Bitmovin, a leading provider of video streaming solutions, and bunny.net, a next-generation content delivery network, announced today that Thinking Media, Inc., pioneers in AI-native TV UX, UI, and audience viewing experiences, has integrated Bitmovin’s Player, VOD Encoder and Analytics to power its newly acquired service, STIRR. The collaboration will support Thinking Media’s future goal of rolling out brand new features for audiences, including hyper-local news using AI, Server-Guided Ad Insertion (SGAI) and Multiview capabilities.
Thinking Media acquired STIRR from Sinclair Broadcast Group in January 2024 as part of its strategic plan to provide audiences with hyper-personalized viewing experiences that push the boundaries of video streaming. Currently, Thinking Media is undergoing the process of re-platforming STIRR and is developing AI-generated elemental feeds for news, weather and traffic, creating a multi-player setup with AI-generated feeds and creating a generative advertising portal integrated with SGAI. Thinking Media is integrating Bitmovin’s solutions to fulfill its goal of scaling STIRR even further and breaking the tradition of a one-size-fits-all approach to streaming experiences.
“We see a real opportunity to bring a fresh and much-needed approach to video streaming with hyper-personalized experiences encompassing everything from local news to advertising. We aim to turn STIRR into an AI-native Streaming Service. Our partnership with Bitmovin is instrumental in making that a reality,” said Todd Carter, Co-Founder and CEO of Thinking Media. ”Integrating Bitmovin’s Player, VOD Encoder, and Analytics means we are best positioned to deliver exceptional experiences for viewers with high-quality playback to the most devices, with ultra-fast encoding and analytics to help us track and fix issues in real-time. We’re incredibly excited to announce our partnership with Bitmovin, and we’re already exploring more ways to work together.”
Thinking Media is deploying Bitmovin’s Player to guarantee playback quality on any screen through modular architecture, including low latency and configurable adaptive bitrate streaming, which ensures a smooth and seamless viewing experience for audiences, regardless of their location. Thinking Media also plans to leverage the Player for its Server-Side Ad and Server-Guided Ad Insertion pre-integrations. Integrating Bitmovin’s Analytics with STIRR will provide Thinking Media with deep user metrics that ensure it has real-time insights into how streams are performing so it can fix any issues before they impact the viewer. Additionally, Bitmovin’s VOD Encoder has multi-codec streaming, 8K and multi-HDR support, and Per-Title Encoding ensures each video asset is efficiently encoded by maintaining the highest visual quality with a customized adaptive bitrate ladder that provides the viewer with the best viewing experience while also reducing storage and CDN costs.
Thinking Media is also deploying Bunny CDN for its cost effectiveness and next-generation performance to deliver ultra-fast, reliable, and scalable free ad-supported streaming TV services worldwide. This integration is fundamental in its rapidly expanding markets across North America Latin America and Europe ensuring seamless, fast-loading Bitmovin players and buffer-free experiences in these key regions.
“Thinking Media is forward-thinking and plans to create a viewing experience for STIRR’s audience that transcends what’s being done today. We’re super excited about its plans to implement Bitmovin’s Multiview and also support for SGAI; both are new features we just announced for the Player,” said Stefan Lederer, CEO and co-founder of Bitmovin, “Thinking Media is embarking on a huge growth trajectory. We’re proud that Bitmovin will be a part of its exciting future.”
