MGM Network expands to OTT platforms

MGM Network, the AMC Network International subsidiary, after seeing 120,000 downloads of its Comet sci-fi channel app last year, has decided to expand its OTT platforms expecting a data-driven TV advertising to revitalize the studio’s library of films and TV shows. The company is eyeing an OTT app that can stream Light TV and Charge online.

Believing OTT data reinforces MGM Network’s linear revenue stream, senior VP Todd Parkin quoted, “Capturing OTT audience data, allows us to make some reasonable assumptions about who watches its programs, refining the network’s pitch to advertisers.”
MGM’s linear revenue is through multicast distribution, a compressed form of TV broadcast that typically doesn’t include live or high-resolution footage or the standard program-to-commercials pod structure. While MGM would certainly avoid original content production considering the huge cost involved, but as MGM compresses its programs into a multicast channel, it has an easy way to add TV distribution without the hassle of programming a new channel.