Today, Future Today Inc. announced that it will remain independent while many other AVOD platforms are being acquired, including the recent acquisition of XUMO by Comcast and Pluto TV’s acquisition by ViacomCBS last year. The company’s merger agreement with Cinedigm has been terminated. Future Today has instead entered into a content licensing arrangement with Cinedigm to expand its content offering, while remaining independent.
Future Today is reporting that February marked the best performance of its channels in its history, with users up almost 60% year-over-year and streaming hours up almost 70% year-over-year. Last month, Future Today also announced a distribution expansion with Comcast, bringing Fawesome.tv, HappyKids.tv, ifood.tv, and FilmRise to Xfinity X1 and Flex customers.
While AVOD channel acquisitions are on the rise, catching the attention of investors as a means of cashing in on the active growth of free, ad-supported services, Future Today has opted to remain a truly independent platform.
“The acquisition of streaming services by the big studios, which are focused on harnessing those assets to launch their brands, has made us a better fit and partner for large OEMs and entertainment companies looking for an entity to activate and monetize their video content.” Said Vikrant Mathur, Co-Founder of Future Today. “An OEM seeking to launch 50 or even 100 channels on short order could do that quickly by using our assets, which are also already proven to attract audiences.”
A leader in the ad-supported streaming media universe with its flagship channels – Fawesome and HappyKids – Future Today ranks in the top free channels on the various OTT platforms. The company launched its first OTT channel in 2011 and has since then grown to operate more than 700 content channels with over 70 million app installs, and manages a library of more than 200,000 film, television and digital content assets in a variety of categories including entertainment, movies, food, lifestyle, animation and kids.
“We had a stellar year in 2019 and 2020 is on track to be even better,” said Alok Ranjan, Founder of Future Today. “We have significantly expanded our sales team, are leading the industry in adtech solutions and hired industry veteran David DiLorenzo to grow HappyKids, the biggest kids AVOD streaming service in the world. [RM2] We’re thrilled to see that momentum continue throughout 2020.”
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