Friend MTS
Friend MTS is a UK-headquartered, privately held anti-piracy software company founded in 2000 that delivers monitoring, watermarking, and enforcement solutions to broadcasters, sports rights holders, and streaming platforms including UEFA, FIFA, Premier League, Sky, and Warner Bros Discovery.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2000
- HeadquartersBirmingham, United Kingdom
- Headcount101–250
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Friend MTS does
Friend MTS is a UK-headquartered, privately held anti-piracy and content protection software company founded in 2000 and operating for over 25 years. The company provides a modular platform built around three solution pillars — Monitor (detection of stolen content across the piracy landscape), Identify (tracing piracy to its source through forensic watermarking and vulnerability analysis), and Disrupt (enforcement, blocking, and revenue recovery). Its underlying technology stack combines Emmy Award-winning video fingerprinting, the ASiD subscriber watermarking system (deployed across 100M+ apps and devices), distribution watermarking, and Dynamic Server Blocking — a network-level enforcement method the company pioneered in 2017. The platform processes approximately 26,000 hours of video daily and sends close to two million enforcement notices monthly.
The company's customer base is concentrated in live sports, premium broadcasting, and streaming/OTT, with named enterprise relationships including UEFA, FIFA, Premier League, Formula One, Liverpool FC, BBC Studios, ITV, Sky, Warner Bros Discovery, Globo, Televisa Univision, DirecTV, beIN Sports, Fubo, and WWE Network. Friend MTS operates a direct enterprise sales motion with five offices — London (global headquarters), Birmingham, York, Manchester, and Singapore (Asia-Pacific regional hub) — and engages in cross-border law enforcement collaboration, notably a joint operation with Europol, Eurojust, and national authorities that dismantled a criminal piracy organization alleged to have served 22 million users. The business is ISO 27001 certified and carbon neutral.
Friend MTS generates revenue primarily through subscription-based recurring service contracts for monitoring, watermarking deployment, and professional services for enforcement and blocking work, sold on a quote-based enterprise model with no public pricing. It holds a Technology & Engineering Emmy Award (2018) and a 2025 Frost & Sullivan Technology Innovation Leadership recognition. The company is founder-led in origin (Jonathan Friend, founder and former CEO) with current CEO Shane McCarthy and an executive team including CFO Mark Scotter, COO Simon Thornberry, Chief Architect Chris White, Chief People Officer Jill Ezard, SVP Engineering Andy Haynes, VP Marketing Nik Forman, and VP Intelligence Dave Gilmore.
Friend MTS firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Friend MTS
- Legal name
- Friend MTS Ltd
- Website
- https://friendmts.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2000
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 101–250 employees
- Short description
- Friend MTS is a UK-headquartered, privately held anti-piracy software company founded in 2000 that delivers monitoring, watermarking, and enforcement solutions to broadcasters, sports rights holders, and streaming platforms including UEFA, FIFA, Premier League, Sky, and Warner Bros Discovery.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Friend MTS industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Content Protection / Anti-Piracy Software
- NAICS
- Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (518), Broadcasting and Content Providers (516)
- SIC
- Services-Motion Picture & Video Tape Distribution (7822)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Piracy Monitoring & Discovery (Web/Social/App Store/UGC Crawling) (MPAHAMAC)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Leak Detection & Source Attribution (Fingerprint Matching, Subscriber/Partner Tracing) (MPAHAMAE), Takedown & Enforcement Operations (Notice-and-Takedown, Platform Escalations) (MPAHAMAF), Threat Intelligence & Investigations (Piracy Networks, Evidence Collection) (MPAHAMAL), Content Protection for Live Events (Geo-blocking, Concurrent Stream Controls) (MPAHAMAG)
Keywords
Where Friend MTS is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Birmingham
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices5 records
Markets served
Friend MTS business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- Anti-Piracy Monitoring Services: Continuous monitoring services that scan the piracy landscape to locate stolen content across web, social media, and IPTV platforms. Revenue generated through subscription-based service contracts with broadcasters and content owners.
- Watermarking Solutions: Subscriber and distribution watermarking services deployed across customer platforms. Typically sold as ongoing service contracts with implementation fees.
- Blocking and Enforcement Services: Dynamic server blocking and legal enforcement services that take down pirated content and block access to pirate sites. Revenue from service fees and legal support contracts.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels7 records
Friend MTS product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Friend MTS provides a comprehensive cloud-based anti-piracy platform composed of three core solutions: Monitor (detects stolen content across the piracy landscape), Identify (traces piracy to its source using Emmy Award-winning video fingerprinting and subscriber/distribution watermarking), and Disrupt (enforces against pirates through dynamic server blocking, domain blocking, and legal action). The platform is sold as enterprise service contracts to broadcasters, sports leagues, content owners, and OTT streaming platforms to protect media rights worth over $120 billion.
Product overview
Friend MTS (FMTS) offers a comprehensive, modular anti-piracy platform consisting of three core solutions: Monitor (content monitoring and detection), Identify (source tracing), and Disrupt (enforcement and blocking). These are underpinned by core technology modules including Emmy® award-winning Video Fingerprinting, Subscriber Watermarking (available in both client and server variants), and Distribution Watermarking. The platform's enforcement capabilities include Dynamic Server Blocking and Domain Blocking, supported by expert-led Investigations services. FMTS processes approximately 26,000 hours of video daily and sends nearly 2 million enforcement notices monthly, protecting over $120 billion in media rights across live sports, broadcast, pay TV, and streaming/OTT sectors.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Monitor Content monitoring solution that enables rapid detection and discovery of stolen content across the piracy landscape using automated detection systems. Designed for broadcasters, sports leagues, content owners, and streaming platforms.
- Identify Solution for tracing piracy back to its source and identifying vulnerabilities, compromised subscriptions, and distribution paths using video fingerprinting and watermarking. Designed for broadcasters, sports leagues, content owners, and streaming platforms.
- Disrupt Anti-piracy enforcement solution to take down pirates, disrupt their operations, block their audiences, and win back revenue. Designed for broadcasters, sports leagues, content owners, and streaming platforms.
- Video Fingerprinting Emmy Award-winning advanced video fingerprinting technology that generates unique digital signatures for video content, enabling automated matching against pirated content at massive scale. Supports live, linear, and VOD content across RTMP, RTMPS, HLS, DASH, and SRT protocols.
- Subscriber Watermarking (ASiD) High-speed subscriber-level watermarking solution (also branded ASiD - Active Stream Identification) that identifies specific subscriptions being used to illegally re-stream content in as little as 3 minutes. Supports both client and server-based variants across broadcast, OTT, and hybrid distribution models.
- Distribution Watermarking Watermarking solution that establishes the source of piracy throughout the distribution network by adding imperceptible watermarks to distributed content, identifying which platforms or third-parties are being used as sources of piracy.
- Dynamic Server Blocking Network-level enforcement mechanism using legal orders for local jurisdiction to block access to video delivery servers hosting pirated content in real-time, drastically reducing illegal streams and driving viewers to legitimate alternatives. Pioneered by FMTS in 2017.
- Domain Blocking Enforcement mechanism to block access to pirate domain names through legal processes.
- Investigations Expert-led investigation services combining human expertise with automated systems to uncover piracy operations and provide actionable intelligence.
- Legal Consultancy & Support Legal support services to assist with enforcement actions, court orders, and blocking procedures.
Quantifiable outcome
- $120bn of media rights protected by FMTS solutions
- +5 more outcomes
Companies that use Friend MTS
Customer profileNamed customers28 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Friend MTS technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature4 records
Friend MTS partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core and flagship.
- TrueVisions NOWcorePartnership to deliver next-level anti-piracy protection for premium live sports content in Thailand.
- JAScoreEnd-to-end anti-piracy protection partnership for premium live sports in Thailand.
- ONE ChampionshipcoreGlobal social media anti-piracy partnership for live events and direct-to-consumer streaming, helping to protect martial arts content across social platforms.
- VOYOcorePartnership to protect streaming platform with premium sports content from piracy.
- MNC Media & EntertainmentcoreLeading anti-piracy partnership in Indonesia to protect media and entertainment content.
- Saran MediacoreLive anti-piracy services partnership to protect live sports in Turkey.
- UEFAflagshipExtended agreement for global content protection services covering all major UEFA club and national team competitions including Champions League, Women's Champions League, and Nations League. Services include live content monitoring, enforcement, and blocking during match windows.
- ITVflagshipProviding 24x7 Global Monitoring service to protect ITV's main linear channels across broadcast and streaming platforms in the UK.
- EuropolflagshipJoint operation with AAPA, Europol, Eurojust and law enforcement authorities in Italy, Switzerland, Sweden, Croatia and England to dismantle the world's largest transnational criminal organization allegedly serving pirated audiovisual content to 22 million users.
- Canadian Video Service ProviderscorePartnership with Canadian video service providers to implement dynamic blocking of servers hosting pirated broadcasters' content, including protection for FIFA, NBA, NHL, and UFC events.
- DIRECTV Latin AmericacoreServices to protect sports channels for DIRECTV in Latin America.
Scale indicators8 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Friend MTS competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Irdeto: Irdeto (a MultiChoice company) is the most direct competitor, offering content security, watermarking, and anti-piracy solutions for broadcasters, sports leagues, and streaming platforms globally. It overlaps directly with Friend MTS on subscriber watermarking, monitoring, and enforcement, and serves many of the same sports and media customers.
- NAGRA (Kudelski Group): NAGRA, a division of publicly traded Kudelski Group, provides content protection, anti-piracy, and watermarking services to pay-TV operators, broadcasters, and OTT providers. It competes head-to-head with Friend MTS in forensic watermarking and live sports protection, and bundles anti-piracy with broader conditional access and DRM solutions.
- Verimatrix: Verimatrix provides application shielding, DRM, and anti-piracy/watermarking solutions for streaming and broadcast customers. It directly overlaps with Friend MTS on subscriber watermarking and content monitoring, and serves a comparable customer base of OTT platforms, sports operators, and studios.
- Synamedia: Synamedia (spun out from Cisco) offers content security, video processing, and anti-piracy solutions for pay-TV and streaming providers. It is a direct competitor in content protection and watermarking for major broadcasters and sports leagues, and bundles anti-piracy into its broader video platform portfolio.
- MUSO: MUSO provides piracy intelligence, media protection, and content protection analytics for film, TV, publishing, music, and software. It is a direct competitor in piracy monitoring and measurement services, with comparable customer segments in media, entertainment, and sports, and overlapping data-driven insights.
Emerging players
- ContentArmor: ContentArmor is a specialist in video watermarking and content protection, focused on forensic watermarking for premium content. It competes with Friend MTS on watermarking technology for sports and VOD, but as a smaller, single-product company it is more of an emerging niche player than a full-suite peer.
- BuyDRM: BuyDRM provides DRM solutions and content protection services for streaming media, including watermarking and anti-piracy features. It is a smaller, more DRM-focused emerging player overlapping with Friend MTS on content security for OTT and streaming customers.
Broad incumbents
- MarkMonitor (Clarivate): MarkMonitor, a Clarivate brand, provides brand protection and anti-piracy services including domain monitoring, takedowns, and anti-counterfeiting for media, sports, and consumer brands. It overlaps with Friend MTS on enforcement/takedown operations but operates as a broader brand-protection incumbent with adjacent (rather than core) video focus.
- OpSec Security (Xperi): OpSec Security, now part of Xperi, offers brand protection, anti-piracy, and online content protection solutions. It is a broader incumbent that handles anti-piracy monitoring, takedowns, and enforcement at scale across media, sports, and consumer goods, with overlapping but less video-specialized coverage than Friend MTS.
Regional players
- INA (Institut National de l'Audiovisuel): INA is the French national audiovisual institute that operates content identification, fingerprinting, and monitoring services used by European broadcasters and rights holders. It is a regional peer with comparable video fingerprinting and content recognition capabilities, primarily serving French and European customers.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Friend MTS social profiles
Digital presenceFriend MTS compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance2 records
Friend MTS financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Friend MTS leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles11 records
Friend MTS subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries1 record
Friend MTS funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Friend MTS M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Friend MTS
What does Friend MTS do?
Friend MTS provides a comprehensive cloud-based anti-piracy platform composed of three core solutions: Monitor (detects stolen content across the piracy landscape), Identify (traces piracy to its source using Emmy Award-winning video fingerprinting and subscriber/distribution watermarking), and Disrupt (enforces against pirates through dynamic server blocking, domain blocking, and legal action). The platform is sold as enterprise service contracts to broadcasters, sports leagues, content owners, and OTT streaming platforms to protect media rights worth over $120 billion.
Is Friend MTS a public or private company?
Friend MTS is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Friend MTS founded?
Friend MTS was founded in 2000. It employs 101 to 250 people.
Where is Friend MTS based?
Friend MTS is headquartered in Birmingham, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does Friend MTS make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Anti-Piracy Monitoring Services are the primary driver. The others are watermarking Solutions and blocking and Enforcement Services.
Who are Friend MTS's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Irdeto, NAGRA (Kudelski Group), Verimatrix, Synamedia and MUSO. Emerging players are ContentArmor and BuyDRM. Broad incumbents are MarkMonitor (Clarivate) and OpSec Security (Xperi). INA (Institut National de l'Audiovisuel) is listed as a regional player.
Does Friend MTS have an API?
No public API is recorded for Friend MTS.
What industry is Friend MTS in?
Friend MTS's product category is Content Protection / Anti-Piracy Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAHAMAC, Piracy Monitoring & Discovery (Web/Social/App Store/UGC Crawling), with a secondary code of MPAHAMAE, Leak Detection & Source Attribution (Fingerprint Matching, Subscriber/Partner Tracing). Its NAICS code is 518 and its SIC code is 7822.