TV4 Entertainment announced it will expand its distribution strategy using Vimeo’s VHX platform to launch a series of direct-to-consumer SVOD services, starting with its All Warrior Network offering, timed to launch on Veteran’s Day today. The action essentially allows TV4 Entertainment to take its wares directly to consumers; previously the content aggregator has distributed its licensed offerings through the likes of YouTube, Hulu, Amazon and other online video sites.
“We are thrilled to enter into this partnership with Vimeo and VHX to take our brands directly to our millions of monthly viewers,” said TV4 Entertainment Founder and CEO Jon Cody in a release from Vimeo. “The companies share a common vision of providing worldwide communities with programming targeted to their shared passions and we have found the ideal technology partner to further our mission.”
All Warrior Network is available now for $6.99 a month or $74.99 a year, and works across devices including iPhone, Apple TV, Android and Roku. TV4 Entertainment describes the channel as “the warrior-themed entertainment destination for millions of service members, military veterans, and core fans of the warrior genre. AWN aggregates, curates and creates original video content that celebrates the warrior ethos, attitude and experience and super-distributes that content across the web and mobile devices to global audiences.”
TV4 Entertainment secured investments from Warner Bros. and Sky in the UK in recent years, though the amounts haven’t been disclosed. More recently, TV4 has inked licensing deals with the likes of Cinedigm and others for various niche types of content. As Fast Company reported in 2013, TV4 Entertainment founder Cody previously spent seven years at News Corp. working on the company’s digital operations, and then also spent time working at Hulu. In 2012, Cody founded TV4 to aggregate content into specific enthusiast verticals, like Motorland for automobile aficionados. The company currently bills itself as “a portfolio of passion-based OTT channels and high-quality original productions” that includes 350 content partners and 15,000 video titles across 30 “channel brands.”
In TV4’s announcement with Vimeo today, the company said it plans to launch five more direct-to-consumer channels this year including Motorland and Gone TV (hunting, fishing and the great outdoors) in November, and Blackbelt TV (martial arts, sports and entertainment) and DocCom TV (documentaries) in December.
As for Vimeo, the company said its VHX platform “provides an end-to- end technology solution for individual creators, niche programmers and major media partners building and distributing premium over-the- top (OTT) video channels. Sellers using Vimeo’s VHX technology get total control of their content, distribution, and customer data, so they can market effectively to their audience, scale quickly, and keep more revenue.”
Overall, Vimeo said it works with 50 million creators.