Jukin Media is extending the reach of its linear OTT efforts with a new deal with Samsung that is bringing the company’s FailArmyTV and The Pet Collective TV channels to select Samsung smart TVs.
“This deal puts FailArmyTV and The Pet Collective TV in millions of living rooms across the country, immediately making them more accessible to viewers on the largest screen in the home,” said Jukin Media chief growth officer Cameron Saless.
The two channels are based on FailArmy and The Pet Collective, two popular online video brands operated by Jukin. The integration is being realized via Samsung’s TV Plus video service, which the electronics giant launched in early 2017. TV Plus mimics the look and feel of a traditional pay TV service, presenting free, pre-scheduled and live OTT programming in an EPG-like guide.
Samsung isn’t the only consumer electronics maker to organize streaming content this way. The company’s main competitor LG has been relying on Xumo for a similar experience. And this summer, Vizio launched its own Watchfree service, which is powered by Pluto.
Linear-like OTT programming has been working out well for Jukin, which has been distributing its programming in this fashion to Xumo, Pluto and others as well. FailArmyTV and The Pet Collective TV are now being watched for more than 70 million minutes on connected TVs every month, according to a company spokesperson.
That’s why Jukin Media has been doubling down on linear OTT in recent months: The company announced in August that it was adding more traditional TV content to FailArmyTV, including content from Shout! Factory TV (“Mystery Science Theatre 3000”), The Asylum (“Sharknado”) and Nitro Circus. At the time, Jukin revealed that FailArmyTV and Pet Collective TV were seeing average viewing sessions of more than 40 minutes.