Simplestream sees significant growth in the UK and prepares for international expansion

Simplestream, leaders in live and on-demand OTT services, today announced two new senior appointments, the launch of VOD-in-a-Box, and five award accolades. These additions are testament to the growing demand for its unified, end-to-end live streaming and automated video services in the UK and beyond.

Catriona Tate recently joined Simplestream as Business Development Director – responsible for driving an optimised sales strategy that delivers commercial growth and success, while building and maintaining strong and enduring customer relationships. With a breadth and depth of broadcast experience spanning over 10 years, she comes from Ericsson Broadcast and Media Services, having previously worked with leading brands – which include Sky, Discovery, UKTV, BBC, EE, BAFTA and Disney – across OTT, playout, on air creative, metadata and content delivery.

Lee McElhinney joins Simplestream as Marketing Manager to develop and execute marketing strategies and campaigns that generate new business; raise awareness through strategic diversification across the media, entertainment, sports and teleshopping markets; and help drive customer acquisition in the UK, EMEA, US and beyond. She has worked in the digital technology sector since 2001 for the likes of Shazam and Lebara Play.

“As the pay TV and OTT market continues to flourish, investment in on-the-ground support is critical to enable our customers to commercialise their content effectively,” commented Dan Finch, Chief Commercial Officer of Simplestream. “With Cat’s background and Lee’s marketing expertise, Simplestream continues to work hard to provide innovative solutions and expertise that our customers require.”

These appointments are the latest in a series of significant developments for Simplestream, including:

• The launch of VOD-in-a-Box: a future-proofed multiscreen, end-to-end white-label streaming solution that enables entertainment, sports, music and news providers to deploy next-generation VOD content and live streaming in as little as 4 weeks. The ‘plug and play’ platform provides companies with the ability to quickly, easily and cost-effectively ‘test the market’ with their content through a pre-existing integration that comes with built-in monetisation options – offering low exposure to commercial risk and flexible terms.
• Five award wins and finalist designations in the last three months: the company’s VOD-in-a-Box solution won a TVTechGlobal IBC Best of Show award and its Cloud TV Platform received a ‘highly commended’ honour for the ‘Best cloud or virtualisation innovation’ at the CSI Awards. Both awards honour innovation and outstanding product development over the past year – solidifying Simplestream’s position as a true innovator in deploying next-generation OTT services for entertainment, sports, music and news providers of any size. The company was also a finalist at the HbbTV Awards for its Sony POP Fun service deployment, a finalist in the IABM Design & Innovation Awards for its Cloud TV Platform, and a finalist in the Content Innovation Awards for its Hybrid TV solution.

“Simplestream has grown organically over the last few years as a disruptor that now spans multiple content sectors – so the time is right to accelerate our expansion in the UK and beyond,” Finch adds. “We’re consistently innovating and showing great results for our efforts – as evidenced by strong traction with key broadcast players and our recent accolades”.