Premier brand in Cannabis creating ad-supported online video network for premium marijuana-related influencers and web series
LOS ANGELES, Aug. 09, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- High Times, the most well known brand in Cannabis behind more than four decades of Cannabis-related content, today announced that it is launching an unfiltered “over-the-top” online streaming-video product, High Times TV.
HTTV will be home to the best cannabis-related videos across the internet, giving creators and fans a much-needed resource to find entertainment and information that’s been made increasingly difficult to find as social media platforms continue to restrict content featuring marijuana. With a heavy focus on the end user, High Times partnered with Unreel to help develop HTTV apps. The platform has been integrated with Unreel’s digital ad networks - including Roku and Google Ad Manager – in an effort to create new monetization opportunities for creators in the space. Notable talent already using the platform include CustomGrow420, StrainCentral, Ruffhouse Studios, High Rise TV, Stoner Mom, The Green Market Report and That High Couple with new content from Now This Weed, Doug Benson’s ‘Getting Doug with High’ and more coming soon.
“While High Times has built a powerful subscriber base across print, digital and social media, it’s not enough to just produce content for those platforms,” said High Times CEO Adam Levin. “The huge demand for mobile-friendly premium video includes a real hunger for the cannabis-related content that social-media sites are all too often blocking. High Times’ new channel intends to satisfy that hunger, ensuring that we can reach our loyal audience wherever they may be, on whatever platform they use. It’s another way to serve our fans.”
The High Times OTT offering is particularly important to fans as many cannabis-related creators on sites such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter have had their content blocked or otherwise deprioritized. Through a standalone, ad-supported web channel, High Times will aggregate and curate the best of that content in one place, providing a one-stop shop for fans and brands alike to connect with the best of Cannabis creative content.
"Even in 2018, the truth about cannabis use is being silenced by major platforms,” said Joshua Young, founder of StrainCentral. “Social Media doesn’t want us to exist and propaganda is ruining society's views on a harmless plant. Just as High Times has done since the 70's, we’re here to provide a voice for the unspoken, and to champion this gift of the earth.”
“HTTV allows society to see actual insight into cannabis use and its users, and provides us creators with the means to keep up the fight,” said Young. “In a time where YouTube is demonetizing, and Instagram is purging our pages, High Times is a safe space."
High Times TV will feature such content as cultivation and extraction lessons, comedy shorts, behind-the-scenes exclusives from High Times’ Cannabis Cup events, and vlogs from some of the industry’s most notable influencers. The channel is live now on tv.hightimes.com and available as an app for iOS, Apple TV, Android and Roku.
About High Times:
For more than 40 years, High Times has been the authoritative voice of authentic cannabis culture, leading the fight for legalization and empowering the burgeoning industry’s legal entrepreneurs. High Times content spans digital, social, video and print platforms as well as location-based events highlighted by the Cannabis Cup global franchise and the High Times Business Summit conference series. Visit us at HighTimes.com, and follow @HIGH_TIMES_Mag on Twitter, @hightimesmagazine on Instagram or like us on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/HIGHTIMESMag/