NAB’s Pilot Invests In Haystack TV News App

The National Association of Broadcasters announced today that its technology division, Pilot, successor to NAB Labs, has invested in Haystack TV.

The California-based startup aggregates content from a variety of sources for a continuous stream of tailored news. The videos can be viewed on mobile devices, as well as on connected TVs. Along with the investment, NAB Chief Technology Officer Sam Matheny will join Haystack TV as an adviser.

Incubated at Stanford’s StartX accelerator, Haystack TV launched in 2014 and is now available on platforms including iOS, Android, Android TV, Apple TV and Chromecast. The app features high-quality news videos curated daily from hundreds of news publishers. Users select trending topics that interest them and can also navigate the multiple channels available on the platform. A tailored headline news channel is created for each user based on the user’s tastes, preferences and the day’s trending news.

“Haystack TV provides a platform for individuals to access the news most important to them in an efficient and personalized fashion,” said NAB’s Matheny. “It combines three powerful forces: video content, social media, and personalization to create a compelling user experience across multiple devices. In an increasingly fragmented media landscape, America’s local broadcasters can potentially leverage this type of application to reach and engage an even larger audience.”

“We are excited to be working with the NAB and Sam Matheny to advance the future of TV news,” said Haystack TV COO Daniel Barreto. “Video news publishers are producing great content every day, but they are struggling to reach younger audiences as TV consumption is inreasingly transitioning to streaming services. At Haystack TV, we are empowering consumers to watch timely and relevant news across all their interests, and helping publishers reach more users online.”

The investment complements other Pilot initiatives, such as its recently announced investments in Yet Analytics, a Baltimore-based company that provides cutting-edge platforms for multi-source data collection and analysis, and Antenna, a Durham, N.C.-based content engagement company that captures reactions from users about mobile and web content.