BitTorrent Live, a virtual MVPD that leans on the BitTorrent’s P2P platform, is shutting down in the “coming weeks,” Variety reported this week.

BitTorrent was not immediately available for comment, but an industry source confirmed that the team tied to the BitTorrent Live product has been let go. Variety said most of the 10-person team was expected to leave the company by the end of the week, and that the decision to fold the service stems from BitTorrent's inability to  raise money to spin Live into a separate company.

BitTorrent Live was introduced in May 2016 in concert with the INTX show in Boston.  The NCTA announced last fall that it was sunsetting the annual confab.

RELATED: NCTA 'Sunsetting' INTX

At last check, BitTorrent Live offers 15 free channels, including CGTN, Clubbing TV, FilmBox Arthouse, QVC, and Nasa TV UHD and Eleven Sports, and sells a couple of add-on news-focused packages that sell for $5 per month and $2 per month, respectively. It also offers Deutsche Welle (DW) for $5 per month.

BitTorrent Live arrived on the scene amid a swarm of virtual MVPDs that now includes Sling TV, DirecTV Now, YouTube TV, and fuboTV, a group that will soon be joined by Hulu.

BitTorrent Live was different in that it uses P2P, a technology that the company insisted would help it deliver live OTT services with broadcast-level  scale and sidestep some of the issues that have troubled other live streaming services.

BitTorrent Live added support for Android devices in January, complementing access on iOS devices, Amazon Fire TV and Apple TV boxes, and browsers for Macs.

BitTorrent Live, the OTT TV service that relies on BitTorrent’s P2P platform, has broadened its platform reach with the recent launch of an app for Android devices.

BitTorrent Live’s initial app release for Android, available on Google Play, was issued on Jan. 26. At last check, it has been installed between 1,000 and 5,000 times.

BitTorrent Live was introduced in May 2016 at the INTX show in Boston, and is starting off as a free service. Channels offered on BitTorrent Live include One World Sports, France 24, QVC, Newsmax TV, Nasa TV (as well as Nasa’s 4K channel), Awe, FightBox HD, Fast&Fun Box HD, Newsy, Clubbing TV, FilmBox Arthouse, NHK World, One America News Network, Purssuit, RT HD, TWiT, and Open News TV.

RELATED: NCTA 'Sunsetting' INTX

BitTorrent Live also supports iOS devices, Apple TV,  Amazon Fire TV boxes and sticks, along with a beta version for browsers that run on Macs.

BitTorrent confirmed last fall that CFO Dipak Joshi had been named interim CEO, replacing former co-CEOs  Robert Delamar and Jeremy Johnson amid a broader reorg at the company.

BitTorrent is also teaming with One World Sports to live-stream ten Ivy League football games this season for free via the recently launched BitTorrent Live service, starting with Saturday’s game between Yale and Colgate that kicks off at 1:30 p.m. ET.

One World Sports and millennial-focused sports fan service Whistle Sports announced a similar deal to offer those games this season via Facebook Live.

BitTorrent launched its virtual MVPD service in May. Using a peer-to-peer platform that it claims is more efficient than other streaming technologies, BitTorrent Live is initially featuring programing from partners that include BitTorrent News, France 24, FightBox, FilmBox Arthouse, Nasa  TV, Clubbing TV, AWE, QVC, One World Sports, and Newsmax, among others, but has plans to add subscription pay TV tiers, ad-supported content and PPV premium tiers

BitTorrent Live is currently offered on Apple TV and Fire TV boxes, and Macs, and is working on versions that run on iOS, Android and Windows devices.

Following tomorrow’s game, here’s the remaining schedule for the live streams on BitTorrent Live and Whistle Sports:

-September 24 at 2 p.m.: Harvard at Brown

-October 1 at 1:30 p.m.: Lehigh at Yale

-October 8 at 1 p.m.: Cornell at Harvard

-October 15 at 3 p.m.: Columbia at Penn

-October 22 at 1:30 p.m.: Dartmouth at Columbia

-October 29 at 12:30 p.m.: Princeton at Cornell

-November 5 at 1:00 p.m.: Columbia at Harvard

-November 12 at noon: Brown at Princeton

-November 19 at 1:30 p.m.: Dartmouth at Princeton

BitTorrent Live, a new virtual MVPD, said it has launched an app for OS X (for Apple laptops and desktops), expanding on its support for the Apple TV and Amazon Fire TV platforms.

BitTorrent Live, an OTT service delivered on BitTorrent’s peer-to-peer platform, was introduced in May at the INTX show in Boston, and is starting off as a free service (users need to create a free  BitTorrent account) featuring programing partners such as AWE, One World Sports, and Newsmax.

BitTorrent Live has since added BitTorrent News, a “channel” that went live on July 18, timed with the start of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. 

Diving deeper into video services, BitTorrent has renamed its Bundle video platform BitTorrent Now alongside a plan to add apps for mobile devices and connected TV platforms.

The BitTorrent Now app launched on Google Play/Android today, with launches on iOS smartphones and tablets and Apple TV expected to follow soon.  

The additional platforms, the company has also added an option for publishers for ad-supported streaming. That option is launching as a pilot program prior to a wider rollout for all publishers.

In a move that could enhance its competitive positioning with content makers that use platforms such as YouTube and Vessel, BitTorrent Now is also adding a revenue share model for ad-based streaming that gives 70% of the take to the publisher. The option for transactional, direct pay downloads remains at 90/10t.

BitTorrent, which launched the original Bundle platform in 2013, also announced several pilot partners and content for the rechristened platform, including digital artist/rapper Yung Jake; Nashville folk singer Caleb Groh; Brooklyn-based alternative band Caveman; pop singer/songwriter Kerli; stand-up comedy series The Specials; and We Are San Marino, a documentary series about  “the worst team in FIFA.”  App partners in the film and video category include A24 (studio behind films such as Ex Machina and The Witch); Super Deluxe, a digital video network owned by Turner Broadcasting; Oscilloscope Labs, an indie film distribution company founded by the Adam Yauch, the late founding member of the Beastie Boys; and independent filmmaker Adam Bhala Lough, among others.

The reformed BitTorrent Now follows the recent debut of a BitTorrent Live, a “virtual” MVPD that is initially free and features live linear fare from programing partners such as AWE (formerly called WealthTV), One World Sports, Fightbox, Arthouse, Pursuit Channel, and Newsmax.

More detail about BitTorrent Now and the company’s video strategies will be featured in the June 27 issue of Next TV, a section that runs each week in Multichannel News and Broadcasting & Cable.