Studio71 US has acquired over 50 Connected TV (CTV) apps from video technology company Unreel Entertainment.
The deal will give Studio71 a combined network of more than 200 owned-and-operated CTV apps.
The network of CTV apps — a collection of programming that spans apps centered on individual creators, like animator Alex Clark and gaming creator X7 Albert, as well as genre-based apps such as gaming app Level One – will be used to extend Studio71’s advertising network to streaming programming. Other CTV apps include Throttle.TV, which features auto videos, and Fun Zone, which focuses on children’s programming.
Studio71 will bundle its CTV apps advertising inventory with its YouTube ad inventory to provide more reach across platforms to advertisers. Connected TV is increasingly popular with advertisers as it allows more refined audience-targeting capabilities.
The company’s CTV ad revenue has increased by 275% over the past year and has grown by 20% on average for each month since the start of 2019. The 200-plus CTV apps that Studio71 now owns combine to give the company more than 200 million monthly ad impressions to sell to advertisers.
The deal with Unreel Entertainment extends a relationship which previously saw Studio71 develop 100 Roku apps for a number of YouTube stars within its network.
Adam Boorstin, Chief Business Officer of Studio71, told Digiday magazine this week: “We’re already generating millions of dollars from selling across YouTube and its network of connected TV apps, and we see our position in the marketplace as having a lot more long-term value if we can sell successfully across every platform.”