Southern Cross Austereo (SCA) has taken a $5 million equity stake in telco startup OVO Mobile.
In addition to the normal telco-style mobile plan offerings, OVO has been expanding its digital broadcasting platform, OVOPlay, as it focuses on attracting sports and entertainment fans to the digital broadcasting platform.
The radio group is particularly keen on OVOPlay, which has a number exclusive digital broadcasting partners including Gymnastics Australia, Water Polo Australia, Supercheap Auto V8 Supercars team, 400 Thunder Drag Racing and World SuperBikes.
The cash boost from SCA allows OVO to escalate its push to sign up more sports and entertainment offerings to OVOPlay, attract larger audiences and bring more people across to its mobile offerings.
SCA chief sales officer Brian Gallagher says sport is the biggest immediate synergy between OVO and SCA.
“SCA is attracted to OVO's business model of offering compelling mobile telecommunications offerings built around its own digital platform for unique sport and entertainment content,” Gallagher says.
Cash boost will enable OVO to secure more sports rights
“Sport is integral to our Triple M network and increasingly popular on our PodcastOne network with podcasts like Howie Games. We think there are great untapped opportunities for us to work with OVO to bring great content to the target audiences our clients are seeking to reach.”
Fans first
OVO, which claims to be “the telco that puts the fans first”, purchases the exclusive broadcast rights to Australian sports that have a large grassroots following, but where fans have little opportunity to engage with the sport outside of attending an event.
Video and audio content of the major events of these sports are run exclusively on OVOPlay and available data-free to OVO Mobile customers.
In May last year, OVO Mobile first inked a deal with SCA to offer radio fans unlimited access to FM radio networks The Hit Network and Triple M. It meant 58 radio stations across the metro and regional Triple M and Hit Network were accessible to OVO Mobile customers – free of data charges – via OVO Mobile’s OVOPlay app. The idea is that radio fans can listen to their favourite shows without burning through data.
Optus backs OVO
OVO is a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), meaning it doesn't own the wireless network infrastructure itself, it has a deal with a mobile network operator, which in this case is Optus. As an MVNO, Optus gives OVO Mobile bulk access to network services at wholesale rates, with OVO's services operating on the Optus 4G Plus network.
In addition to the SCA deal, OVO has further cemented its relationship with Optus, signing a five-year exclusive mobile contract.
Since the launch of its first products in August 2016, OVO says it has more than doubled its customer base quarter-to-quarter, and seen 600% growth since January 2017.
Matt Jones, CEO of OVO, says much of this growth has come from customers experiencing its content on OVOPlay and then purchasing more products, with on average, two more additional OVO product subscriptions for the household.
"Our mobile offering is strong, but it's our broadcasting focus that sets OVO apart and gives us our higher purpose, which is attracting big audiences for sports that otherwise struggle to gain traction,” Jones says.
"We are helping sports become more sustainable by bringing new audiences to watch and participants to play. [This] gives people the chance to see their friends and relatives compete and perform for the first time.”
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