Just days after video-sharing service Vimeo announced it had acquired white-label OTT platform company VHX, the company’s announced its first new partnership using VHX’s technology.
MHz Networks — which distributes foreign-language content subtitled in English in the U.S. — is now using VHX to power its SVOD network MHz Choice, available online and as an app for iOS, Android and Roku.
MHz Choice costs $7.99 a month and offers more than 3,000 hours of international content, including dramas, comedies and documentaries. Many of MHz Choice’s new season offerings are exclusive for U.S. viewers, including the Italian crime series Detective Montalbano (Inspector Montalbano in Italy).
“MHz Networks is not a technology company, we are a media company,” said Lance Schwulst, VP of content and digital strategy at MHz Networks. “We need to spend our resources telling our entertaining and compelling stories, not on developing a video delivery platform which is costly and time-consuming. VHX gives us the ability to do just that.”
The VHX acquisition by Vimeo promises to give Vimeo’s partners access to 280 million monthly users worldwide, to help build an audience for their channel offerings. The VHX acquisition also allows MHz to build in a new, in-app subscription feature for iOS devices.
“Online video is expanding from a few, mainstream subscription services into a flourishing world of interest-based streaming channels, much like the evolution from broadcast to cable television,” said Vimeo CEO Kerry Trainor, in a statement. “Vimeo is home to the world’s leading video creators and the viewers who love them, and we’re excited to add VHX’s team and technology to our streaming marketplace.
“As the video universe continues to unbundle, Vimeo offers the ideal home for the next generation of premium video channels serving passionate global audiences.”
