Causing a "STIRR" at New York City Television Week 2019

Sinclair ownsoperates or provides services to more than 191 television stations in 89 markets as well as owns andor operates 23 regional sports network RSN brands STIRR which allows consumers to access live simulcasts of local Sinclair networks is a welcome addition The streaming service has already reached more than 13 million downloads since its January 2019 launch Additionally STIRR is up to 70 linear streaming channels with average session times of 53 minutes and over 60 minutes on connected TV devicesThe service also includes the STIRR City channel a directtoOTT TV station It offers a foundation of three to six hours of live local news powered by the sister Sinclair station in the market and provides TV shows offnet programming and movies Including the STIRR City channels there are currently 144 linear services available to audiences across the countryAdam Ware general manager of Sinclair Broadcast GroupSTIRR and Rob Weisbord chief revenue officer of Sinclair Broadcast Group shared their strategy for STIRR in an interview with the iTV Doctor himself Rick Howe closing out the Streaming Video track of New York City Television Week 2019According to Ware the core strategy for STIRR is to own fandom quotA fan of news A fan of sports That39s who has connected on the platform firstquot Ware said quotFans of scifi and anime are also connectingquotWeisbord pointed to that strategy as the impetus for specific acquisitions quotOwning the local fandom is the key It39s the thesis of why we bought all the regional sports networks It39s all hometown live sportsquot Weisbord explained quotWe also have the hometown news viewer the fan of local news If you can amalgamate all that content it allows for some specific programming through VOD which matters because 50 percent of TV is ondemand amp8212 allowing people to personalize what they wantquotWhen Howe asked about the future Weisbord answered quotWe are the owner of the local fan With technology we39ll be able to have mobility We are a salesandmarketing company wrapped around content and technology With STIRR we know the younger generation wants news The under35 demo represents a significant number in digital but not over the air By giving them the content they want where they want we will see growth in that demoquotHow will this all be monetizedWeisbord believes that in an ATSC 30 world the recently codified new standard for overthe airdigital transmission that will allow for twoway interactivity and multiscreen broadcast anyone with a transmitter is like a farmer and what they farm is bits quotBits can be used to upgrade home securityquot he said quotYou can use a bit to upgrade electric cars39 software You cannot worry about any buffering on the Internet highway so OTT is a prelude to what nextgen will be on a hybrid transmitterquotAs a beta for a 5GATSC 30 world Weisbord gave a glimpse of what the future might look like watching sports quotIf you were watching a golf competition and you only wanted to watch Phil Mickelson or Dustin Johnson or Tiger Woods you could follow them through the whole tournamentquot he said quotYou wouldn39t have to watch the specific hole that the standard broadcast was showing You could personalize what you wantquotWeisbord added quotIn the future if you want to watch a baseball game from the outfield or the pitcher39s mound you39ll have the choice That39s really the long tail We want to take this ubiquitous content and allow you to personalize itquotOne intriguing area they discussed is statespecific sports betting With 5G and ATSC 30 opportunities for betting on every baseball pitch or every football play at the local level within compliance of state gaming laws becomes a reality When asked about latency and ways to hack the system Weisbord responded that latency in the gigpersecond world is down to milliseconds so it would be possible to enable rules and parameters as to when a bet has to be placed to provide the necessary protectionsFinally Weisbord said he believes we are nearing the end of the ratingsascurrency model for TV overall and are headed straight to the digital model of impressionbased selling quotI39m waiting for the holding companies to announce that they are ready to go to that currencyquot he said quotIt will be audience and data that will be bought and we39re ready to goquotFrom an industry that has been built on GRPs for decades that39s called progressClick the social buttons to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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Causing a "STIRR" at New York City Television Week 2019

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Jeff Minsky

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Causing a "STIRR" at New York City Television Week 2019

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