FreeCast launches YouBundle, joins quest to ‘simplify’ streaming

A Holy Grail quest among video companies has been to consolidate all of streaming down to a singular app. And an Orlando, Fla.-based startup, FreeCast, has become one of the latest to sign up for that mission when it comes to content discovery and subscription management.

The company has announced a few feature, YouBundle, which aggregates popular subscription streaming services — SVODs including Netflix, Disney+ and Max, as well as virtual MVPDs including Fubo and YouTube TV — letting users manage subscriptions and offers the ability to search and discover movies and shows that come with these subscription services, alongside hundreds of FAST titles, with just the FreeCast app.

And thanks to a system that relies on a virtual Mastercard, users can sign up for these subscription services through the FreeCast app and pay for all of them in one consolidated bill.

“What we’ve done with YouBundle is bring together a lot of the solutions we’ve been working on for years into one easy product,” said William Mobley, veteran technology entrepreneur, and founder and CEO of FreeCast, noting the need to “simplify” streaming for consumers. “That’s what the consumer needs, and more importantly, it’s what the industry needs right now.”

StreamTV Insider tried the FreeCast app out for ourselves (the iOS version), and selected Netflix, Max and YouTube TV within the new YouBundle section. These are services we’ve already signed up for, their apps already downloaded on our iPhone 15.

Searching various program categories (TV shows, movies, sports), content from these selected SVODs and the virtual MVPD surfaced in thumbnail form, alongside various FAST options.

“FreeCast has over 500 free streaming channels from many partners, and we’re pretty regularly signing new deals bringing in more,” company rep Kevin Speedy managed to tell StreamTV Insider via email Tuesday as Hurricane Milton closed in on Orlando, home to FreeCast’s headquarters.  “That’s a big piece of our value proposition with YouBundle. You choose what you want to pay for in terms of subscription services, and we bring you all the free content that’s out there and put it all in one place.”

FreeCast isn’t conducting an exercise in “disaggregation” — that is, taking content from paid apps and playing them back on its own platform. Once a user selects an episode of a specific show on a paid service, they’re redirected to the service’s app for actual viewing.

This reporter selected the first episode of season 1 of HBO’s The Last of Us, for example. In addition to its home channel, Max, we were also given the option of selecting various TVOD destinations.

“For content that is neither free with ads nor available on a service you subscribe to, we give you pay-per-view options to buy or rent that content from various online storefronts (Amazon, iTunes, Google Play, etc.),” Speedy added. “If you just want to watch one movie some given night, it may be easier and more economical to pay a couple of bucks for a digital rental than subscribe to a new SVOD service for a month.”

StreamTV Insider didn’t independently kick the tires on FreeCast’s consolidated payment capabilities.

But Speedy explained the payment system this way: “We’re able to issue customers a virtual Mastercard number, which is then provided to the SVOD/virtual pay-TV providers for billing. This is what allows us to combine payments into a single monthly charge and itemized statement, and also what facilitates the account pause/restart feature. When an account is paused or cancelled, the streaming service can no longer charge the virtual card, and the subscription expires. When payment resumes, the subscription is reactivated. This also protects the user from fraud if there is a data breach at the SVOD service, as that virtual card number cannot be used for anything other than streaming subscriptions and their actual credit card number or banking information is not exposed.”

The multilayered “onion” that is FreeCast, meanwhile, is monetized in several different ways.

“First is hyper-targeted dynamic ad-insertion,” Speedy said. “Because our service is an aggregated guide, we have a wide view of consumer streaming behavior and thus a greater ability to deliver some of the industry’s most targeted ads. We also have affiliate relationships with a variety of streaming services and products, so we receive payouts and commissions when users of our services sign up for or purchase these products.”

Notably, FreeCast also has subscription products to peddle, including its “Value Channels,” a pay TV bundle it sells along with its “FreeCast Home” set-top box.

FreeCast also operates a commercial unit. “We receive fees from commercial partners for combined service through equipment and streaming services,” Speedy explained. “These partners include multi-family housing (apartments, condos, on-campus housing, etc.), internet service providers, the hospitality industry, device manufacturers, and more.”

FreeCast added that Mobley and his group have spent $50 million over the last decade building FreeCast. But like the company’s Crunchbase profile, he didn’t disclose where the funding has come from.

The company’s activity does seem to have picked up of late.

FreeCast has  been aggressively licensing FAST content — in April, for example, the company signed a deal with SoFAST to add to its platform 13 more channels, including the motorsports-focused  AutoMotion and Chrono TV, and The Ring, which is fixated on mixed martial arts and wrestling.

There have been tech deals.

In September, for instance, FreeCast announced an agreement with Dish Network to put its streaming aggregation middleware on AirTV 2 and AirTV Anywhere devices for FreeCast commercial customers.

There have been executive hires — former CenturyLink executive Erik Genrich joined the company in August as chief revenue officer.

And there have also been business moves. In April, FreeCast enlisted the Maxim Group to advise it on creating a direct listing on Nasdaq with the ticker symbol “CAST.”