Plex, a media software company, is expanding its services to include movie ticket sales through a new partnership with Fandango, marking the company’s continued push into content discovery and monetization.
“Plex aims to be ‘the place where people can discover what to watch, regardless of where that content lives,’ said Scott Olechowski, Plex’s co-founder and chief product officer, in a statement.
Content discovery remains a significant challenge across the streaming industry, with various stakeholders—from smart TV operating system providers to streaming platforms and AI-powered recommendation engines—attempting to solve the problem. For Plex, leveraging user data to generate effective recommendations presents a substantial monetization opportunity.
“For studios and advertisers, we’re also creating a more measurable path from discovery to purchase, helping marketers understand which campaigns are converting,” Olechowski added.
The Fandango partnership stands in contrast to Plex’s established media server business, which allows users to stream their personally owned content without incurring licensing fees from Hollywood studios.
This move into movie ticketing follows more than two years after Plex introduced its own streaming rental service, along with a free ad-supported television (FAST) offering and integrated social features.
These new ventures provide Plex with additional revenue sources alongside its traditional media server software. The services operate independently for users: those who solely use Plex as a media server are not required to engage with its streaming services, and users retain the option to limit data sharing.
Plex has previously acknowledged the financial challenges associated with its lifetime license model. The newer business lines may help support ongoing development and maintenance of its core software. Meanwhile, the company continues to prioritize growth in areas beyond its original media server focus.
