The first free, ad-supported streaming TV service specialising 100% in sports-themed content, is launching in the UK, with more territories to be added soon.
Known as SportsTribal TV, it hosts a wide selection of 24/7 linear sports channels which are not available through traditional pay-TV operators, and including Horse & Country TV, Ski TV, Fuel TV, Edge Sport, IGN, Poker Night in America and many more.
“There’s a generational shift happening across the TV world right now as younger viewers come of age who’ll never buy a pay-TV subscription”, says Frank Bowe, CEO & founder. “Younger audiences have grown up on a diet of free social media video content so naturally expect the same from their TV services in the future, especially for sports”.
Bowe goes on to say: “SportsTribal TV has been created specifically to help publishers reach fans who are living ‘off-net’ and contract free. Many sports have an abundance of video but not the experience or budget to build their own OTT service so SportsTribal TV provides linear channel distribution so publishers can stream 24/7 directly to fans without the high costs and technical hassle of going it alone. Now sports content creators at any level can turn their video into ad-supported revenue on SportsTribal TV’.
SportsTribal TV is currently in beta on web and mobile in the UK hosting a range of free sports-themed channels. The service will roll out across connected TVs, streaming devices, TV app stores and mobile networks throughout in 2021.
The new streaming service is built on Stoneroos’s white-label OTT NOW! solution. By using these front-end solutions SportsTribal TV has ensured a fast time-2-market which has resulted in the launch of the service across mobiles, tablets and web and soon connected TVs. The decision by SportsTribal TV to use OTT NOW! follows a large number of successful deployments of the OTT NOW! solution for companies like Swiss-based Sunrise, T-Mobile Netherlands, Delta and Caiway.
“It was vitally important for SportsTribal TV to look and feel exactly the same as any other linear pay-tv service which is why we chose OTT NOW!, added Bowe.
“Using the Stoneroos OTT NOW! solution we were able to design and build our ad-supported sports operator TV service very quickly using OTT NOW! future-proof apps which we are now rolling out across all connected devices in the coming year across Europe”.
“We are very pleased that SportsTribal has chosen OTT NOW! for the roll-out of its 24/7 linear ad-supported streaming service. SportsTribal TV is a great example of where the OTT TV market is heading. The OTT NOW! products will help SportsTribal to extend audience reach, create the next generation TV experience and deliver a consistent UX across multiple platforms.” said Annelies Kaptein, CEO of Stoneroos.
