Snippet: Vimeo Shutting Down TV Apps ☇

Todd Spangler for Variety:

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.

This isn’t a great sign, especially as Apple TV and Android TV devices are sort of “inexpensive” for developers to port their apps to (based on the mobile operating system, redesign the UI for a TV and can ship something fairly basic). While AirPlay and casting are suitable in limited situations, I much prefer to turn on my Apple TV and select what I want to watch.

Then again, Vimeo seems to be less of a threat to YouTube and having its own troubles:

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.