Mining for Riches in the Niches: Dynamic Approaches for Targeted Growth
What does niche streaming mean in 2025? With the vast abundance of content available to TV audiences, how can niche programming be targeted adequately toward specific audiences, and what are some of the best ways these audiences can discover that content?
“Why Advertisers Can’t Afford to Overlook the Rising Power of Niche Streamers”, a December 2024 article from independent sell-side advertising company Magnite, argues that advertisers can no longer afford to overlook niche audiences, which Chris Knight, president and CEO of Gusto Worldwide Media, also argues is especially important in the free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) space.
Many factors must be taken into consideration when adopting dynamic approaches for targeted growth with niche audiences, including the importance of authenticity and cultural alignment in defining and reaching niche markets, the operational and technical infrastructure necessary for success, brand partnerships, sponsorships, the significance of integrating brand deals into content, and the evolution of team structures along with the importance of strategic alignment and mentorship in launching and scaling media ventures.
In this article, three industry experts weigh in on this topic and provide insights garnered from their own experiences with what works and what areas need improved focus and action to best reach niche streaming audiences.
Authenticity and Cultural Alignment in Defining and Reaching Niche Markets
Rashaun Hall is the VP of streaming and partnerships at Fuse Media, which produces and disseminates inclusive, purpose-driven stories and experiences for a varied audience of young people. Hall is in charge of driving expansion throughout the company’s digital presence, which includes YouTube, Fuse Media’s suite of DEI-focused FAST channels, mobile and CTV app development, and the subscription service Fuse+.
Hall breaks down what niche audiences mean to Fuse and the importance of considering the dynamic varieties of niche demographics. “I think ‘niche’ is a dedicated audience that is interested in a particular type of content or a particular subject matter,” he says. “So, for our company, those niches tend to be based on demographics, but there is also a lot of overlap in those demographics. You can be Black and Afro or Afro-Latino. You could be any number of things that find you at this intersection of two cultures, content, interests, or subject matters. I’m into whiskey, so there is a ton of whiskey and spirits content for people who are just into that. Now, I can talk all day about it, but then, my wife can’t stand that. Even in car culture, there are people who watch F1 and only F1, and they’re not into NASCAR. There are people who are into the classic cars, so there are even sub-niches in a niche category.”
Shamroc Peterson is the founder and CEO of Diverseego, the first travel streaming video network that is committed to inspiring and honoring Black and Latino travelers and producers in the U.S. As the host of the program Show Me Where, Peterson humorously and emotionally explores colorful locations, cultural events, and undiscovered treasures. He continues to lead with purpose at the nexus of business, media, and cultural empowerment. Peterson is well-known for his activism and thought leadership. He is spearheading a new era of travel storytelling—one that combines culture, innovation, and empowerment while elevating the voices of Black and Latino creators—whether he is giving speeches around the world, forming alliances, or creating life-changing travel experiences.
Peterson emphasizes that the idea of “multiculturalism” is never straightforward, and it is essential to focus on specific cultural niche markets. “At Diverseego, we’re a streaming network dedicated to empowering multicultural travel communities.
Too many brands try to be everything to everyone—but niche audiences aren’t fragments of the mainstream; they’re vibrant ecosystems with their own culture, values, and opportunities. For us, it’s really kind of servicing [specific communities], not [taking] a broad stroke on the multicultural perspective. We found that it can bring much success if you stay in that lane versus the larger multicultural space, which has so many different facets of being multicultural.”
"Too many brands try to be everything to everyone—but niche audiences aren’t fragments of the mainstream; they’re vibrant ecosystems with their own culture, values, and opportunities.”--Shamroc Peterson, Founder and CEO, Diverseego
The Operational and Technical Infrastructure Necessary for Success
Creating a distribution process to market to niche audiences effectively is one challenge that must be faced.
Peterson says, “We produce a lot of original programming and curate other licensing programming. So, once we get the content in, we are able to look at it and look at the deliverables and where we can deliver promotions through social. We’re a little bit smaller than the bigger guys, so we have to [promote] through social and then [deliver] through Roku, Amazon, Apple, iOS, etc. Those are the different platforms. We’re more app-based versus FAST and app, so we have smaller deliverables. We do a lot of promotable things through YouTube and other areas to get people to where we want, and where we make money is through our apps. In that space of creation, there may also be brand integration. So, we monetize a little bit differently than just through the apps. That’s how we make a big chunk of our money.”
Brand Partnerships, Sponsorships, and the Significance of Integrating Brand Deals Into Content
It is essential to take a multifaceted approach to monetization, combined with data backing up viewership and demographics to show how well your service is performing.
Rebecca Avery has 20 years of experience managing the nexus of technology, content, and accessibility as a strategic advisor and media operations specialist. As the proprietor and founder of Integration Therapy, she uses metadata-driven strategies that put usability and inclusivity first to assist media corporations in deciphering complicated supply chains and creating more intelligent systems. Avery provides both technical proficiency and human-centered insight to every table she joins. She was once the metadata architect behind streaming standards that are still in use today. She has given advice on AI, accessibility, and operational resilience throughout the media landscape and is now the chair of the Streaming Video Technology Alliance’s Metadata Working Group.
“There are a few different ways that you can monetize your content,” Avery says. “A really great way is to get a sponsor and do brand integrations. Your brands need to know where that content has been, what’s in it, who made it, when it was published, how many people watched it, whether it’s going to get played again, and whether it got broken down and sent out over social media. I think that creators today are a totally different breed of person than the creators of 10 years ago because they’re coming into this with a business plan. They love YouTube, they love creating content in general, and they want to push it out in as many ways as they can. And I would advise [that] as much data as you can get glass to glass, you figure out how to format, automate, and track that. And another really nice thing about the maturity of streaming is there are more and more consultants like me who can help you without having to go sign a contract with a gigantic company that’s going to take all your revenue.”
“Creators today are a totally different breed of person than the creators of ten years ago because they're coming into this with a business plan.... And another really nice thing about the maturity of streaming is there are more and more consultants like me that can help you without having to go sign a contract with a gigantic company that's going to take all your revenue.”--Rebecca Avery, Owner & Principal, Integration Therapy
The Evolution of Team Structures and the Importance of Strategic Alignment and Mentorship
Above all, in the initial stages, it is crucial to find a cohesive identity for your platform in order to ensure there is strategic alliance and proper mentorship.
“The first thing you want to do [is find] your own strategic alignment—who you are as a company, not as a person,” Avery says. “Make your North Star something that you want to stick to, even when it’s hard and that’s how your values are aligned. Think about what you want to do without involving technology or vendors or everything in the conversation too fast. What am I trying to do? Where am I now? Where do I want to be? Think about your data and your teams. Do I want to hire a vendor? Is this just going to be me? Do I have partners? And then think about your technology integration.”
Figuring out these elements at the outset, Avery says, will give creators and niche content providers a “sort of a holistic snapshot that you want to have, particularly when you’re first starting out. There are so many amazing tools. I know small networks that are operating basically on Google Drive and Dropbox. It can be done. There are sections of Amazon that are still operating on Excel sheets. You would be surprised.”
The second piece of advice Avery offers, which comes from her own experience running Integration Therapy “as a solopreneur venture rather than just as a freelancer,” is to go on LinkedIn, as she did, and start “looking at the people who were great at things that I’m not good at, like B2B marketing. And I started writing them and saying, ‘I can’t afford to be your customer, but do you have 30 minutes?’ And 80% of the people say yes. So don’t undersell your own network.”
Cutting Through the Noise and Leaning Into Specifics
The streaming, OTT, CTV, and creator economies are anything but static, and one of the changes niche content providers need to contend with is that when they are mining the riches in the niches, larger organizations often discover the strike and start elbowing their way in. The constant proliferation of FAST channels makes it more challenging to cut through the noise and get noticed, especially for niche creators.
“It’s gotten more and more difficult as the major studios have come into the space,” says Hall. For creators and niche providers, the keys to standing out and staying in the game in an increasingly crowded field, especially with high-profile, ready-made legacy properties competing for the same eyeballs, is originality, uniqueness, and—most of all—authenticity. “If you’re not going to bring a thousand hours of Law and Order,” Hall quips, “what do you bring to the party that is unique?”
Fuse Media has worked to establish its presence and distinguish itself through some live events and live-to-tape events and specials. “We look for cultural moments that our channels, or we as a brand, can authentically speak to,” says Hall. “So, Juneteenth comes around, and any number of channels or platforms are going to do marketing around Juneteenth. It’s going to be these four or five Black movies that speak to that moment. What we’ve done differently is we had a Juneteenth live special that we worked with a foundation on.”
“We look for cultural moments that our channels, or we as a brand can authentically speak to. So Juneteenth comes around, and any number of channels or platforms are going to do marketing around Juneteenth. It’s going to be these four or five black movies that speak to that moment. What we’ve done differently is we had a Juneteenth live special that we worked with a foundation on.”—Rashaun Hall, VP Streaming & Partnerships, Fuse Media
The key differentiators for Fuse as a niche content provider with credibility in the space, Hall says, are “authenticity and leaning into specifics.” For Fuse, the focus is “cultural, dynamic audiences,” he notes, but “passionate audiences” can take many forms, including examples as obvious as NFL fans. “How do you find moments that speak to that fandom in a way that is authentic? Because you can absolutely just throw on any number of NFL games, but you need to curate that experience. That’s another thing that our programming team is really focused on. And with the help of our research team, we’re looking at the best way to curate those experiences.”
“Stay authentic,” Peterson agrees. “That’s how you win, right?”
Related Articles
One essential step toward bringing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) to a new level in streaming, when it comes not just to opportunity but to transforming workplace culture, hiring, promotion, conditions, and compensation, is defining terms. This, in turn, means reaching a better understanding of what DEI means and whose job it is to recognize disparities and work to remedy them. (Spoiler alert: It's everyone's.) In this candid and revealing clip from Streaming Media NYC, two Global Chief DEI Officers—McCann Worldgroup's Singleton Beato and Weber Shandwick's Judith Harrison—along with ThinqShift Talent Champion Jennifer Randolph and LPG edu CEO Lori Greene discuss what DEI means today and how a deeper understanding of it can provide a working blueprint for action.
22 Jul 2024
From the early days of FAST, the agility and strategic innovation that are hallmarks of startups and niche content companies have been critical to success in the FAST world. As the Independent Streaming Alliance (ISA) emerges to heighten the advocacy of niche FAST providers, ESHAP's Evan Shapiro, TMB's Cameron Saless, and Gusto TV's Chris Knight discusses how the FAST market began and has matured around nimble startups in this clip from Streaming Media Connect 2023.
31 Jan 2024