Struum, the new streaming service from former Disney and Discovery managers, is officially unveiled to the public today. In contrast to conventional on-demand streamers such as Netflix, the Struum model is more like a “ClassPass for streaming”, as it is planned to combine content from smaller video services and then provide access under a separate subscription.
Today, the streaming landscape is dominated by larger subscription services, including Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV +, HBO Max, Disney +, and YouTube, which together have a 75% market share, according to Nielsen. But Struum believes there is potential for another service powered by the long tail of 250+ niche and specialty streamers.
Many of these smaller services offer their own subscriptions but never reach the Netflix size due to their limited catalog and scope. Struum offers them an alternative route to sales. Struum customers pay a subscription fee of $ 4.99 each month to access the Struum app. There they receive 100 “credits” with which they can test and consume content – just like ClassPass for fitness courses.
If the customer continues to use his subscription over time to routinely access content on a service, he can choose to become a subscriber to that service within the Struum app. This part of the business isn’t all that different from Amazon Prime Video Channels or similar. The difference, however, is that Struum’s sampling model helped the client discover the niche streamer in the first place.
Meanwhile, Struum generates its own income from customer subscriptions that it shares with its content partners. However, it doesn’t say what type of cut it will take.
Credit: Struum
At the start, more than 25 partners are available via the Struum app, including Tastemade, Tribeca, Cheddar News, Kocowa, Dekkoo, Magellan TV, Geschichtshit, Gusto, Young Hollywood, Indieflix, Filmbox, Echoboom Sports, Social Club TV and Cinedigm, Magnolia Pictures, Little Dot Studios, Group 9, Stingray and SPI / Filmhub.
Later this summer, the lineup will expand to more than 50 partners, including BBC SELECT, REVOLT, France Channels, InsightTV, Docubay, FuelTV, The Great Courses Signature Collection, Shout Factory TV, OUTtv, SVTV, CGOOD TV and Alchimie.
Overall, Struum’s partners provide customers with access to dozens of movies and TV shows in a range of categories and genres, including classic films, indies, foreign content, cult hits, lifestyle programs, reality, real crime, and much more.
Credit: Struum
The Struum app guides users to their interests via a simple interface, in which content is summarized in editorial groupings that are organized similar to the recommendation lines in Netflix. This includes the company’s own picks (“Struum Selects”) as well as groupings according to genres such as comedy, action thriller, LGBTQ + documentaries, class films, incredible science and others. You can also search by Type from categories above to filter for Movies, TV Shows, or Short Movies only.
When you find something you want to watch, you can click a button to stream its content for a certain number of credits. You can then view this content at any time for the next 30 days and even download it for offline access.
At the start, the Struum service is available for iOS and the Internet and supports AirPlay and Chromecast. This summer, it will be expanded to other platforms including Android, Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV, and Roku.
Credit: Struum
The idea for the company came from founder Lauren DeVillier, the former product manager of Discovery Ventures. Eugene Liew, former vice president, product and technology, Disney +; Paul Pastor, former executive vice president of strategy, revenue, and operations for Discovery Networks; and Thomas Wadsworth, the former head of Advanced Product Development at Walt Disney Imagineering.
The team met in 2020 just before the Covid-19 pandemic broke out in the United States, which resulted in increased demand for streaming content. And while that demand remains, it remains to be seen whether Struum’s ClassPass-like model is best for the long tail of streaming.
Despite its unique streaming business model, the service will effectively compete with Ad-Supported Video on Demand (AVOD) players for aggregating older and niche content. AVOD services – like Tubi, Pluto TV, The Roku Channel, IMDb TV, and others – are also helping users who can’t find what they want to see in their favorite paid subscription apps. And they often help consumers who are looking for a particular movie or show but don’t want to pay rent. Struum believes that aggregating content can encourage these users to pay for another subscription.
In other words, Struum has to convince users to change their existing TV habits in order to succeed, and that’s a risky bet.
However, Struum believes that the fragmentation of the streaming market could actually work in its favor. With consumers so tired of so many different services and content that rightholders forge new license agreements, Struum could step in as someone else’s fourth subscription.
We see ourselves as the ultimate complementary service and the perfect match for TV and movie lovers who are increasingly frustrated with the cost, complexity and effort it takes to discover and see what they want, ”said Lauren DeViller , CEO of Struum.
Struum is supported by a multi-million dollar investment from former Disney CEO Michael Eisner through his Tornante Company. Other investors include Firstlight Media, whose technology supports the video service, and Gaingels, which focuses on helping LGBTQ + founders and allies.