Chick-Fil-A is serving up a new side dish to go along with its waffle fries and lemonade. The chicken chain is cooking up its own streaming service, which will deliver a slate of family-friendly originals.
According to a report from Deadline, the Chick-Fil-A streaming service will offer a mix of original and licensed content. Programming exec Brian Gibson is heading Chick-Fil-A’s push, which features budgets that are reportedly in the $400,000-per-half-hour range.
The originals, many of which will be unscripted shows, will be developed in tandem with production companies. One rumored program is a ten-episode game show from Glassman Media (NBC’s The Wall), and Sugar23 (Netflix’s 13 Reasons Why).
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The idea of a streaming service branded by Chick-Fil-A has encountered its fair share of mockery and skepticism in the press, but the Georgia-based fast food empire is not the first consumer brand to develop its own programming hub. Lexus used its L/Studio platform as a home for scripted content in the 00s and 10s, while Walmart turned to its Vudu division to develop a streaming service.
Both of those hubs enjoyed some success. L/Studio launched TV franchises like Web Therapy, while Vudu sold to Fandango in 2020 and has continued operating since.
Chick-Fil-A has a chance to evolve the brand-as-streamer by focusing on the children’s entertainment category, which gets enough traffic to dominate our Top 50 rankings week in and week out. Given Chick-Fil-A’s partisan stances on political issues (especially LGBTQ+ rights), it may also try to appeal to a conservative audience that has decried creator-led kids’ channels for perceived left-wing bias. There have been other attempts to launch right-leaning family streaming services — will Chick-Fil-A follow that lead?
No matter the stance Chick-Fil-A chooses for its streaming service, it will benefit from the technological infrastructure it has already built up. The chain is famous for its efficient operations, an advantage that could serve it well in the crowded world of on-demand streaming.
According to Deadline, Chick-Fil-A’s family hub is expected to launch later this year. Perhaps the platform will eventually earn the ridicule it has received so far, but if creators can get into fast food, there’s no reason fast food can’t establish itself in the creator biz.
