Joyn subscription – films, series and TV on demand

Profile:

• Company name: Joyn GmbH
  
• Industry: Streaming / VOD
  
• Product: Internet television and video-on-demand platform
• Formation:  2017
• Location: Munich
• Managing director: Alexander Vassilev
  
• Number of employees:  300
  
• Subscription-based model since: since the beginning
  
• Annual turnover: 91 million euros (1st half of 2019)
• Offer structure: monthly subscription
  
• Product costs:
  • Free: free of charge
  • Joyn PLUS+: €6.99/month (1st month free, can be cancelled monthly)
    

     

     

Joyn is the joint streaming service of ProSiebenSat.1 and Discovery. In mid-2019, Joyn replaced the previous streaming channel “7TV”. The streaming platform had over seven million monthly users in January 2020. Maxdome and Eurosport are also expected to be integrated into the Joyn platform by mid-2020. The name Joyn is a combination of Joy and Join. The company expects to reach 10 million customers within two years. The paid subscription Joyn PLUS+ was launched on 26 November 2019.

Premium TV with the Joyn subscription

In addition to video-on-demand, Joyn also offers numerous TV channels as a continuous live stream. The reception takes place via the browser or the own Joyn streaming app.

What channels does Joyn offer?

Joyn TV offers live streams from 67 TV channels. These include TV channels of the public broadcaster and the channels of the ProSiebenSat.1 Media and Discovery Group.  Joyn’s own channel “Joyn Primetime” is also operated via this channel.

In addition, the user can access an extensive on-demand offer of series, shows and exclusive content. Here, the media libraries of the individual broadcasters are accessed. In addition, content can often be accessed on live TV a week before it is broadcast. Viewers can find content on specific areas in special thematic channels.

Accessing the live TV streams and the programmes in the media libraries of the past 14 days is free of charge. No registration is required. However, the content can only be accessed in SD quality. With a one-time registration, content can be placed on a personal watchlist so that no episode of a favourite TV show is missed. The account also allows content to be saved across different devices. Thus, you can start a film on the iPad and then simply continue watching it on the TV in the same place.

More choice and benefits with the Joyn subscription

Those who want more choice and HD quality in addition to the free offer can take out the “Joyn PLUS+” subscription.  In addition to a larger programme selection, Joyn subscribers receive complete series, pay TV channels (and live TV channels) such as Discovery Channel, Eurosport, kabel eins Classics as well as exclusive in-house productions. The premium series and films are also free of advertising. A free trial month is available for new customers, after which the Joyn subscription costs € 6.99 per month. So if you want to test the offer without any obligation, the Joyn PLUS+ trial month is free of charge.

The Joyn subscription is particularly convincing with its live TV offer in HD quality. The range of content is very extensive and the further integration of content from Maxdome promises a continuous increase in the selection. The in-house productions are also of high quality and thus offer users of the subscription a clear advantage.

The user can also stream the Joyn PLUS+ subscription abroad. Within the EU, premium series and films, pay TV channels and HD channels are available. Public broadcasters cannot be streamed abroad for licensing reasons.

Where can one use Joyn TV

With the Joyn app, you can watch the content on your smartphone or tablet. The Joyn streaming app is available for Android and iOS.  With a PC or laptop, the video content can be easily accessed via the browser. To watch Joyn on TV, you need to check whether your TV supports the Joyn app.

The Joyn app is not available for all smart TVs. Mainly devices with the Android TV operating system are supported. This system is found on TVs from Sony, Sharp and Philips. Users of a Samsung Smart TV can also install the app from model year 2017.

Another option is to use Google’s Chromecast, which can be used to transfer the app’s content to the TV.

An expansion of the functions and the supported devices is expected. Other live stream providers already offer more here. Joyn TV is convincing with its broad offer and the large selection of content, which can be used free of charge and without registration. However, compared to other providers, important functions such as downloading content for offline use, parallel streaming, 4K quality and original versions are missing.