Copenhagen, Denmark - 3rd July 2024..
Simply.TV, a leading content discovery and metadata provider, has acquired InFlow Media to form Europe’s leading metadata company.
This marks the second acquisition made by Simply.TV, after the Dutch metadata specialist GVIDI was acquired in 2022. With InFlow Media, Simply.TV will strengthen its customer base in the Nordics, add advanced content discovery technology and welcome 35 metadata experts from Denmark and Norway.
Commenting on the acquisition, Simply.TV COO Daniel Rühmann said: “It is a dream coming true to combine forces with InFlow Media and form a true powerhouse for metadata and content discovery solutions in the Nordics. With the experienced team and the additional technology stack, we will be able to bring even better services to the combined customer base. We have been really impressed with the team and the technology we have come to know in the past months”.
InFlow Media, formed out of Universum Norway and Ritzau Mediaservice Denmark in 2019 and until now owned by NTB and Ritzau combined, has a unique position in the Nordics from decades of work with broadcasters, content owners and their TV operator customers. Starting with TV listings for print publications, InFlow Media evolved to develop EPG metadata and has been instrumental in supporting the transition to time-shift viewing, personal video recorders, and VOD in the Nordics. In recent years, the company has been focused on adapting to changing user habits and leveraging new technologies to bring metadata to the next level, a focus that aligns closely with the Simply.TV brand.
Tina Mari Flem, CEO at NTB, emphasized the significance of this synergy: “While merging Universum and Ritzau Media Service into InFlow Media in 2019 has been a great success, combining teams and technology with Simply.TV will bring the needed power to help our customers succeed with their transition to super-aggregators and bring advanced discovery to the end users. It feels right to let the InFlow Media team continue within the industry’s most dedicated and customer-obsessed metadata company”. InFlow Media CEO, Rune Skogeng continued: “Simply’s growth and impact in Europe have been significant and the competition has helped to bring out the best in InFlow Media over the years. We are now looking forward to joining forces and executing on the broader Simply strategy”.
The Right New Owner:
NTB and Ritzau have owned InFlow Media for the past five years, during which the company has made significant strides in developing industry-leading technology. This period of ownership has seen InFlow heavily investing in innovations centered on streaming and advanced user experience. This focus also extended to InFlow’s commitment to integrating interactive and immersive content, ensuring a more engaging viewer journey. The acquisition by Simply.TV ensures that this aspiration is further fueled, as their vision and combined resources will drive these pioneering efforts to new heights.
Reflecting on this progress, Kamilla Laumark-Møller, interim CEO at Ritzau, remarked: “It has been an exciting journey and a good collaboration between NTB and Ritzau. But metadata to the TV industry is not the core of NTB and Ritzau. With Simply, InFlow Media will join a family of metadata experts. It will be fantastic to follow and see Simply leading the industry going forward”.
The acquisition is effective as of 3 July. The deal terms remain undisclosed.
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