Kansas City Chiefs launch OTT streaming channel for fans
The Kansas City Chiefs have joined the contingent of other similar franchises which have a dedicated channel for fans to stream media on.
The Kansas City Chiefs no longer lag behind the rest of the NFL in one way. On Wednesday, Nov. 22, the team announced the launch of its dedicated streaming media channel on Apple TV.
According to a press release, the new Apple TV service was built by the same company which built the team’s mobile application, Yinzcam. Apple TV users will be able to download the app, called the “Chiefs Channel,” and view a wide array of video content produced by the franchise and its broadcast partner KCTV5 on-demand.
Among the regularly-updated inventory of content on the channel will be shows like the official pregame show of the Chiefs, “Hy-Vee Chiefs Insider.” Also among the list of in-house productions on the channel will be the team’s official postgame show, “Chiefs Rewind.” Two documentary series titled “Chiefs Kingdom” and “Chiefs Blueprint” will be available as well.
Chiefs President Mark Donovan spoke about the channel’s launch in the release.
"“With more fans embracing new technology to consume their content, we wanted to find a way to deliver our stories directly to Chiefs fans in formats that they are most comfortable with. Our 65TPT Production crew features award-winning storytellers who create uniquely compelling content around our team and organization. While we will continue to rely on Chiefs.com to host our content, we are excited that our digital media team has identified this opportunity for the organization to use technology to connect with our fans and viewers.”"
Donovan’s comments refer to an important business matter for the Chiefs. With more people “cutting the cord” across the world and younger generations simply never acquiring cable/satellite television service at all, there has been increasingly less value for the Chiefs and CBS in producing television content. Making the content available in a dedicated channel not only makes it available to the fans who have never gotten television service or have severed their services, but does so in a way that is convenient for those fans to navigate.
For fans who wish to consume this content in a similar way but are not Apple TV owners, the Chiefs are working to bring the content to Google Chromecast and Roku users as well.
The time will come when more people consume video content on OTT devices than through cable/satellite delivery. The Chiefs have made sure that they are prepared for that day.