March 6, 2020
In a competitive move against Apple News, online news aggregator Flipboard announced the launch of Flipboard TV, a curated video service inside the Flipboard app featuring content from publisher partners and local TV stations.
The ad-supported platform, which launches on Samsung Galaxy S20 phones, debuts with 16 channels, featuring video from publishers including The Associated Press, Bonnier Corporation, Bustle Digital Group, Digital Trends, Hearst Magazines, Lonely Planet, Mansueto Ventures and McClatchy.
These new partnerships support existing programming, which includes videos from Dow Jones, Hearst Television, Penske Media, American Media, Bloomberg Media and The Recount.
Print contributors include Elle, Seventeen, Harper’s Bazaar, House Beautiful, Good Housekeeping, Cosmopolitan, Men’s Health, Runner’s World, Delish, Clevver News, Clevver Style, Popular Mechanics, Women’s Health; Mansueto Ventures, the parent company of Fast Company and Inc. magazines; and Bustle Digital Group, which operates nine media brands, including Bustle, Elite Daily, Mic, NYLON, Input, Inverse, Romper, The Outline, The Zoe Report.
“The interest we’re getting from publishers to collaborate to develop an ad-fee subscription service for video content is encouraging,” Claus Enevoldsen, VP of business development at Flipboard, said in a statement.
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In a rapidly changing media landscape, print publishers are moving into high-quality video they hope will make their brands more discoverable among video consumers.
‘The market seems to be getting used to paying for premium content, which makes me bullish about our [AVOD] model for Flipboard TV,” Enevoldsen said.
Indeed, participation of McClatchy and its 30 newsrooms, including the Miami Herald and The Sacramento Bee newspapers, which includes video from dozens of local news stations from groups like Hearst Television, comes at an opportune time for the media company. It filed for bankruptcy last month, citing declines in print advertising and more than $700 million in debt.
“We are excited to expand our partnership with Flipboard and congratulate them on this innovative launch,” said Angela Lunter, senior director, business strategy and operations at McClatchy. “Flipboard is well positioned to build on its knowledge of delivering curated content by adding video to its offerings. We appreciate the team’s efforts to elevate local news in this new service.”
