Sinclair STIRRs Up a Station-Driven Content Stew

By far the most ambitious of Sinclair39s ventures in this arena is STIRR launched more than a month agoamp160 Part linear channel bundle part videoondemand content assortment and all advertisersupported STIRR39s main distribution avenue here is smart TVconnected devices and smart TV setsamp160 Amazon Fire TV Roku and Apple TV carry the service with Samsung and LG expected to make it available among their smart TV customer base in the near futureamp160 STIRR is also available through iOS and Androidformatted smartphone and tablets and from a dedicated websiteThe bottom line as STIRR General Manageramp160Adam Wareamp160explains is that at all timesamp160viewers get a localized and customized experience no matter if they live in an area served by Sinclairowned broadcast stations or notamp160 quotThe front door of this service is localquot heamp160saysamp160 quotEach city can throw off a tremendous amount of content andamp160news and go way beyond with unique local interestamp160 Overthetop technology has unlocked this opportunity and made the economics work to do itquotWith STIRR Sinclair joins the growing number of station groups and individual stations that incorporate locally produced material for national delivery through smart TV sets and devicesamp160 There39s Investigate TV from RaycomGray Televisionamp160Localish a growing collection of unscripted series contributed by ABC39s owned TV stations and late last month the start of performancecentric serviceamp160All Artsamp160from PBS flagship stationamp160WNETThirteen in New YorkWare says that STIRR offers an initial glimpse of what TV stations can bring to viewers when ATSC 30 is deployed across the countryamp160 quotThis lays the path for a deeper dive into this local bucket developing a rich content marketplace that39s localizedquot he explainsamp160 quotYou can do so many different things byamp160providing all sorts of data and transaction capabilitiesquotThe first thing STIRR users see when visiting this service is a home screen inviting them to select what they want to see by cityamp160 Viewers in places where Sinclair operates a TV station are encouraged to choose that directionamp160 Viewers elsewhere get choices quotpoweredquot as Ware describes by the closest Sinclair stations to themamp160 Once the choice is made the linear and VOD options customized to that choice are put on the screen and viewers select what they want to seeSeventynine Sinclairowned stations are currently represented on STIRRamp160 In each area 20 linear channels are organized as a bundleamp160 Participating services include all of Sinclair39s multicastdistributed networks Cheddar Dove Channel NASA TV Dust and Outdoor AmericaIn putting the bundle together quotwe looked at the basic food groups one wants as a TV viewerquot Ware notesamp160 quotThe target audience we39re going after are people in their late 30searly 40samp160 Bringing on Cheddar the Millennialminded business news service made sense for people who want newsquot Other channels cater to the appetites of sports fans while several feature classic series in one genre or another or cateramp160to people with special interestsamp160 quotAt the end you hit all the key groups and naturally complement the front doorquotThe bundle39s centerpiece is STIRR City a dedicated channel to stationsupplied programming including local news and public affairs simulcastsamp160 In between the simulcasts blocks of time are filled with content from various national sourcesamp160 quotThe idea is to look act andamp160feel like a local TV stationquot Ware saysamp160 In Washington DC for example the channel goes by STIRR Washington to highlight WJLATV thereFor VOD individual news stories and newscasts provided by the Sinclair station or stationsamp160viewers can access over STIRR are available 247 refreshed as developments warrantamp160 Ondemand users also can watch weather and sports updates national news coverage and up to 140 movies at any hourSinclair39s CompulseOTT unit handles national advertising buys for both the bundled linear services and the VOD featureamp160 Each local station also sells spots for STIRR City and the ondemand segments they produceamp160 The stations also promote STIRR during their newscasts and over their websitesOne month in viewership around the country and ad sales revenue are moving up on a weekly basisamp160 Roku accounts for 60 percent of viewing per week with iOSAndroid devices attracting 20 percent and other smart TV devices 20 percentamp160 quotTime of usage is up return usage is also upquot Ware notesamp160 quotNothing has gone down yetquotWith a growing number of households having the ability to control how they watch and use TV with their voice through artificial intelligencepowered features such as Google Assistant and Alexa Sinclair is exploring a number of interactive options as next steps for STIRRamp160 Pause and return to what you see from that point in is one idea under studyamp160 Impacting the direction of programsamp160and merchandise orders is also under reviewquotWe could add the ability to implement a la carte subscriptions where people can buy deeper experiences by individual brands or channelsquot Ware saysamp160 quotWe39re looking at that closelyquotGiven all the national programming attractions now under Sinclair39s purview management there may be close to going forward with a firstever public Upfront or NewFront event this springamp160 If not then look out 2020Click the social buttons above or below 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 amp160

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Sinclair STIRRs Up a Station-Driven Content Stew

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Sinclair STIRRs Up a Station-Driven Content Stew

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