There are already more than 200 streaming services in the world. Is there room for another?
While it might feel a little late in the game for a brand-new streaming service to hit the ground running – especially as big-name streaming platforms struggle to grow subscriptions and ad revenue – free services have an easier time gaining traction.
Take Mansa, a free streaming service founded by a group of filmmakers and actors, including Nigerian-British film star David Oyelowo. Mansa launched in April with an $8 million seed round that included participation from WndrCo Founder Jeffrey Katzenberg and Vista Equity’s Robert Smith.
The platform has a niche. It streams content related to Black culture aimed at a global audience, including movies, TV shows and short-form videos.
Its first order of business was to attract viewers, which Co-Founder Zak Tanjeloff tells me Mansa has achieved, although he declined to share numbers. Now, Mansa is focused on attracting advertisers. “There’s a lot of [growth] opportunity in the free streaming space,” Tanjeloff says.
Mansa is free for viewers and includes both ad-supported TV channels (FAST) and on-demand titles (AVOD). Having both options helps to increase total watch time on free apps, which already pick up viewership momentum faster than subscription-based AVOD services because, well, duh, they’re free. According to Samba TV’s most recent report, one in three US viewers subscribe to a FAST service, compared with one in four paid streaming subscribers with an ad-supported membership.
Tanjeloff also runs an investment firm called Tanjeloff Holdings (which was an early investor in Samba), so he knows a thing or two about what it takes to build a profitable connected TV business – which, for a free AVOD platform, means building a sustainable advertising business.
But as important as advertising is to Mansa’s long-term profitability, Tanjeloff says that viewership scale must come first.
I spoke with Tanjeloff to learn more about how Mansa intends to monetize.
AdExchanger: How does Mansa make money?
ZAK TANJELOFF: The business is mostly predicated on advertising.
We also make money from content distribution. We have our own FAST channel, which is on Roku, Fire TV, iOS and Android, and soon to be on Vizio, LG and Samsung.
And we have a distribution deal with AMC Theaters. We’re going to acquire some film titles, which we’ll add to our streaming platform after a window of theatrical exclusivity.
Is your ad revenue growing?
Monetization is coming, but the trajectory of our business is still very much in early days. Before we could start piquing advertiser interest, we needed to reach a certain scale in terms of viewership, which we have now met.
Can you share how many people watch Mansa currently?
I can’t share exact numbers, but I can say that our viewership has grown about 46% month over month since we launched earlier this year.
Viewer retention is growing, too. Returning users now make up over 70% of Mansa’s viewers, up from 5% when the platform was still in beta testing leading up to this year’s launch. Engagement is also up: Average session times are between 60 and 65 minutes, up from 20 minutes at launch.
Still, streaming services are starting to prioritize profitability. How will Mansa ensure sustainable business growth?
Right now, we’re focused on customer acquisition cost (CAC) and lifetime value (LTV). Our LTV is six times higher than our CAC, which means our direct marketing efforts are bringing in new viewers incredibly inexpensively compared to the long-term value they symbolize for advertisers. More returning viewers with longer session times means higher average revenue per user.
What types of audience data can Mansa use to target ads?
We use data such as location and viewing history to target ads. When people sign up for a free account, we also get their name and email, which we anonymize when used for advertising.
Logging in isn’t required for access, but almost 70% of our audience elects to create an account for personalized content recommendations.
How are you selling ads: directly or programmatically?
We sell ads programmatically through SpringServe [owned by Magnite]. We’re starting to work with some partners to do direct sales, but we haven’t built out our own direct sales team yet.
Many diverse-owned media companies prefer direct sales over programmatic. Why did Mansa decide to start with programmatic?
You’re right: Minority-owned media companies prefer direct sales to ensure they’re running an ad that’ll resonate with their audience. But for us, programmatic means a lower threshold to sell more spots. We do intend to grow direct sales but, for now, we’re prioritizing scale.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
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