Looking to find a solution that paves the way for its direct-to-consumer (DTC) products to unlock the next phase of exponential growth in streaming, Allen Media Group is to deploy Quickplay’s cloud-native over-the-top (OTT) platform.
Allen Media Group owns 27 ABC-NBC-CBS-FOX network affiliate broadcast television stations in 21 U.S. markets and twelve 24-hour HD television networks serving nearly 220 million subscribers: The Weather Channel, The Weather Channel En Español, Pets.TV, Comedy.TV, Recipe.TV, Cars.TV, ES.TV, Mydestination.TV, Justice Central.TV, Thegrio, This TV and Pattern. Allen Media Group also owns the streaming platforms HBCU GO, Sports.TV, Thegrio, Weather Channel streaming app and Local Now.
In making their announcement the two companies said that the flexibility, agility, and scalability of the Google Cloud-powered platform would accelerate Allen Media Group’s DTC strategy more efficiently to create streaming opportunities around existing Allen Media Group properties, and would serve as a catalyst for growth for new opportunities in the US and globally.
Using Quickplay platform running on Google Cloud, Allen Media Group will accelerate engagement and monetisation across its portfolio by powering the back end of Local Now a free-streaming AVOD service delivering real-time, hyper-local news, weather, traffic, sports, lifestyle information across 400+ Channels and 16,000 movies and television shows, documentaries, and more. Local Now is claimed to carry the most local news channels of any free streaming platform.
The Weather Channel streaming app includes a subscription-based live stream of The Weather Channel television network with access to the network's on-demand library of original programming and interactive features such as local forecasts, 24/7 weather alerts, real-time maps and radars.
“Allen Media Group’s direct-to-consumer strategy is to create exceptional product experiences powered by world class content for users worldwide,” said Byron Allen, Founder/Chairman/CEO of Allen Media Group. “Global audiences, along with our streaming platforms and partners, demand excellent product and content experiences. Partnering with Quickplay’s platform powered by Google Cloud will accelerate our mission of achieving the highest level of product excellence.”
“Allen Media Group’s commitment to serving all audiences requires an OTT platform that enables rapid iteration of new opportunities and seamless management of content, user experiences, and advertising,” added Quickplay chief business officer and co-founder Paul Pastor. “Using the Quickplay platform, Allen Media Group can achieve rapid time to market for new services and can create new features almost instantaneously to optimise viewer satisfaction, retention and monetisation.”