Broadband TV (BBTV), a media-tech company based in Vancouver, has entered a partnership with Los Angeles-based Spotter worth $154.7 million CAD ($125 million USD).
A brainchild of CEO Shahrzad Rafati, BBTV was launched in 2005 as a result of Rafati’s passion for the democratization of content. BBTV leverages machine learning, digital signal processing, and big data to streamline the distribution and monetization process of online content.
BBTV wants to scale creator growth and monetization opportunities for the company’s existing library of creator content.
The Toronto Stock Exchange and OTCQX Market-listed company offers a suite of digital tools such as its content management platform, advertising solutions, interactive mobile gaming apps development, as well as ecommerce and merchandising offerings.
BBTV went public on the TSX last October, raising total gross proceeds of over $172 million CAD, and also buying out German media company RTL Group’s interest in BroadbandTV. The company currently trades on the TSX under the symbol ‘BBTV.’
In January, BBTV claimed it had the second most unique monthly viewers among digital platforms with more than 600 million unique viewers globally, who consumed more than 50 billion minutes of video content.
For the first quarter of 2021, BBTV Holdings, the company behind BBTV, generated $107 million CAD in revenue for 16 percent revenue growth year-over-year compared to Q1 2020.
According to BBTV, this year-over-year increase was the result of new partnerships and a rise in viewership. The company also noted a 41 percent decline in revenue when compared to Q4 2020, when the company generated $151 million in revenue.
BBTV also closed its convertible debenture and refinancing deal in June, collectively valued at $66.27 million.
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Through its brand deal with Spotter, BBTV wants to scale creator growth and monetization opportunities for the company’s existing library of creator content. The partnership provides BBTV and its creators higher immediate revenue on content, providing up-front cash that can be leveraged for further growth in exchange for Spotter’s right to receive revenue generated from existing content.
Founded in 2019 by Aaron DeBevoise, Spotter provides YouTube creators with up-front cash in exchange for acquiring the rights to their back catalog of videos for a limited time. As reported by Fast Company, Spotter uses a prediction engine where the company is able to value and underwrite video content for anywhere from $50,000 to more than $30 million.
Currently, Spotter claims it is one of the largest independent owners of brand-safe YouTube content that delivers more than 9.4 billion views per month and 35 billion monthly watch-time minutes across all content categories.
Spotter has already deployed approximately $18 million to BBTV creators.
