Gray To Roll Out Syncbak To All Stations

After testing the Syncbak streaming platform at four stations over the past several months, Gray Television said today that it is rolling out the technology to all 41 of its TV stations in the coming weeks.

The platform lets TV stations stream all or part of their signals so that they can be received on mobile devices. The technology restricts reception to the stations’ over-the-air markets.

“Gray Television was one of the very first broadcasters to launch mobile DTV service,” said Gray President-COO Bob Prather. “Over the past few months, Syncbak has proven that can provide another critical route to reach our local viewers. We are therefore excited to be able to improve our local products by adding all of our stations to the Syncbak platform.”

Kevin Latek, VP, law and development at Gray, said that the Gray stations will not be streaming their entire broadcast days, only those portions for which they have cleared the streaming rights — news and other local programming and “a lot of syndicated programming.” The stations, which are affiliated with all the major networks, do not have the rights to stream any network programming, he said.

However, Latek added, Gray intends to participate in the TV everywhere streaming services for mobile reception announced by ABC, NBC and Fox. Those would include network programming and be “complementary” to the Syncbak service, he said.

Gray is one of 40 broadcast groups now testing the Syncbak platform. The tests now involve more than 150 stations in 98 markets representing all major networks. Strategic investors in Syncbak include CBS, the NAB and CEA.