Vimeo is ending support for its existing TV apps — with the video management and hosting provider telling customers they’ll have a “better ongoing experience” by using video-casting features instead.
The company is ceasing support for Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Stick, and Roku as of June 27, 2023. “That means we will remove the TV apps from the app stores and we will not publish any new releases, security updates or provide technical support for TV apps,” Vimeo says in a notice on its help site.
Why is Vimeo ending support for its TV apps? According to the message on the customer-support site, “Occasionally, we retire legacy products and features that are no longer consistent with our standards. We believe that our users looking to view Vimeo videos will receive a better ongoing experience by casting via our mobile app, enabling customers to enjoy Vimeo content on their TV.”
Vimeo videos can be displayed on internet-connected TVs by using Vimeo’s iOS and Android apps (or a supported web browser) to cast them via Apple AirPlay and Google Chromecast to compatible televisions.
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The company noted that the change does not apply to branded apps available to Vimeo OTT Enterprise sellers.
Vimeo launched its apps for Apple TV, Android TV and Roku in 2016. “Today, Vimeo is much more than a viewing destination,” the company says in the notice. “It’s an all-in-one video experience platform giving creative professionals, businesses and organizations everything they need to make and market amazing, impactful videos.”
New York-based Vimeo spun off from Barry Diller’s IAC internet conglomerate in 2021, when it became an independent publicly traded entity.
For the first quarter of 2023, Vimeo’s revenue fell 4% year-over-year to $103.6 million and gross profit declined 2% to $79.9 million. The company narrowed its net loss to $700,000 (versus a net loss of $26.6 million in the year-earlier period). In a bid to cut costs, Vimeo this January announced that it would lay off 11% of its employees.
Vimeo said that as of the end of Q1 it had about 1.5 million self-serve and add-ons subscribers, and 2,500 Vimeo Enterprise subscribers.
