How VideoElephant Is Scaling AI, FAST Channels, and CTV Out of Home

With more than 5 million rights-cleared video assets and 250,000+ hours of long-form programming, VideoElephant operates at the intersection of content, distribution, and monetization.

Here are the key takeaways.

VideoElephant is a global video content platform that connects:

• Publishers
• Streaming platforms
• FAST channel operators
• Advertisers

• AI companies

  At its core, the company manages a vast rights-cleared video catalog, adding between 3,000–5,000 new assets daily. For over a decade, its primary mission has been simple:
  
  Help content owners distribute and monetize their video in more environments. Today, those environments include:
   

• The open web
• Streaming platforms
• FAST channels
• CTV Out of Home screens
• AI licensing ecosystems

AI plays two major roles inside VideoElephant’s business.

Operational AI

AI is used to:

• Localize content into multiple languages
• Generate and optimize thumbnails
• Enhance and structure metadata
• Improve discoverability and targeting

With millions of assets, AI is essential infrastructure, not a novelty.
 

AI Licensing & LLM Training
More recently, VideoElephant has licensed portions of its rights-cleared catalog to major AI companies for LLM training.

Why does this matter? Because IP protection is critical. 
VideoElephant provides:

• Centralized licensing
• Clean rights documentation
• Indemnification protections
• Trusted supply at scale

In an era where AI companies are scrutinized for training data sources, rights-cleared video libraries represent a compliant and scalable solution.

About 12–18 months ago, VideoElephant expanded into FAST managed services.
FAST (Free Ad-Supported Streaming Television) channels continue to gain traction as legacy brands look to:

• Launch new streaming extensions
• Offload channel management
• Improve programming and scheduling
• Expand monetization

VideoElephant now provides end-to-end FAST channel management, including:

• Programming
• Scheduling
• Distribution
• Audience extension
• Monetization

For many media brands, FAST is no longer experimental, it’s a core growth channel.
 

One of the most compelling themes from the interview was the evolution of CTV Out of Home (CTV OOH). Is CTV OOH the Same as Digital Out of Home? Not exactly.

CTV Out of Home combines:

• The lean-back video experience of Connected TV
• The physical reach of Out of Home environments

Unlike vertical mall screens or highway billboards, CTV OOH screens are:

• Horizontal televisions
• Running long-form or contextual content
• Located in venues where people dwell
  
  Examples include:
• Bars
• Airports
• Barbershops
• Nail salons
• Waiting areas

It’s a video-first experience, just outside the home.

CTV OOH offers:

• TV-style reach
• Contextual adjacency
• Dwell-time environments
• Lower pricing than in-home CTV

It sits between traditional CTV and digital out-of-home, offering scale and context at more efficient CPMs.

The challenge? There is currently no clear IAB classification. 

VideoElephant is actively working with industry stakeholders to help define standards and improve transparency across:

• Measurement
• Classification
• Reporting

Standardization will accelerate adoption, especially heading into political cycles and performance-driven campaigns.
 

The answer is: both. While measurement remains a challenge across the broader CTV ecosystem, CTV OOH enables:

• Localized advertising for smaller brands
• Full-funnel strategies
• Contextual targeting
• High-impact awareness

As infrastructure evolves, performance use cases are expanding beyond traditional branding budgets.

The open web is evolving. Streaming continues to grow. Vertical video is expanding. AI is reshaping content discovery. VideoElephant’s strategy reflects that shift:

• Scale responsibly
• Protect IP
• Expand distribution
• Monetize across emerging environments

From AI licensing to FAST channels to CTV Out of Home, the throughline remains the same: Rights-cleared video. Distributed everywhere. Monetized intelligently.