‘Molotov.TV’ Launches Ad-Supported ‘Mango’ Streaming Service

• The French streaming platform ‘Molotov.tv’ has launched an AVOD platform named ‘Mango.’
• The new platform is bringing about a thousand films and TV shows in exchange for ad views.
• The firm hopes that Mango will be very successful, and looks to expand it to more European countries.

‘Molotov.tv,’ the French startup that provides a pan-European streaming service for the French audience, has launched a new, ad-supported on-demand streaming service (AVOD) called “Mango.” This is a new sub-platform offered through the Motolov app, offering thousands of films, TV shows, documentaries, and more, in exchange for advertisement viewership.

Molotov’s founder told TechCrunch that they wanted to fill the void of having no legal and free cinema offering in France. With Mango, 13 million users will get a surge of new content to enjoy similarly to traditional TV, i.e., having to accept advertisement interruptions. For this purpose, Molotov has formed a commercial team and partnered with FreeWheel to get ad spots, while it promised some personalization based on the users’ profile data.

As for the content, there is Kabillion, Zylo, ACI, FIP, ZED, Ampersand, Sonar, ITV, Mediawan, Trade Media & Dynamic, and Crome Films. Also, Motolov is currently negotiating deals with Endemol, Lionsgate, Wild Bunch, and Sony Pictures. The movies in the database don’t include the latest blockbusters, but there’s a lot to watch from the past releases.

About one thousand programs are already available, and the database is being renewed weekly. Molotov hopes to bring more films over to Mango, as well as hotter titles, but this will depend on the generate ad revenues.

When working with other broadcasters, having to comply with several restrictions is inevitable. For example, Molotov users won’t be able to record anything from the Mango channels, so only live streaming will be possible. Also, there are still some categorization errors locking some movies from access, some movies are offered in two or more parts, TV model compatibility issues to resolve, etc. These are all to be expected as Mango was just launched.

Molotov said that if Mango does well enough in France, they will expand the service to other European countries soon, but no specific timelines or goals were provided. Surely, the second pandemic wave that hits the continent right now makes TV and streaming services a lot more alluring to people, and Molotov is moving pretty quickly to grab this opportunity.