NEW YORK—Syncbak has announced that VUit, its free, ad-supported national streaming service, has reached a carriage agreement with CBS to feature a slate of both local news and national entertainment and lifestyle content on its burgeoning streaming platform.
With the addition of CBS’s content and channels, VUit now carries local news and content from more than 260 stations across the country, covering nearly 80% of the country’s DMAs (167 markets).
Through the agreement, VUit will gain carriage rights to the local CBS streaming channels produced by a number of CBS-owned stations, including the top two U.S. DMAs: New York and Los Angeles. Other markets include Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Dallas/Fort Worth, Miami, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Sacramento and San Francisco.
In addition to the expansive lineup of local news channels, VUit will also carry an array of Paramount’s premium national entertainment and lifestyle content. This will include three channels – “Mixible,” formerly known as “ET Live,” “Inside Edition,” and “Dabl,” CBS Media Ventures’ lifestyle network.
“From our continued expansion of local news streaming across the country, to becoming a fresh and intriguing model for the syndication of national content, major players in the media world recognize the power and potential of what we have built,” said Jack Perry, CEO of Syncbak, VUit’s parent company. “In an increasingly streaming-first world, this deal is a win for everyone – for the stations looking to expand revenue opportunities, for advertisers looking to reach audiences in hyper-local and hyper-targeted ways, and for viewers who want to access content in a flexible, easy manner.”
“VUit is a product built around local news, and we are thrilled to add our 13 local streaming channels to broaden their US coverage,” said Sahand Sepehrnia, senior vice president, streaming, CBS Stations. “We have had a long-standing relationship with Syncbak and are excited to grow our partnership with Jack and his team.”
The CBS deal is the most recent of a string of programming expansions, including carriage agreements with stations groups such as Capitol Broadcasting Company, Lockwood Broadcast Group, Marquee Broadcasting Inc., Fort Myers Broadcasting Company, and Sunbeam Television.
In June, 2022 the company also announced rapid advertising growth across the platform. This includes a 31% year-over-year increase in ads served between June 2021 and June 2022, a 37% average CPM increase in the first half of the year, and revenue sharing among station groups growing by 121% for the first half of 2022. For the year to date, revenue sharing is up 192%.
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