WMX Expands Into CTV With Roku Partnership, Launching 3 FAST Channels

Music and culture publisher Warner Music Experience (WMX), which functions as the editorial division of Warner Music Group, launched three new channels on The Roku Channel Monday, making WMX the latest in a series of publishers to expand its video footprint into the world of connected TV. The new channels include WMX Pop, WMX Rock and WMX Hip-Hop and will live exclusively on The Roku Channel, the free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) service launched by Roku in 2017. The deal gives Roku a three-month exclusive window on the FAST channels for the U.S. before WMX can widen its distribution to other platforms. According to Roku, The Roku Channel reached 80 million viewers in the fourth quarter of 2021. “At WMX, we strive to bring our artists every opportunity to connect with their fans and to ensure that their content reaches fans everywhere they are,” said WMX president Maria Weaver. “FAST is growing twice as quickly as the general CTV market, and there is undeniable demand for music content in the FAST space.” Warner Music Group Launches WMX to Streamline Ad Buys The expansion reflects a growing trend across the media industry, as publishers with video catalogs or the infrastructure to produce video content increasingly eye CTV as a valuable vehicle for distribution and monetization, according to Mike Fisher, vice president, advanced television and audio at Essence. Media companies with premium video libraries, such as Condé Nast and Vice Media, are expanding their footprint in the ecosystem, while others with a track record in the space, such as Tastemade and Trusted Media Brands, are bulking up their existing presence. By joining a FAST channel, publishers add yet another platform to include in advertising packages, expanding the scale of the audience they can offer to advertisers without incurring the infrastructural costs of launching their own channel, Fisher said. When transacting on FAST inventory, media agencies typically buy audiences rather than strike deals directly with publishers, but the relationship WMX has with its artists could lead to custom content integrations. “WMX has relationships with the Warner Music artists, which means they have the vertical integration that a lot of TV networks have, but not a lot of streaming services have historically had,” Fisher said. Pre-existing, plus new, content The launch of the three new channels comes as the result of a partnership between Roku and WMX, which houses editorial titles including Uproxx, Songkick, HipHopDX, Cover Nation and The Pit. The three channels will offer a blend of preexisting video content, such as music videos and concerts from WMX artists, as well as new and original programming from the editorial properties, such as Iconic Records: Life After Death, a show exploring the afterlife of influential albums. Each channel will feature roughly 4,500 hours of programming in its first year, according to Weaver. According to Fisher, publishers whose content lives within a FAST channel typically monetize via ads sold by the channel, which typically takes a 30% rev share. WMX wouldn't share the financial specifics of its partnership. In an effort to streamline its ad-buying process, WMX rebranded from WEA in November 2021, and in May, at its Upfront presentation, Weaver teased that the publisher was in the process of formulating a partnership with a CTV leader. Publishers' divergent CTV strategies In addition to WMX, a number of publishers have begun to expand their CTV footprint. Publishers like Vice Media and Condé Nast have several initiatives in the space designed to expose more audiences to their video programming. Both have launched FAST channels across a variety of platforms, including Tubi, Rakuten and The Roku Channel, and both have pledged to shift the composition of their editorial output to produce more video and less text. Other media companies, including TMB and Tastemade, whose presence in the CTV universe dates back nearly a decade, have taken steps to introduce more programming as the ecosystem continues to mature, said Chris Rantamaki, the senior vice president of original programming at TMB. TMB acquired the video production company Jukin Media in August 2021, which fast-tracked its growth in the space and led to substantial upticks in revenue. Tastemade, meanwhile, launched a fourth channel, Tastemade Home, in October, and in May, its streaming revenue had increased 70% year over year, according to Jeff Imberman, its head of global sales and brand partnerships. The variety of strategies to expand into the CTV ecosystem reflect its nascency, and key challenges—such as the lack of a standard currency for measurement—remain problems for the industry to solve.