Former Disney Online President Richard Wolpert Launching FAST Channel Startup (Exclusive)
Richard Wolpert, the former president of Disney Online and an original member of Apple’s Macintosh software team, has launched a new streaming startup called the Ocean Life Network.
OLN will launch a new free, ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channel on October 15, featuring a slate of 30 shows. A third of the programming will be original productions, while the remaining two-thirds will be partnerships with creators and influencers.
Wolper’s previous experience in the creation and growth of FAST channels includes an investment in Jukin Media, which he sold for more than $100 million in 2021, and a $5 million Series A funding round he led for Canela Media, a FAST network for the Spanish language audience.
“My professional life has been mostly in the intersection of tech and media going back to the late eighties,” Wolper told TheWrap in an interview. “But my passion when I’m not working has always been the ocean. I was a guy on one of those original stand up red Kawasaki jet skis and then I got into long distance ocean rides.”
Wolpert did a week-long solo trip from West Palm Beach to the Bahamas’ Abaco Islands and back, traveling 600 miles and raising $50,000 for charity. He also served in the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary for five years and has become a licensed captain and owner of four boats.
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The idea for OLN emerged after Wolpert started watching creators and influencers’ content on YouTube to understand what’s growing and popular there. After getting to know some of the creators over the last year, Wolpert saw an opportunity to combine his work life with his personal passion.
“One of the things I’ve been so impressed with is the quality of content that these creators are making. The cameras are 4K, they have drone footage, they have multiple cameras, it’s really broadcast type quality and they’re making decent money. Some of them make $50,000 a year, some of them make half a million dollars a year,” he said. “[They] have anywhere from 100,000 to 1.5 million followers that watch all their stuff. They create 20, 15, 25 minute segments. Some of them have 300 video posts that are 20 minutes long. Some have 100, some are newer and have 50.”
The venture is being personally funded by Wolpert, who says his goal is to “have fun and provide great content.” OLN will provide a 5% equity pool to content creators who are with the network when it goes live in addition to a share of ad revenue.
“We’re gonna divide that equity at the end of year one based on views. So if we have a creator who represented 15% of all of our content views, they’re gonna get 15% of that 5%,” he said. “If and when we sell, which is not my objective but I could imagine it in the future because I’m getting older, those creators will then get paid again because I’m respecting that they’re for two thirds of our shows giving us the content to create this great network.”
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While OLN is launching as one channel, Wolpert sees an opportunity to expand the offering vertically within the category to have multiple FAST channels in the future. He also sees potential opportunities down the line for sponsorships from boating companies or luxury brands and partnerships with larger FAST players like Pluto TV and Tubi. Wolpert predicts OLN could grow to a $25 million per year business in the next 1 to 2 years.
“What most people are doing is more of the same. There’s so many crime channels, there’s so many cop shows. There’s so many fail shows. I think there’s now 1600 fast channels in the US if you put them all together. But the duplicative nature of them is a ton,” he explained. “My belief is that the specialized [FAST channels] have an opportunity because there is so many people – especially if you’re going into a niche with high income people or people who have aspirations to be a yacht owner someday or a boat owner someday – looking for the content and then the advertisers are looking for the audience.”
The FAST industry is expected to skyrocket in the coming years from a value of $4 billion in 2022 to $12 billion by 2026.
