Media firms Connatix and JW Player announce a merger agreement
In a move that signals a new era for digital video, JW Player and Connatix are merging to form JWP Connatix, a powerful video technology and monetization platform. The combined company aims to provide a comprehensive solution for broadcasters, publishers, and advertisers, reaching over 1 billion unique users and delivering more than 30 billion combined video plays and ad impressions every month.
The merger unifies JWP's streaming, data, and workflow capabilities with Connatix's advertising and content technology. JWP Connatix will leverage AI to combine trillions of contextual, consumption, and monetization data signals to match customers with content and ads.
JWP Connatix already powers streaming for over 2,000 blue-chip media companies, including 80% of Comscore's top 25 U.S. publishers. The combined company will offer a single end-to-end platform for OLV (Online Video) and CTV (Connected TV) streaming video.
The shift towards CTV streaming video is evident, with global CTV ad revenue expected to surpass $30 billion by 2024. The merger comes amidst this trend, with JWP Connatix poised to stream 7 billion minutes of VOD (Video On Demand) and live content to over 1 billion unique users on any screen around the world.
The merged company will support subscription, advertising, and e-commerce business models. Dave Otten, co-founder and CEO of JW Player, will become the CEO of the combined company, while David Kashak, co-founder and CEO of Connatix, will serve as chairman.
Otten and Kashak's teams' skill sets and values are said to be a perfect match. Kashak stated that the merger fulfills the requirement for innovative solutions that maximize audience engagement and optimize revenue across various monetization models.
JWP Connatix will have headquarters in New York with additional offices in London, Cluj-Napoca, Romania, Eindhoven, Netherlands, Skopje, Macedonia, and Tel Aviv, Israel. The financial terms of the merger were not announced.
The combined company looks forward to shaping the future of digital video together, aiming to create environments where premium video viewing, powered by best-in-class technology, meets high-quality monetization experiences. The merger is described as ushering in a new era for digital video.
