Today, Cinedigm announced its acquisition of Fandor, the leader in global independent film subscription streaming services. Fandor boasts a catalog of more than 4,600 film titles from more than 400 global and diverse partner film companies.
With this new acquisition, Cinedigm will be able to tap into the giant $4.8 billion-dollar global market for independent film ad will leverage its existing content library to rapidly expand Fandor’s offerings to Cinedigm’s global footprint of 900 million+ connected devices. Part of Cinedigm’s expansion plans includes relaunching Fandor’s apps, ramping up new and existing content partnerships with distribution partners, and adding a free, ad-supported on-demand tier to the already-free linear streaming channel. Additionally, Cinedigm also plans to relaunch Fandor’s web and video-based offering Keyframe.
Cinedigm says the Fandor could reach seven-figure subscriber levels within the next 2 years with this new focus on expansion.
“This acquisition of Fandor, coming on the heels of our Film Detective acquisition, solidifies Cinedigm’s position as the leading global streaming company for independent films,” said Chris McGurk, Cinedigm Chairman and CEO. “As a key element of our recently announced streaming rollup strategy, Fandor will immediately benefit from our streaming distribution muscle, huge library of independent films, Matchpoint technology, cost savings and infrastructure and synergies with our wide portfolio of enthusiast streaming channels. We fully expect an immediate EBITDA uplift from Fandor and strong revenue and profit growth going forward.”
“The paradox of the streaming revolution is that it has never been harder to discover classic, essential and new independent and foreign films,” said Erick Opeka, Chief Strategy Officer and President of Cinedigm Networks. “The founders of Fandor had the right idea, launching very early in the streaming growth cycle while still establishing a strong and resilient brand and viewer base. Our mission at Cinedigm is to enable viewers, including independent film enthusiasts, to stream their passions, and I can’t think of a streaming service that is truer to our mission than Fandor.”