Ad-Supported VUit Streaming Service Ups Local TV Content
November 2, 2021
VUit, the ad-supported streaming video platform owned by Grey Television, Nov. 2 announced carriage agreements with eight local and independent TV station groups, including Hearst Television, Cox, Citadel Communications, Morris Network and News Press & Gazette, among others.
The pact adds 71 stations to the VUit platform, including TV stations in Boston; Baltimore; Orlando, Fla.; Sacramento, Calif.; and Pittsburgh.
In addition to enabling VUit to expand its selection of local TV programming, the deals afford the station groups access to increased viewership, which can translate into increased advertising revenue, according to Pat LaPlatney, co-CEO at Gray Television.
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“VUit has enabled our local stations to reach viewers with not only live news and programming relevant to them, but locally-produced on-demand content that viewers from across the country tune into,” LaPlatney said in a statement.
The executive claims AVOD viewers who download the app “stick around” to stream programming from stations all across the country. For example, VUit’s broadcast of the 2021 Iditarod Sled Dog Race from Gray TV’s Anchorage-based KTUU was viewed by consumers in 178 markets. Streaming of The Edmund Fitzgerald Memorial from Heritage Broadcasting’s Traverse City, MI-based 9&10News attracted viewers from 132 markets.
“We’re looking forward to working with these high caliber partners who create the kinds of content that in many cases appeals to viewers well beyond the local market,” said Jack Perry, CEO of Syncbak, VUit’s parent company.