Chuck E. Cheese (CEC) has teamed up with OTT channel operator Future Today to launch the LBE company’s first FAST channels and build out its existing in-venue advertising network.

On the FAST channels side, Future Today will create VOD apps aimed at three- to eight-year-olds, which will initially be available through Future Today’s HappyKids FAST channel and in CEC locations. These apps are in the development phase, and the plan is for Future Today to eventually offer them on connected TVs, according to a CEC spokesperson.

HappyKids will carry CEC original content, including live-action titles Best of Friends with Chuck E. Cheese (10 x two to seven minutes) and Dance Party with Chuck E. Cheese (10 x three minutes).

At the same time, Future Today aims to help CEC expand its in-venue advertising business—the Chuck E. Cheese Media Network—which is shown on 3,000 screens in Chuck E. Cheese’s 500-plus venues in the US and Canada, which also carries CEC content.

The company is looking to draw advertisers by playing up the network’s “premium opportunity” to reach families. CEC venues attract more than 40 million visitors annually, and guests spend an average 1.5 to two hours per visit, according to the company.

In its pitch to advertisers, CEC is also banking on the out-of-home advertising market taking off. Citing data from eMarketer, the company predicts that its 2025 digital-out-of-home ad spend (including advertising shown on the screens in its venues) will account for more than one-third of the US$10 billion spent on out-of-home advertising (billboards, outside posters, etc.) in the US.

This FAST channel and advertising growth has been many years in the making—CEC has been pitching its Chuck E. Cheese Media Network to advertisers since 2020. From 2021 to 2024, the company spent US$350 million to update its TV network infrastructure and launch it in all US locations, said the spokesperson.

CEC has previously partnered with more than 30 advertisers—including toy companies and consumer packaged goods businesses—and is now offering new programmatic advertising opportunities, the spokesperson added.

“Chuck E. Cheese is more than just an entertainment destination—we’re becoming one of the most powerful family media platforms in the country,” said Melissa McLeanas, VP of global media licensing and entertainment for Chuck E. Cheese.