YouTube users are streaming 4bn music videos per month from Vevo, by far the online video network’s most popular channel. But it seems the digital age equivalent of classic MTV (that is, when the channel actually showed music videos, not just Teen Mom repeats) wants to make a name for itself in the living room, without sacrificing a slice of its profits to YouTube.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Vevo has made deals with Apple and Samsung to provide on-demand music videos plus a new channel of original programming for Apple TV set-top boxes and Samsung smart TVs. An Apple TV app may even become available this week, the report claims.
Vevo is currently available through Vevo.com and through its own apps for mobile, Xbox and Roku streaming media players. It also licenses content to MTV.com. However, much of its traffic comes via YouTube, and the Google-owned network takes a significant share of the ad revenue for its pains.
By bringing its own apps to TV, Vevo can cut out YouTube’s share and advertising revenue will be shared among its owners: Sony Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group and Abu Dhabi Media Co.
