JW Player scored a deal with Spanish-language television network Univision to support its online and mobile streaming efforts during the Copa America Centenario, a futbol tournament being played for the first time in the U.S. throughout June. The customer win was one of several "key first quarter" deals signed by the streaming platform, along with LittleThings, an aggregator of "feel-good" content including user-submitted video.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The addition of Univision and LittleThings brings JW Player's enterprise customer total to approximately 600. Another 2 million "publishers," ranging from individual creators to small and medium businesses engaged in OTT video streaming, use JW Player services.
Univision EVP and CTO Mark Kortekaas cited the streaming platform provider's "innovative and flexible platform" as a key factor in his company's selection of the vendor, calling the offering "a highly valuable solution for building customized videos for our audiences."
For Univision, the goal in working with JW Player is to use the provider's technology "to drive its own native app growth and innovation. The JW Platform offers a unique a single-player experience across multiple platforms that increases audience, engagement and reach," said Chris Mahl, JW Player's president.
LittleThings, on the other hand, is looking for better control over its audience measurement and monetization. "At the end of the day, when we shifted from revenue sharing-based platforms to JW Player we were able to take home significantly more ad revenue, in formats that were much less intrusive," said co-founder and CEO Joe Speiser.
Long a provider of streaming platform services to traditional publishers looking for an affordable entry into the online video world, JW Player has undertaken some interesting strategies of late in order to keep the platform an attractive and easy to implement service.
Most recently, the company launched an open-source tvOS app builder, which enables companies to develop an Apple device-compatible app in hours, rather than weeks. Tasting Table was one of the first JW Player customers to implement the Apple TV App Builder, launching a mobile video streaming-capable app within 24 hours of beginning their build.
JW Player in January closed a successful $20 million Series D funding round led by Greycroft Growth, Greenspring Associates, Cueball Capital and e.ventures.
For more:
- see the release
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