Plex is offering movie and music collectors a 20% discount off its Lifetime Plex Pass as part of its “Geek Week” sale.

The promotion starts Thursday and runs through May 25, which is Geek Pride Day.

The Lifetime Plex Pass normally costs $119.99, but during Geek Week, Plex subscribers can upgrade to the Lifetime Pass for a one-time payment of $95.99.

"If your movie and music collection is up there with your life’s greatest achievements, a Plex Pass is an absolute must-have and our Plex Geek Week Sale is the time to snag one. It’s like your VIP pass to personal media organization,” Plex director, product marketing Danni Hemberger said.

Viewers with the Plex Pass get the Ultimate TV and DVR. Using a TV tuner and antenna, users can watch, rewatch and record broadcast content in high definition.

Downloading is enabled, allowing for Plex Pass holders to take their recorded shows with them even when no internet is available.

Plex Pass lets users skip the intros and credits automatically using a “bye-bye button.” Credit lovers can skip this option.

The Rewind on Resume function lets users back up their movies from 1 second to 30 seconds after they’ve paused viewing.

Passout Protection helps prevent videos from autoplaying if you nod out. 

Users can convert and stream HD or 4K video more smoothly to more devices at once, even when away from home.

Plex Dash enables users to fix up artwork, refresh libraries and inspect nerdy media details using an exclusive custom app, Plex said. 

Lifetime Pass holders also got access to members-only Plexamp features including Sonic Sage, Guest DJ, Mix Builders and Related Tracks.

They also get Pro Perks, including exclusive discounts and deals.

T-Mobile said it is expanding its advertising business, creating an in-store retail media network and adding Plex, the video streaming platform for its footprint of mobile customers.

At its first presentation at the NewFronts Tuesday, T-Mobile said that as one of the biggest advertisers in the U.S. it was in a unique position to build products for marketers. 

“T-Mobile has a simple mission: Be the best in the world at connecting customers to their world,” said Jean-Paul Colaco, the former Hulu and WarnerMedia executive who joined T-Mobile last year as senior VP and chief T-Ads officer. “T-Mobile Advertising Solutions has the unique opportunity to propel the industry forward, delivering more personalized, customer-centric advertising driving higher engagement and superior outcomes for marketers.”

Retail media networks have become a big deal as store owners look to cash in on their shopper traffic and use customer data to help brands target ads and measure campaign results.

T-Mobile said its in-store retail media network will enable advertisers to target more than 20,000 screens in 11,000 T-Mobile and Metro by T-Mobile retail locations. T-Mobile said it plans to expand its retail media network by adding other retailers.

Plex will give T-Mobile reach in the connected TV space. Advertisers will be able to use insights and audience data from T-Ads to target consumers with relevant ads and specialized sponsored experiences, like free movies and series.

Brands will also be able to advertise through T-Mobile’s loyalty programing through the T Life app. 

T-Mobile said its Magenta Advertising Platform gives advertisers tools to drive better outcomes and connect with the right audience on the right screen. The platform is designed to deliver interest-based audience profiles using insights from T-Mobile’s privacy-safe, first-party data. 

T-Mobile said an unnamed food delivery app used T-Mobile's first-party audience data to deliver incremental audiences within an omnichannel video campaign during the Super Bowl, T-Mobile said.

T-Mobile Advertising Solutions identified new audiences, reaching 852,000 incremental households and achieving an 18.6% increase in brand consideration. 

There was also a 23% lift in app re-engagement among inactive users after an ad exposure and a 6% incremental install rate, meaning new users were captured directly via media spending with T-Mobile.

Plex has made a deal with the National Football League that will let users watch the NFL Channel, the league’s free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) channel.

The move comes days before the NFL draft, which takes place in Detroit starting on Thursday and running through Saturday.

In addition to draft news and analysis, the NFL Channel provides video and highlights, game-day coverage, game replays, original series and content from the NFL Films library.

Plex is a free ad-supported streaming app. Plex says it offers more than 500 live TV channels in the U.S. and access to about 50,000 on-demand TV shows and movies.

Plex is available on streaming platforms including Roku, Amazon Fire, Apple TV, Android TV and on smart TVs such as LG, Hisense, Samsung, Sony and Vizio.

FAST operators have from their beginnings competed in an arms race of tonnage, trying to usurp one another based on sheer volume of channels. 

Count Plex in. The largest independent free ad-supported streaming operator, available in 180 countries, announced Wednesday that it now offers more than 1,100 free-to-stream live TV channels -- 1,112 to be precise. 

“Our aim for live TV on Plex is to have something for all of our users’ television tastes all over the world,” said Plex CEO Kieth Valory, in a statement. “While this ever-growing library of free-to-stream entertainment drives Plex toward this goal of offering any entertainment a consumer may want, we are also diligently focused on providing advertisers with unparalleled reach and the transparency that should come with it.”

According to Gavin Bridge, VP of Media Research for CPG Global, who tracks the number of FAST channels in the United States via his monthly FASTMaster report, there were more than 1,963 FAST channels in the U.S. alone as of March 2024. Currently, Plex has 847 of them (including hyper-local).

"And it's growing every day," Plex's Wednesday press release boasts. 

But like that aughts-era Saturday Night Live Skit "Taco Town," which featured Andy Samberg, Bill Hader and Jason Sudeikis as young hungry consumers initially thrilled ... but increasingly overwhelmed, and then disturbed, by the sheer volume of food being thrown at them, the broader FAST industry might be beginning to ask itself, how much is too much?

In January, five FAST industry executives who spoke at NATPE predicted a culling of channels by the end of the year, citing the cost-efficiency of launching new channels in an oversaturated market, according to Penske showbis trade Deadline.

And earlier this week, The Information reported that Disney Plus is looking to add "always-on" linear channels to its service -- not so much as to enter the FAST arms race but to reduce the amount of VOD-related decisions its lean-back-craving audience is demanding. 

Streaming service Plex said the ‘Discover Together’ community features that had been in beta are now available to all users.

Discover Together lets viewers share ratings, watchlists, watch history and comments with friends on Plex, creating a personalized way to find shows and movies to stream.

The beta version of Discover Together was used by 150,000 participants. Plex claims more than 20 million monthly active users.

“Really good discovery has to have a social component, and we believe it needs to be integrated directly into the streaming experience to be useful,” Plex CEO Keith Valory said. 

“Viewers are more likely to watch recommendations from people they know and trust, and to integrate that into the viewing experience is surprisingly something that has not been done before,” Valory said. “At Plex, we are focused on bringing viewers the simplest, most efficient, and most enjoyable way to discover great new content they’ll love. Discover Together is a huge milestone for us in this quest, but it will only get better and better from here.”

Located within the Discover section of Plex next to the recently added “Trending” feature, Discover Together enables users to see friends’ activity, including what they’re watching, reviewing and rating. 

Under a People tab, users can find friends and get recommendations from Plex based on shared relationships.

Friends History tells users interested in a particular show whether any of their friends have watchlisted, rated or watched that program.

Users can edit their privacy settings to varying degrees of discoverability.

Discover Together is free and available on Plex online and on any device that offers the Plex app, including streaming media players (Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Android TV/Google TV, Roku), smart TVs (LG, Hisense, Samsung, Sony, Vizio), smartphones, tablets and game consoles.

Like kickboxing, we've all been told that free ad-supported streaming TV is the sport of the future. 

Well that boom seems to have charged straight into the teeth of an advertising recession, further evidenced by the fact that Silicon Valley FAST operator Plex just laid off 37 workers, or 20% of its staff, attributing the unfortunate act to the soft ad market. 

Saying that Plex has been "severely impacted" by the downturn in ad revenue, Plex CEO Keith Valory told staff via Slack Thursday that the company is trying to restore its budget to being cash-flow positive in the next 18 months.

“Unfortunately, we cannot know how long ad markets and pricing will continue to be depressed and volatile,” Valory added in the Slack message, which was intercepted by The Verge. “The only way to reach profitability under these constraints is to significantly reduce our personnel expenses." 

Plex established itself as the maker of a popular software product that lets users convert their own downloaded video and music into content streamable on proprietary and open networks. 

However, in recent years, the company has made an aggressive pivot into free, ad-supported streaming.

Earlier this year, Plex said its FAST was serving 16 million monthly active users. That's a far bigger base than those using its media server products, but probably not nearly enough to get it done in a highly competitive FAST market with far bigger players competing for limited revenue.

Music video service Vevo said it has made a deal to launch ad-supported linear streaming channels on the Plex platform.

The deal is the latest in a series adding distribution of linear music channels for Vevo, which is also a big player in connected TV with its on-demand offerings.

Before Plex, Vevo had reached deals with Roku, Samsung, TelevisaUnivision’s ViX and Hulu Plus Live.

Distributors are finding Vevo to be a programmer that can offer channels that reach a broad range of viewers, including the younger demographics.

“Music is an essential genre in entertainment, so adding the world’s music video category leader to our platform is a vital edition,” said Shawn Eldridge, VP, strategic alliances and content, Plex. “Vevo’s coveted, high-quality content supports our mission of delivering an amazing user experience and being a one-stop-shop for streaming media.” 

The channels that will appear on Plex are Vevo Pop, Vevo Country, Vevo Hip-Hop, Vevo R&B, Vevo Latino, Vevo Reggaeton & Trap, Vevo ’70s, Vevo ’80s, Vevo ’90s, Vevo 2K, Vevo Holiday

In addition to the U.S., the Vevo channels will be available on Plex in Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Italy, Spain, France, and Mexico.

Generally speaking Vevo receives no carriage fees and sells a portion of the advertising on the channels it programs.

After focusing on ad-supported video on demand as its connected TV strategy, Vevo has been looking to get its channels on streaming platforms like Plex as well as virtual MVPDs like Hulu Plus Live. It is also available via traditional cable operators including Comcast and Cox. 

Also Read: Vevo Tunes Up CTV Capabilities By Working With Amagi

“The crux of our entire strategy is ubiquitous distribution,” Kevin McGurn, president for sales and distribution at Vevo told Broadcasting+Cable.

“Given our ownership structure with the music industry and our pervasive presence on YouTube, getting our content out to every endpoint just makes sense,” McGurn said, adding “we’re unencumbered by businesses that we had that previously existed that we were trying to protect. We’re not trying to protect anything.”

In the new media world, Vevo is similar to MTV in the early days of cable, when viewers would call their cable companies to tell them that  “I want my MTV.”

“Those [MTV} guys were mavericks,” McGurn said. “They did it in a kind of guerilla atmosphere and we wanted to replicate that.” 

Vevo started out with applications that were pure video on demand that allowed people to find videos they were looking for. Vevo reverse-engineered its app to give viewers a retro electronic program guide to find channels instead.

“We found that with the advent of FAST services, when we put on 24 hour channels, our watch time went up, our affinity went up, the cross promotion between channels went up dramatically and your ability to hang onto viewers for their time was dramatically increased,” he said.

With channels, Vevo can more effectively collect viewers by demo, by mood, or this time of year, by season. ”Our goal is to grow the commercial and promotional value of music videos. So that doesn't stop at any one service,” McGurn said.

Featuring big names like Taylor Swift , Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga and Rhiana, Vevo can convince distributors to promote its channels as a way to keep viewers from leaving their environments, whether it’s The Roku Channel, Samsung TV Plus or Vizio WatchFree Plus.

“These services are investing billions of dollars in their growth and we get to ride along with it,” McGurn said. “They’re trying to figure out what their business is and to build it thoughtfully and not overwhelm people with choice.”

At the same time a battle for consumers is coming and having Vevo is proving to be an advantage. “This space is so new the competition hasn’t even started yet. There is a knock-down, drag-out war that’s coming.”

For Vevo the next space where viewers are going to conquer might be digital broadcast. “We’re exploring it right now,” McGurn said. “There is a big opportunity there.”   ■

Free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) services are all the rage as content providers and distributors look for any way to squeeze profits from streaming video, and though there is a danger that too much of a good thing could once again saturate the market, Barclays Group believes the segment could end up taking share away from more traditional streamers.

The number of FAST services has grown significantly over the past two to three years with services from traditional media giants (Peacock, Tubi, Pluto, Xumo, Vudu and Crackle), hardware vendors — (Freevee, Roku Channel, Samsung TV Plus and LG Channels) and independents (Plex, Kanopy, Hoopla) and more are on the way. Warner Bros. Discovery has said that it plans to launch a FAST service at some point in the future as has Android TV.

Also: More Scripps Channels Go FAST in Deal with Vizio

Low barriers to entry and lower costs for content — most of the services offer classic TV series and older movies — make FASTs attractive to content creators and distributors alike. But in a research note, Barclays Group media analyst Kannan Venkateshwar asked, despite those plusses, is FAST sustainable?

One drawback is the lack of differentiation of content between the services. In his report, Venkateshwar noted that content overlap for FAST services is more than 80%, compared to 3.9% for Disney Plus and 9% for HBO Max.

Also: FAST Usage Was Up 9 points in the First Five Months of 2022

What FAST services lack in content differentiation they apparently more than make up for in availability. In his report, Venkateshwar noted that FAST services may have higher penetration than any single premium subscription service because of the breadth of their distribution, through smart or connected TVs and other means. Smart/connected TV penetration is 87% in the U.S. and 40% globally, and every connected TV has access to the full suite of FAST services as well as streaming offerings like YouTube and TikTok.

Availability is Key

“Access to premium services on the other hand is based on penetration of SVOD services and consumer propensity to pay for multiple services,” Venkateshwar wrote. Although the average U.S. household subscribes to 4.7 streaming services, he added, the one with the highest penetration (Netflix) is at 56% while overall streaming penetration is 85%. 

“This implies that the mix within this SVOD basket consumed by the average household is not constant and there is a lot of switching based on content release schedules,” he continued, adding that it also accounts for the high churn levels of most SVOD services. 

While engagement for individual FAST services is below that of their SVOD counterparts, combined they account for more minutes than subscription offerings. Barclays, citing Nielsen research for one week this year (July 25), noted that together Tubi (4.4 billion minutes), Roku Channel (3.5 billion minutes), Pluto (5.1 billion minutes) and Peacock (3.5 billion minutes), edged out Amazon Prime Video (15.1 billion minutes) and was nearly twice that of Disney Plus (9.6 billion minutes) and almost three times that of HBO Max (6 billion minutes). That gap could narrow further as awareness for FAST offerings increases. That’s also where aggregation services like Android TV, Roku, and Comcast’s Flex offering could become a factor, Venkateshwar wrote. 

Also: David Zaslav and the [Streaming] Deathly Hallows  

“With television viewership increasingly determined by aggregation services and the still growing clutter of thousands of titles across streaming services, we believe content choices are likely to be increasingly determined by the recommendation engines that can look across streaming services,” Venkateshwar wrote. “However, with every major recommendation engine having its own affiliated free ad supported streaming service (Comcast Flex-Peacock, Xumo, Vudu, Android TV — new Channels service, YouTube, Amazon Fire — Freevee, Roku — Roku Channel etc.), content on these services is likely to feature as prominently on TV screens as premium content for SVOD services.”

It’s All About Engagement

Ad revenue for FAST services is still low. According to Barclays, the top three services ad-revenue-wise are Pluto TV ($1.2 billion), Peacock ($1.16 billion) and Tubi ($653 million). And though upcoming AVOD products from Netflix and Disney Plus could further cut into that ad revenue pie, Venkateshwar wrote that it may all come down to overall engagement. 

Also: Is Engagement More Valuable Than Subscribers? 

“One of the most important drivers of engagement however may be the recommendation engine sitting outside these services,” the analyst wrote. “This in turn could turn streaming advertising workflow to a process not that dissimilar to search where the recommendation engine ultimately determines how GRPs are allocated across services, potentially in return for a share of ad revenues.” 

Walled Gardens and Open Spaces

Venkateshwar continued that this could lead to a split in the overall streaming ad ecosystem, similar to what has happened in the digital advertising arena. He estimated that today about 34% of time spent online is with so-called “walled gardens” like Facebook, Twitter, Snap and Pinterest, while the remainder is spent on the open Web, which also accounts for about 40% of ad revenue.

Over time, FAST could act more like the open Web, Venkateshwar wrote, while SVOD is more like a walled garden. 

“This process may result in advertising on these free streaming services being lower-priced fungible programmatic inventory, with CPMs being more comparable to services like YouTube and TikTok,” Venkateshwar wrote. 

According to the analyst, walled gardens are more likely to have CPMs that resemble television because they would have more control over ad delivery and measurement. But he added that across both segments the availability of inventory will most likely be determined by recommendation engines, which could result in lower ad margins. 

Still, Venkateshwar believes FAST services will become a larger category, albeit more fragmented than SVOD or AVOD spaces, making their success more dependent on aggregators. And though the same holds true for traditional SVOD and AVOD offerings like Netflix and Disney Plus, they have considerably more brand awareness as well as their own content franchises that should help drive engagement.  

“With Android TV launching its own free streaming service, Comcast already having Xumo/Vudu/Peacock, Amazon having Freevee and Roku having Roku Channel, we wouldn’t be surprised if independent free ad-supported streaming services like Pluto and Tubi, which have among the highest engagement today, end up declining in importance and consumption skews towards services owned by aggregators,” Venkateshwar wrote. “Therefore, we may see a significant skew in revenues across ad-supported streaming services over time, focused on a small set of services despite broader fragmentation in free service availability.” ■

The Elvis Presley Channel has launched on platforms including LG Channels, Amazon’s Freevee, Vizio, Sling, Xumo, Plex and Local Now.

The channel, created in partnership by Elvis Presley Enterprises and ABG Entertainment, with Cinedigm, features the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll in films and specials, as well as series and lifestyle programming.

Original series are in development.

"We are thrilled for fans to immerse themselves in Elvis' world with the launch of The Elvis Presley Channel," said Matt Abruzzo, senior director - brand management, entertainment, Authentic Brands Group (ABG), owner of Elvis Presley Enterprises, LLC. "The Elvis fandom is incredibly passionate, and when it comes to serving enthusiastic fan bases, no one does it better than Cinedigm."

Cinedigm announced plans to launch the channel last year.   ■

Ad-supported streaming service Plex won’t be making an official presentation at this week’s NewFronts, but it is planning to make an impression on New Yorkers, including those who buy media.

Plex has made a six-figure out-of-home ad buy, putting messages in locations including LaGuardia and Kennedy airports, the Moynihan train station and key spots around midtown.

The message is that Plex helps viewers solve the “streaming struggle,” the difficulty many viewers have finding something to watch, particularly on connected TV.

“This is our brand-building campaign. This year it just happens to align with the timing of the NewFront,” said Scott Hancock, VP of marketing at Plex. “Absolutely we’re targeting those media buyers, but it's really more about a consumer-focused campaign.” 

Also: Plex Surpasses 200 FAST Channels

Plex is aiming to help viewers find what they want to watch, pointing to statistics that show that consumers waste six minutes every night searching for content. This month it launched Discovery, which lets users search for content and provides deep links to platforms where the content can be watched. It also started offering a Universal watch list to help keep viewers up to date on shows they’re interested in watching, regardless of what service they’re on.

In the first couple of weeks Plex saw more than 4.5 million search sessions.  As a result hundreds of thousands of movies and shows were deep-linked through the platform, with Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney Plus the most popular destinations. About 1 million movies and shows were saved to Plex watchlists in the first week across Android, iOS, Apple TV, Roku, Samsung and LG Smart TVs. 

"We're basically trying to simplify that whole experience of finding the content and  discovering content, based on the services you have, as well as introduce you to other services you may not have," Hancock said.

Plex is a member of IAB and thought about making a formal NewFront presentation. “We were considering it, but given our role as more of an aggregator and platform as opposed to a content provider or a content manufacturer, it made sense for us to participate in another way,” Hancock said.

But Hancock added that Plex is “really focused on building the ad supported business that’s growing like crazy.”

“We continue to see an enormous amount of money shifting from traditional linear over to streaming,” said Plex CRO Harold Morgenstern, a Discovery vet who ran Pluto TV’s ad sales before Pluto was integrated into ViacomCBS, now Paramount. “We’re fortunate and find ourselves in a very good position right now.”

"Some compare today’s streaming boom with the early days of cable. Streaming is a lot more accelerated, a lot more complex, and technical, than cable was back in the day,” Morgenstern said. “We like to say streaming offers the power of television with the measurement of digital.”

Plex’s sales are programmatic first, Morgenstern said. "We believe that the agencies and the direct marketers want to facilitate transactions through the most efficient, transparent and effective means and that is via programmatic," he said.

Plex has Magnite as its preferred supply-side platform partner, with SpringServe as its ad server. Its inventory also flows through the pipe of the other top SSPs, Morgenstern said.

Increasingly, advertisers are looking to do direct deals with Plex, Morgenstern said. 

That has Plex slowly adding direct sales executives and it now has four or five on the payroll. “I like to refer to them as brand ambassadors,” Morgenstern said. “As we scale, we’ll continue to add people on. They’ll go out to each of the major holding companies and ensure that our value proposition is well represented across the advertising landscape.”

Morgenstern expects Plex to do some upfront business this year. “We are getting some RFS,” he said adding, “we’ve been doing very well in scatter. There’s just so much money.”

Plex also has a relationship with Crackle Plus, a key supplier of content. Crackle Plus is enabled to sell inventory in Crackle content when it appear on the Plex platform. When Crackle needs additional impressions, it can also sell inventory in other content on the Plex platform. “We’ll look at it on a case-by-case basis and find mutually agreeable pricing. They have that unique ability right now.”

Next year, Plex might be ready to sell ads on its Discovery and Watch List pages once they’re better established. And it might make an official NewFront presentation.

“We might participate if it makes sense for us. This year, it really didn’t make sense,” Hancock said. ■

Redbox provides the top mobile app for millennial-age consumers in the U.S., while the Plex app ranks super-high in that 25-44 age group across not just the U.S., but in Canada, the UK and Australia, as well. 

Redbox and Plex also rank high among Gen-X and Boomer consumers in the U.S. (defined as anyone older than 45), but the TV Guide and DirecTV mobile apps rank highest in monthly active users among those older age groups.

So says the erstwhile App Annie, now going by the lower-cased moniker "data.ai," which just published its latest "State of Media and Entertainment" report. As first noticed by Protocol, the report is some surprising nuggets -- beyond the fact that two aspiring U.S. ad-supported streaming providers rank so highly with millennial-aged consumers.

For example, the Crunchyroll mobile app ranks No. 1 in monthly active usage among Gen Z consumers measured by data.ai, not just in the United States, but in Canada, the UK and Germany, as well. Crunchyroll comes in No. 2 among 16-24-year-olds in France and Australia.  

For its part, data.ai is only measuring usage of Apple iOS and Google Android mobile apps, which almost undoubtably explains why the most popular subscription streaming apps -- Netflix, Disney Plus and HBO Max, for example -- show up in the top 10 for monthly active users for Gen-Z, but don't rank for older consumers, who prefer to watch these services on devices like smart TVs. 

LiveRamp said it is working with Iris.TV and SpringServe to provide buyers with contextual data that enables them to use more of their cross-screen inventory in targeted and addressable campaigns.

Univision and Plex are among the publishers using the new capabilities.

“Partnering with LiveRamp has enabled Univision to accelerate our transformation of its adtech capabilities and deliver sophisticated targeted solutions for marketers to reach the diverse Hispanic audience,” said Univision's Brian Lin, senior VP, product management & advanced advertising solutions.

“We welcome the additional partnerships of Iris.TV and SpringServe working alongside LiveRamp to bring to market a first-of-its-kind ability to overlay rich contextual data on top of our audiences to unlock even more addressability for Univision. This will enhance our advertisers' ability to connect with our audiences with the right message across our content footprint, while ensuring brand suitability,” Lin said.

Plex's Harold Morgenstern (CRO) added, "LiveRamp, SpringServe and Iris.TV have been instrumental partners in bolstering Plex's addressable targeting, data and planning solutions. With these new capabilities, we are able to leverage audience and contextual data with ad-break level insights in our planning, enabling us to deliver better addressability and brand suitability across our diverse viewership footprint for our advertiser partners,” added Plex CRO Harold Margenstern.

LiveRamp said that going into the upfront, buyers and seller will be looking for ways to deliver audiences across screens, and that it’s collaboration with Iris.TV and SpringServe was a big step in that direction.

“We’re excited to be partnering with LiveRamp to unlock video-level contextual data to create the industry's first holistic planning tool that incorporates both audience and contextual video data across CTV and online video formats,” said Richie Hyden, COO & co-founder of Iris.TV. “More signal means more value. With greater video data connectivity, we’re making video-level data accessible, actionable, and useful for the entire advertising ecosystem. Couldn’t be more excited to be collaborating with SpringServe, Univision, and Plex to bring these capabilities to life.”

"Our collaboration with LiveRamp and Iris.TV enhances and maximizes addressability for streaming publishers and distributors,” added SpringServe CEO Joe Hirsch. “As they head into upfronts, they can now leverage the full value of their audiences alongside contextual data, such as rating and genre, alongside adbreak-level insights to inform predictability in their planning process all while doing so with 100% control over their data and which advertisers they want to work with.” ■

Streaming platform Plex named Magnite as its preferred supply-side ad platform and Magnite’s SpringServe unit as it primary ad servers.

The moves come following a triple-digit increase in ad revenue and users for Plex across both ad tech platforms.

Also: SpringServe's BidLink Weighs Programmatic and Direct Demand

“Having Magnite and SpringServe in our corner for the past several years has been key to the tremendous growth of our ad-supported business, particularly over the last six to nine months,” said Harold Morgenstern, CRO at Plex. “With the CTV landscape becoming increasingly saturated, it’s been critical for us to have access to their knowledgeable teams and video-first technologies that afford us to deliver full transparency to our ad partners and maintain the higher quality brand-safe viewing experiences CTV offers.”

Magnite provides access to premium inventory and technology that improves the ad experience in a full-screen video environment.

“Plex is at the forefront of both the FAST and AVOD landscape with over 200 channels and 50,000 titles fully poised to take advantage of the accelerated growth of this ad supported sector of streaming. We’re delighted to continue our relationship with Plex and help them grow their ad-supported business,” said Mike Laband, senior VP, CTV at Magnite. “The results thus far speak for themselves and we look forward to the continued upward trajectory of our collaboration.”

SpringServe’s video ad serving capabilities provide insight, transparency and control into available supply, the company said.

“We’re excited that Plex has chosen the SpringServe ad server to bring high quality advertising experiences to its viewers,” said Chris Signore, VP, partnerships at SpringServe. “We look forward to our expanded relationship with the Plex team as we continue our journey together to enhance their ad-supported supply and capture more demand to help accelerate their growth.” ■

Still trying to make a dent in the competitive ad-supported streaming business, Plex has hired former Facebook/Meta marketing executive Manish Gupta as its VP of growth. 

Gupta served as director of strategy, operations and insights at Facebook since 2018, while also having similar prior marketing roles at Google, eBay and Yahoo. 

He joins Silicon Valley-based Plex, 10 months after the company announced a $50 million funding round from its primary investor, Intercap. 

Plex, which started off as a maker of a popular media management software solution, now boasts 200 free live TV channels, more than 50,000 free on-demand movies and TV episodes, as well as access to OTA broadcast channels and DVR, streaming music via Tidal. 

Plex is trying to gain a foothold in an ad-supported streaming market dominated by Pluto TV, Tubi, Roku Channel, IMDb TV and other better known operators. 

In addition to hiring Gupta, Plex also announced the addition of three new board members:

> Carl Sparks, managing partner at Interlock Partners, is a veteran venture capitalist who has also served as CMO at Expedia and President & CEO of Travelocity during key growth phases of each company. 

> Kelly Battles, a veteran board member and audit committee chair for public and private companies, including Arista Networks, Genesys Software, and DataStax. She has also held CFO and senior finance roles for companies such as Quora, Cisco and HP.

> Rick Gibbs, an entrepreneur, founder and executive, who served as CEO and president of Dealer.com, president of Dealertrack Technologies, and chief product officer of Cox Automotive.

“Manish and our new board members are strong additions to the Plex family as we are driving toward our mission of being a one-stop-shop for streaming media, and scaling the company during a period of rapid growth,” said Keith Valory, CEO of Plex. “Delivering an amazing user experience has always been our number one priority, and Manish’s background in customer insights and growth marketing is exactly what we need to ensure we are not only appealing to new users, but bringing them back time and time again.” 

Plex, the Kleiner Perkins-backed media software maker that pivoted hard into ad-supported video streaming in early 2020, has announced a key milestone, surpassing 200 FAST channels.

Plex launched its "Live TV" platform in July of 2020. Since then, the Los Gatos, Calif. tech company has added channels from Lionsgate, AMC, A+E, Slightly Off by IFC, Popcornflix, Crackle, Euronews, and WE tv. 

A range of Spanish-language channels are also featured on Plex Live TV, as are specialty channels targeted to audiences including the LGBTQ+ community. 

The Plex app also features an AVOD component with more than 20,000 titles. 

Plex content is available for streaming in 193 countries worldwide. 

Plex has named former Pluto TV ad sales chief Harold Morgenstern as its new chief revenue officer, while ex NBCUniversal and  Disney executive Lindsay Jespersen has been tapped as the streaming company's new chief financial officer. 

Morgenstern left ViacomCBS in December, having built recent $340 million AVOD acquisitions Pluto TV's ad sales team into a unit capable of a $1 billion revenue year in 2021. His lengthy resume also includes a 15-year stint at Discovery.

Morgenstern will be Plex's first CRO,

“Plex has always built solid technology with a focus on engineering for all platforms, including our ad platform,” said Plex CEO Keith Valory, in a statement. “Now we not only have the right technology backbone, but also a well-rounded ad team with Harold at the helm. Under his leadership we will focus on being the best possible partner to brands, and will continue to drive innovation and develop transparent solutions for advanced CTV advertising across the Plex platform.”

Added Morgenstern: “Plex’s AVOD business is in all-out growth mode, and what appealed to me most about joining the team is their entrepreneurial spirit, interest in client success, and a continued drive to outperform each and every day on behalf of all their advertising, content, and distribution partners. Plex is looking to separate themselves from the pack of other AVOD platforms who leverage their clients and agencies to purchase their digital offerings in order to secure access to diminishing traditional linear TV inventory.”

Meanwhile, Jespersen previously served as VP of finance for NBCU's global distribution and international segment, supporting that unit's chairman and overseeing financial planning and analysis as well as strategic planning for the film and distribution businesses. 

Prior to that, Jespersen served as VP of finance and strategy at The Walt Disney Company, where she led a global team responsible for the financial operations of ABC News. 

She will now lead Plex's finance, accounting, legal, and strategic planning functions through its next phase of growth.

Plex also named former Zappos personnel woman Christa Foley as VP of people.

Rooted in a popular software product for personal media management, Los Gatos, Calif.-based Plex has transformed itself into an AVOD player. It bills itself as  the largest independent ad-supported video on demand and streaming media platform, offering almost 200 live TV channels and more than 40,000 on-demand movies and TV episodes. Plex says it has more than 25 million registered users globally, 

Plex, the media server software company with ambitions of becoming a one-stop shop for all things video streaming, has secured a $50 million funding round from an existing investor, Intercap. 

The investment bank’s CEO, Jason Chapnik, and its president, James Merkur, will also be added to the Los Gatos, California tech company’s board of directors, Chapnik as chairman. 

The $50 million adds to  $10 million already raised by Plex from Intercap, as well as other investors, including Kleiner Perkins. 

Also Read: Plex Launches Spanish-language Channels

Plex said that most of the money will be used to purchase shares and options from employees and shareholders. About $15 million is earmarked as growth capital. 

Plex was founded in 2009 and became a popular maker of software designed for users to access their personal digital music and video libraries. 

In the last several years, the company has grown its ambitions to become the portal in which all home streaming is managed—not just personal libraries, but all SVOD and AVOD services, too. 

Plex launched its own AVOD platform in 2019, and its own live channel guide last year. Its licensed catalog includes more than 20,000 free on-demand movies and TV shows, acquired from major media companies, as well as OTA feeds from more than 150 live broadcast channels. 

Plex said that it has more than 25 million registered users globally. 

“Everybody knows it’s a pain to sift through all the streaming services to find what you want to watch, and our goal at Plex is to manage your media life for you,” said Keith Valory, CEO at Plex, in a statement. “Our job is to understand where everything is, whether it’s from our free library of movies and shows, a subscription service, live on TV, or something you can purchase, and for Plex to be the trusted go-to service to help you find what you want, when you want it.”

Quasi-free streaming service Plex has announced the addition of Spanish-language programming to its recently launched live-linear streaming component. 

Plex, which combines a long-popular streaming media management software tool with a growing AVOD platform, said 25 live-linear Spanish-language options will roll out on its service over the coming weeks, brining its total linear channel selection to more than 100. 

Also read: Plex: Everything You Need to Know About the Geek Streaming Platform Flexing for Mainstream Attention

Six of those channels will roll out Thursday, with three coming from Sony Canal. The Sony Comedias channel, for example, will feature classic comedies including  Casados con Hijos (an adaptation of Married with Children), La Niñera (The Nanny) and Mi Bella Genio (I Dream of Jeannie).

There’s also dramas, telenovelas and musicals.

“A few weeks ago we launched free Live TV on Plex. Which was great—if you enjoy your content in English,” Plex said in a blog post announcing the additions. “If you were a fan of Spanish language content, there wasn’t quite as much to enjoy. So today we are excited to announce for our US audiences, that we’re adding a new serving of channels featuring a wide array of Spanish language content—telenovelas, game shows, sitcoms, movies, award-winning series and more.”

Technology vendor Wurl said that it has launched on its network 42 of the 80 live-linear channels being hoisted by streaming service Plex.

The channels include Reuters, The Bob Ross Channel, Game Show Central, Deal or No Deal, Wipeout Xtra, FailArmy, The Pet Collective, People Are Awesome and WeatherSpy. They from lstudios including Reuters, Cinedigm, Game Show Network, Endemol Shine Group (now Banijay) and Jukin Media.

Also read: Plex: Everything You Need to Know About the Geek Streaming Platform Flexing for Mainstream Attention

“As streamers increasingly shift their viewing to free, ad-supported linear programming, the Wurl Network is becoming the go-to CTV network for entertainment services like Plex, enabling them to achieve optimized channel performance while maximizing ad revenue,” said Sean Doherty, Wurl’s CEO.

Plex, which combines a popular media server software solution to a growing AVOD catalog of content and features, announced in late July that it would be adding 80 live-linear channels to its service.

Plex will be the featured, pre-installed video streaming app when the new retro-themed Atari VCS video game console hits store shelves later this year. 

Plex combines free, ad-supported streaming from major content brands (Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution, Crackle, Lionsgate, MGM, and more) with a popular media server solution that lets users access their own stored digital entertainment assets. A live/linear guide has recently been added, as has a virtual DVR.

Also read: Plex: Everything You Need to Know About the Geek Streaming Platform Flexing for Mainstream Attention

Plex hasn’t disclosed how many users it has at this point, but it will have primacy on the upcoming Atari VCS gaming console.

After myriad corporate mergers, sales and rebranding over the last 40 years, the Atari brand is now controlled by France’s Atari SA, which is traded on the Paris Stock Exchange. 

The company is targeting a November release for the Atari VCS, a box that combines modern gaming console and PC hardware (notably an AMD Ryzen 1606G processor Zen-core and Radeon Vega graphics) with retro design that nostalgically harkens back to the groundbreaking Atari 2600 console that was released way back in 1977. 

Atari SA is targeting a November release date for its console, with a base MSRP of $299. (Paying $399 will bundle two game controllers, one of them a joystick similar to what was used for the 2600.)

"We set out from the start to make the Atari VCS a home entertainment gateway by offering the versatility of a fully-featured mini-multimedia-PC, with a focus on classic and new games, and extensive streaming capabilities," said said Michael Arzt, COO of Atari VCS & Connected Devices. "Plex is the clear market leader when it comes to easily hosting and accessing a diversity of content from movies, to TV to Tidal music and more, which makes them an exciting partner for the Atari VCS at launch and beyond."

Plex, the streaming platform for hard-core computer geeks aiming for the mainstream Netflix market, is joining the live-streaming trend, announcing the addition of more than 80 live, linear channels to its platform.

Los Gatos, Calif.-based Plex is an outlier in the OTT business, combining a media server solution long popular with tech enthusiasts with a growing free ad-supported streaming service. 

In July, the platform added a new “Live TV on Plex” feature to its viewing options, with users able to stream linear channels including Reuters, Yahoo Finance, Tastemade, fubo Sports Network, Toon Goggles and Revry, just to name a few. 

The live channels add to an already established OTA feature that enables users to build a pay TV-like live/linear programming grid, complete with DVR. 

“Combining the new Live TV service with the over-the-air TV and DVR feature, Plex offers the most comprehensive and least expensive streaming TV service in the world,” Keith Valory, CEO of Plex, said.

Plex is following a business trend: Roku is also stacking around 120 licensed live, linear streaming channels with customer over-the-air antenna feeds, creating a grid that looks like your average Dish
Network guide. 

“Two of the most important factors for an enjoyable streaming experience are easily being able to find something of interest to watch, and being able to watch it from any device you choose,” Valory added. “Plex offers consumers across the globe a simple-yet-powerful platform for access to all types of content that can be streamed from all types of devices.”  

Plex’s core monetized offering is its media server technology. Plex allows users who store all their digital entertainment — music, illegally and quasi-legally ripped movies from DVDs, podcasts, etc. — on a personal computer or portable hard drive, accessing this content from a wide variety of digital devices. It charges $5 a month for the ability to gain this access via iOS and Android mobile devices.

There are plenty of media server solutions on the market that do the same things, but Plex has been lauded for the way it takes all your content and presents it in a contextualized way that would make Netflix proud. 

Adding live, linear streaming channels and an AVOD service, as well as music streaming service Tidal, achieves Plex’s goal of adding to its users’ personal media collections and making the platform an all-in-one media solution for users.

Plex has long been beloved by a certain class of geeky humans who acquire/rip/hoard vast gigabytes of digital media of all types. How geeky that crew can be is suggested by this how-to piece from January in, of course, PC Magazine that explains how to clean up the metadata and folder organization of your media using Plex’s tools. 

Plex software long has enabled what Gizmodo, as one example, called “a kind of build-your-own  Netflix,” though you could throw in Build Your Own Spotify, Apple Podcasts, home movies, photo apps, web services, and much else. 

Plex calls its software “like mission control for your content.” Bring together a local network and a sufficiently vigorous hard drive or other host device, and you can share your trove of media easily throughout your household and beyond. That’s still part of the Plex promise, but now the company is trying to catch up with digital media’s newest trends, especially streaming video from the Internet.

Also Read: Plex Adds Live 80+ Streaming Channels

“Our goal is to be the one platform for all your media and we will be making progress toward that goal in 2020,” CEO Keith Valory said at the Consumer Electronics Show in January. 

The Price for Plex

While Plex has long been well regarded for gracefully managing huge mounds of digital content, it’s come at a price that few consumers were willing to pay. After all, dealing with .mkv files and folder organization, never mind configuring your media server and hosting hardware, is about as far from a mainstream TV consumer’s expectations as imaginable. 

Plex needed to catch up, or risk becoming a trivia question along the lines of “Whatever happened to Napster?” And so it is trying, at a furious clip. 

Last December, the company launched its own ad-supported streaming service in more than 200 countries, a reflection of Plex’s significant international presence.

That free, ad-supported service initially featured about 1,000 movies on demand, including such familiar (and widetly licensed) titles as The Terminator, Ghost in the Shell and The Right Stuff. Studio providers included MGM, Warner Bros. TV, Lionsgate and Legendary.  Plex promised ad loads around 50 to 60 percent as heavy as a typical broadcast show.

The free content sits on the same Plex sidebar as other content, including an integration with music service TIDAL, podcasts, web shows, streaming news and other content.

The base service brings a variety of capabilities, such as mobile downloads, support for 4K and most file types, VR co-watching, multiple user accounts, file sharing, and playlists. 

The $4.99/month Plex Pass adds DVR capabilities, the ability to watch and record live TV (with your own digital antenna and tuner), parental controls, lyrics, trailers and more. The company said in December that it has about 15 million registered users, though a far smaller number subscribe to the Plex Pass.

“Two of the most important factors for an enjoyable streaming experience are easily being able to find something of interest to watch, and being able to watch it from any device you choose,” said CEO Valory. “Plex offers consumers across the globe a simple yet powerful platform for access to all types of content that can be streamed from all types of devices.”

Launching the free service immediately put Plex in competition with the Roku Channel, Tubi, Pluto, Xumo, and other free, ad-supported streamers. The competitor list has only grown since, with Peacock’s focus on its FAST tier, announced plans for a similar free tier at HBO Max, and the possibility that a beefed up “ViacomCBS All Access” might do the same. 

More Capabilities

Since that launch, Plex has continued to roll out other capabilities, beginning with CES announcements that provided a vague but substantial development roadmap. 

Among the functions that since have debuted is one small, Netflix-style change: skipping intros and catch-up material on episodic series. That’s a gift to power bingers and user experiences in general. 

In April, the company launched Plexamp, an update of the long-time MP3 music software, Winamp, as well as a dedicated app for all those eager administrators of Plex servers. Plexamp works across five platforms, including iOS, Android and Linux. Both projects were only for Plex Pass subscribers, designed to appeal to power users. In that, they were basically preaching once again to the geek choir. 

A few weeks later, the company launched Watch Together, for virtual watch parties. another increasingly popular function found on many major subscription services and third-party providers.

The biggest move so far came earlier this month, with the addition of 80 channels of linear TV programming to go with all those movies on Plex’s FAST service. Eight of the 80 channels came from Cinedigm, including ConTV, Docurama and the Bob Ross Channel. Crackle, with films from Sony and Paramount, joined Plex in May.

Executives told Protocol their take on live TV isn't a straight-up replacement for specific cable channels, but rather a “good-enough” experience for cord-cutters looking for cost-sensitive video alternatives in a lean-back experience. 

"It becomes a dirt-cheap way to replace cable," said co-founder and Chief Product Officer Scott Olechowski. Ultimately, it’s not so much about replacing cable as providing a cable-flavored future that will eventually offer hundreds of tightly focused niche channels with linear, lean-back programming. 

Olechowski said the viewing experience is slowly getting better too, as newer tech gets better at dropping in ad breaks. The company said ad loads are typically 50 percent to 60 percent of a traditional broadcast level. 

Still on the plate for Plex additions are subscription video, a transactional VOD market for rental and purchase, and a way to use Plex to launch streaming content that Plex doesn’t host, like all those big streamers that have debuted recently. 

The various add-ons move Plex toward its long-stated goal as a one-stop shop, if a geek-centric one, for all the possible digital-media needs a consumer might have. At the same time, Plex is jumping into new sectors with an imposing array of deep-pocketed incumbents. 

As it does so, Plex does have one potential superpower: the ability to connect and recommend programming from across all of a consumer’s holdings, regardless of the media type or whether it’s coming from a pay service, free streaming outlets, or the user’s own library. 

For instance, you could watch The Lion King, and get recommendations for the movie’s soundtrack from TIDAL, a podcast featuring director Jon Favreau, and a YouTube short about the voice talent. Should Plex’s recommendation capabilities and new features continue to build that kind of muscular cross-platform beast, and do it painlessly for consumers who aren’t electronics engineers, it truly will have something to flex about.

Plex is joining the live-streaming trend, announcing the addition of more than 80 live/linear channels to its platform.

Los Gatos, Calif.-based Plex is an outlier in the OTT business, combining a popular media servicer solution with a growing AVOD offering. 

Starting Thursday, the new Live TV on Plex featuring adds to the viewing options, with users able to stream linear channels including Reuters, Yahoo Finance, Tastemade, fubo Sports Network, Toon Goggles and Revry, just to name a few. 

As messily coordinated press strategies go, Cinedigm announced separately that it has made a deal with Plex, which includes eight of Cinedigm’s free, ad-supported channels worldwide: The Bob Ross Channel, Comedy Dynamics, Bambu, Docurama, CONtv, Dove Channel, CONtv Anime and Whistle Sports. 

Also read: Cinedigm Streaming Free Linear Channels on Plex

The live channels add to an already established OTA feature that enables users to build a pay TV-like live/linear programming grid, complete with DVR. 

“Combining the new Live TV service with the over-the-air TV and DVR feature, Plex offers the most comprehensive and least expensive streaming TV service in the world,” said Keith Valory, CEO of Plex, in a statement.

Plex is following a business trend: Roku, which is stacking around 120 licensed live/linear streaming channels with its customer’s OTA antenna feed and creating a grid that looks like your average Dish Network guide. 

“Two of the most important factors for an enjoyable streaming experience are easily being able to find something of interest to watch, and being able to watch it from any device you choose,” Valory added. “Plex offers consumers across the globe a simple yet powerful platform for access to all types of content that can be streamed from all types of devices.”  

Plex’s core, monetized offering is a media server technology. Plex allows users who store all their digital entertainment—music, illegally and quasi-legally ripped movies from DVDs, podcasts, etc.—on a personal computer or portable hard drive, accessing this content from a wide variety of devices. It charges $5 a month for the ability to gain this access via iOS and Android mobile devices.

There are plenty of media server solutions on the market that do the same things, but Plex has been lauded for the way it takes your all your content and presents it in contextualized way that would make Netflix proud. 

Adding live/linear streaming channels, an AVOD service, as well as music streaming service Tidal, achieves Plex’s goal of adding to its users personal media collections and making the platform an all-in-one media solution for users. 

Cinedigm has made a deal with Plex, which will stream eight of Cinedigm’s free, ad-supported channels worldwide.

Also read: Plex Adds Live 80+ Streaming Channels

The channels are The Bob Ross Channel, Comedy Dynamics, Bambu, Docurama, CONtv, Dove Channel, CONtv Anime and Whistle Sports. 

The move comes as more people stream video and are finding free content attractive.

“We are excited about the opportunity to provide our full channel catalog to Plex’s large user base of entertainment-focused fans," said Tony Huidor, Cinedigm’s general manager of digital networks. “Plex gives us access to a worldwide audience, much of it not reachable through our existing distribution footprint. We are excited about the opportunity to further establish our ad-supported channels worldwide.”

Plex has more than 20 million registered users.

Plex, a maker of popular software for organizing personal digital media, has announced the launch of an AVOD platform in around 220 countries.

In recent months, Plex had announced content deals with MGM, Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution, Lionsgate, and Legendary, structuring these arrangements to prioritize international rights.

It will be competing in a global market for ad-supported streaming that includes the Roku Channel, Viacom’s Pluto TV, start-up Tubi, Amazon’s IMDB Live and Vudu’s Movies on Us.

Related: Plex Licenses Movie Package from Warner Bros.

“Over time, we’ll be adding more stuff from different studios and creators—from Oscar-winning Hollywood movies to the latest from India, Russia, China, Japan, Africa, Latin America, Australia, New Zealand, and Europe to really cool independent movies fresh off the festival circuit,” Plex announced this morning on its company blog.

The Plex UI will be delivered through the company’s software, existing under a “movies and entertainment” heading. The platform will be accessible to Roku, Amazon Fire TV and Android TV, as well as iOS and Android mobile devices and many smart TVs, among other OTT ecosystems.

As Roku Channel, Pluto TV and other AVOD services are just beginning to aggressively seek international expansion, Plex says its service will enter the market with more content than its competitors.

“While there are certainly other free streaming services out there, we’re the first to offer a vast, free, diverse collection of content for a truly global audience,” Plex said. “Starting today, Plex will deliver more content to more countries than any other free streaming service to date.”

Plex, a maker of popular software for organizing personal digital media, has announced the launch of an AVOD platform in around 220 countries. 

In recent months, Plex had announced content deals with MGM, Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution, Lionsgate, and Legendary, structuring these arrangements to prioritize international rights. 

It will be competing in a global market for ad-supported streaming that includes the Roku Channel, Viacom’s Pluto TV, start-up Tubi, Amazon’s IMDB Live and Vudu’s Movies on Us. 

Related: Plex Licenses Movie Package from Warner Bros.

“Over time, we’ll be adding more stuff from different studios and creators—from Oscar-winning Hollywood movies to the latest from India, Russia, China, Japan, Africa, Latin America, Australia, New Zealand, and Europe to really cool independent movies fresh off the festival circuit,” Plex announced this morning on its company blog. 

The Plex UI will be delivered through the company’s software, existing under a “movies and entertainment” heading. The platform will be accessible to Roku, Amazon Fire TV and Android TV, as well as iOS and Android mobile devices and many smart TVs, among other OTT ecosystems. 

As Roku Channel, Pluto TV and other AVOD services are just beginning to aggressively seek international expansion, Plex says its service will enter the market with more content than its competitors. 

“While there are certainly other free streaming services out there, we’re the first to offer a vast, free, diverse collection of content for a truly global audience,” Plex said. “Starting today, Plex will deliver more content to more countries than any other free streaming service to date.”

Plex, the media server software company that lets its users make their own personal Netflix, has announced a deal with Warner Bros. Domestic Television to license ad-supported streaming rights to an undefined movie package.

The Los Gatos start-up, which is popular with the tech press these days because of its novel approach to video streaming, didn’t specify what movies are in the package, or how many titles it's licensing.

But given the line Plex has walked in regard to enabling digital piracy, the company’s willingness to license third-party content for its users would seem to signify a bold attempt to carve out a presence as a streamer of legit content.

Plex makes software that lets users organize videos and pictures on their computer—or computer server—then access them on apps made for a wide variety of mobile and connected TV devices.

For Plex, it’s what its users are organizing and playing back—which can be, in some cases pirated content, or over-the-air broadcast signals that would seem to also have rights issues—that has come under scrutiny.

“Plex has always been about solving new media challenges, and our mission is to tame the

growing chaos in the media landscape” said Keith Valory¨ CEO of Plex. “Licensing these

movies from Warner Bro.s enables us to offer more types of third-party content than any other platform and bring it all together in one beautiful solution. Premium ad-supported movies and shows deserve first-class treatment alongside other content that consumers enjoy daily¨ as

opposed to being orphaned in yet another stand-alone app.”

Plex said it has launched its Live TV feature on Roku devices. The addition lets Plex users watch live TV (via an integration with broadcast TV antennas and tuners) and use trick-play features like pause, rewind and fast-forward.

RELATED: Plex Brings Live TV to Apple TV

Out of the chute, Plex users on Roku are not yet able to schedule recordings through the Plex DVR, but can watch recordings from Plex’s other platforms, such as web browsers, Amazon Fire TV devices, Apple TV boxes, and IoS and Android smartphones and tablets.

Plex said the beta release for Roku is out today, with a release for all Plex Pass subscribers expected in about a week.

Plex’s offering is largely targeted to cord-cutters, and competes in that arena with companies and products such as Nuvvyo (the Tablo and the just-launched Tablo Dual), Dish Network (AirTV Player), TiVo (Roamio OTA), and ChannelMaster (DVR+), among others.

MVPDs such as Comcast are also starting to introduce skinny-bundle packages for broadband subscribers that center on the local major broadcast TV stations, plus the ability to buy add-on programming packages.

RELATED: Comcast Rolls Out ‘Xfinity Instant TV’ Beta

Building on its acquisition of Watchup earlier this year, Plex this week launched an OTT-delivered news service that curates content from several sources, including CBS News, CNN, Cheddar and Sky News.

The new, free offering also uses AI tools to help users personalize their news feeds, and also represents a follow-on to its Live TV and DVR offering for subscribers to the Plex Pass service.

RELATED: Plex Flexes Live TV Muscles

Plex said the customizable news offering will be rolling out to all users over the next 48 hours, starting with Plex Pass subs. It’s supported on several platforms, including Android TV devices, Apple TV, Roku players and TVs, Android and iOS mobile devices, with more to be added.

Other news partners include The Street, CNET, McClatchy, Hearst Television, Scripps, Tribune Media , Financial Times, and The Blaze. In all, Plex said more than 190 global publisher partners are involved in the news offering.

Plex is adding more platforms to the mix about two months after the company introduced a free live TV component that’s available to consumers who subscribe to its Plex Pass service.

RELATED: Plex Flexes Live TV Muscles

Plex said Live TV is now supported on Apple TV (requires version 1.4) and is adding Live TV and DVR support to Android mobile devices, joining iOS, and Android TV. Its own Plex web app is currently DVR-only. Plex also said its new platform has exited the beta phase and also enables trick-play functions (pause/play, rewind, and fast forward).

Plex’s new Live TV element links the Plex app to a video source such as a digital OTA TV antenna or a digital tuner.

The company said it’s also working on app updates for other platforms, including Roku, Amazon’s Fire TV and a range of smart TVs.

Plex’s offering is largely targeted to cord-cutters, and competes in that arena with companies and products such as Nuvvyo (the Tablo and the just-launched Tablo Dual), Dish Network (AirTV Player), TiVo (Roamio OTA), and ChannelMaster (DVR+), among others.

Offering another technology option for a small but growing group of cord-cutters, Plex has added a free Live TV component that’s available to all customers who subscribe to its Plex Pass service.

That live TV component, accessible by tying the Plex app to a video source such as a digital over-the-air TV antenna or a digital tuner, is now capable of integrating local HD broadcast channels that can be played back on iOS devices and Android TV devices, starting with the Nvidia Shield. Plex plans to add Android mobile devices and Apple TV boxes soon, followed by other streaming platforms. Outside the new live TV scope,

At launch, Plex’s live TV service, which includes an integrated programming guide, is compatible with several antenna and digital tuners, including the WinTV-dualHD, WinTV-HVR-955Q, Digital TV for the Xbox One and all SiliconDust HDHR models for North America, as well as several for Europe, Australia, Africa and Asia, including the TVButler 100TC, SiliconDust HDHR, and Freeview HD TV for Xbox One, among others.

Plex also views its new feature as a solid successor to Microsoft’s discontinued Windows Media Center product and as a complement to SVOD services like Netflix and Amazon Prime. Notably, Plex’s system also supports digital tuners with CableCARDs, such as HDHomeRun Prime from SiliconDust, for customers who do get a pay TV service from a cable operator.

According to Keith Valory, Plex’s CEO, the addition of a live TV component has been the most asked for feature among subscribers, a service that costs $4.99 a month, $39.99 a year, or $119.99 for a lifetime pass, and includes access to a DVR service with remote access of recordings that is currently being offered in beta, as well as offline playback. Plex users can set recordings from the TV as well as its app.

About 55% of Plex users are based outside the U.S., hence the reason to have broad tuner support, Valory said.

Plex, a privately held company that enables users to organize and stream content on multiple devices, won’t reveal its subscriber numbers, but the company has more than 13 million registered users.

Plex is also expanding into its own content following the recent acquisition of Watchup, an ad-based streaming news service that aggregates content from a wide range of sources.

RELATED: Plex Makes a Content Play

With the addition of live TV, Plex puts itself into a category that is being targeted by other suppliers of devices that bring local TV to an array of screen types, including Nuvvyo (Tablo and the just-launched Tablo Dual), Dish Network (AirTV Player), TiVo (Roamio OTA), and ChannelMaster (DVR+), among others.

Plex, the company behind a streaming app for local and cloud-based video and other media, is getting deeper into the content game via the acquisition of Watchup, an ad-based streaming news service that aggregates content from a wide range of sources.

Financial terms were not disclosed, but the near-term plan is to integrate Watchup into Plex, a media platform that supports several streaming platforms, including the Nvidia Shield, Xbox One and Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PS4, several smart TVs, Apple TV, Google Chromecast, Roku players, Web browsers, TiVo boxes and iOS, Android and Windows mobile devices boxes.

Plex expects to be in position to stitch in Watchup and launch it on an initial batch of clients by sometime in the second quarter of 2017, Keith Valory, Plex’s CEO, said.

Plex and Watchup started to discuss an integration plan last year, but that those talks evolved into M&A discussions.

“I think we both quickly realized that it would make sense if the user experience was more tightly coupled,” he said.

Founded in 2012, Watchup grew up as an ad-based offering.

While it’s too early to discuss future business models for Watchup once it’s tied into Plex, “we are approaching this now as a clean slate and we’re open to new creative ideas,” Adriano Farano Watchup’s CEO and founder, said.

Farano also confirmed that all of Watchup’s existing agreements with publishers have been carried over to Plex. There are more than 150 of those, but examples include CBS, CNN, Vox, Euronews, Hearst Television, as well as Watchup investors such as Tribune Media, McClatchy and Turner Broadcasting.

Other Watchup investors include Ned Lamont, founder of Campus Televideo, NextNews Ventures partners Gordon Crovitz, Jim Friedlich and Craig Forman, who are also former execs with The Wall Street Journal. Forman was recently appointed CEO of McClatchy). Watchup has raised about $4.3 million, according to Crunchbase. 

All nine employees of Watchup are joining Plex, the companies confirmed. 

More detail on the deal and its implications will be featured in the February 6 edition of Next TV, the special section that runs each week in Multichannel News and Broadcasting & Cable.  

Plex, maker of a media center platform that lets users access their stored digital media on TVs and mobile devices, has introduced a freshened up version of its app for Roku devices that shares the look and feel of the interface it offers on Xbox and PlayStation consoles and TV clients.

The company said the new, faster release is available as a Plex Pass preview private Roku channel. The new version for Roku currently supports video and music playback, with support for photos and playlists “coming soon.” 

Plex announced on its blog that it currently supports the Roku 1/2/3, Roku Streaming Stick and Roku-powered smart TVs. Customers who have already purchases the Plex app will automatically get the updated app following the preview period.