OKAST, SECOM, Kinostar, and VideoElephant partner to accelerate the development of FAST Channels in Europe
PARIS, France, May 11, 2022 – OKAST, the fast-growing SaaS solution for publishing white-label live and video-on-demand streaming platforms, partners with SECOM, Kinostar, and VideoElephant, to launch the FAST4EU Consortium. The goal of the Consortium is to accelerate the development of FAST (Free Ad-Supported Streaming TV) in Europe and provide a technological and content approach tailored to the European market with the ability to scale internationally.
With a 1.5M€ budget, co-funded under the “Europe Media Creative” umbrella for 3 years, the Consortium brings together:
- OKAST, Consortium leader, introducing its latest solution “OKAST Channels”,
- SECOM, the French broadcaster behind the channels Museum, MyZenTV, live in 98 countries,
- Kinostar, a German content producer and distributor catering to the German, Polish and Turkish communities globally, and
- VideoElephant, an Irish content and channel aggregator producing and distributing 100+ FAST channels worldwide.
The solution “OKAST Channels” offers a modular cloud-based modern playout and advertisement insertion solution. Designed to fit and compliment any already existing broadcasting or OTT deployment, the solution offers a complete suite of tools and an optimized ads monetization stack with inventory split thanks to a strategic partnership with the leading server-side-ad-insertion (SSAI) technology provider, Ad Insertion Platform. Complemented by the use of the iKast solution, specialized in the management of video consumption data and royalty calculations, the whole package offers a consolidated, transparent data adapted to this new distribution model.,
OKAST Channels then enables any company with a content library to easily build, launch, distribute and monetize FAST channels in a few days on video streaming platforms powered by FAST Channel Aggregators, Smart TV manufacturers, Telecom Operators, etc.
Consortium members already rely on the solution for their first FAST channel launches and benefit from the special attention that has been taken to address an EU-wide distribution strategy (multilingual content availability, content diversity, both in genres and in-country of origin) tailored to local and pan-regional regulations. They will ramp up their portfolio of channels to super-serve local audiences in each market with content that resonates with their values and cultures, hence showcasing the breadth of European programs available.
OKAST Channels also welcomes any content providers to access the Consortium’s extensive libraries and strong IPs should they need to supplement their programming while building their FAST channels.
Cedric Monnier, CEO of OKAST:
With this Consortium, we bring together technological, advertising, and content expertise, with the ambition to empower content providers, bringing us the best of European content, to embrace the FAST revolution with transparent, fair, and flexible revenue streams.”
About M.E.I Group (OKAST)
Founded in 2013 by industry veterans (formerly Canal +, France Télévision, NewsCorp, Ubisoft, Irdeto, Viaccess), M.E.I. Group builds the cloud-based solution OKAST for key industry players (TV channel, producer, web pure player.
A turnkey solution, OKAST.tv allows to easily deploy streaming and live audio/video platforms and monetize libraries. It provides everything from the streaming architecture, platform, and design to TV and mobile applications, as well as the complete management of payment systems, advertisement and management software including content management, user CRM, and analysis.
OKAST publishes, through its clients, more than 350 platforms worldwide. Among its clients are the SECOM group, Qwest TV, MCS Extremes, MCS Basket, Kinostar, Au Nom De la Terre.tv Allindi, IDance Music, Groupe Rouge, MAIF, Accenture, D-Edge, etc.
The company was incubated at TF1 and Audiens, now accelerated with EuraTechnologies, and already counts among its clients American, European, and Chinese major media, corporate companies, agencies, brands, and producers of TV, web, cinema, and advertising content.
About SECOM SA
Secom was founded by Bruno Lecluse in 2001 and operates five TV channels with nine versions distributed in 98 countries, including Museum TV, Museum 4K, myZen TV, myZen 4K, myZen nature, Melody, Melody d’Afrique, and well as the DAB radio stations Mélody in France and myZen, M Paris radios in Ile de France area.
About Kinostar
Founded 25 years ago by brothers Matthias and Michael Roesch and partners, Kinostar is a European theatrical distributor active in over 12 European countries, a cinema chain in Germany, a worldwide VOD aggregator for platforms including Apple TV, Google Play, Amazon and Netflix, a world sales agency and an SVOD channel operator. Besides the distribution of Hollywood and local movies as well as Event Cinema, one of the core strengths of Kinostar is the focus on servicing expats around the world, especially Turkish and Polish-speaking audiences.
About VideoElephant
VideoElephant is the world’s largest curated premium video library providing a one-of-a-kind content solution for online media, digital screens, and streaming platforms globally. Working with the biggest premium content creators in the world, VideoElephant sources, curates, programs, licenses and distributes premium video content as VOD assets, dynamic feeds, or FAST channels.
About Ad Insertion Platform (AIP)
Ad Insertion Platform Sàrl has specialized in dynamic ad insertion services for the broadcast and streaming industry since 2007. Our flexible, agnostic SSAI solution enables live or Video-On-Demand (VOD) ad insertion on Connected TV and OTT platforms, including Free Ad-Supported TV (FAST), and can be integrated with any existing ecosystem or infrastructure. Our Ad Break Composer allows customers to create, edit and optimize ad pods with easy drag-and-drop to deliver an exceptional, targeted user experience on virtually any player or connected device. When using the full DAIConnect® Suite, including our DAI Optimizer and monetization services, we can sell inventory, unsold inventory, or manage the entire ad sales process to increase fill rate and ad revenue.
About iKast
iKast.io is for digital content producers, publishers, and streaming platforms who struggle to keep track of sales, distribution, and royalties in SVOD, AVOD, and FAST business models.
iKast.io is a SaaS-based solution that manages content copyright licensing, checks users’ consumption across OTT platforms and FAST channels, and then automates money royalty calculation. Unlike other solutions, iKast.io leverages smart contracts to provide full transparency, solid data flow, and accountability.