E.W. Scripps Co. on Monday launched its over-the-air version of its digital Newsy news service.
The new channel will be available in more than 90% of the U.S. on secondary digital broadcast signals, taking advantage of Scripps’ status as one of the largest owners of broadcast spectrum.
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Newsy will continue to be available via over-the-top streaming. The Newsy app will deliver the same feed as the broadcast channel via Apple TV, Fire TV, Pluto TV, Roku, Samsung Sling, Vizio and Xumo.
The unique distribution strategy puts Newsy in two fast-growing platforms with one foot in over-the-air and the other in over-the-top.
Also Read: E.W. Scripps Plans to Take Over the Air Nets Over the Top
Newsy will broadcast 24 hours a day seven days a week from its headquarters in Atlanta and at launch will have 17 hours of live daily news.
The channel is designed to offer opinion free-content, a contrast to cable news channels that cater to one end of the political spectrum or the other. That approach has been successful in cable. It’s less clear that a middle of the road approach will draw viewers over the air.
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Newsy has a staff of about 250 and will draw reports from 14 news bureaus located in Atlanta; Chicago; Dallas; Denver; Los Angeles; Missoula, Montana; Nashville, Tennessee; New York, Phoenix, Seattle, Tampa, Florida; Tulsa, Oklahoma; and Washington D.C. It will also have content from the newsrooms of Scripps’ local stations.
“Newsy is positioned to accurately inform the public at scale with unmatched accessibility,” said Eric Ludgood, head of Newsy. “We will give the American people facts and in-depth information so they can better understand the events that shape their lives. We’re not going to tell them what to think. They can make up their own minds.”
