Ad-Supported, Local TV Streamer Launches, Backed By 5 TV Groups, 200 Stations
- by Wayne Friedman , September 1, 2020
As TV stations expand their advertising efforts with OTT businesses, a new, free, ad-supported premium streaming service -- VUit, pronounced “view it” -- has launched with a number of TV station groups as partners.
Station groups that have signed on represent a collective 200 television stations owned by Gray Television, Meredith Corp., Cowles Media Company, Heritage Broadcasting Group, and Morgan Murphy Media.
The station groups have committed to producing at least 12 live events a year -- sports, concerts, cultural events, and news specials, yielding at a minimum nearly 2500 “VUit Originals” per year.
VUit is available on streaming platforms including iOS and Android devices, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, and AppleTV.
Syncback, the OTT video platform which is the technology company behind VUit, says the VUit platform will allow TV stations groups to sell advertising using Syncbak’s proprietary live DAI (dynamic ad insertion) technology adSync.
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Previously, Syncbak launched local news OTT platform SBTV.
Syncbak delivers live local broadcast TV station signals on Hulu, CBS All Access, and Fubo, as well as other streaming players.
Other big TV station groups have started their own individual OTT advertising-supported platforms -- including Sinclair Broadcast Group (STIRR), Nexstar Media Group (Nexstar Digital), and Tegna (Premion).
There's all sorts of mentions using the word "transparent" on their web site, but nowhere can I find the list of companies or the TV stations involved. I'm on the fence about cord-cutting, knowing the market I'm in is covered by Premion (Tegna) may be all I need to make the move. I know the web site is built for the industry, but why not add your client list?
The description of the proposed content hardly qualifies as "premium" in my humble opinion. Stll, I wish them luck with this venture.