How FNX Built a Bigger Audience

The FNX story

From affiliates in 34 states to all 50 states and U.S. territories.

FNX used Lightcast to expand beyond its traditional PBS footprint, moving from affiliates in 34 states to potential on-demand availability across all 50 states and U.S. territories. FNX believes that gives it the potential to double or triple its addressable market.

34 → 50States, plus U.S. territories, with potential on-demand availability

2-3XThe addressable market FNX believes it now has the potential to reach

~12,000Views of one Native American high school all-star football event, with minimal advance promotion

The challenge

Your audience shouldn't be limited by your distribution.

Organizations invest significant time and money creating content, but too often their ability to reach audiences is constrained by things they don't control. FNX faced exactly that challenge.

What holds great content back:

Third-party distribution
Geography
Broadcast schedules
Platforms you don't control
Content that becomes hard to discover after its initial release

PBS distribution remained an important part of FNX's strategy, but not every PBS station carried its feed, and not every cable provider carried PBS digital subchannels.

The FNX on-demand library, with rows for Emmy winners, recently added programs, FNX Originals, and shorts

The solution

You have the content. You have the audience. Do you own the connection between them?

FNX wanted to complement broadcast with a direct digital experience that could reach audiences wherever connectivity was available. With Lightcast, it created its own branded streaming experience.

01 · Reach

Beyond the broadcast footprint.

FNX made its programming available to more people, in more places: from affiliates in 34 states to potential on-demand availability across all 50 states and U.S. territories.

The potential to double or triple its addressable audience.

02 · Ownership

A direct relationship with viewers.

An owned, branded streaming destination gives FNX a direct digital relationship with its audience, alongside the PBS distribution that remains an important part of its strategy.

Beyond geography, broadcast schedules, and third-party platforms.

03 · Insight

Know where viewers are and what they watch.

Lightcast gives FNX direct insight into where viewers are and what they're watching: first-party audience understanding that third-party distribution can't provide.

Your current audience isn't necessarily your potential audience.

04 · Longevity

Your audience may be bigger than you think

Before you invest in creating more content, consider what you could do with the content you already have. The FNX approach fits organizations that:

Already produce meaningful quantities of video

Depend heavily on third parties for distribution

Have geographically dispersed audiences

Want to extend the life and reach of existing content

Need better first-party audience insights

Want sponsorship, underwriting, or advertising revenue

Have a mission or community that would benefit from a dedicated digital destination

Your next growth opportunity may already be sitting in your content library.

Side by side

Limited by distribution vs. direct to audience

Could your content reach a larger audience? Live longer? Be easier to discover? Create new opportunities for engagement, sponsorship, or revenue?

Third-party distribution alone	With your own Lightcast destination
Reach stops where carriage stops	Available wherever viewers have connectivity
Viewers tune in on a broadcast schedule	Always on, on demand
Content is hard to find after its first airing	A library that keeps working and stays discoverable
Someone else sits between you and your viewers	A direct relationship with your audience
Little visibility into who is watching	Insight into where viewers are and what they watch
Limited ways to earn from existing content	Room for sponsorship, underwriting, and advertising

FNX is using Lightcast to do just that: extending the reach and value of its programming while building a direct connection with its audience.

What if your content could reach 3X the audience? Your audience shouldn't be limited by your distribution. You've built the content. Now build the audience. Your content deserves a bigger audience.