What does it mean to be an “Autonomous Media Company”? According to Frequency Founder and CEO Blair Harrison, it’s the next major evolution in FAST: channels that don’t just run in the cloud - they think in it. In this interview, Harrison breaks down his keynote from StreamTV Show 2025, where he explored how Frequency is helping content owners build, manage, and program channels that dynamically adapt to viewer behavior, external events, and seasonal trends.
Harrison reflects on FAST’s early days and explains why content owners now need to operate at “the speed of AI.” From self-optimizing channels that reprogram based on real-time data, to programming that reacts like social media, Harrison makes the case for automation as the future of TV. “We're building software that lets channels essentially run themselves,” he says. “That’s the autonomy we’re talking about.” The tools may be behind the scenes, but the goal is bold: broadcast-quality experiences that rival and surpass traditional TV without needing a control room.
David Bloom:
Hi everybody. I'm David Bloom with Next TMT. I'm here with Blair Harrison, the founder and CEO of Frequency. Yesterday, Blair spoke on stage, gave a keynote speech. We're going to talk a little bit about that speech and about Frequency and where he sees the industry going. So let's start with what you had to talk about on stage. You had a 20 minute presentation. What was occupying your mind?
Blair Harrison:
Well, I gave it the title somewhat cryptically, The Autonomous Media Company. In fact, when they asked me if I wanted to have a sub line on it, I said, "No. I'll just go with that."
David Bloom:
Leave it like that.
Blair Harrison:
Keep people guessing.
David Bloom:
Yeah. And so when we talk about autonomy, The Autonomous Media Company, I feel like that's programmatic ads, that's AI generated content. What did you mean by that? Now let's get into your sub head here.
Blair Harrison:
Frequencies in the business of building the tools and services for people to create channels, streaming channels, often FAST channels, but of course, increasingly just linear channels. We built a software that our customers who are content owners use to create them. So no-
David Bloom:
So they pour the content into your cups of stuff.
Blair Harrison:
But then for the processing, packaging into consumer viewer experiences and distributing, that's what we do. So, no, in fact, I deliberately did not talk about advertising and I didn't talk about content creation. I talked about automating the process of creating these viewing experiences for these content experiences for viewers.
David Bloom:
So you've got to start, obviously with the content and then you can think about things like wrapping ads around it or doing sponsorships or selling subscriptions. But you've got to set that up and what you guys do is help make that happen in a much more efficient way. How has that business gone and evolved? Because you guys have been around for several years now.
Blair Harrison:
Yeah, we've been around for 15 years actually as a company, but we've been in the FAST industry since it started about 2018, 2019. So we-
David Bloom:
How's it evolved for you guys?
Blair Harrison:
Well back 2018, it was really, I mean, FAST really began with Pluto TV and Zumo, those were the two OGs in the industry. And back then it was, as I like to say, fun and games. There wasn't much money around. The content was repurposed, primarily digital first content. And now look where we are right now. It's predicted to be projected to be a $20 billion business in a couple of years. It's already in the billions. Obviously, ad supported content is where everyone's betting at the moment. We've all got fatigue with our subscriptions. So it's grown. It's really now defining the future of television as opposed to just being a free alternative to pay TV.
David Bloom:
And kind of almost a footnote to all these other very important things that are going on, launching SVOD services and all that. But it's interesting because it feels like at this point, FAST is entering into a new phase where there's much more competition for the ad dollars that are out there because there's been so much stuff that's been built. So what's the advice that you have for your clients about how to succeed in the market now as opposed to back in the fun and games days?
Blair Harrison:
Fun and games days?
David Bloom:
Yes.
Blair Harrison:
Well look, obviously content from the consumer's perspective is the king. I think what's changed is there's always in FAST been a bit of a, there's been a big delta between the quality of experiences in FAST channels and what we're used to on traditional TV. Now that everything's running in the cloud, now that everything is soft, meaning there's no physical equipment, we can develop at the speed of the internet. And now of course at the speed of AI, we can create experiences which are as good as and soon, better than anything you'd see on TV. Our advice to customers is obviously that data is king, well, content is king and the data is, its queen, I guess
David Bloom:
Is the emperor or something.
Blair Harrison:
Yeah. Is the emperor. Understanding what you've got, understanding how it's performing. And then the beauty of building things and running them in the cloud, is you can react in near real time. If you have the data, you should be able to react from a programming perspective at social media speed rather than traditional television speed.
David Bloom:
So I think this is really important because what you're saying is a nimbleness and an ability to quickly iterate in the moment to a seasonal channel, for instance, of your content or some sort of stuff reacting. We had a couple of musical giants die this week, Sly Stone and Brian Wilson from The Beach Boys. I mean, I could imagine musical channels that pop up that are just their music or shows about them, for instance, or that include their music, happening very quickly. But that's the kind of thing you're saying we need to do.
Blair Harrison:
And if you think about what the obituary writer for the New York Times would do, or they'd have the obit written, but then it's the whole manual process of pulling the materials together and spinning it up and publishing it. Well, now imagine that done at the speed of AI, the speed of the internet with the speed of AI. So if I wanted to generate programming around some event, I could do it instantaneously. We, by the end of this year, we'll have self-optimizing channels, basically self-programming channels that will dynamically adjust to seasonality. So a movie channel can start to adjust its own programming based on seasons, based on external events. And-
David Bloom:
This is the autonomy where you were-
Blair Harrison:
This is the autonomy we were talking about.
David Bloom:
We got finally to the subhead, is what you're saying.
Blair Harrison:
That I've written.
David Bloom:
But that's really interesting because you could just imagine AI iterating, iterating, iterating in competition with other AIs, iterating, iterating, iterating. So it's really going to be a race.
Blair Harrison:
They'll be fighting each other.
David Bloom:
Yeah.
Blair Harrison:
They'll be fighting each other for viewership.
David Bloom:
And then bouncing back and forth. So it's going to be a very interesting time going forward. I look forward to seeing what you guys come up with, Blair. We're going to wrap it here. I'm David Blum with Blair Harrison, the CEO and founder of Frequency who Spoke yesterday. Thanks for everything, Blair.
Blair Harrison:
Thank you.