Nielsen said it reached a multi-year renewal of its local audience measurement contract with Meredith Corp.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

Meredith is in the process of selling its stations to Gray Television. Gray moved some of its stations to Comscore’s measurement service from Nielsen in 2019.

Also Read: Nielsen Underreported Local Viewing During the Pandemic, MRC Says

"We are pleased to continue our relationship with Nielsen as a trusted business collaborator," said Doug Lowe, executive VP, broadcast group, for Meredith Corporation. "Nielsen's ability to provide verified viewing and consumption data will further support our company-wide commitment to best serve local and national advertising clients. We look forward to our continued success with Nielsen."

Also Read: Nielsen Plans To Roll Out 3,000 Wearable Portable People Meters

The new deal with Nielsen provides the Meredith stations with data on consumer behavior from Nielsen Scarborough. 

"We are thrilled to continue our longstanding relationship with Meredith Broadcast Group," said Catherine Herkovic, managing director, executive VP, Nielsen Local TV.  "Meredith continues to be a leader for local advertisers in search of innovative solutions for reaching key audiences. Our alliance with Meredith will leverage Nielsen’s unique suite of measurement services to establish a cross-platform currency to further its commercial strategies. We are committed to working actively with Meredith to ensure that the company has the tools it needs to achieve its business objectives and deliver value and results to advertisers."

Gray Television said it raised its offer for Meredith Corp.’s local media group after it was informed by Meredith of an unsolicited bid that arrived after their agreement to merge.

Gray’s new offer of $16.99 a share, or $2.85 billion in enterprise value, up from $14.50 a share or $2.7 billion, was accepted by Meredith’s board and an amending merger agreement was signed.

The rival bidder for the Meredith stations was not identified.

Also Read: Gray Television Ties OTT Retrans to Local News

Gray said it remains committed to acquiring the Meredith local TV stations. Gray has identified $55 million in first-year cost synergies that can be achieved by combining the companies.

Gray is also in the  process of buying Quincy Media for $925 million in cash. Gray is selling off TV stations in seven markets for $380 million to Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group to comply with government regulations.

Meredith Corp., which is selling its local media unit, is introducing a Video Accountability Suite, a variety of measurement tools aimed at proving the performance of advertising with its video content.

The company introduced the new product--designed to prove the performance of campaigns run in its video content, at its NewFront presentation Thursday.

Read Also: Gray Television Buying Meredith Stations for $2.7 Billion

“Measuring lift for advertisers and their positive campaign results across our video programming is a significant Meredith offering. Our new suite of measurement solutions demonstrate advertising impact against their chosen KPIs, including brand awareness, purchase intent or driving retail sales,” said Alysia Borsa, president of Meredith Digital.

“We continue to double down on employing our rich, proprietary first-party data and insights, which enable us to understand and predict trends. This process – which we call Insights & Imagination – is the engine behind this new premium programming slate. It results in empowered audiences, while also allowing marketers to integrate into our premium, brand-safe environments, including shoppable video,” she said.

Read Also: NewFronts Draw New Participants A+E, Amazon, Entrecom, Estrella, Vizio

Meredith’s digital engagement rose 16% and video views across owned-and-operated sites climbed 45% year-over-year from January through December 2020, according to Google Analytics. At the same time, Meredith’s content drove over $1.2 billion in retail sales from its shopper and ecommerce capabilities.

“We are fueling viewership across our O&O properties and expanding audience growth across OTT, social channels and voice,” added Meredith’s new digital chief content officer Amanda Dameron. 

Gray Television is acquiring Meredith Corp.’s local media group, which owns 17 TV stations, in a deal worth $2.7 billion.

Gray currently operates in just one of the markets where Meredith owns stations. Gray plans to divest its station in the Flint, Michigan, market, WJRT-TV by the time the deal closes to meet regulatory requirements.

With the divestiture of WJRT, Gray says  the deal will need no FCC waivers to complete. It will reach 25% of TV households, under the 39% ownership cap, given the way it is calculated by the FCC.

But the FCC, currently headed by a Democrat who has been no fan of media consolidation, will still give the deal the requisite review of whether the merger is affirmatively in the public interest, a test that goes beyond whether the deal does not violate any rules.

The translation, when completed, will make Gray the second largest broadcast group in terms of revenue, the company said. 

“The television station portfolios, company cultures, and commitments to localism of Gray and Meredith are highly complementary. We are very excited to acquire Meredith’s excellent television stations, and we look forward to welcoming its employees into the Gray family,” said Gray CEO Hilton H. Howell Jr.

”Moreover, Gray’s Board and shareholders are deeply appreciative of the tireless efforts of our team led by Kevin Latek and Jim Ryan on this transaction and our other recently announced significant transactions,” Howell added. “Building on our successes throughout 2020 and just the first few months of 2021, Gray Television clearly has an even stronger and brighter future than ever!” 

Also read: Byron Allen Buying Stations From Gray For $380 Million

When Gray finishes pending acquisitions and divestitures, its stations will operate in 113 markets reaching 36% of U.S. TV households, it said.

Gray will acquire all outstanding shares of Meredith for about $14.50 per share in cash. Immediately before closing the transaction, Meredith will spin off its national media group to its existing shareholders.

The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter.

Also read: Gray Completes Acquisition of Raycom Media 

The Meredith stations Gray is buying are WGCL and WPCH, Atlanta, Georgia; KPHO/KTVK, Phoenix, Arizona; KPTV/KPDX, Portland, Oregon; KMOV, St. Louis, Missouri; WSMV, Nashville, Tennessee; WFSB, Hartford-New Haven, Connecticut; KCTV/KSMO, Kansas City, Missouri; WHNS, Greenville-Spartanburg, South Carolina; KVVU, Las Vegas, Nevada; WALA, Mobile, Alabama; WNEM, Flint-Saginaw, Michigan; and WGGB/WSHM-LD, Springfield, Massachusetts. 

Gray said it expects that the Meredith transaction will be “significantly accretive” to free cash flow per share. Gray has identified an estimated $55 million in synergies annualized for the first full calendar year following the closing.

-- With John Eggerton

Southern Living, based on the magazine, is returning for season two in April and Meredith also is returning with new seasons of several of its lifestyle shows, including new episodes of Allrecipes Eating In! and a new special from Better Homes & Gardens. 

The shows, like Meredith’s entertainment magazine People (the TV Show!) currently air only in Meredith’s local markets: Atlanta; Phoenix; Portland, Oregon; St. Louis; Nashville; Hartford, Connecticut; Kansas City, Missouri; Greenville/Spartanburg, S.C.; Las Vegas; Mobile/Pensacola, Florida; Saginaw/Flint, Michigan; and Springfield, Massachusetts.

Also Read: 'People (the TV Show!)' Renewed for Three More Seasons

Meredith intends to push forward with more television content spun out of its lifestyle brands in the coming year. Meredith acquired Time Inc., and along with it brands such as People and Southern Living, in January 2018 for $2.8 billion.

“In 2021, our local audiences can expect bigger projects, updated trends in food and design, and behind-the-scenes content from one of Southern Living’s most popular events,” Meredith Local Media Group president Patrick McCreery said in a statement.

The Southern Living Show premieres its second season during the first weekend in April. Host Ivy Odom returns to tackle DIY projects, chat with celebrity guests and share ideas and recipes from the Southern Living Test Kitchen in Birmingham. 

April and May bring 30-minute special Better Homes & Gardens Ultimate Backyard with host Chelsey Sayasane and experts from the magazine offering landscaping trends, tips and design ideas.

Also this spring, new episodes of Allrecipes Eating In!, culled from the world’s largest digital food brand, will talk to culinary experts and home cooks about fresh ideas for cooking at home.

“Meredith is home to some of the most popular media brands in the industry,” Stephen Orr, VP and editor-in-chief of Better Homes & Gardens, said, also in a statement. “These television shows and specials are a great new opportunity to bring viewers closer than ever to see how our recipes, DIY projects, and design ideas come to life.”

Sony Pictures Television will distribute Meredith’s People (The TV Show!) in national syndication, the partners said Wednesday. 

The entertainment magazine debuted Sept. 14 on Meredith-owned stations in 12 local markets,  including Atlanta, Phoenix, St. Louis, Portland, Nashville, Kansas City, Hartford-New Haven, Greenville-Spartanburg, Las Vegas, Mobile-Pensacola, Flint-Saginaw, and Springfield-Holyoke, Mass. With this move, Meredith expects to significantly increase the show's reach.

Meredith acquired People Magazine in January 2018, along with the rest of Time Inc.'s assets in a $2.8 billion deal.

RELATED: Fox TV Stations to Preview 'The Mediator with Ice-T'

Kay Adams and Lawrence K. Jackson host along with correspondents Jeremy Parsons and Sandra Vergara and special contributors Nancy O’Dell and Gretchen Carlson. The magazine strip is executive produced by Rob Silverstein, formerly of Access Hollywood. Meredith also brought on former CBS executive Lee Villas to facilitate distribution.  

RELATED: Nancy O'Dell Joins Meredith's 'People (the TV Show/!) as Correspondent

“We are thrilled with the early success of People (the TV Show!) in Meredith’s markets and are excited to team with SPT to offer the show to other station groups for fall 2022,” said Patrick McCreery, President, Meredith Local Media Group, in a statement.

“SPT is focused on bringing the highest quality brands and content to television syndication. People has maintained the largest audience of any magazine brand in America, reaching close to 100 million consumers, and attracts blue-chip advertisers at premium rates,” said John Weiser, president, First-Run Television, SPT, in a statement. “Rather than presenting a pilot, we’re strategically taking the risk out of first-run television by offering stations a show that has already been on-air tested and is delivering great ratings. We are proud to partner with Meredith broadcasting in representing this well established first-class brand,” 

With local TV ad revenue down about 30% in the second quarter, local stations are making a bid to get into streaming.

More than 200 stations owned by Gray Television, Meredith Corp., Cowles Media Co., Heritage Broadcasting Group and Morgan Murphy Media have signed up for something called VUit, which will aim to cash in on the increasingly crowed field of services offering ad supported free programming.

The approach to some degree copies what Sinclair Broadcast Group has done by creating Stirr, which offers the local news programming from its TV stations along with a range of other channels offering free content.

The stations participating in VUit have committed to produce and stream at least 12 live events a year. Those events can be sports, concerts, cultural event or news specials. It is expected to add up to 2,500 VUit originals per year.

VUit is available on iOS and Android devices, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV and other streaming platforms.

The platform has been put together by Syncbak and will use Syncbak’s dynamic ad insertion technology to place commercials in the streams. 

VUit will be run by Syncbak. Gray has made an undisclosed investment in the company.

In addition to the programming from the stations, VUit will also have automated themed channels composed of content from the stations, including a channel called Politics Uncut.

Kay Adams and Lawrence K. Jackson have been named co-hosts of Meredith’s new syndicated strip based on People Magazine, which Meredith acquired as part of Time Inc. in January 2018.

Joining them are Jeremy Parsons and Sandra Vergara as New York and Los Angeles correspondents, the company said Wednesday. 

The half-hour entertainment strip debuts Monday, Sept. 14 on Meredith-owned TV stations in 12 markets, on People.com and other People-branded digital platforms. The TV markets are Atlanta, Phoenix, St. Louis, Portland, Nashville, Kansas City, Missouri; Hartford-New Haven, Connecticut; Greenville-Spartanburg, S.C.; Las Vegas, Mobile-Pensacola, Florida; Flint-Saginaw, Michigan; and Springfield-Holyoke, Massachussets.

"People is the most trusted brand in celebrity news. I'm thrilled to bring the People newsroom to life for viewers across the country, whether at home or on-the-go," said Adams in a statement.

"I am eager to be part of the on-air team that will bring the credibility of the magazine that you know, to an entirely new platform," added Jackson.

Adams hosts NFL Network’s Good Morning Football and recently hosted the mobile app version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. This fall, she will again host Amazon’s flagship football show, NFL Now. She has appeared as a special correspondent and guest host on Extra and E! News.

Jackson previously hosted NBC News' Stay Tuned, and prior to that he hosted MTV's Total Request Live reboot. He started his on-air career as a host on music network Revolt TV.

For the past six years Jeremy Parsons has co-hosted People Now, which streams live on People.com, Twitter, and Facebook Live. 

Sandra Vergara is a television host, lifestyle authority, and beauty expert. Most recently, she co-hosted Yahoo's digital series, Hook'd, and was a regular contributor to Yahoo! Lifestyle digital. Prior, she co-hosted E!'s Good Work alongside RuPaul and was the primary host for Yahoo's trivia app Pop Play. She also guest-starred in such shows as CSI, Bold and the Beautiful, and Nip/Tuck, as well as starring alongside Colin Farrell in the feature Friday Night.

Rob Silverstein, who formerly executive produced NBCUniversal’s Access Hollywood, is executive producer of People (the TV Show!). Meredith Corp. produces and distributes the program.

Meredith Corp. named Deborah Collura VP and general manager of its Atlanta duopoly, which comprises CBS affiliate WGCL-TV and WPCH-TV.

Corey Hanson was promoted to VP and general manager of Meredith’s WALA-TV, Mobile, Ala.

Both appointments are effective immediately.

Collura most recently had been president and general manager of Tegna's WCNC-TV, Charlotte. She replaces Lyle Banks at WGCL-TV, which laid off four newsroom staffers last week.

“Deborah has a proven track record of ratings excellence and market-share success,” said Patrick McCreery, Meredith Local Media Group President. “She has a passion for journalism and multi-media content innovation that has led to multiple awards, including Edward R. Murrow, George Peabody and an Alfred I. du Pont for journalism excellence. I am thrilled to have Deborah join Meredith and look forward to having someone with her experience lead our talented team in Atlanta.”

Before WCNC, Collura was VP of news for KPRC-TV, Houston. She was also corporate VP of news for the Post-Newsweek Stations. Earlier in her career she held posts at WDIV-TV, Detroit, WTVJ-TV, Miami, KSTP-TV, Minneapolis, KCRA-TV, Sacramento, WTEN-TV, Albany, N.Y., and KSDK-TV, St. Louis.

“It is a great privilege to lead the team at WGCL and WPCH in one of the most dynamic and fastest-growing communities in the country,” said Collura. “The team at WGCL and WPCH has made great strides building a strong investigative brand and creating exciting opportunities for advertising partners. I look forward to continuing that momentum as we find new and innovative strategies to serve our audiences, our clients and the Atlanta metro community.”

Hanson had been station manager of Meredith’s duopoly in Portland, Ore. She replaces Gary Yoder. 

“Corey’s results-driven leadership has been a huge part of our success in Portland, and I’m confident she will be a great leader for the WALA Fox 10 team and the greater Mobile and Pensacola communities,” said McCreery.

Hanson joined Meredith in 2004 as an executive producer in Portland at KPTV and KPDX. Before joining Meredith, Hanson held posts at two other Portland stations KOIN-TV and KGW-TV.

“While Portland will always hold a special place in my heart, I am thrilled to be leading the team at WALA Fox 10,” said Hanson. “This is an exciting time to be in local broadcasting and I can’t wait to get started.”

Rob Silverstein, former executive producer of NBCUniversal’s Access Hollywood, has been named executive producer and showrunner for Meredith’s new half-hour syndicated strip based on the People magazine brand. The new show is expected to launch in Meredith’s 12 local TV markets this fall.

“Rob is a Hollywood insider and veteran TV producer. He led Access Hollywood for two decades, created and launched Access Live, and produced several Emmy and Golden Globes red carpet specials,” said Gary Brown, senior VP of content for the Meredith Local Content Group, in a statement. “We are thrilled to have someone with Rob’s breadth of experience in this new venture into syndicated programming.”

The new show will include celebrity and human-interest stories as well as entertainment news, beauty and style, true crime and more. It will air weekdays in Meredith’s 12 markets: Atlanta, Phoenix, St. Louis, Portland, Nashville, Kansas City, Hartford-New Haven, Greenville-Spartanburg, Las Vegas, Mobile-Pensacola, Flint-Saginaw, and Springfield-Holyoke, Mass. Ultimately, the team expects to expand the show into national syndication.

Silverstein joined Access Hollywood as a weekend producer and was promoted to executive producer in 1999. He also was a senior producer of NBC’s series American Gladiators.

Before joining Access Hollywood, he served as broadcast producer for the Fox News program, Front Page; a producer for CBS Sports; and executive sports producer for KMOX Radio in St. Louis.

Meredith acquired Time Inc., including People, in January 2018. The company has since sold some of Time’s most prominent magazine assets, including Time, Sports Illustrated, Fortune and Money, but held on to People. 

Meredith Corp. promoted Jeff Holub to VP and general manager of WHNS-TV, the Fox affiliate in Greenville, S.C., effective May 18.

Holub, currently station manager at Meredith’s Atlanta stations WGCL-TV and WPCH-TV, succeeds Charlie Henrich, who moved to KCTV, Kansas City, in April.

Meredith also said that Kelly Boan has been promoted to station manager at WHNS. She had been that station’s news director for 12 years.

“Jeff has been an outstanding leader in Atlanta for nearly seven years," said Meredith Local Media Group president Patrick McCreery. "His creative and strategic thinking has been critical to the conception and development of several major station initiatives at WGCL including Books to Kids which has provided more than 52,000 books to children in the Atlanta metro area. I am thrilled to see Jeff move into the VP and General Manager role in Greenville.”

Holub was director of creative services at WGCL for five years before being named station manager in 2018. Before that, he was with Cox Media’s stations in San Francisco and Charlotte.

Boan joined WHNS as assistant news director in 2006.

“Jeff will have a great partner in Kelly. She has been a tremendous and steady leader for the Fox Carolina team, especially during the COVID-19 crisis,” said McCreery.

“Local stations have never been more important to their communities,” said Boan. “I love Greenville and it has been an honor to lead the Fox Carolina newsroom. I am proud of this team and its dedication to serving our audiences. I am excited to take on this new role and expanded leadership position.”

Meredith Corp. has sold the 60% stake it owns in ad tech company Viant to its co-founders.

Meredith acquired the stake when it bought Time Inc.

The companies agreed to extend their long-standing commercial data agreement.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

"Our new independence will allow us to further expand our identity resolution capabilities by creating additional partnerships similar to what we’ve accomplished with Meredith,” said Tim Vanderhook, Viant co-founder and CEO. “Our current momentum speaks volumes for our outstanding team and the incredible opportunity that exists in this industry.”

The deal comes at a time with ad tech companies are being acquired as scale becomes more important to the advanced advertising business.

"We are pleased to find a great outcome for what is a very strong ad tech business," said John Zieser, chief development officer at Meredith."Viant will remain an on-going data partner as we continue to jointly engage in value creating opportunities."

Broadcaster Meredith Corp. said it has reached a retransmission consent agreement with Dish Network, a multi-year deal that will return a dozen stations to the satellite giant after a two-month blackout.

The Meredith stations went dark to Dish customers on July 16, after the two companies could not reach an agreement.

“We are pleased that Dish customers once again will be able to watch the award-winning news and popular sports and entertainment programming that are a hallmark of Meredith’s television group,” Meredith Local Media Group president Patrick McCreery said in a press release. “We thank our viewers for their patience as we worked with Dish to reach this new agreement.”

The affected stations were: WGCL, Atlanta (CBS); KPHO (CBS) and KTVK (IND) Phoenix; KMOV (CBS) St. Louis; KPTV (Fox) and KPDX (MYNetworkTV) Portland, Oregon; WSMV (NBC) Nashville; KCTV (CBS) and KSMO (IND) Kansas City; WFSB (CBS) Hartford-New Haven, Connecticut; WHNS (Fox) Greenville-Spartanburg, South Carolina; KVVU (Fox) Las Vegas; WALA (Fox) Mobile, Alabama-Pensacola, Florida; WNEM (CBS) Flint-Saginaw, Michigan’ WSHM (CBS), WGGB-DT (Fox) and WGGB (ABC) Springfield-Holyoke, Massachusetts.

CBS and Meredith Corp. announced a new long-term affiliation deal that has some heavy OTT overtones.

The deal, which renews station affiliation deals for four stations that serve more than 5.5 million homes (WGCL in Atlanta, Ga.; KPHO in Phoenix, Ariz.; KCTV in Kansas City, Mo.; and WNEM in Flint, Mich.), also renews distribution on CBS All Access, as well as a distribution commitment for distribution on Hulu’s coming OTT-TV service. Earlier this month, CBS and Hulu announced a deal to add CBS, CBS Sports Network and cable net Pop to Hulu’s live streaming service.

The Meredith commitment will help to ensure that Hulu will gain access to local CBS feeds in markets outside the CBS owned-and-operated markets. PlayStation Vue, Sony's OTT-TV service, has been racking up deals with a large swath of CBS affiliates. 

Hulu’s coming virtual MVPD service is expected to launch in Q1, cost less than $40 per month, and tie in Hulu’s $8 per month SVOD service (with limited ads) and a cloud DVR .

RELATED: Hulu Sneaks a Peek at OTT TV Service

The latest CBS-Meredith agreement also factors in participation in “certain of the CBS Television Network's future new entrant digital distribution deals by all seven Meredith owned-and-operated CBS affiliates.”

Meredith's CBS affiliates also include KMOV in St. Louis, Mo., WFSB in Hartford, Conn. and WSHM in Springfield, Mass. The affiliation agreements for those three stations were renewed last year.

"We are happy to extend our affiliation agreement with CBS in these four key markets and further our relationship with CBS on certain digital opportunities,” Paul Karpowicz, the president of Meredith's Local Media Group, said in a statement.

Altice USA’s ongoing dispute with Connecticut CBS affiliate WFSB could end up benefiting the broadcast networks the most, according to a top media analyst, as the cabler offers up the network’s CBS All Access OTT service during the service disruption.

WFSB is owned by Meredith Corp. and broadcasts to a small number of Altice USA Optimum TV customers in Litchfield and New Haven counties. The channel went dark on Jan. 13 after the parties could not reach a retransmission-consent agreement.

While pricing appears to be the major roadblock in negotiations, Altice USA has been offering CBS All Access to its customers in the affected counties, the over-the-top service directly from the broadcaster. The free CBS All Access trial allows those customers to watch all the top network shows from the programmer, including NFL games, online.

In a research note Monday, Telsey Advisory Group media analyst Tom Eagan wrote that the dispute could end up helping CBS the most.

“Essentially, the Meredith black-out could translate to healthy CBS All Access sub gains which with $5.99 in affiliate fees and $3.50 in advertising revenue (per sub per month) would offset any loss in reverse retrans payment to CBS Corp.,” Eagan wrote.

This isn’t the first time that CBS All Access has been used as a chit in retrans negotiations. The network itself has promoted the OTT service as an alternative when local channels go dark. In addition to its broadcast shows – and the recent addition of NFL Games – CBS All Access also offers on-demand access to the network’s vast programming library.

Optimum TV’s predecessor company Cablevision Systems was an early adopter of CBS All Access – it was the first pay TV provider to distribute the OTT service to it broadband customers.

In 2015, San Diego CBS affiliate KFMB offered viewers a two-month free trial of CBS All Access while it was locked in a dispute with DirecTV.  KFMB had an agreement with CBS All Access, so its local news and programming was available over the service. The station resolved its dispute with DirecTV after being dark for about three weeks.

PlayStation Vue, Sony’s OTT-TV service, said it has added five more CBS local live feeds as it continues to expand its broadcast TV mix.

The latest group, which includes stations owned by Meredith Corp., factors in CBS affiliates in Atlanta; Hartford and New Haven; Kansas City; Phoenix (Prescott); and St. Louis.

PS Vue also offers the live local feeds of ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC in their respective owned-and-operated markets, and recently added CBS feeds in certain Sinclair, Raycom and Midwest Television markets.

RELATED: PlayStation Vue Offers Big 4 Broadcast TV Feeds in All O&O Markets

In markets where it doesn’t offer certain live local broadcast TV feeds, PS Vue’s new national “Slim” packages, launched in mid-March, provide next-day, on-demand access to shows from those broadcasters.

Also this week, PS Vue launched access to HBO and Cinemax, as well as a new Ultra multichannel pay TV package that includes HBO and Showtime.

PS Vue is currently supported on PlayStation 3 and PS4 consoles, Roku players and Roku TVs, the Google Chromecast adapter, iOS and Android mobile devices, and Amazon Fire TV devices.

Per the service’s FAQ, a single PlayStation Vue account can simultaneously stream the service on up to one PS4 console and one PS3 console in the same home, via the mobile app on up to three iOS and Android devices, as well as on the Fire TV, Roku streaming devices, and Chromecast. Depending on the device configuration in the home, a PS Vue sub can access up to five streams at once.

Streaming news startup Haystack TV and Meredith Corp. have inked a deal under which Meredith will distribute its local news videos via Haystack TV’s free apps and personalized news platform. 

The agreement, which will serve up local news (including live broadcasts and on-demand videos) from Meredith in 12 markets, including Atlanta, Phoenix, St. Louis and Portland, will be featured on Haystack TV’s apps for platforms such as Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon’s Fire TV, iOS and Android mobile devices, and Amazon’s Fire TV players and streaming sticks. 

Haystack TV noted that it will also promote content produced by Meredith stations to help them expand their local viewership while also exposing Meredith to a wider, global audience.

Haystack TV, a service that caters to millennial audiences and cord-cutters, said its average user watching over 100 minutes of news per week.

“We think it’s incredibly important to inform viewers about what is going on in their communities and we’re excited to partner with Meredith to expand our personalized local news coverage,” Haystack TV CEO Daniel Barreto said, in a statement. “We’re also seeing a growing demand for OTT content, so we want to empower traditional broadcasters to increase digital revenues and reach a new generation of viewers by providing cutting edge technology at no cost that can be easily integrated into their existing infrastructure.”

“We’re excited to partner with Haystack TV to reach an audience that has been elusive for many traditional broadcasters,” added Matt Strait, VP of digital for the Meredith Local Media Group. “Distribution of our content on the consumer’s terms is key to our success and Haystack TV’s technology gives us another channel that we’ve been seeking.”