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Dailymotion reboots itself with new premium video service

DailyMotion for iOS
Image Credit: Paul Sawers / VentureBeat

In an effort to make a fresh start, Dailymotion announced today that it is reinventing its video platform with a narrower focus and a new premium service that features quality over users’ videos.

Speaking today at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity , Dailymotion CEO and chairman Maxime Saada took the wraps off the company’s new look. Going forward, Dailymotion says it will concentrate on four themes: news, sports, music, and entertainment. In terms of advertisers, it will be focused on the market for 18 to 49 year olds.

In a press release, Dailymotion said that “users will have access to exclusive content,” though it was not clear whether that would require a subscription or just the creation of an account.

The video content will be provided via partnerships, including three new ones with Universal Music Group, CNN, and Vice. The company also said it has a new advertising strategy that will feature “custom offers adapted to new video viewing modes.” These will include “an immersive experience through innovative, less-intrusive formats, such as vertical pre-roll ads, vertical in-video ads, and custom pre-roll ads designed to promote a more fluid user experience and stronger brand integration.”

“The new app is designed to be the go-to place where users will get their daily dose of must-see videos across four popular topics: news, sports, music and entertainment,” Saada said in a press release. “For our partners, the new app is proof of how much we love and value their content. Brands will also benefit thanks to a new advertising approach that favors innovative formats that don’t stand in the way of customer experience. This is really a pivoting moment for Dailymotion and a fresh start for our company.”

The new service is the latest twist from a company that was once rising fast as it tried to compete with YouTube. Dailymotion’s fate seemed to stall after the French government blocked an attempt by Yahoo to buy the company in 2013. The company says it has 300 million unique users per month, well short of the more than 900 million YouTube monthly uniques.

The company said a new Dailymotion app will be available soon on the App Store and Google Play. The desktop version rolls out July 5th in France and July 25th everywhere else.

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