Software developer Plex says its streaming media platform now has over 1,000 free, ad-supported linear content streams across its global footprint.
The announcement was made in a press release on Wednesday, through which Plex said it had a precise count of 1,112 linear content streams offering movies; local, national and international news; general entertainment series; lifestyle programs; sports; documentaries and music.
More than 800 of those free, ad-supported streaming television (FAST) channels are available in the United States, while the rest are spread across Plex offerings in Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, Brazil, Spain, Germany, Morocco and over 180 other countries.
Programming partners include Fox Corporation, the BBC, Paramount Global, AMC Networks, A+E Networks, Comcast’s NBC Universal, Euronews, Lionsgate, PBS and the E. W. Scripps Company, among others.
The news follows a revelation at the TV of Tomorrow Show in March, during which a CRG Global media researcher revealed a count of 1,963 FAST channels operating in the United States. Plex says it has 847 of those channels, or just over 43 percent of the domestic FAST channel catalog.
“Our aim for Live TV on Plex is to have something for all of our users’ television tastes all over the world,” Keith Valory, the CEO of Plex, said in a statement on Wednesday. “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.”
Consumers are just one part of Plex’s FAST equation — the other involves developing a product that ensures advertisers are able to target specific audiences across the content and linear channels available on the platform.
Plex says it has “unique reach, deep audience insights, and ad analytics” that enables the company to distribute campaigns that are “relevant to viewers with automation and efficiency.”
“As a tech company at our core, Plex has invested heavily in our advertising platform to ensure advertisers can buy premium inventory with full transparency, viewability, and at the highest yield,” Todd Hay, the Vice President of Revenue and Engagement at Plex, said on Wednesday. “Our platform optimizes each ad break for impactful reach for advertisers and for the best possible user experience – from real-time loudness leveling of creatives to de-duping and competitive separation within ad breaks. We aim to put advertisers’ messages in front of the right viewers in the best possible light. This makes it a win for all, as it should be.”
Plex says it goes beyond the expected pre- and post-roll advertisements: Their streaming app also offers a number of “innovative ad products” that allow Plex to “tap into users’ ability to manage intent on the platform.” And Plex has the ability to leverage its data to determine “what users want to watch, where they want to watch it and who they want to watch it with, across all content, not just what’s available on Plex.”
“Advertisers can leverage this incredible contextual awareness to build and target audiences within the product through sponsored hubs and takeovers or extend these campaigns offline with look-a-likes and audience extension,” Plex said.
