 | |
| Private | |
| Industry | Internet, mobile apps |
| Founded | 2010 |
| Founder | Blair Harrison (CEO) |
| Headquarters | Los Angeles, CA |
Area served | Worldwide |
Number of employees | 20 (2013) [1] |
| Website | frequency |
Frequency is a service that aggregates free-to-watch online video from multiple platforms into channels in a single application. Apps are available free on mobile devices, personal computers and connected televisions.
Frequency Networks was founded by Blair Harrison, the company's CEO, in Los Angeles in 2010. [2] [3] [4] Harrison previously founded FastTV, an early Internet video search site, [5] and was CEO of online video entertainment site IFILM, sold to Viacom in 2005. [2] [5]
Viacom Inc. is an American multinational mass media conglomerate company with interests primarily in film and television. It is currently the world's ninth largest media company in terms of revenue, and has headquarters in New York City. Voting control of Viacom is held by National Amusements, Inc., a privately owned theater company controlled by billionaire Sumner Redstone, who also holds a controlling stake in CBS Corporation.
After raising an initial $4 million from investors, [6] Frequency's website and iPad app were launched in January 2012. [1] [3] This was followed by a pre-installed version for connected Samsung televisions in September 2012 [4] [7] and an iPhone app in December 2012. [8] In January 2013, Frequency announced a partnership with Chinese television maker TCL, for the app to come pre-installed on TCL's Android-based TVs, as the default option to watch video from online sources. [1] In April 2014, the app was launched on Android phones and tablets, [9] and that month Frequency announced a partnership with Amazon to launch its service on the streaming device Amazon Fire TV. [10] [11]
iPad is a line of tablet computers designed, developed and marketed by Apple Inc., which run the iOS mobile operating system. The first iPad was released on April 3, 2010; the most recent iPad models are the iPad (2018), released on March 27, 2018; the fifth-generation iPad mini, released on March 18, 2019; the third-generation iPad Air, released on March 18, 2019; and the 11-inch (280 mm) and third-generation 12.9-inch (330 mm) iPad Pro, released on November 7, 2018.
Samsung is a South Korean multinational conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul. It comprises numerous affiliated businesses, most of them united under the Samsung brand, and is the largest South Korean chaebol.
iPhone is a line of smartphones designed and marketed by Apple Inc. All generations of the iPhone use Apple's iOS mobile operating system software. The first-generation iPhone was released on June 29, 2007, and multiple new hardware iterations with new iOS releases have been released since.
Frequency compiles free-to-watch online videos from social networks, media sites and blogs, and creates custom channel streams based on individual users' interests. The channels are updated in real time, delivering videos from a wide range of sources in a single application. [3] [4] [12] [13] It synchronizes channels and viewed content across multiple devices. [11] The platform channels are divided by content type, such as news, entertainment, sports, tech and children’s programming. [3] Users can aggregate video from over 4,000 sources, including ESPN, CNN, New York Times , Wall Street Journal , BBC, TechCrunch, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. [9] [12] [14] Users can also create their own personalized channels, [3] and they can connect their account to Facebook, Twitter and Google Plus, allowing the service to filter through videos shared by social networking friends and provide recommendations. [3] [8] [11] [14] Videos are played non-stop, creating an experience similar to watching television. [1]
ESPN is a U.S.-based sports television channel owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture owned by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The company was founded in 1979 by Bill Rasmussen along with his son Scott Rasmussen and Ed Egan.
Cable News Network (CNN) is an American news-based pay television channel owned by WarnerMedia News & Sports, a division of AT&T's WarnerMedia. CNN was founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner as a 24-hour cable news channel. Upon its launch, CNN was the first television channel to provide 24-hour news coverage, and was the first all-news television channel in the United States.
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters are at Broadcasting House in Westminster, London, and it is the world's oldest national broadcasting organisation and the largest broadcaster in the world by number of employees. It employs over 20,950 staff in total, 16,672 of whom are in public sector broadcasting. The total number of staff is 35,402 when part-time, flexible, and fixed-contract staff are included.
Frequency makes it easier for television makers and over-the-top content providers to offer their customers a streamlined way to access short-form online content without having to access multiple websites or apps. [9] Publishers can directly place videos into the app in exchange for a percentage of revenue. [1] The only ads on Frequency are ones added in by a video's original distributor. [6]
Frequency indexes approximately five million new videos and over 500 million social networking posts per day. [1] [5] As of April 2014, it has approximately four million monthly active users. [13]
The Frequency app is available on the iPad, iPhone, Android phone and tablet, the web, Google TV and Amazon Fire TV, and comes pre-installed on connected televisions in over 90 countries, manufactured by Samsung, Sony, TCL and Hisense. [10] [13] [15]
Google TV is a discontinued smart TV platform from Google co-developed by Intel, Sony, and Logitech that was launched in October 2010 with official devices initially made by Sony and Logitech. Google TV integrates the Android operating system and the Google Chrome web browser to create an interactive television overlay on top of existing online video sites to add a 10-foot user interface, for a smart TV experience.
Sony Corporation is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Kōnan, Minato, Tokyo. Its diversified business includes consumer and professional electronics, gaming, entertainment and financial services. The company owns the largest music entertainment business in the world, the largest video game console business and one of the largest video game publishing businesses, and is one of the leading manufacturers of electronic products for the consumer and professional markets, and a leading player in the film and television entertainment industry. Sony was ranked 97th on the 2018 Fortune Global 500 list.
Hisense Co., Ltd. is a Chinese multinational major appliance and electronics manufacturer headquartered in Qingdao, Shandong province, China. It is a state-owned enterprise with publicly traded subsidiaries.
In 2014, the company launched Frequency Sync, a hosting service that allows video owners to publish, manage and monetize their videos across the range of Frequency applications. The tool helps users create and program channels, manage video advertising and get detailed analytics. [13] [16] The company previously partnered with video platform Brightcove, which allows its customers to publish video directly to Frequency. [17]
Also in 2014, Frequency Source was launched, a software development kit and set of services that allow television operators, consumer electronics manufacturers and other platform developers to integrate Frequency and its curated videos into their own platforms. [9]
Frequency was ranked #40 on Complex magazine's list of the 50 Best Apps of 2012, [14] chosen as one of the Top 100 Websites of 2013 by PC Magazine , [18] and nominated for a Best Mobile App Award for Overall Best App of 2014. [19] It was also named one of the 30 Best iPhone and iPad apps of the week by The Guardian in December 2012, [20] was the Android Authority Indie App of the Day on May 5, 2014, [12] and an Editor's Choice by the iTunes App Store. [19] The app was rated a 4.5 out of 5 on AppSafari [21] and a 4 out of 5 in MacLife . [22]
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 2010 | Frequency Networks founded. [5] |
| January 2012 | Launches Frequency.com website and iPad app. [1] |
| September 2012 | Developed for connected Samsung televisions. [7] |
| December 2012 | Launches iPhone app. [8] |
| January 2013 | Announces partnership with Chinese television maker TCL. [1] |
| April 2014 | Launches app on Android phone and tablet, and Amazon Fire TV. [9] |
| April 2014 | Frequency Sync introduced. [16] |
| May 2014 | Frequency Source introduced. [9] |