Scott Ehrlich

Several low-cost shows are premiering this fall, but big names are nowhere to be seen.

Ensuring the flow of local and on-brand content is only one of the challenges FAST channels present — innovation to aid in discoverability remains critical, experts advise.

Executives from Sinclair, NBCUniversal Local, Cox Media Group, Nexstar’s The Hill, Samsung and Frequency will explore the programming opportunities presented by the rise of FAST channels in the streaming ecosystem at TVNewsCheck’s Programming Everywhere event at the NAB Show in Las Vegas on April 16. Register here.

Scott Ehrlich, Sinclair Broadcast Group’s chief innovation officer, said that broadcasters are excited about NextGen TV because it will give them some of the benefits of streaming (a one-to-one interaction with a viewer) while retaining the benefits of broadcasting (a one-to-many blast to viewers). He said: “Streaming is just moving video over IP. If 3.0 is bringing internet protocol to broadcast, it’s essentially bringing broadcast into streaming.”

He’s tasked with creating the company’s first dedicated cross-functional research and development group to coordinate and accelerate efforts across content, technology, audience development and distribution.

Executives from Fox Television Stations, Debmar-Mercury, Sinclair and Litton Entertainment will share how they’re building up robust content pipelines to fortify their independence at TVNewsCheck’s virtual TV2025 event later this month. Register here.

Executives from CNN, Sinclair, Fox Television Stations and Gray will reveal how they’ve kept their news streaming amid a pandemic and the optimal approaches to iterating on multiple devices. Register here.

OTT executives from CBS and Sinclair are finding local content — and breaking news — has been winning over viewers on their streaming services. L-r: NBC’s Saleem Malkana, Sinclair’s Scott Ehrlich, CBS’s Adam Wiener, Fox’s Steve Chung and TownNews’s Susan Bell. (Photo: Wendy Moger-Bross)

OTT executives from CBS Local, Sinclair,  NBC News Digital and TownNews will share the latest insights on OTT news content, technological challenges and monetization potential for the platform at the seventh annual NewsTECHForum this month.

Sinclair’s Scott Ehrlich, Cox’s Ian Stinson, CBS’s Adam Wiener and Gray’s Erin Overstreet will offer insights they’ve gained into local news audience behavior, optimal OTT content and programming decisions, backend tech challenges and monetization opportunities at TVNewsCheck’s OTT News Summit on June 11.