Smaller Streamers Band Together to Form ‘Independent Streaming Alliance’; Founding Members Include Cineverse, Scripps, More
There’s strength in numbers, and the axiom holds true every bit as much in the business world as it does in the natural world. That’s why smaller, independently-owned streaming platforms like Cineverse, kweliTV, Revry, and others are banding together to form what they have dubbed the Independent Streaming Alliance (ISA).
Founding members of the ISA include Allen Media Group, Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment (CSSE) — which owns Redbox and Crackle — Cineverse, Future Today, kweliTV, Revry, Scripps, Tastemade, TMB (Trusted Media Brands), and Vevo. Its stated goal is “to proactively engage and work collaboratively with consumers, platforms and media.”
“The formation of the ISA is long overdue,” CSSE chief revenue officer Philippe Guelton said. “We are joining forces to promote the value of independent streamers, and to work hand-in-hand with platforms, advertisers, and regulatory bodies to ensure that we have a healthy ecosystem that benefits everyone, not just the few.”
The Independent Streaming Alliance will also shine a spotlight on minority-owned businesses like Allen Media Group, Future Today, and kweliTV and use its platform to advocate for more diverse programming and a more equitable playing field industrywide.
“The [free ad-supported TV] space has been an exciting and important outlet for diverse and underrepresented communities over the past few years,” Revry co-founder and CEO Damian Pelliccione said. “The ISA is the industry support required for a global LGBTQ-first streaming media network like ours to continue to provide free ad supported TV for many years to come.”
Additionally, the Alliance will help other streamers with issues like audience measurement, data security, and other technical aspects of providing video to consumers.
“Most of the members of the ISA were early adopters of FAST and played a major role in its initial growth and adoption,” TMB chief business officer Cameron Saless said. “As this industry matures and consolidates, we believe that we can play an important role in helping our peers and partners solve some of the important challenges around content discovery, data privacy, and demand transparency, while also ensuring independent programming does not get left out of the equation.”
There will likely be more recruits to the ISA, as streamers search for ways to counter the power of giants in the industry like Netflix and Disney+. Countries like Canada and the United Kingdom have turned to regulatory measures to keep Netflix from gaining outsized power in their countries, but in the U.S. the balance of power is somewhat different. Smaller streamers that serve niche audiences still have a place in the domestic streaming market, but they are realizing they’re more powerful advocating for themselves as a group than as individuals.
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