Kanopy Video Streaming Signs 377 New Universities and Colleges for 2015-2016 Academic Year

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 25, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Kanopy, the leading on-demand streaming video service for educational institutions, today announced it has brought on 377 new U.S.-based university and college customers for the 2015-2016 academic year. New customers signed in 2015 include Harvard, Stanford, Dartmouth, Columbia, University of Pennsylvania, Texas A&M, Howard University, UC San Diego, and University of Michigan, among others. In the last two years Kanopy grew its U.S. customer base to more than 1000 educational institutions.

Kanopy has revolutionized how university libraries acquire film and video resources for students and faculty. Kanopy's unique patron driven acquisition (PDA) model ensures that educational institutions only pay for the films their students and faculty actually watch – instead of spending thousands of dollars upfront. Faculty and students are provided with free access to Kanopy's library of films and payment is triggered only after a particular film has been watched four times within 12 months. Films watched less than four times are not triggered and libraries don't pay for those views.

"Kanopy's streaming video model has provided UMass Amherst with significant pedagogical as well as economic value," said Scott Stangroom, acquisitions librarian at University of Massachusetts Amherst, a customer of Kanopy's since 2013. "Kanopy's interface is aesthetically beautiful and intuitive to use. The dashboard analytics display is the best I've encountered, allowing for easy, in-depth and meaningful usage analysis."

According to an independent study by The University of Massachusetts Amherst & Simmons College, Kanopy's PDA model has a cost-per-play that is 99% lower than other video models. In addition, the study showed that triggered films are heavily used and 90% of the most viewed films had never been available on campus previously.

Kanopy's film collection is one of the largest in the world with more than 26,000 award-winning documentaries, training films and theatrical releases from leading producers such as Criterion Collection, PBS, The Great Courses, Media Education Foundation, BBC, First Run Features, Kino Lorber, and more. Many of Kanopy's films are not available elsewhere.

"Students respond better to video than any other resource – and Kanopy makes it easy for faculty to incorporate video into research projects or classroom discussions," said Olivia Humphrey, founder and CEO of Kanopy. "Professors tell us that Kanopy makes them feel more connected to their students. Ultimately, we're playing a role in changing the way students learn and professors teach."

Kanopy provides each university with a dedicated and customizable website through which their students and faculty can access and watch films. The viewing platform makes it easy for users to watch, share and discuss films – both inside and outside the classroom. Kanopy also creates a sustainable revenue model for filmmakers and film distributors by providing them with the majority share of every sale made. This ensures solid returns for filmmakers while also offering them interesting insights into audience viewing behavior by film, institution and country.

About Kanopy
Kanopy is an on-demand streaming video service for educational institutions that provides 12 million students and faculty with access to more than 26,000 films each year. Kanopy's unique PDA (patron driven acquisition) model ensures institutions only pay for the films their students and faculty actually watch. Kanopy works directly with filmmakers and film distribution companies to offer award-winning collections including titles from PBS, BBC, Criterion Collection, Media Education Foundation, and more. Kanopy is headquartered in San Francisco, California with offices in Sydney, Australia.  www.kanopystreaming.com.

SOURCE Kanopy

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