At the StreamTV Show in Denver, Cat Zappa, VP of Digital Acquisitions at Hoopla, highlighted the platform’s mission to elevate public libraries as a meaningful channel in digital streaming. With offerings like BingePass and a pay-per-use model, Hoopla is helping libraries provide patrons with access to movies, shows, eBooks, audiobooks, music, and comics—all from one platform. Zappa emphasized Hoopla’s role in bridging content discovery and community engagement, noting how the service fosters fandom while also generating new revenue streams for content providers. The ability to drive users to third-party SVODs through libraries opens up fresh visibility for emerging brands.
Zappa also shared key takeaways from the event, pointing to the growing global interest in streaming partnerships and the surge in international content poised to reach new audiences. Hoopla is expanding its footprint across connected TV (CTV) and even automotive platforms, continuing to meet patrons where they are—at home and on the go. For content owners, libraries, and viewers alike, Hoopla’s evolving ecosystem offers an innovative, cross-format media experience. With demand increasing across the U.S., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, Hoopla is positioning itself as a uniquely accessible gateway to premium content.
Bevin Fletcher:
Hi, everyone. Welcome. Thanks for joining us. I'm Bevin Fletcher, Senior Editor of StreamTV Insider, and I'm here with Cat Zappa, Vice President of Digital Acquisitions at Hoopla, and we're going to chat about what they had happening and key takeaways from the StreamTV Show in Denver. Hey Cat, thanks for being with us.
Cat Zappa:
For sure. Thanks Bevin for having me.
Bevin Fletcher:
All right. Well, to get started, Hoopla has plenty of going on, but what did you decide to showcase at the StreamTV Show in June?
Cat Zappa:
At StreamTV in June, we ended up highlighting a lot of the different opportunities that Hoopla has been bringing to public libraries and their patrons, which sometimes can be a somewhat forgotten channel of distribution in the digital streaming space. So it was really exciting to be there, to be part of it. We've got some new product offerings that are in that binge pass, very bingeable type space, if you will. And then of course, we always have our traditional TVA type experience as well, which we call pay per use on the library side of things, which is great.
Bevin Fletcher:
Oh, nice. Interesting. So what was your core message to the attendees you met and what kind of feedback did you receive?
Cat Zappa:
For us, our core message was speaking a lot to the misconceptions of the library space. Library space is a great area for supplemental revenue, frankly, generation, and in some cases, even some homegrown community driven type interest in content, whether it's educational or entertainment. Hoopla happens to sit in both areas at the end of the day, so that's one thing that makes us a little bit different and really exciting. We also not only cover video content, but we've also got eBooks and audiobooks, comic books, music albums available on the platform as well.
So it's a really cool experience where we're able to cross promote content, not just from the video perspective, but all the other format perspectives as well. So we're really able to pull together that community or that fan base around topics around maybe characters, producers, directors, talent, authors, what have you. And so those are some of the things that allow us to stand out a little bit and at the same time catch some really great revenue for those content providers at the end of the day.
With BingePass, we also talked a lot about driving from that brand perspective because through our BingePass product, we're able to send our patrons, our library patrons into third-party SVODs, and that can be a really exciting opportunity for a lot of content providers today that maybe their SVOD's a little bit newer, maybe their brand isn't quite as well known, and we can help bring them into the library space and get them access to millions of patrons throughout the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand where we happen to be active, really allowing them a great new opportunity for engagement with their contents.
Bevin Fletcher:
Interesting. So kind of a marriage of content, fandom and monetization, all important pieces.
Cat Zappa:
All at the same place. Yeah, it's great and it's a great opportunity for convenience for that patron at the end of the day who's going in and maybe they think they're looking for the book, but oh my goodness, I forgot it got adapted to a movie. I can't wait to check out that film or that television show that it got adapted to.
Bevin Fletcher:
Awesome. So clearly a busy productive event, but if you had to zero in on one thing, what was your key takeaway from the show?
Cat Zappa:
Well, the growth of the event was amazing. It was super exciting to see how many folks wanted to be out there, how many different brands, how many different media ventures wanted to be a part of the experience this year. I was particularly excited and interested in seeing how much from the international perspective made that investment to come on over. At Hoopla, of course, English happens to be our highest engaged with language, but we're meeting library patrons where they're at, which is their homes, and so at the end of the day, we're reaching folks from all different demographics and they may not be English native speakers.
So in some cases, we're really looking for some of that cool international content that maybe hasn't broken here in the U.S. So that was really exciting piece and exciting takeaway for us to bring back. We also have been getting heavier into the CTV space with having Hoopla available on more CTV and even automotive opportunities as far as devices go where you can find us. And so to see even more commitment from the CTV industry at this event was really great for us because we're starting to really drive and diversify where you can find us even more so.
Bevin Fletcher:
Awesome. Great tip off for StreamTV Europe next year in Lisbon as you look at that international sector.
Cat Zappa:
That was really exciting.
Bevin Fletcher:
Okay, well that's all the time, but thank you so much for sharing with us, Catherine. Great to have you here and thanks for viewing.
Cat Zappa:
Thanks so much for having me, Bevin.