Stan sets sights on 2m subscribers as it signs deals with MGM and Starz
Stan has announced it has reached 1m active subscribers in Australia, and is ambitiously seeking to double that number, with CEO Mike Sneesby declaring the subscription video-on-demand service (SVOD) is growing faster than ever.
The SVOD service – a joint venture between Fairfax and Nine – also announced international content deals with MGM (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) and Starz (now owned by Lionsgate).
Stan CEO Sneesby ringing the bell for 1 million active subscribers
Sneesby said Stan had become a benchmark for independent streaming services and “all eyes” were on 2m subscribers as it surpassed the all-important 1m milestone.
In addition, he noted premium content deals continue to drive customer retention and acquisition, while announcing multi-year output deals with the international players.
“We have set out to pioneer the future of television in Australia and today’s subscriber milestone is a great indication of how quickly Aussies are changing their TV viewing habits,” he said in a statement.
“Premium programming is the key driver of our business growth and strategy and today we have announced some important strategic partnerships that will help us continue to change the face of television in Australia.
“With these new partnerships with Starz and MGM it’s clear we’re only just getting started.”
The exclusive MGM deal brings a number of drama series and MGM movies – including the James Bond franchise – to Stan.
Sneesby and Stan also used tonight’s media update to re-enforce the company’s content creation credentials – after last update revealed its plans for Matt Okine’s The Other Guy, the revamped Romper Stomper and season two of Wolf Creek.
This year, Stan Original’s plans include Bloom, a six-part mystery drama made by production company Playmaker in partnership with Sony Pictures Television.
The series goes into production in August and will premiere exclusively on Stan later this year.
In addition, eight-part drama series The Gloaming, created by The Kettering Incident’s Victoria Madden, will begin production in Tasmania in the second half of this year in partnership with Disney’s ABC Studios International.
Stan also announced No Activity – its first-ever original content series which has since been commissioned as a separate standalone US series – will return with a local Christmas special.
No Activity: Back for the festive season in 2018
The show will reunite the original cast including Patrick Brammall, with production commencing later this year, ahead of its premiere in December.
The Jungle Entertainment production is a semi-improvised comedy, and this time around will feature the police duo – played by Brammall and Darren Gilshenan – keeping an eye on a disgruntled Santa Claus as he holds a group of innocent Christmas shoppers hostage inside a suburban shopping mall.
At the media update tonight, Sneesby said with the format’s international success, it was a relief to bring the show temporarily back to its home base and celebrate where it all began – sentiments then echoed by Nick Forward, Stan’s chief content officer in a statement.
Forward said: “No Activity has made its way around the world, from Hulu in the US to the BBC in the UK. With another season of the US version to come later in the year, now feels like the right time to bring the team back to Australia for a very special production and we can’t wait to see what kind of havoc Trent, Patrick and the team wreak on Christmas 2018.”
Chloe Richard, Jungle Entertainment’s chief operating officer added: “We promise Christmas festivities and more laughs as our original team bring you The Night Before Christmas police debacle.”
topics
Chloe Richard
darren gilshenan
Jungle
Lionsgate
Metro Goldwyn Mayer
MGM
Mike Sneesby
Nick Forward
No Activity
Patrick Brammall
Stan
Starz
SVOD
Wake up Foxtel!
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1m subscribers… ??
How do we know Stan haven’t just created a whole stack of fake accounts who don’t use the service.
I want to hear how many unique ID’s have logged in over the past 4 weeks.With a month on month unique logged in user review.
Until then, 1m is a waste of our time.
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I’d question how many of those 1m users were either active, full subscription paying or not currently within a trial period.
Stan have had a variety of bundling and trial offers with TV manufacturers, internet providers and of course Fairfax.
The headline number is meaningless.
The conversion rate from trial to full subscription or average subscription retention period would be more indicative of their success.
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Congrats to Stan on achieving 1million subs, you guys are well on the way to surpassing Foxtel (they need to get their act together) which can only be a good thing as more people cut the cord and take up multiple SVOD services.
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