Revry co-founder and COO Alia J. Daniels told AdExchanger in an interview published Oct. 28 that the free LGBTQ+ streaming service is building its future on FAST channels and PrismRiot, the programmatic ad exchange it runs.
Revry “really leaned heavily into FAST before FAST became the buzzword that it is today,” Daniels told the trade site. FAST stands for free ad-supported streaming TV.
That market “was still very much the wild west when we were fleshing out our FAST business roughly 10 years ago,” she said.
Revry’s channel was already on Samsung TV Plus, The Roku Channel, Vizio WatchFree Plus, Xumo Play and Plex when Paramount’s Pluto TV picked it up in January 2025, TheDesk reported.
PrismRiot Ad Exchange and Revry’s Break With The Trade Desk
Daniels pointed to PrismRiot, which Revry launched in 2023. “I’ve been really excited about the growth we’re seeing with PrismRiot, which is our programmatic ad exchange that connects advertisers with other diverse-owned, multicultural-focused publishers,” she said.
She pitched it to brands that want scale without buying “additional audience extension deals on random platforms.” Those deals mostly buy eyeballs, she argued. “The reach needs to be relevant.”
Revry pulled its inventory from The Trade Desk in February 2025, AdMonsters reported. “They wanted to buy our data, sell it widely and return just pennies on the dollar,” Daniels told AdMonsters.
“No one can sell our audience like we can,” she said.
Two months later, the media company REVOLT signed on to PrismRiot. REVOLT said the deal gave PrismRiot access to about 10 million opted-in users. “Joining forces with REVOLT is a game-changer in audience targeting,” Daniels said then.
PrismRiot, built on ad tech from IndiCue, won a 2025 Digiday Award for best data management platform, IndiCue said.
Revry’s Founders, Funding and ‘King of Drag’
Daniels studied at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. “The inspiration for Revry hit when I wrote my thesis about how minority groups are represented on TV,” she told AdExchanger.
She co-founded Revry in 2015 with Damian Pelliccione, now CEO, Chris Rodriguez and LaShawn McGhee. It launched at San Francisco Pride in 2016.
By May 2023, Revry had raised about $5 million in seed funding, Axios reported. Its backers include Pride Fund, Backstage Capital, Collab Capital and Gaingels.
InMagazine reported last December that Revry has 6.8 million monthly active viewers. “Ninety-five per cent of our users are watching in a free model,” Pelliccione told the magazine.
EMARKETER forecasts 131.4 million U.S. FAST users this year. It says advertiser demand hasn’t kept up, which has pushed ad rates down.
Revry paid for the first season of its drag king competition “King of Drag” with small 2024 profits after advertisers hesitated, InMagazine reported. e.l.f. Cosmetics signed on before filming. Season 2, hosted by Cameron Esposito, premiered Sept. 20, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.
“The drag king community is small and it doesn’t get the love and spotlight that it deserves,” Daniels told AdExchanger.
Cynopsis will honor her at its Top Women in Media gala Nov. 4 in New York.
