FitnessOnDemand (FOD) — IHRSA booth #1509 — the leader in on-demand, curated content from some of the world’s most innovative fitness brands and celebrity trainers, this month introduces another global innovation of its own. Developed as part of the company’s continued commitment to a virtually-anywhere accessible universe of premium fitness experiences for clubs and other fitness facilities, livestreaming comes just in time for FitnessOnDemand’s 10th anniversary and offers club operators, instructors and their members the very latest in high quality, livestreaming fitness experiences that blend seamlessly with their on-demand content portfolios and in-club classes.
The new introduction features the integration of livestreaming, instructor-led class functionality into FitnessOnDemand’s current platform of more than 1,000 on-demand classes, workouts and other content packages. For instructors that means the ability to offer their trademark classes and interacting live with member participants even if they’re not physically present in the class studio. Club operators can easily and immediately scale-up livestreamed instructor-led classes to include more members than in-club classes, or create special, live events as premium membership add-ons, additional promotional value or offerings for new members.
Livestreaming from FitnessOnDemand gives clubs and every other fitness facility operator the ability to plan for any eventuality in the new normal of club operations. Whether it’s member preference to work out live in class, with on-demand content or livestreamed classes at home, or a change in COVID-regulations that impacts fitness offerings in the coming months, FOD’s livestream solution provides all fitness facilities with a long-term, high-engagement and ultra-flexible answer to member needs. Operators can also simply and effectively get the most out of their club talent, livestreaming popular and high-attendance classes to a wider audience of virtual class participants, as well as spotlight and promote specific instructor expertise and skills across the entire club membership.
“This isn’t simply the addition of functionality to our current technology platform,” said Uday Anumalachetty, the divisional vice president of FitnessOnDemand. “It’s the next important step in our vision of providing seamless fitness experiences and specialty content to our club customers’ user-bases in an increasingly fragmented and somewhat unpredictable market. That includes workers who split time between office and home in the new workplace and club members who may now work out regularly at home in addition to classes at their club but who still want to receive the same expert guidance and quality experience wherever they are. As this evolution continues, it will be increasingly important to, not just provide virtually-anywhere access to on-demand and streaming channels, but to offer access to every format in a unified, branded ecosystem that doesn’t require googling or searching YouTube or multiple other social channels.”
The livestreaming product features Instructor Broadcast mode enabling any instructor to connect with a diverse audience of remote users for live, virtual fitness classes. Broadcast events can be pre-scheduled and shared through club and facility websites and social channels, allowing participants to RSVP and book attendance their instantaneously with an automated addition to their device calendars. Once instructors go live, class participants can click on a class listing to instantly join and stream the class. Classes are available on iOS and Android apps as well as web browser and performance is automatically logged in participants’ personal workout histories with an ability for members to rate every session. An additional instructor one-on-one mode also lets personal trainers and class instructors connect with individual members and provide live, highly personalized sessions tailored to member needs, interests and fitness levels.
As part of the launch, FitnessOnDemand’s Customer Success team will play an expanded and pivotal role in working with club operators and fitness facilities managers to create optimal content portfolios and format schedules. FOD team members will help operators create balanced blends of on-demand and livestreaming classes that both meet their club’s specific member needs and support live, in-club fitness class offerings.
The introduction timed in conjunction with FitnessOnDemand’s tenth anniversary is the latest, sophisticated platform evolution that started with a prototype desktop computer and HDMI cables in 2011 and grew rapidly year over year. Other steps in the product R+D journey included the installation of physical kiosks for customers, flush mount iPads in studios and most recently the launch in March 2020 of FOD’s hugely successful product, FLEX by FitnessOnDemand — an introduction that provided fitness and wellness content to many thousands of users during the pandemic.
“This wasn’t developed to celebrate our big tenth anniversary,” added Anumalachetty, “But the timing is certainly fitting. It’s marking a special date in our business timeline with a next-era technology already proving a must-have with early-adopter customers.”
Broadcast mode livestreaming is immediately available utilizing the latest technology platform functionality to all current FitnessOnDemand commercial customers. One-on-one mode launched October 1, 2021.
