Free new video platform
Stuff has unveiled a major push into the online video market with the launch of a new platform carrying content from a swag of big-name news and entertainment providers.
Play Stuff goes live today and sees Stuff partnering with the likes of the BBC, Reuters, Vice, Red Bull, Bravo New Zealand, Madman and NZ On Screen, among numerous others, to deliver thousands of titles on the free-to-view Play Stuff platform.
Its launch catalogue of more than 10,000 titles – ranging from shortform news reports to movielength documentaries – will grow by the day across genres including news, sport, entertainment (short film, comedy and local music) and lifestyle (travel, food, fitness and motoring).
More content partners from New Zealand and overseas are expected to join the platform ‘‘on an ongoing basis’’, said Stuff’s head of video products and strategy, Paddy Buckley.
The launch of Play Stuff is a significant move for the media and digital ventures business, which already operates New Zealand’s most-visited homegrown website in Stuff.co.nz.
‘‘This is one of the biggest and most exciting innovations we have delivered,’’ Stuff chief executive Sinead Boucher said.
It was a continuation of the company’s strategy of using the Stuff website as a platform for other publishers’ content.
The business was pitching the platform as a homegrown opportunity in the online advertising market, capitalising on the rapid growth in New Zealanders’ online video consumption. ‘‘Our advertising customers want to have their brands presented in a brand-safe, quality environment and Play Stuff helps to meet that demand. It opens up a multitude of powerful new opportunities for them,’’ Boucher said.
Play Stuff can be accessed at playstuff.co.nz. It launches on desktop, tablet and mobile as well as new iOS and Android apps.
It is a separate site from Stuff.co.nz but can be accessed directly from Stuff’s home page, as well as within articles.
It is also separate from Stuff Pix, the company’s online movie streaming venture, which continues unchanged.