VIACOM LAUNCHES 'VIACOM PLAY PLEX' SUITE OF BRANDED MOBILE TV APPS
Offers ANYTIME, ANYWHERE access to best content from each of Viacom's international brands
Will be available to pay TV and mobile network subscribers in iOS and Android in 180 countries
SINGAPORE, 8 SEPTEMBER 2015 – Viacom has today announced the launch of Viacom Play Plex, a suite of mobile TV apps allowing its distribution partners to offer smartphone and tablet users around the world access to the best content from ALL its international TV brands, anytime and anywhere.
Starting in the fourth quarter of 2015, the Viacom Play Plex apps will be available to launch in every one of the 180 international territories in which Viacom owns and operates TV channels*. There will be a separate mobile Play app for each of Viacom's major international TV channel brands – Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, Paramount Channel, Spike and BET – offering video-on-demand (VOD) access to a range of current and library content, as well as a live, local linear stream of the relevant channel, and other content including games for Nick Play. Click HERE to view/embed a video introducing Viacom Play Plex.
Viacom Play Plex from VIMN Asia PRESS Play on Vimeo.
Viacom is exploring a number of different distribution options for Viacom Play Plex, with the suite of apps being offered on both a collective and standalone basis to existing pay TV partners in every territory to integrate into their TV Everywhere services where available. A number of pay TV providers have already signed deals with Viacom to offer subscribers authenticated access to the Nick app, including NOS in Portugal, while Viacom is collaborating with a number of other providers on upcoming launches including Foxtel in Australia and OSN in the Middle East and North Africa region. The Nick app, which has been rolled out in five international markets since 2013, is being updated and rebranded as Nick Play internationally to become part of Viacom Play Plex.
Viacom will also look for new distribution partners for the Viacom Play Plex apps, including mobile network operators.
Bob Bakish, President and CEO, Viacom International Media Networks, commented: "Viacom Play Plex offers us maximum flexibility in distributing our content as the way viewers consume their favorite TV shows continues to evolve. These apps are designed to complement our linear pay TV channels and to allow our existing distribution partners to deepen and improve the entertainment experience they offer their subscribers. But, Viacom Play Plex also opens up new distribution opportunities for us, particularly in the fast-growing mobile TV sector, and, ultimately, positions us to succeed in a world of more personalized entertainment services and greater consumer choice."
Each branded Play app will be localized for each country in which it is made available, both in terms of language and available content, giving users more ways to access Viacom's global hits such as SpongeBob SquarePants, Catfish: The TV Show and Lip Sync Battle, as well as local productions.
Mobile TV viewers everywhere will enjoy an intuitive, video-focused user interface and enhanced video player, which reduces loading and buffering times, as well as an algorithmic menu that adapts to their tastes. Apps will include social and sharing components, and will be available in both iOS and Android to download from the Apple App store and Google Play store respectively.
Bakish added: "Viacom Play Plex allows viewers across the globe to watch the TV shows they love from their favorite Viacom brands anytime and anywhere. We believe no other international entertainment company is offering this type of innovation at this scale, serving every major demographic in every major TV market."
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Notes to Editors
*Excluding the U.S. where Viacom Media Networks already offers a range of authenticated mobile apps to support its TV channel brands.
The full list of apps available via Viacom Play Plex is as follows:
* Comedy Central Play, MTV Play, Nickelodeon Play, Paramount Channel Play, Spike Play and BET Play.
Research from Viacom Strategic Insights illustrates the appeal of TV Everywhere (TVE) mobile TV services, allowing subscribers mobile access to their pay TV packages. Almost all respondents to a recent research study said TVE services added value to existing pay TV subscriptions, while more than 9 in 10 agreed they were more likely to stay with their pay TV provider because of TVE. In the U.S., 8 in 10 viewers with access to authenticated TVE apps use them to watch TV daily via mobile, while more than 6 in 10 have watched more TV overall since starting to use TVE.
About Viacom International Media Networks
Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN), a unit of Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIAB, VIA), is comprised of many of the world's most popular multimedia entertainment brands, including MTV, MTV LIVE HD, Nickelodeon, Nick Jr., Comedy Central, Paramount Channel, and more. Viacom brands reach more than 3.4 billion cumulative subscribers in 180+ countries and territories via more than 200 locally programmed and operated TV channels and more than 550 digital media and mobile TV properties, in 40 languages. Keep up with VIMN news by visiting the VIMN PR Twitter feed at www.twitter.com/VIMN_PR. For more information about Viacom and its businesses, visit www.viacom.com, blog.viacom.com and the Viacom Twitter feed at www.twitter.com/Viacom.
Contacts:
Adeline Ong (VIMN Asia)
+65 6420 7240
[...]
Julia Phelps (VIMN NY)
+1 212 846 5288
[...]
Matt Baker (VIMN London)
+44 203 580 2101
[...]
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Also, from The Hollywood Reporter (THR):
Viacom International to Roll out Mobile TV Apps
The Viacom Play Plex suite of branded apps offers "maximum flexibility in distributing our content as the way viewers consume their favorite TV shows continues to evolve," the company's global networks arm says.
Viacom will launch a suite of mobile TV apps for all its major brands in all its international markets later this year to reach existing and new consumers as people increasingly watch shows and movies on mobile devices.
The portfolio of apps, dubbed Viacom Play Plex, will allow its distribution partners to offer smartphone and tablet users around the world access to live and on-demand content from all its international brands. Starting in the fourth quarter, the app will start rolling out in the company's 180 international territories, with first deals for authenticated apps with distribution companies expected to be announced at a later date.
In the U.S., Viacom Media Networks has already been offering a range of authenticated mobile apps to support its TV channel brands. Now Viacom International Media Networks will off a separate mobile app for each of the company's major international TV brands, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, Paramount Channel, Spike and BET, based on the same Play architecture.
Viacom is looking at different distribution options for Viacom Play Plex, with the apps possibly being offered on both a collective and standalone basis to existing pay TV partners so they can integrate it into their TV Everywhere services. Viacom will also look for new distribution partners for the apps, including mobile network operators.
Bob Bakish, president and CEO of Viacom International Media Networks, said: "Viacom Play Plex offers us maximum flexibility in distributing our content as the way viewers consume their favorite TV shows continues to evolve. These apps are designed to complement our linear pay TV channels and to allow our existing distribution partners to deepen and improve the entertainment experience they offer their subscribers. But, Viacom Play Plex also opens up new distribution opportunities for us, particularly in the fast-growing mobile TV sector, and, ultimately, positions us to succeed in a world of more personalized entertainment services and greater consumer choice."
He added: "We believe no other international entertainment company is offering this type of innovation at this scale, serving every major demographic in every major TV market."
Bakish also told THR: "We’re looking at evolving consumer behavior in terms of how they access content. About 18 months ago or so we decided to more formally embrace mobile platforms. The Nick app has been getting traction, and we saw an opportunity to provide a more holistic solution, including other brands. We think this is a very important contemporary complement to the products we are already providing. We think this is additive to consumer media consumption."
In addition to live, local linear TV streams, the apps also offer on-demand content and, in the case of Nick Play, games. The apps, which will be available in both iOS and Android versions, focus on an intuitive, video-focused interface and enhanced video player, which reduces loading and buffering time. It also includes an algorithmic menu that adapts to users' tastes. The apps will also include social and sharing components.
Each branded Play app will be localized for each country in terms of language and available content, including such global hits as SpongeBob SquarePants, Catfish, Lip Sync Battle and local productions. The company said it could add advertising, e-commerce and other offerings over time because the apps, developed in-house, allow for such functionality.
"Consumers want easy access to video, and so video is already playing when you enter the apps," Dan Reich, senior vp multiplatform product strategy & development at Viacom International Media Networks, told THR. "Historically, you have had static images and multi-step menus. Our goal is to get consumers into video as quickly as possible." Since the app is video-based, there is also little in terms of graphics and text that needs to be localized, he said.
Bakish said the apps will also offer acquired content, but with Viacom spending more than $4 billion a year on original content, it has the advantage of being able to tap into its own deep programming pool. "We own and control a lot of rights," he said. "So with the launch of such a product, we have a significant advantage. We still have to pay participants, but we control a lot of content. Since this is in the first wave of deployment TV Everywhere usage, even with licensed shows, we are in pretty good shape."
Viacom's Nick app, which was developed for the U.S. and has been rolled out in five international markets since 2013, is being updated and rebranded as Nick Play internationally to be offered as part of Viacom Play Plex.
Viacom's and other research has highlighted the appeal of TV Everywhere mobile TV services, with consumers saying they add value to existing pay TV subscriptions and make them more likely to stay with pay TV providers.
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