YouTube’s 2026 Coachella coverage includes its answer to FAST platforms

This year, YouTube‘s coverage of the Coachella Music & Arts Festival is going to look a little bit different. The platform is continuing its 16-year tradition as the primary web video partner of the desert-set gathering, and the 2026 edition of Coachella will give many YouTube users their first look at a new feature called Stations.

Stations, simply put, are YouTube’s take on the always-on channels that populate free, ad-supported TV (FAST) platforms. YouTube’s live streaming technology is powering a 24/7 broadcast filled with features, videos, and performances related to the Indio, California festival.

The Verge noted that YouTube has been quietly testing Stations alongside a group of partners in the music industry, including pop star Bruno Mars. There’s been a trend of top YouTubers expanding their reach by launching dedicated channels on FAST hubs. (Examples include Dhar Mann and Unspeakable.) By making it easier to launch those channels on YouTube, the Google-owned entity is looking to bring more traffic in-house.

It was already possible to launch always-on channels on YouTube, but the Stations feature makes that process more intuitive. “A creator can come onto YouTube, go into our studio product, set up a playlist of videos,” YouTube Senior Product Management Director Kurt Wilms

told The Verge. “They click ‘Start Station,’ and we’ll do all the work to start the livestream for them.”

To demonstrate how that technology works, YouTube is using Coachella as its guinea pig. Through its annual coverage of the festival, YouTube has tested product innovations like 360-degree video, original programming, and short-form content. Some other platforms, like Snapchat and BeReal, have run their own Coachella-set experiments.

Right now, the Coachella Station is limited to behind-the-scenes features, but once the festival begins, the coverage will ramp up. According to a blog post, YouTube’s Coachella streams will be spread across seven stages. That’s a lot of music, but thanks to the new always-on Station, you don’t have to miss any of it.