Partner Spotlight: Filmhub and Telus form partnership about Content Distribution
Editor’s Note: Our Partner Spotlight Series profiles streaming services from our partner network, giving insight to our content providers — filmmakers, producers and large catalog owners from around the world.
Filmhub is excited to announce a distribution agreement with Telus, Canada’s fastest-growing national telecommunication company. Telus will now discover and order new content from Filmhub’s open online marketplace.
Profile
Originally formed by the government of Alberta in the early 90s, Telus has grown to one of the largest telecommunication providers in Canada with over 8.9 million subscriber connections. Currently located in Vancouver, Telus offers multiple products and services for mobility, TV, Internet, and entertainment to its customers.
Through Optik TV, Telus’ IPTV based television service, subscribers can access live TV, manage and set recordings and view thousands of on-demand titles.
In December 2017, Telus launched a new, enhanced app for Optik TV, allowing users to access 185 channels. Telus was one of the first service providers offering 4K programming for content, including top streaming platforms like Netflix and Youtube 4K soon.
All on-demand titles from Optik TV’s library can be accessed through a TVOD (transactional video on demand) business model. Customers can rent or purchase movies and shows within the app by paying a one-time transaction fee.
Curation
All titles of Filmhub’s existing users are automatically eligible and offered to Telus and other newly added streaming services. (Filmmakers can always opt-out of specific services, business models and territories via Filmhub’s rights management tool.)
Telus curates its video catalog. While there’s no automatic delivery of every title, Telus programmers from now on regularly select movies and shows from Filmhub’s marketplace. Our platform promotes relevant content from our filmmakers to them, and our smart tech tools, including predictive analytics, help them select and order appropriate titles.
Partnership benefits
Telus’ large audience and reach will significantly increase the value of Filmhubs streaming network and for every title that is placed on the marketplace. With its large wireless consumer base of 8.9 million subscribers, Telus reaches a meaningful portion of Canadian households. “It’s a wonderful opportunity for our content owners. Signing distribution deals with such major telecommunication companies confirms Filmhub’s vision as an alternative to the traditional film distribution industry. With Telus and Filmhub, every producer now has a shot at getting his work to consumers all around Canada with the benefit of reaching an extremely wide audience and recognition,” Roger Jackson, Head of Sales and responsible for partner acquisition at Filmhub notes. “Telus understands the shift in audience demand to more variety and faster catalog refresh as consumers are adapting to new discovery models. This distribution deal also confirms that large telcos are now adopting Filmhub with its technology as an alternative to the traditional distribution model.”
Filmhub’s creators will benefit from this distribution deal with open access to a market previously locked up by gatekeepers of the film & TV distribution industry. They can now potentially stream their films and shows right next to big studio productions on mainstream channels of large telcos like Telus.
