FreeCast has launched a new free, ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channel that targets cigar aficionados.
Cigar TV is now available within the FreeCast app for phones, tablets and smart TVs, and will be available through a dedicated Roku app and the Cigar TV website.
The launch of the channel was timed to coincide with the Premium Cigar Association Show, a trade event that starts Friday in New Orleans.
“This 24/7 global streaming channel is dedicated to the cigar industry, showcasing the culture, craftsmanship, and lifestyles of a global community of cigar aficionados,” a FreeCast spokesperson said in a statement. “The channel’s original programming features in-depth product reviews, exclusive interviews, premier cigar destinations, behind the scenes looks at the agricultural and manufacturing processes, and coverage of live events.”
FreeCast is a whole-home connected TV solution that, when used with a white-label HD Home Run tuner, marries broadcast TV channels with hundreds of ad-supported content streams.
Specialty channels tend to be written off as niche businesses, but FreeCast founder William Mobley says they have strong potential to attract audiences and advertisers with programming designed to cater to specific interests.
“Some industries are still a little bit old school, they reach their customers through brick and mortar retail and print magazines, and the cigar industry is just one notable example,” Mobley said.
He noted that Roku has an audience of 90 million global streaming users on its own — the platform has around 40 percent of the domestic connected TV hardware market, about equal to that of Amazon’s Fire TV — and specialty channels like Cigar TV have the opportunity to reach those streamers and more as it rolls out to other platforms.
“Brands and entire industries can reach new likely customers that may not be interacting with older mediums, and for a product like cigars, we can give advertisers confidence that their content is reaching appropriate audiences that are of age to purchase the product,” Mobley said.
