Children's edutainment channel NuNu TV (Sprout Studios) has increased its CTV revenue by over 50% following a partnership brokered with video monetisation and distribution company VlogBox in 2020.
In the ultra-competitive world of CTV, video makers have to put more effort into strategy, which takes over half of all activity including video creation itself. There needs to be more information here - who is testing placements or what are the results of the testing? On their way to reaching new US audiences, NuNu TV and VlogBox had to overcome major impediments:
Meagre US audiences on their YouTube channel: What's the difference between the North American audience and United States viewers, remained a distant dream for Sprout Studios. NuNu TV channel had subscribers in that region, but their number was too small, while the majority were from India.
Lack of transparency in revenue share: Hidden fees and the lack of transparent monetisation also posed an obstacle to the growth of NuNu TV as they tried to enter new markets by themselves.
Being newcomers in the CTV environment: The ambition of promoting their content on other international markets meant they would need to make use of the potential of new geographic and platform diversity – that would allow them to stream animated video content to a vast audience with maximum efficiency. CTV is a relatively new environment, which means less experience, less knowledge of best practices and no deep understanding of all the internal processes. Therefore, the principles of CTV’s workings, its algorithms and the whole variety of opportunities to join served as a defining moment for NuNu TV.
“We decided to jump in CTV as we understood that being the OTT pioneers could bring us fantastic results in future. We see the progress now in terms of new audiences and revenue, and know it’s not the limit,” - says Priyanka Lagwal, head of business development at NuNu TV.
After analysing their desire to grow and develop in the global CTV and OTT arena and taking into account the current obstacles connected with the video content distribution, promotion, and monetisation, Sprout Studios decided to kick off their partnership with VlogBox.
The first step both companies agreed upon was to create a Roku CTV channel, with the US as a top-priority audience. In 2020, the internet-connected TV penetration rate in the United States comprised about 80%, while Roku and Amazon Fire remained the two most popular OTT platforms in the region
Before starting on the quest to become a CTV hit, VlogBox and Sprout Studios analysed all the aspects of CTV ad placements and monetisation. VlogBox ensured satisfying CPM rates and connections to reliable demand partners. Thanks to the SVOD monetisation model, NuNu TV gets paid for every user subscription, while AVOD provides a steady stream of ad revenue.
VlogBox’s content management and tech teams handle all the distribution, approval, and agreement issues. That’s why the NuNu TV team could focus on creating new and engaging videos for their viewers, letting VlogBox manage and operate the technical processes.
By expanding the geography of their audience and reaching US viewers, the NuNu TV channel has showcased impressive growth, with 80% of that coming from US CTV viewers.
The delegation of technical issues and monetisation control to VlogBox has led to a rise of above 50% revenue at this time, which can be spent on internal investments and content generation. Now, the NuNu TV team can focus mainly on creativity. The team has more time to produce new content for their fans and potential viewers.