Xumo Reaches 5.5 Million Monthly Users, 300% Revenue Growth
More growth ahead as it expands to new platforms like Amazon Fire TV and international markets
As Live TV Streaming Services like YouTube TV and DIRECTV NOW continue to struggle to turn a profit, ad-supported streaming services like Pluto TV, Tubi, and Xumo have turned the corner. With each company sharing that they turned a profit by the end of last year, they have focused on growing their platforms.
In an interview with Business Insider, Xumo CEO Colin Petrie-Norris said the streaming service saw 300% revenue growth in the first quarter of 2019 compared to a year ago. Much of that growth in the coming from partnerships with companies like LG where they have a white-label streaming services and Xfinity which bundles it on both their Xfinity X1 and Flex platforms. Xumo will also be a part of T-Mobile’s TVision $90 a month cable-alternative that the company announced last week.
With the new platforms, the streaming service now has 5.5 million monthly users — which is nearly a third of Pluto TV’s user base. The company, which was recently acquired by Viacom, announced last week that they now have 15 million monthly users.
While the company has good reach to users with Smart TVs, Roku streaming players, and mobile devices, they still don’t have streaming apps for Fire TV and Apple TV. They will be launching on Fire TV soon, and Petrie-Norris suggests other devices are on the horizon as well. With the additional distribution and growth, the company hopes to expand form 27% to 80% of U.S. Households by the end of the year. He shared that they will be expanding to Europe this year as well.
Xumo was founded in 2011 as a joint venture between Panasonic and Meredith-owned, Viant. There have been rumors that Xumo may be on the market as well — with Sinclair Broadcast Group as the leading suitor. Earlier this year, Sinclair launched their own ad-supported streaming service, STIRR.