Canadian media company Stingray Digital Group wants to continue its acquisition course in Europe. “We have really just now started to get hungry,” Tom Adams, managing director of Stingray in Germany, told Broadband TV News at ANGA COM 2017 in Cologne.
The most recent acquisition was UK-based music channel C Music at the end of May 2017. With songs from movie soundtracks and light classical music, the channel targets young viewers from 20 years of age, complementing Stingray’s Classica and Brava channels that focus more on traditional classical music and operas.
In early May 2017, Stingray acquired Israel-based app provider Yokee Music which recorded more than 80 million downloads in the past four years with its karaoke, guitar and piano learning apps.
Further expansion plans include the launch of eight new music video channels devoted to genres such as rock, pop, hip-hop and retro, revealed Adams. Classical music channel Classica which Stingray took over from German production company Unitel in January 2017 will be given a broader appeal by making its programmes more attractive to a wider, younger audience, said Adams.
Regarding Germany, Stingray has started making its DJazz channel available to German network operators – as well as Festival 4K. The channel shows live performances of bands and artists such as The Rolling Stones, Kylie Minogue, Snoop Dogg and Pharrell Williams from festivals and concerts. “There is lots of interest in Festival 4K from network operators as their customers are increasingly asking for Ultra HD content”, said Adams, adding that he is confident for channel to become available on the first German platforms by the end of this year. After Ambiance 4K, Festival 4K is the second Ultra HD channel Stingray offers to German network operators.
Generally, Stingray wants to increasingly turn from a sole content provider to a partner for network operators, opening up new business models and revenue sources for them, said Adams. This includes, for example, attracting the young 12-29 age group stronger to the platforms through premium music services instead of leaving them to YouTube, Spotify and other streaming portals. Another new business area Stingray wants to make available to network operators is instore music: The company supplies network operators with music from different genres they can offer to B2B customers in their local coverage area as background music.
