Cinedigm, a major American content distribution company, is applying blockchain technology to one of its streaming channels.
The company has partnered with decentralized video delivery network Theta Labs to integrate Theta's peer-to-peer streaming technology and cryptocurrency rewards into its CONtv Anime channel airing a wide range of anime series and movies.
CONtv Anime will feature micropayments in Theta Fuel (TFUEL), one of the two native tokens on the Theta blockchain. The token will be used as a reward for sharing video content by utilizing excess bandwidth and computing resources as well as watching the channel’s content. According to the announcement, fans will be able to earn up to $15 in tokens per month simply by watching content on their browser.
By incorporating Theta’s blockchain-based streaming technology, Cinedigm intends to boost user engagement and monetization while reducing costs. Theta Labs said that its streaming technology can lower video delivery costs by at least 50%.
Cinedigm's senior vice president of products and technology, Tony Huidor, said that the company views the partnership with Theta as a long-term opportunity. It’s a “key differentiator in the industry and we believe it will contribute to sustained viewer growth and engagement in the premium OTT segment,” Huidor said.
Wes Levitt, head of strategy at Theta Labs, said, “In this first implementation, CONtv users will earn TFUEL micropayment rewards for watching the content and relaying it to other CONtv users. Future integrations could see rewards used to unlock other content or unique experiences for token holders.”
“This is Cinedigm’s first publicly announced partnership with a blockchain project, though they recently publicly expressed interest in NFTs for their content library which we see as a very exciting potential collaboration point,” Levitt added. Theta Labs initially teased this partnership with Cinedigm in late 2020.
Earlier this year, Theta Labs enabled similar TFUEL micropayments features for projects like live poker entertainment platform World Poker Tour and entertainment distribution platform Shout! Factory.
As previously reported by Cointelegraph, the Theta network has seen some accelerated development recently, attracting collaboration from Fortune Global 500 firms like Google, Samsung and Sony. Amid the network growth, Theta Network’s token THETA hit new all-time highs in 2021, entering the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization in March.