DistroScale

DistroTV: Free Ad-Supported Streaming App Profile

State of Streaming lists DistroTV as a free ad-supported live TV streaming app operated by DistroScale. DistroTV is headquartered in San Francisco and was founded in 2019. The platform offers more than 270 channels spanning news, sports, entertainment and lifestyle and is positioned as a FAST (free ad‑supported streaming TV) offering. The State of Streaming page also aggregates multiple headlines about streaming industry developments (Roku, Netflix, YouTube, FreeWheel, TiVo Ads, QVC, MLB and others), but the directory entry for DistroTV is primarily a brief company profile with a link to the DistroTV website and no extended editorial coverage on the page.

Europe Lags in FAST Services Adoption

The VideoWeek piece analyzes why FAST (free ad-supported streaming TV) services have not taken off in Europe as they have in the US. It notes that US FAST brands like Pluto TV, XUMO, Tubi, and FuboTV are established there, while Europe has seen only limited entry (e.g., Pluto TV and XUMO); Joyn is cited as a German example of a CTV service with live channels and on-demand content. A key barrier is Europe’s cheaper linear/cable TV landscape, which reduces urgency for cord-cutters to switch. UK consumers can already access around 70 Freeview channels, making FAST adoption harder. Content pipelines for 24/7 linear channels, localization across markets, and dubbing versus ROI complicate scale in Europe. Nevertheless, industry voices expect growing adoption as smart TVs and OTT devices become more prevalent and ad dollars shift toward FAST platforms, with emphasis on local content and market-specific strategies.

PulsePoint Raises $30 Million To Get Serious About M&A

PulsePoint, a programmatic advertising platform formed in 2011 through the merger of Datran Media and ContextWeb, announced $30 million in debt financing from Silicon Valley Bank to pursue acquisitions that would complement its tech stack. The funding follows PulsePoint’s capital history: about $13.5 million raised prior in three rounds, with a $3 million round in 2013 from Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Investor Growth Capital, Updata Partners, and others. The company has slimmed its operations post-merger, divesting several units to focus on programmatic, and now runs an ad exchange serving both buy and sell sides. In 2015, PulsePoint added native bidding via partnerships with TripleLift, Distroscale, Sharethrough, and AdsNative, and launched a content marketing platform enabling distribution across Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Outbrain, and Taboola. Management says acquisitions in the $50–$60 million range are now feasible, with more than $100 million in revenue and 110 staff across London, New York, and San Francisco.