New deal sends TheChive's video platform to the seas

Dive Brief:

TheChive is bringing its brand of viral video content to the Royal Caribbean cruise line, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal. In the deal, the website will stream five-hour blocks of video content to screens on the Royal Caribbean’s 25 ship fleet, as well as to two ships under the Azamara Club Cruises brand.
The expansion of Chive TV, which already brings the same five-hour video block to over 1,300 bars across the U.S., reflects the growing importance of out-of-home placement for the brand.
The brand's integration in non-traditional locations opens up unique opportunities for marketers.

Dive Insight:

TheChive provides an example of how new media brands are finding success by targeting niche markets and leveraging unique distribution strategies even as traditional media brands struggle to reimagine their offerings for a growing audience of digital-first viewers and readers.

Royal Caribbean's deal with TheChive comes as an extension of the publication's concentrated push beyond a purely web-based platform — a multi-faceted strategy which started to take shape earlier this year when the site began offering custom Roku devices with Chive-branded programming to over a thousand bars stateside. For marketers looking to target TheChive's audience of predominantly male millennials, the integration of the brand into non-traditional spaces like bars and cruise ships poses interesting opportunities.

TheChive has been getting results for its efforts as well: The Wall Street Journal reports that the earlier rollout of Roku devices proved successful enough that TheChive may start a subscription-based package for its viral video content, meaning bars and other partners might soon be willing to pay for the rights to broadcast Chive TV as opposed to the site providing its services for free in exchange for ad revenue. The current format serves ads through AppNexus, with 15-second silent spots during breaks, and it will be interesting to see if that model changes or expands as the TheChive's reach does.

“Digital out of home is actually becoming a big new category for us,” Eric Hoffert, AppNexus’ vice president of video technology, told the Journal. TheChive co-founder Leo Resig added that Chive TV was born from discussions on how the brand could capitalize on “over the top” TV space, deciding bars were underutilized and a prime spot to broadcast ad-driven content.