Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Wurl Pivots Into Pay-as-You-Go' Streaming

22/01/2019

Why This Matters: Wurl is providing content companies with a technical assist as they get into the streaming business.

With Sinclair Broadcast Group launching the latest over-the-top platform, the content companies backing its STIRR ad-supported programming bundle don't want to have to reinvent the wheel in developing all of the complicated streaming tech needed to run channels on the service.

Enter Palo Alto, Calif.-based Wurl, a one-stop shop for content brands like FailArmy and Stadium. For these channels, STIRR is one distribution hub within a broader OTT universe that also includes Samsung TV Plus, Roku, Xumo and Twitch, just a to name a few.

Wurl CEO Sean Doherty

Each of these platforms have very complicated specs and requirements for on-boarding and advertising, Wurl CEO Sean Doherty told B&C at CES earlier this month. There are lots of things you have to do exactly right, and no two companies have exactly the same specs.

You use us to host your programming, he added. Then you arrange distribution deals with these video services, and we make the connections that deliver the streaming 24/7 and forever. It's a one to many solution, If you're ABC News, for example, you don't want to deal with four different [technology shops] and have to manage linear programming and VOD separately for four different services.

Handling everything from scheduling to markers to ad integration, Doherty's startup has adopted a kind of pay-as-you go model. Content creators pay the tech company around 2 or 3 cents per each hour a consumer spends streaming video.

For the first three years after Wurl pivoted into this model, business was slow, Doherty said. But starting in September, right around the time Wurl launched its latest service offering, the server-side ad insertion tool AdSpring which it officially announced last week business began to take off.

With a growing stable of content clients including Fox, NBC, MGM, Sony, ABC News and Crunchyroll using Wurl's engineering assets to distribute to an ever-expanding group of platforms that also includes Pluto TV, Sling TV, Sony PlayStation Vue and YouTube TV, Wurl's business has hit a kind of critical mass.

Total monthly viewers are averaging around 3.5 million a month, with total hours of viewing coming in at around 10 million a day. Ad inventory is up around 70%.

I used to say this company would never go public, because it's a [business-to-business] company and not a consumer-facing brand, Doherty said. Markets tend to want something they can buy at the store. But at the pace we're growing, I think it's possible.

Kicking Cable to the Curb

Doherty, a veteran technology executive who has spent two decades in Silicon Valley, playfully bristled when asked about his cable background. But from 1995-97, he served as president and chief operating officer of @Home Networks, a joint venture between Comcast, Cox Communications and TCI that was among the first to deliver high-speed data over the cable plant.

During that experience, Doherty said he learned about how fearful at the time cable operators were about video delivery in the broadband plant.

Jump to 2010, when Doherty joined Wurl, then a two-year-old startup the cable industry's attitude toward IP video had evolved from fearful to merely indifferent.

What we were trying to do at the time was bring internet video to cable, working with Comcast and Arris and WOW and TiVo and all these set-top makers to import video from the unmanaged internet onto cable boxes, he explained.

Developing an audience of only around 2 million subscribers and finding little traction, Doherty convinced Wurl's cable partners to let the company deliver its content brands, which included internet companies such as IGN and Awesomeness TV, in the form of linear networks and onto the main program guide.

Viewership spiked, but cable companies still were doing little to support what they perceived as fringe internet content brands.

So we had to create all this stuff to linearize the programming, Doherty said. That included the scheduling, the markers, the ad insertion all of that stuff. It worked technically, but it still didn't work commercially on cable because the operators still weren't embracing it. And we knew it would take forever to get them to embrace it.

Well, not forever. Comcast, for example, has natively integrated internet platforms ranging from Netflix to YouTube to Cheddar on its X1 platform, and other cable operators are beginning to perform similar integrations. But by not waiting around, and pivoting to exclusively focus on a technical role as a liaison between content makers and OTT platforms, Wurl turned the corner at the right time, scaling its business to match rapid OTT consumer adoption.

Business these days, Doherty explained, is largely driven on the platform side by services such as STIRR, which refers its content partners over to Wurl for engineering fulfillment.

We don't do any outbound marketing, Doherty said. We just kind of wait for the phone to ring.

Why This Matters: Wurl is providing content companies with a technical assist as they get into the streaming business.

With Sinclair Broadcast Group launching the latest over-the-top platform, the content companies backing its STIRR ad-supported programming bundle don't want to have to reinvent the wheel in developing all of the complicated streaming tech needed to run channels on the service.Subscribe for full article

Member Exclusive

Get Access to Our Exclusive Content

Learn MoreAlready subscribed? Log In
LINK: https://www.broadcastingcable.com/news/wurl-pivots-into-pay-as-you-go-...
See more stories from bandc

Most recent headlines

13/03/2025

FCC Chairman Carr Launches Massive Deregulation Initiative

WASHINGTON FCC Chairman Brendan Carr announced that the agency has launched a massive, new deregulatory initiative that could potentially subject virtually all ...

13/03/2025

SDVI Integrates Rally With Spectra Vail

SUNNYVALE, Calif. SDVI has announced that it has integrated its Rally media supply chain management platform with the Spectra Vail multi-cloud data management s...

13/03/2025

FCC Approves Gray's Acquisition of KXLT

ATLANTA Gray Media has announced that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has granted a waiver of its local ownership rules to permit Gray Media to acqu...

13/03/2025

NAB Show 2025 Exhibitor Insight: Blackmagic Design

TV Tech: What do you anticipate will be the most significant technology trends at the 2025 NAB Show?...

13/03/2025

Watch Student Naomi Soleils Folk Pop Performance on The Voice

Watch Student Naomi Soleils Folk Pop Performance on The Voice The songwriting major sang Stars by Grace Potter and the Nocturnals during the blind auditions. ...

12/03/2025

Como o Impacto Cultural e Financeiro da Indstria Musical Define Seu Sucesso em 2025

O Spotify acaba de lan ar o relat rio Loud & Clear deste ano, uma vis o transpar...

12/03/2025

Cmo el impacto cultural y financiero de la industria musical define su xito en 2025

Spotify acaba de presentar el informe Loud & Clear de este a o, una mirada trans...

12/03/2025

Nourish Mind, Body, and Soul This Ramadan With Spotify

Ramadan, a period of profound spiritual significance for Muslims worldwide, is a time for fasting, prayer, reflection, and community. Enrich your experience thi...

12/03/2025

How the Music Industry's Cultural and Financial Impact Define Its Success in 2025

Spotify has just unveiled this year's Loud & Clear report, a transparent loo...

12/03/2025

FAST now transcends back catalog content

More than 70% of FAST programming has been produced since 2010, according to new Gracenote report NEW YORK March 12, 2025 Gracenote, the content data busin...

12/03/2025

Viamedia Adopts ShowSeeker Pilot To Streamline Ad Workflows

GEONA, Nev. Independent digital and linear advertising rep firm Viamedia will adopt cloud-based ShowSeeker Pilot as its primary ad campaign and order management...

12/03/2025

Mediagenix Appoints Wael Yasin as Sales Director Central Europe

BRUSSELS Mediagenix has announced that Wael Yasin has joined the company as sales director Central Europe....

12/03/2025

Omdia: Global Online Consumer Expenditure to Hit $6.6 Trillion by 2029

LONDON A new study highlights opportunities for shoppable TV and the massive impact online consumer spending is having on the economy, with Omdia predicting tha...

12/03/2025

Comcast Technology Solutions Upgrades to Interra Systems BATON Version 9

CUPERTINO, Calif. Interra Systems has announced that Comcast Technology Solutions has integrated recent updates to BATON Version 9 into its operations....

12/03/2025

Nevion announces new 400G addition to its eMerge SDN media fabric offering

Nevion announces new 400G addition to its eMerge SDN media fabric offering Brie Clayton March 12, 2025 0 Comments High-capacity switch enhances existi...

12/03/2025

DaVinci Resolve Studio Delivers Cinematic Sound for Adam Bol

DaVinci Resolve Studio Delivers Cinematic Sound for Adam Bol Brie Clayton March 12, 2025 0 Comments Feature film relies on DaVinci Resolve Studio for ...

12/03/2025

SVT Leverages Ateliere Live to Pioneer 100% Software-Defined Production at Rally Sweden 2025

SVT Leverages Ateliere Live to Pioneer 100% Software-Defined Production at Rally...

12/03/2025

Berklee Awards Fenway Neighborhood Improvement Grant to Four Organizations

Berklee Awards Fenway Neighborhood Improvement Grant to Four Organizations A total of $17,000 will be distributed among the Boston-based nonprofits. By Madd...

12/03/2025

Offering a broad umbrella for IP standards

TVBEuropes Jenny Priestley sits down with new SMPTE president Richard Welsh to discuss his aims for the organisation going forward, its efforts to attract a you...

12/03/2025

Warner Bros Belgium takes a new approach to its post production workflows

The new process has significantly enhanced operational efficiencies, with automation freeing up creators to concentrate on higher value tasks By Matthew Corrig...

12/03/2025

Another VFX company suspends operations

Jellyfish Pictures, which has offices in London and Sheffield, said it has been battling hard in the face of strong headwinds over the last 12 months By Jenny ...

12/03/2025

Bitcentral to Showcase AI-Powered Innovations for Smarter...

Visit Booth #W2213 to Experience the Latest in AI-Driven Content Discovery and Workflow Automation Bitcentral, a leader in media workflow solutions, is set to ...

12/03/2025

Jeff Lilly Named WGN-TV Director Of Technology

CHICAGO Jeff Lilly has been named WGN-TV director of technology effective March 17, 2025, according to Ric Harris, WGN-TV vice president and general manager....

12/03/2025

Survey: Consumers Want More Shoppable TV Experiences

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. A new study from LG Ad Solutions indicates that consumers want more features that would allow them to shop for products on the connected T...

12/03/2025

IP Showcase To Focus On IP, Broadcast Tech Convergence at 2025 NAB Show

BOTHELL, Wash. The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS), Advanced Media Workflow Association (AMWA) and the Video Services Forum (VSF) will once again present...

12/03/2025

Comcast Boosts Internet Speeds for More Than 20 Million Customers

PHILADELPHIA Comcast announced that it has upgraded Xfinity Internet speeds for more than 20 million customers for no additional cost....

12/03/2025

Create with Maxon: Cinema 4D Fundamentals Workshop - March 12-14

Create with Maxon: Cinema 4D Fundamentals Workshop - March 12-14 Brie Clayton March 11, 2025 0 Comments Makin' Waffles with Elly Wade During Marc...

12/03/2025

Ross Video Strengthens Cloud Leadership with Appointment of Aaron Tunnell

Ottawa, Canada - March 12, 2025 - Ross Video is pleased to announce the appointment of Aaron Tunnell as Business Development Director, Cloud Solutions, reinforc...

12/03/2025

VEON to release 4Q 2024 trading update on 20 March 2025

12 Mar 2025 VEON to release 4Q 2024 trading update on 20 March 2025 Dubai, 12 March 2025 - VEON Ltd. (NASDAQ: VEON), a global digital operator, today confirms ...

12/03/2025

Getting Set for the Winter Olympics: Inside SVT's Ongoing Software-Based Production Evolution

Getting set for the Winter Olympics: Inside SVT's ongoing software-based pro...

12/03/2025

Seamless SMPTE 2110: A Discussion on Making the Move to IP Less Painful

Seamless SMPTE 2110: A Discussion on Making the Move to IP Less Painful Leaders from Netflix, Monumental Sports & Entertainment, LinkedI, and Megapixel address ...

12/03/2025

Opening Doors of Perception: Meta's Ajit Ninan on Rethinking AR/MR Perceptual Displays

Opening Doors of Perception: Meta's Ajit Ninan on Rethinking AR/MR Perceptua...

12/03/2025

Sky Sports Unveils Exciting Plans for 2025 Formula 1 Coverage

With the 2025 Formula 1 season set to begin in Melbourne on March 16, Sky Sports is gearing up to deliver its most comprehensive F1 coverage yet. Following a th...

12/03/2025

Unicanal and Trece TV revolutionize Digital TV in Paraguay with Rohde & Schwarz transmission solutions

Unicanal and Trece TV revolutionize Digital TV in Paraguay with Rohde & Schwarz ...

12/03/2025

Honoring Service, Celebrating Sport: Rohde & Schwarz UK Sponsors NavyFit Rugby Double-Header

Honoring Service, Celebrating Sport: Rohde & Schwarz UK Sponsors NavyFit Rugby D...

12/03/2025

FOR-A America Introduces Top of the Line HANABI Series Switcher at NAB 2025 Exhibition

New HVS-Q12 Represents a Quantum Leap in Switcher Design...

12/03/2025

Telespazio and ABS Expand Partnership to Deliver Tailored C-Band Connectivity Solutions for the Brazilian Market

Telespazio and ABS Expand Partnership to Deliver Tailored C-Band Connectivity So...

12/03/2025

Congratulations to all our clients who have achieved TAG certification through our independent validation

ABC conducts independent audits across the TAG programs. In the March 2025 TAG s...

12/03/2025

Moonlight: Thales Alenia Space to develop the space segment of the navigation system orbiting around the Moon

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Moonlight: ESA program to create a satellite con...

12/03/2025

Thales among the world's top 100 most innovative companies for the 12th year, according to Clarivate

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn In 2025, Thales ranks among the top 0.01% of the...

12/03/2025

CCPC sponsored TV series The Complaints Bureau returns to RT One

Consumer show back following hugely successful first series 10 March 2025 Following a hugely successful first series, The Complaints Bureau returns to RT ...

11/03/2025

Give Me the Backstory: Get to Know Amel Guellaty, the Writer-Director of Where the Wind Comes From

By Lucy Spicer One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festival...

11/03/2025

Salsa's Rhythmic Revival: A New Generation Discovers the Genre's Timeless Appeal

Salsa is making a comeback, captivating new listeners with its infectious energy...

11/03/2025

Canada's Own Rupi Kaur Curates the Latest Edition of Local Spot, Revealing the Songs and Artists That Shaped Her

For many people, music can serve as a reflection of their roots and upbringing. ...

11/03/2025

ST Engineering iDirect's Public Safety Solution Wins MSUA Satellite Mobile Innovation Award 2025

The solution delivers reliable, scalable and secure connectivity for critical pu...

11/03/2025

Weigel Broadcasting Taps Harmonic for Cloud-Based Playout-to-Delivery

SAN JOSE, Calif. Harmonic has announced that Weigel Broadcasting has deployed Harmonics VOS Media Software, which offers playout-to-delivery capabilities, inclu...

11/03/2025

Wheatstone To Unveil Linux Audio Driver At 2025 NAB Show

NEW BERN, N.C. Wheatstone will introduce a Linux audio driver for its WheatNet IP audio network during the 2025 NAB Show, April 5-9, at the Las Vegas Convention...

11/03/2025

Study: Women's Sports Are a Big Win for Advertisers

NEW YORK A new study finds that as TV viewership for women's sports surged by 131% in 2024, the programming also saw a 56% year-over-year increase in ad im...

11/03/2025

Al Sharqiya prepares for Ultra HD with FOR-A

Powerful switcher for news studio FOR-A, a cutting-edge video broadcast technology company backed by more than 50 years experience, has installed its HVS-1200 ...