FisherCommunications has entered a licensing and consulting agreement with ACME
Television for ACME's syndicated The Daily Buzz morning program. Fisher will
provide consulting services and will "license certain assets of the
program in order to produce unique content to be distributed on both
traditional broadcast and newly created digital platforms," Fisher said in
a statement.
Fisher VP of Digital Content Troy McGuire will oversee
operations of the show. He was executive producer on Daily Buzz from 2004 to
2007.
Fisher is rolling out a series of hyper-local websites,
powered by DataSphere, within its TV markets. That strategy ties into Fisher's
plans for Daily Buzz.
"As we expand our broadcast-to-broadband initiative, we
are looking to create compelling digital content that will be localized by
market and distributed across multiple platforms, including The Daily Buzz and
the Internet," said Fisher Senior VP of Business Development Randa
Minkarah. "Similar to our hyperlocal initiative, this latest effort
provides TV stations with another means to compete for a larger base of
advertisers, by offering stations' advertisers a cross-platform solution at attractive
price points."
ACME President/COO Doug Gealy said the agreement will expand
the show's footprint and capitalize on Fisher's Internet expertise. "We
plan to offer new digital revenue opportunities to existing and new affiliates
of The Daily Buzz and to ACME's six television stations," he added.
Five of the six ACME stations, including WBXX Knoxville, are
CW affiliates. All five air The Daily Buzz, which ACME describes as a
"live weekday news and lifestyle program."
