On Thursday, a bunch of former Disney and Discovery execs announced a new startup called Struum. Struum aims to make it easier for people to discover new streaming programming. The founders of Struum have a goal that consumers will be willing to pay for a streaming service that provides a way to discover and stream content from multiple SVOD providers both niche and premium.
Struum is expected to launch in spring 2021 with the hopes of attracting niche SVOD services and bundling them under one price. Struum already has deals with nearly three dozen services with 20,000 TV series, movies, and shorts. Specific streaming partners and other details will be revealed later.
Michael Eisner is advising Struum and he’s also invested in the company through the Tornante Company. Other advisors include Former CBS Entertainment President Nancy Tellem, Former Disney/ABC Television President Ben Pyne, and Twitter Head of Global Operations Donald Hicks.
Struum’s founders are Former Head of Product Discovery Ventures Lauren DeVillier, Former EVP, Strategy, Revenue and Operations at Discovery Networks Paul Pastor, Former VP Product & Technology at Walt Disney International Eugene Liew, and Former Head of Advanced Product Development for Disney Parks, Experiences & Products Thomas Wadworth.
Both DeVillier and Pastor held executive roles at Disney before going to Discovery. So, all four have experience working for The Walt Disney Company. Now they will embark on a new adventure with this streaming startup Struum.
Former Disney CEO and Founder of The Tornante Company Michael Eisner said regarding Struum:
“With so much proliferation in the niche and specialty streaming landscape, there is a clear need for a resource that helps them seamlessly discover and consume content from these services. This is truly a first-class team that is leveraging their wide breadth of experiences and relationships to create a solution unmatched by anything else currently available that will benefit both viewers and streaming services.”
Just as the streaming wars start to heat up. Will a service like Struum that bundles a ton of niche services under one subscription break out? There are a ton of niche streaming services waiting to get a shot at more viewers. Maybe Struum will be their opportunity?
The goal of Struum is to make streaming simplified. And now with Michael Eisner as an investor and an advisor, it will be interesting to see where Struum goes from here.
Check out Struum’s official website here.
Zach Perilstein is the Editor-in-Chief of the Boardwalk Times
