, Future Today has grown to become a leader in the FAST ecosystem with its flagship channels HappyKids and Fawesome. It offers trusted family entertainment and a vast library of free movies and shows across every genre, from educational kids’ content to action, comedy, drama and documentaries. Together, these channels serve diverse audiences across the streaming landscape, delivering quality content to more than 50 million US households.

"Streaming and CTV have become the de facto standard on how consumers watch video content, with FAST channels leading the growth in ad-supported streaming," said Vikrant Mathur, Co-Founder of Future Today. "As one of the earlier adopters to CTV, it has been our mission to enhance both viewer experience and advertiser value across our platforms by continuing to offer buyers premium inventory and privacy-safe solutions."

Star-Studded Content Explosion
Future Today continues to expand its content ecosystem, reinforcing the company's commitment to offering innovative, high-quality content across its growing network.

Launch of original series under the Fawesome Originals banner:

• A gripping docuseries-meets-exposé following internet-savvy vigilantes taking on hackers, scammers and cybercriminals
• A dynamic art charades game show where contestants use generative AI to illustrate and guess film and TV titles

New content collaborations:

• Partnership with Pangea Entertainment Productions and Digital Media Studios in association with Global Content on upcoming titles blending lifestyle, romance and documentary storytelling
• Expanded culinary content through partnership with Gusto TV and Bold Baking Network, delivering premium food-focused programming across FAST channels

Launch of Chuck E. Cheese Media Network:
Supporting Chuck E. Cheese's strategic expansion into digital media, Future Today will feature Chuck E. Cheese content on HappyKids' free, ad-supported streaming platform. In addition, Future Today will be launching Chuck E. Cheese’s first ever branded streaming network – on-demand apps and FAST channels – aimed at kids aged 3-8 and their co-viewing parents, and help develop the Chuck E. Cheese Media Network – a national in-venue digital platform delivering branded content directly to families.

"Family entertainment has evolved dramatically in the streaming era, and we're passionate about creating spaces where generations come together through shared viewing experiences," said David Di Lorenzo, SVP, Content Acquisitions and Partnerships, at Future Today. "Our family-focused channels like HappyKids and Fawesome are designed with co-viewing at their heart, offering content that sparks conversation, laughter and learning between parents and children. We carefully curate and develop programming that balances educational value with entertainment, ensuring families find content that's not only safe but genuinely engaging for everyone in the household."

Addressable, Privacy-Safe and Fully Transparent Advertising

Beyond its robust targeting capabilities, Future Today has developed an innovative suite of advertising solutions that reimagine how brands can connect with streaming audiences. These creative formats are designed to enhance engagement while maintaining the viewing experience that consumers expect.

Future Today is launching a range of interactive ad formats designed to boost viewer engagement and provide brands with more impactful monetization opportunities:

• Animation: Dynamic lower-third ads developed with ITG (inthegame.io) delivering eye-catching visuals without disrupting content
• Interactive trivia: Invites viewers to answer questions during playback, turning passive viewing into an engaging, gamified experience
• L-Frame: Format offering persistent on-screen branding with QR code functionality for real-time interaction
• Curated Playlists: Seamlessly integrating brand messaging across multiple videos

"Our innovative ad formats create genuinely engaging experiences that benefit both viewers and advertisers," Mathur added. "By developing interactive elements that complement rather than interrupt content, we're seeing brands achieve higher engagement and conversion rates. These aren't just novel experiences—they're powerful tools delivering tangible ROI in today's competitive marketplace."

Additionally, Future Today launched its groundbreaking Marketplace that delivers over 1.5 billion Owned and Operated, privacy-safe, addressable ID-less impressions across premium, brand-safe inventory, tackling industry challenges with next-generation audience targeting, granular transparency and measurable outcomes while supporting leading measurement partners to provide advertisers with trustworthy data and campaign analysis. As part of the marketplace offering, Future Today also announced a partnership with Sleeping Giant Labs to measure a variety of emotional sentiments across CTV ad campaigns that run across its platform. The solution offers the next evolution in advertising measurement by going beyond awareness, sentiment, and recall to capture and understand how viewers feel when they watch an ad. By blending traditional brand lift metrics with proprietary emotional data and brand benchmarking, marketers can measure resonance, get actionable insights such as content and media direction, and identify users that are most likely to convert based on their emotional and traditional brand lift responses, including purchase intent triggered by an ad.

Expanded Distribution Footprint
Future Today continues to expand its distribution footprint, reinforcing the company's commitment to make its streaming services available across all major streaming devices. As part of this expansion, Future Today is deepening its partnership with Smart TV maker TCL, which will add buttons to its remote controls that will take viewers directly to the Fawesome ad-supported video-on-demand service. The new remotes will be included with TCL Fire TVs sold in the second half of 2025.

“We are pleased to offer new TCL TV customers direct access to the Fawesome streaming service from the TCL remote,” said Catherine Zhang, VP Content Service & Partnership at TCL. “Our expanded relationship highlights our commitment to enable our users to discover the best-in-class programming on our platform in just one click.”

If interested in attending Future Today’s presentation at IAB Main Stage on Wednesday, May 7, please reach out to futuretoday@kcsa.com. For more information about Future Today, visit futuretodayinc.com.

About Future Today
Future Today is a leader in the ad-supported streaming media universe with its flagship channels – Fawesome, HappyKids and iFood.tv – ranking in the top free channels across nearly every OTT consumer platform. The company’s proprietary, cloud-based technology platform manages OTT services for hundreds of content owners, producers, distributors and major media companies helping them launch and monetize complex Connected TV channels across devices in a matter of days. Future Today’s comprehensive portfolio of technology and services includes video management, content management and publishing, app development and maintenance, cross-channel promotion, advertising, monetization and more.

Future Today Media Contacts
Kate Dougherty / Brittany Tibaldi
551-265-2825 / 516-974-2216
kdougherty@kcsa.com / btibaldi@kcsa.com