Australia’s Nine & Fairfax Media to Launch SVOD Service

August 29, 2014 World Screen Top Stories
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SYDNEY: Nine Entertainment and Fairfax Media have formed a joint venture to launch an Australian SVOD service, StreamCo, which will offer local and international programming to subscribers.

StreamCo is expected to debut in 2015. It will be offered for a fixed monthly subscription fee, with no minimum term commitment. The service will deliver unlimited, on-demand viewing across a range of devices, including TV, tablets, computers and mobile. StreamCo is headed by Mike Sneesby as CEO, and will be operated independently of Nine’s and Fairfax’s existing media businesses. Sneesby had been serving as head of corporate strategy and development at ninemsn.

David Gyngell, the CEO of Nine Entertainment, said: “I am excited about working with one of Australia’s iconic media companies on this groundbreaking opportunity. The combination of our two businesses will provide the joint venture with unprecedented distribution and awareness. I look forward to building one of Australia’s greatest new media businesses.”

Greg Hywood, the CEO of Fairfax Media, added: “We’re delighted to join Nine in developing a compelling subscription video service. SVOD is a proven business model overseas, and we look forward to offering this service to our subscribers, and indeed all Australians. Fairfax will continue to seek innovative ways to engage and expand our audiences, and this is an opportunity to create value through participating in the next wave of media evolution. Nine is a fantastic partner and we look forward to working with them on StreamCo.”

Sneesby commented: “Having two of Australia’s pre-eminent media companies as StreamCo’s shareholders strengthens the base of our experience, whilst providing an amazing marketing and promotional platform for our new service. I look forward to revealing more details about our offering in the near future.”