OTT.X is a Los Angeles-based

not-for-profit A not-for-profit or non-for-profit organization (NFPO) is a Legal Entity, legal entity that does not distribute surplus funds to its members and is formed to fulfill specific objectives. While not-for-profit organizations and Nonprofit organ ...

international trade association dedicated to advancing the interests of companies and organizations involved in over-the-top (OTT) media distribution and its related technologies. Prior to its refocusing on OTT, OTT.X was known as the Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA). The mission of the EMA was to promote, protect, and provide a forum for, the common business interests of those engaged in the sale, rental, and licensed reproduction of entertainment software, such as motion pictures, video games, and sound recordings.

History

The Entertainment Merchants Association was established in April 2006 through the merger of the Interactive Entertainment Merchants Association (IEMA) and the Video Software Dealers Association (VSDA). VSDA was organized in 1981 to help video retail stores fight against federal legislation that would have changed the first-sale doctrine. VSDA was initiated under the auspices of NARM (National Association of Recording Merchandisers), and was originally headed by Mickey Granberg, who was executive vice-president and staff head of both organizations until she retired in 1989. VSDA separated from NARM in 1991 and moved its headquarters from southern New Jersey to Encino, Calif. in 1993-1994. On January 17, 2020, the Entertainment Merchants Association became OTT.X.

Composition

As of 2024, there are 122 members who fall into the categories of retailers/channels/networks/platforms, content providers, service and technology providers, and universities. Plex is the sole member with Gold membership status. Other well-established members include Prime Video,

BBC Studios BBC Studios Limited is a British content company. It is a commercial subsidiary of the BBC that was formed in April 2018 through the merger of the BBC's commercial production arm and the BBC's commercial international distribution arm, BBC Wor ...

, Crackle,

Fandango Media Fandango Media, LLC is an American Box office, ticketing company that sells Ticket (admission), movie tickets via its website and its mobile app. It also owns Fandango at Home (formerly owned by Walmart and originally known as Vudu), a streaming ...

Gracenote Gracenote, Inc. is a company and service that provides music, video, and sports metadata and automatic content recognition (ACR) technologies to entertainment services and companies worldwide. Formerly CDDB ("Compact Disc Data Base"), Gracenote ...

, LG, Magnolia Home Entertainment,

Roku Roku ( ) is a brand of consumer electronics that includes streaming players, smart TVs (and their operating systems), as well as a free TV streaming service. The brand is owned by Roku, Inc., an American company. As of 2024, Roku is the U ...

, Shout! Studios,

Sony Pictures Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment studio conglomerate that produces, acquires, and distributes filmed entertainment (theatrical motion pictures, television programs, and rec ...

TelevisaUnivision TelevisaUnivision (formerly known as Univision Communications) is a Mexican-American media company headquartered in Miami and Mexico City that owns American Spanish language broadcast network Univision and free-to-air channels in Mexico such as ...

, and Vizio. EMA represented more than 1,000 companies throughout the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, and other nations. Its members operated more than 20,000 retail outlets in the U.S. that sold and/or rented

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

s and computer and console

video games A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

. Membership comprised the full spectrum of retailers (from single-store specialists to multi-line mass merchants), distributors, the home video divisions of major and independent motion picture studios, video game publishers, and other related businesses that constitute and support the home entertainment industry.

Legal activity

References

External links

* Arts and media trade groups Entertainment industry associations {{business-org-stub