What Is Struum?

Cord-cutting, streaming, SVoD, OTT — the universe of on-demand television and movies has exploded in the last 10 years. And, despite lags here and there, streaming shows no signs of slowing down with a new streaming service seeming to pop up every few months. Struum, a streaming service set to launch this spring, could be the ticket to helping viewers manage their streaming subscriptions.

What Is Struum?

In recent years, there has been chatter about bundling streaming options, but the major players of the streaming industry, Netflix, Amazon, Apple, Disney, HBO and YouTube, have no incentive at this point to bundle their very popular services. And, although these big streaming services, “have a combined 75% share of the streaming video distribution landscape,” according to 2020 Nielsen data, there are more than 250 niche and specialty streaming services that are ripe for bundling. Enter Struum. Sarah Perez for TechCrunch reports, Struum “aims to take the ClassPass model and apply it to the streaming landscape. That is, Struum’s plan is to aggregate content from smaller video-on-demand services, then provide that under its own subscription.” 

How Will Struum Bundle Streaming Subscriptions?

The founders of Struum are heavyweights from the entertainment industry, and the intent behind Struum is to create a home for smaller streamer services that might be struggling to find audiences but still offer content people want to pick and choose from. The ability to watch a little bit of this on that streaming service and a little bit of that on this streaming service is a model that will resonate with many streaming fans. The Struum founders wanted to address the “underserved market of streamers” who according to  founder Lauren DeVillier, are “trying to find space and voice.”

Struum will work by offering customers a single subscription fee and then a batch of credits that subscribers can trade in to watch shows and movies from different streaming partners under the Struum umbrella. If a customer seems to always prefer one service over another, Struum will encourage them to subscribe directly to that service. “In other words, Strumm acts as a customer acquisition engine for its partners, in addition to hosting their content,” reports Perez. Three dozen services have already brokered deals with Struum, which amounts to more than 20,000 TV series, movies and shorts.

A Struum subscription is expected to cost $9.99 per month for 100 credits, which is enough for one show a day, but Struum fees could also be charged on a “case-by-case basis with each streaming partner, depending on demand,” explained Struum founders to The Wall Street Journal. Struum’s revenue will come from their own subscriptions and sharing deals with partners. 

What Should Digital Advertisers Think About Struum?

Although there are hundreds of streaming platforms, the majority of viewership time is spent with just a handful. And many of the most popular streaming platforms do not monetize content with advertising. Struum has the potential to give niche streaming content more reach, presenting additional opportunities for digital advertisers to be more niche with their over-the-top (OTT) campaigns.

In addition, once getting off the ground, Struum intends to use consumer data, gleaned from signups and viewing habits, to “optimize its [content] library.” These insights may present targeting and partnership opportunities for advertisers down the road. 

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