Verizon Digital Media Services has issued a '72-Hour Challenge' to the media and entertainment industry.
The challenge asks companies to submit 100 hours of digital video content to be monetised via the Internet in three days.
Verizon, in conjunction with Toronto-based application developer Digiflare, will prepare, deliver, display and monetise the content via branded applications on iOS, Android, Xbox One and Roku devices. Three companies were chosen to participate in the challenge: CineSport, a syndicator of online sports video news and features; Contend, a content creation studio for brands and publishers; and the Los Angeles Times.
"Contend's mission is to innovate and disrupt the traditional entertainment, advertising and media industry. Partnering with a single end-to-end provider like Verizon Digital Media Services and Digiflare allows us to experiment with content and monetisation models, without the traditional barriers of distribution and technology development slowing us down," said Steven Amato, founder and CEO, Contend. "And with mobile devices quickly becoming today's set-top box, we just proved that in three days, we can create a 24/7 video channel for live or on-demand content that is accessible across the most popular smartphones, tablets and game console."
Contend's new 24/7 video channel is available for download in Google Play and App Store.
"Through our comprehensive Video Lifecycle Solution, we are reducing the complexities of traditional online video businesses by integrating ingestion, encoding, storage, worldwide content delivery, analytics, playback, user experience and monetisation into a single workflow," said Ralf Jacob, chief revenue officer at Verizon Digital Media Services. "Gone are the days of multi-quarter projects where internal tech teams glue together components from various vendors. Consumers are moving too fast for content owners to sit on the sidelines and wait for their apps to bake."