• by Alex Weprin , June 14, 2018

To say the news cycle is in overdrive would be something of an understatement. Just a few years ago, that would mean an influx of viewers to cable news channel like CNN and Fox News. That's still happening, but with many people at work or otherwise occupied during the day, turning on cable TV just isn’t an option.

So a number of enterprising news outlets are looking to fill that gap, using streaming video as the delivery mechanism.

New OTT offerings are beginning to proliferate for savvy consumers looking to get the latest news and commentary. While some major national news outlets are in the game (think CBSN, and NBC News’ upcoming streaming news service), increasingly smaller ones are trying to stake a claim as well.

This week two OTT services launched, each aiming for a different slice of the market. The Hill -- the D.C. political newspaper -- rolled out hill.tv, which aims to “cut through the biased coverage of the traditional political news outlets, giving citizens the opportunity to shape their own views without being influenced by partisan media.”

hill.tv began with a morning show hosted by former MSNBC host Krystal Ball and radio host Buck Sexton, with interviews and commentary from other guests. Other shows will be rolling our over the next few weeks.

Local TV and radio giant Raycom's new OTT service takes a different approach. “InvestigateTV” brings together reporting from Raycom’s 65 TV stations, ProPublica and the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at ASU.

Whereas The Hill wants to become a go-to source for political news and commentary, InvestigateTV aims to be an OTT channel for investigative reporting.