Hiway Is Live: Direct-to-Fan Distribution Now Open for Everyone
Hiway is now open to all creators, filmmakers, and rights holders. Upload once, distribute to fans worldwide, and keep your audience data. No middlemen.
The internet promised creators independence. The streaming era took it away.
For the past decade, filmmakers, rights holders, and content creators have been handed a deal that goes like this: give us your content, we’ll give it reach, you’ll get a fraction of the revenue, and you’ll never find out who actually watched it. That’s not distribution. That’s tenancy.
Hiway was built to fix that. And as of today, it is open to everyone.
The Platform Is Ready
We have rebuilt Hiway from the ground up.
The new interface is faster, cleaner, and significantly more powerful - designed around one principle: you should be able to upload your content, define your commercial terms, and start reaching your audience anywhere in the world, without handing control to a third party.
One control panel. Every tool you need. From secure B2B screeners through to direct-to-fan monetisation, audience analytics, and real-time payments - all in one place.
This is not a beta. Content is already being distributed. Revenue is already flowing. Platforms are already live.
Who Hiway Is Built For
If you create content, own rights, or distribute to an audience, Hiway was built for you.
Filmmakers and production companies can release directly to audiences, manage screeners for buyers and press, and build a direct relationship with fans — while retaining full control of their rights and revenue.
Film festivals can run on-demand platforms, sell passes, and build year-round engagement with their audience - rather than earning for two weeks and going dark for the other fifty.
Sports rights holders, federations, and clubs can stream directly to fans globally, understand their audience, and communicate with them without routing everything through third-party infrastructure.
Content creators and influencers can monetise content, retain up to 90% of revenue, and stop handing their audience relationship to platforms that use it against them.
Industry organisations and publishers can launch white-label streaming destinations to activate and monetise content libraries they already own.
What Is Already Happening on Hiway
The platform is not theoretical. It is being used today.
Winston Baker has launched its film finance platform on Hiway, creating a paywalled destination for its global industry community. Elevate Film School has partnered with Hiway, bringing direct-to-fan infrastructure to the next generation of filmmakers from day one. Production companies are actively uploading and managing film libraries — using Hiway for B2B rights management, screeners, and D2C releases within a single system.
And this week, xfm launched on Hiway: featuring Ricky Gervais, Oasis, Damon Albarn, The Libertines and more - now streaming directly to fans via Hiway infrastructure.
This is not just independent content. Established cultural brands are building on the platform.
Three New Features Now Live
Screener Rooms
You can now create secure, password-protected screener rooms directly within your Hiway account — presenting projects to distributors, buyers, and investors in a controlled, trackable environment.
Built in time for Cannes and the festival circuit, this is already being used by production companies preparing market materials. Invite-only access. Expiry controls. Full analytics on who watched what, and for how long.
Social Distribution Tools
You can now post your Hiway content directly to your social channels from within the platform. Every viewer who arrives from social builds your audience database. Every transaction provides evidence of demand — both increasingly important when engaging with financiers and partners.
Create SmartLink clips or MP4 social clips directly from your content library in seconds.
Syndication and Affiliate Distribution
Hiway allows you to activate your wider network by enabling collaborators, affiliates, influencers, and partners to distribute your content. Through simple digital agreements, partners can share SmartLinks or embed your content within their own platforms — earning a commission on every view or sale they generate.
You retain ownership of your content and your audience data. Revenue is automatically split and distributed in real time. Your network becomes your distribution channel.
Why Now
For most organisations, going direct to fan has been difficult because of the cost, complexity, and time required to build streaming infrastructure. Hiway removes these barriers entirely.
There is no infrastructure cost to get started. No development cycles. No technical team required. You go live in minutes, under your own brand, with payments flowing directly to your account.
The Premier League recently announced direct-to-fan streaming in Singapore as a test market. Major rights holders are exploring exactly the model Hiway was built to deliver. The advantage right now is early. That will not last.
Upload once. Distribute anywhere. Track everything. Get paid instantly.
What Does Hiway Actually Do?
Hiway is a content operating system. One account gives you every tool you need to manage your content from creation through to distribution and monetisation — without giving control away.
Upload your content once. Set your pricing, access rules, and territories. Hiway generates a SmartLink that handles delivery across multiple formats: pay-per-view, rental, subscription, gated access, or free-to-view.
Your audience pays you directly, with revenue flowing into your account in real time. Every viewer interaction builds your audience dataset — giving you ongoing insight and control that no platform will ever hand you.
In short:
Store and manage your entire content library in one place
Share secure screeners with buyers, distributors, press, and investors
Launch direct-to-fan releases via PPV, rental, passes, or subscription
Set territory-by-territory pricing and access rules
Own every data point — viewer identities, watch time, transaction history
Get paid instantly, directly to your bank account
Your content. Your fans. Your money. Your way. On the Hiway.
Frequently Asked Questions About Hiway
What is Hiway and how is it different from streaming platforms like Netflix or Amazon?
Hiway is not a streaming platform. It is the infrastructure that content owners use to run their own content business — storing, distributing, monetising, and tracking their content — without giving control to a third party. Think Shopify for content, not Netflix for viewers. Netflix acquires content and owns the audience. Hiway gives you the tools to own your audience yourself, keep your revenue, and retain your IP.
How much does it cost to use Hiway, and what percentage of revenue do creators keep?
Hiway is designed so that content owners keep up to 90% of revenue generated through the platform. There is no infrastructure cost to get started and no large upfront investment required. Revenue flows directly into your bank account in real time - there are no delayed monthly payouts or opaque reporting windows. Visit onthehiway.com for current pricing details or book a demo to discuss your specific use case.
Can I use Hiway to send secure screeners to distributors and buyers?
Yes. Hiway’s Screener Rooms allow you to create secure, password-protected private screening environments directly within your account. You can share projects with distributors, buyers, investors, and press - with invite-only access, expiry controls, and full analytics showing who watched, how much they watched, and when. This replaces insecure Vimeo links or email attachments with a professional, trackable B2B delivery system.
Who is Hiway built for - is it only for independent filmmakers?
Hiway is built for anyone who creates content, owns rights, or distributes to an audience. This includes independent filmmakers and documentary makers, film festivals, sports rights holders and federations, music rights owners, content creators and influencers, production companies, distributors, archive and catalogue rights owners, and industry organisations and publishers. If you currently rely on third-party platforms to reach your audience and feel you are losing revenue, data, or control in the process — Hiway was built for you.