As the streaming landscape keeps getting more crowded, a new entrant is looking to help declutter it.
Struum, a streaming service co-founded by former Discovery Inc. and Walt Disney Co. executives, won’t offer its own slate of original programming when it launches this spring. Instead, it will aim to give customers à-la-carte access to all content from hundreds of niche streaming services, offering users a way to stream individual shows and movies from various platforms without having to subscribe to each plan separately.
Co-founder Paul Pastor said Struum would give more visibility to lesser-known services, which he said have “fantastic content” but have trouble “being part of someone’s daily habit,” because there is only so much money households will spend on streaming services every month.
The coronavirus pandemic has been a boon for major streaming services, including Netflix Inc., Disney’s Hulu and Amazon.com Inc.’s Prime Video, whose subscriber base soared last year in the midst of growing demand for content from shut-in customers. Some 95% of U.S. households subscribe to at least one of these three services, according to Parks Associates, a research firm.
Former Disney Chief Executive Michael Eisner, whose Tornante Co. is Struum’s main financial backer, told The Wall Street Journal that the decision to invest was a no-brainer.
