Jesta Digital pulls the plug on Bitbop mobile video service

Entertainment provider Jesta Digital is shuttering its Bitbop on-demand mobile video service, which the firm acquired from News Corp. in late 2010.

PaidContent reports Jesta Digital is terminating Bitbop services in the U.S. and Germany, also laying off about 50 staffers who worked on the platform. Jesta will continue operating consumer brands like Jamster and Jamba, which like Bitbop were included in its agreement to purchase News Corp.'s Fox Mobile Group division.

Bitbop went live in mid-2010, promising smartphone users full-length episodes of NBC, Fox, CBS and FX series like Glee, Justified, Friday Night Lights and The Office. Priced at $9.99 per month, the Hulu-like Bitbop offered both unlimited streaming and temporary downloads, delivered in high-quality video resolution and supported across both 3G and Wi-Fi networks. Last March, Bitbop expanded into original programming, teaming with breakfast cereal giant Post Foods to introduce Honey and Joy, an eight-episode comedy series.

Faced with mounting competition from the likes of Hulu and Netflix, Bitbop nevertheless struggled to gain traction with consumers. PaidContent notes about 20,000 paid subscribers were signed up at the time of Bitbop's demise.

For more:
- read this PaidContent article

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