Sneak Preview: Forging FAST’s Middle Mile: Building Live Linear Streaming Infrastructure
On Tuesday, February 24, Nadine Krefetz, Consultant, Reality Software, will moderate the Streaming Media Connect panel “Forging FAST’s Middle Mile: Building Live Linear Streaming Infrastructure.” Live linear FAST lives or dies in the middle mile, where ingest, encoding, packaging, and routing determine whether channels can contend with increased traffic as audiences scale. This session explores how to forge resilient, flexible infrastructure that keeps FAST channels humming, costs controlled, and viewers engaged.
Confirmed panelists include:
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Nadine Krefetz is a contributing editor for Streaming Media. She focuses on how technology will drive change in the media industry, writing on generative AI, adtech, and a wide range of cloud SaaS for delivering streaming. Her background is in software development, project management, journalism, and marketing consulting through her company, Reality Software.
Michael Nagle is the head of sales and distribution for Connecting America. He is the founder and CEO for Ashling Digital, where he assists FAST channels with distribution, marketing, and partnerships. In 2023, Nagle was honored as one of “Gannett’s Greatest” for Diversity & Inclusion. He also teaches Advertising and Marketing Communications at Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in New York.
“Live programming is a draw for audiences and a validation for FAST channels. It does take a dedicated team to schedule, manage, produce and source. Linear isn’t dying if the industry supports and recognizes the brands that invest in live and demonstrate how and why it’s needed,” Nagle says.
Geoff Clark is co-founder and VP of strategy at Sports Studio and CEO of acTVe, a leading streaming television company specializing in the development, management, and distribution of FAST channels. Sports Studio is the parent company of Free Live Sports, a global FAST platform delivering live sports to audiences worldwide without subscription fees. acTVe owns, operates, manages, or advises for more than 20 premium channels. Clark is a former NCAA Division I Track & Field athlete at Cal State Long Beach University.
“I believe FAST is awesome, but I think it is just television. And I think in the future, and most consumers will never know, they will just say, ‘Wow, these are some more incredible channels that are very niche and exactly what I want,’ and they don’t care if it’s FAST or whatever, they just want TV. And I think that's a great thing for all our channel operators if we can get to that level where our indie channels feel like NBC channels, or HBO Max channels, or Comcast channels,” Clark told TVREV in 2024.
Elaine De Santiago is VP of global channel operations at Fremantle, where she oversees operations, management, and optimization of the company’s 20-plus global content channels. She leads cross-functional teams to ensure seamless operations across broadcast, digital, and platforms while maximizing the value of Fremantle’s extensive content library. With a proven track record in streamlining workflows and enhancing audience engagement worldwide, De Santiago plays a key role in shaping the company’s global distribution strategy.
In an October 2025 announcement about Fremantle choosing Op2mise to upgrade the scheduling for its FAST channels, De Santiago shared Fremantle’s approach: “Op2mise will continue to help us streamline and scale our operations. The system’s capability to consistently produce high-quality schedules, automate processes, and incorporate performance data while maximizing our content and rights is an exciting prospect for us.”
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