What’s subsequent for STIRR, the free streaming service Pondering Media simply acquired

Broadcasting firm Sinclair lately offered off its free, ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) service STIRR to Thinking Media, a startup that gives cloud-based streaming options for FAST and over-the-top (OTT) providers. The brand new homeowners have bold plans for the streamer, together with a world enlargement, tripling its on-demand content material library and changing into an AI-native streamer with superior search capabilities.

CordCuttersNews broke the information of the deal, which formally closed two weeks in the past. The acquisition comes amid a rise in FAST viewership amongst customers wanting to save cash as extra premium streamers increase their subscription costs. In accordance with Samba TV, 1 in 3 U.S. customers subscribed to FAST providers in 2023.

When Sinclair launched STIRR in 2019, the service had over 100 free, ad-supported reside TV channels and greater than 5,000 hours of TV exhibits and films. As of this writing, the reside channels have been faraway from the streaming platform, however there’s nonetheless on-demand content material.

STIRR is getting triple the quantity of on-demand content material within the subsequent few months, Pondering Media founders Todd Carter (CEO) and Scott Schlichter (president) advised TechCrunch.

“The only thing that we did not bring over for a variety of reasons are the local stations that Sinclair took from their station group,” Schlichter stated, who’s the founding father of digital expertise and model company Dogma Studios. “But we have a big interest in local, we have a big interest in news… We are exploring that actively and trying to build that back up. From a linear standpoint, you’re going to see very familiar content to what was there before.”

The corporate is presently renegotiating most of the former content material licensing offers, so by the tip of March, viewers ought to begin to see plenty of titles return to STIRR, in addition to brand-new content material.

Picture Credit: STIRR

STIRR is including extra area of interest classes as a way to goal a broader viewers. By June, STIRR will add classes akin to journey and exploration, health and wellness, cooking, automotive, expertise and innovation, trend, house enchancment and DIY, schooling, gaming, and information and opinion, amongst others. STIRR’s catalog is comparatively naked for the time being, that includes only some genres like journey, comedy, documentaries, drama, horror, thriller, sports activities and youngsters’ content material.

“If you think about the TV market today, it tends to be one size fits all, and they tend to target a small number of very large, general audiences. We’re interested in a very large number of smaller niche intent-oriented audiences,” Carter, who beforehand co-founded expertise and media firm SEEEN, stated.

Pondering Media can be engaged on getting worldwide rights to help its progress plans. For the primary and second quarters of 2024, STIRR is ready to increase to the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Eire. It’ll additionally launch Spanish-language content material and programming in LATAM territories.

STIRR is presently accessible on the internet, Apple TV, iOS, and Android gadgets worldwide. It’ll quickly roll out to different good TV platforms like Tizen, Amazon Fireplace, and Roku as soon as “the transfer to those app store accounts from Sinclair Broadcast Group to Thinking Media is completed,” the corporate stated.

“[STIRR has] 8.5 to 10 million installs across all the major platforms. We want to embrace that and make sure you realize this is still home and that we’re going to bring you the content that you want and we’re going to add to that and provide new features that we think you’ll enjoy,” Schlichter added.

Picture Credit: Screenshot of STIRR.com

Along with content material, Pondering Media additionally plans to combine its proprietary options into the platform, beginning with “Key Video Moments,” which addresses second-screen habits by turning cellphones right into a companion system. Particularly, bringing search engine outcomes to STIRR.

“We’re talking about syncing; having your mobile phone and your television in sync while you’re watching,” Schlichter stated, utilizing the favored competitors present “Hells Kitchen” for instance. By bringing an online consumer expertise to STIRR, viewers may concurrently search for a recipe whereas watching their favourite chef.

“If you’re a fan of a show and you want to somehow get more involved with that show, there’s no way to do that on any existing platform… you are off to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Discord or Reddit, but not [the streaming service]. And that’s where this idea of TV web integration and user journeys comes in,” Carter stated.

“Key Video Moments” can be partially a social characteristic, Carter added. Viewers can share their findings on social media and messaging platforms.

STIRR’s UI is less complicated than its FAST rivals, so introducing modern options will hopefully give the service a brand new lease on life.

“There’s this incredible opportunity to think of STIRR as a lab for TV web innovation…for us to build on what Sinclair Broadcast Group created and take it to the next step,” Carter added.

Pondering Media has already made different tech enhancements to STIRR’s platform, together with changing its video participant with a brand new “interactive” one which streams HLS (HTTP reside streaming) and ultra-low latency, primed for “synchronized audiences,” defined Carter. There’s additionally WebRTC help, which leads us to consider that STIRR will ultimately have a reside chat perform.

Moreover, the corporate swapped out all the again finish, which is now primarily based on a content material knowledge graph, much like Google’s Knowledge Graph because it brings collectively knowledge from numerous sources.