beIN SPORTS’s Extra effort

Last month, beIN Media Group launched an ad-supported streaming service in the US designed to flank its linear services, beIN SPORTS and beIN SPORTS en Español, which count 14.8 million and 12.6 million subscribers, respectively. Cynopsis Sports asked Roy Meyeringh, vice president of business development and affiliate sales for beIN SPORTS in the U.S. and Canada, about how the platform fits into the programmer’s game plan.

Meyeringh on the strategy: beIN SPORTS EXTRA is a showcase for our content and our brand. Through the service, cord-cutters and cord-nevers will gain exposure to our quality programming. We want to guide them to linear networks and have them watch more content the way it should be – on TV.

On content: BeIN SPORTS EXTRA features select matches from La Liga (Spain), Ligue 1 (France) and Super Lig (Turkey). Soccer fans don’t only root for their clubs, but the audiences are passionate about and follow different players. There are so many matches on weekends taking place at the same time between 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. (ET), so there is a lot of content. Building on interest on women’s sports, we’ll show matches from the French national team and Paris Saint-Germain. It also has adventure and combat sports, plus news, highlights, analysis and digital-first programming. But the real differentiator for beIN SPORTS EXTRA among AVOD services will be our 800 to 1,000 live events.

On availability: Our goal is to be accessible in 60 million home early in 2020. We started with Roku and have a deal with Pluto TV, where we’re eager to launch. We’re in advanced stages of negotiations with two or three other digital platforms, talking with free-to-air stations, and want to work with traditional distributors. That number can compound depending on the deals.

On additional AVOD opportunities: beIN SPORTS has a presence in 43 countries on five continents, with content offered in seven different languages. The focus now is on beIN SPORTS EXTRA, which is our 59th local channel. We have 10 to 11 million subscribers in Canada. Our [U.S} rights cover leagues in Spain, France, Turkey and Brazil, so Portuguese-language. We could activate quickly.

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