BroadbandTV Corporation is a Canadian media and technology company founded by CEO Shahrzad Rafati in 2005. The company is the second largest video property by unique viewers across the top 12 countries in the world, according to comScore, with head office in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The company provides end-to-end content management and technology solutions for independent content creators and media companies to grow their presence online. Current clients include the NBA, FremantleMedia, and Sony Pictures. BroadbandTV considers itself a quadruple bottom line business, that measures how it treats its employees as well as social, environmental and financial performance.
History
Origins
BBTV was founded as an OTT set-top box company in 2005, but Rafati quickly turned to developing software and solutions in the digital video sphere. Her idea was to create software which would change how companies approached piracy, resulting in technology which enabled companies to claim and monetize content uploaded by fans. In 2009, the NBA became a client of BBTV's and success monetizing NBA footage in fan videos led to organizations like Sony Pictures quickly signing up. With these larger deals came a new opportunity: individual YouTube channels also wanted to monetize their content and work with professionals to drive success. BBTV once again expanded in order to develop this new business opportunity.
2010–2016
European media group RTL bought 51% of BBTV in 2013 for $36M USD. In fall 2014, BBTV opened offices in New York City, to host the company's branded entertainment division, which brokers deals between content creators and brands. By December 2015 BBTV had become the number one MCN globally, outperforming Disney's Maker Studios. With this milestone the company expanded its scope yet again and began creating more content in-house and repositioning the BBTV as a "fully rounded digital entertainment company".
2016–present
In 2016, BBTV moved its Vancouver office to a bigger space. It expanded on its working relationship with Sony Pictures in 2018 by co-releasing the official Breaking Bad YouTube channel. In the same year BBTV also launched its Interactive division devoted to original games and mobile apps built around digital IP and audiences, as well as its Distribution and Label services for artists. In 2019 BBTV announced that its content now garners 575 million unique viewers each month, making it second only to Google in terms of all monthly internet viewership, per a February 2019 comScore study.
Founder and CEO Information
Shahrzad Rafati founded BBTV in 2005, while completing her BSc in computer science at the University of British Columbia. In 2017 Rafati joined the board of Hootsuite. Rafati has been a regular speaker at international tech conferences since 2015, including CES, VidCon, BC Tech Summit, Dreamforce, and Web Summit. In 2017, The Hollywood Reporter named Rafati in their list of 25 Most Powerful Women in Global Television. That same year, Rafati was included in Canada 150 Women, a book celebrating 150 of the brightest female minds in Canada.
Investments, Partnerships & Acquisitions
YoBoHo
In April 2015, BroadbandTV acquired YoBoHo, which operates the HooplaKidz children's brand on YouTube. HooplaKidz is the largest preschool and K-12 educational digital-first producer on YouTube.
In summer 2015, BroadbandTV partnered with leading YouTube analytics website SocialBlade "to supply data and services to its community of users". SocialBlade previously offered partnership through Maker Studios' entry-level partnership program, Maker Gen.
FremantleMedia
TV production firm FremantleMedia partnered with BroadbandTV to identify and manage user-uploaded content on YouTube for more than 200 shows, including American Idol, The Price Is Right, America's Got Talent, Baywatch, and The X Factor. In September 2014, BBTV signed a multi-year original content agreement with FremantleMedia North America's digital studio, Tiny Riot "to produce original programming in the entertainment, gaming, and music genres."
NBA
In August 2014, BBTV renewed its existing YouTube rights-management deal with the National Basketball Association to manage fan-uploaded content on the site. The NBA channel is the largest professional sports channel on YouTube, boasting over 5.6 million subscribers and more than 2.2 billion page views at the time of the renewal. In 2016, BBTV and The NBA also launched NBA Playmakers, a new digital entertainment brand focused around basketball culture.
In June 2013, BroadbandTV received a $36 million private placement from RTL Group. At the time, this marked the largest private placement into an internet media company in Canada since 2007.
VISO NOVI – for detecting and "managing" fan-uploaded content related to its clients' properties.
VISO Prism – for highlighting areas of the content that are outside of its stringent trust and safety criteria to comply with policies and regulations of platforms.
