Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. is again wading into new media, taking a stake in Boston mobile video platform Burst.
Hunt Valley-based Sinclair (NASDAQ: SBGI), one of the largest owners of over-the-air television stations in the country, made an undisclosed equity investment in Burst, the mobile video company said Monday. Sinclair took the stake through its Sinclair Digital Ventures subsidiary, which it started in 2015 to invest in early-stage digital technology and content companies.
The Burst investment would certainly seem to align with Sinclair's interests as a broadcaster. Burst describes its platform as a way to gather mobile video from reporters, social teams and users. The content can then be curated and published to television, social media and other digital platforms.
"Sinclair is deeply committed to delivering our content to our viewers via whatever means they choose to consume it — broadcast, online or mobile," said Rob Weisbord, Sinclair Digital Group chief operating officer, in a statement.
Sinclair values Burst for its quickness, Weisbord continued.
"It enables Sinclair to further tap the market emergence of millennials who are at the epicenter of mobile video consumption," he said.
Media services agency Horizon Media also took a stake in Burst, the company said. Terms of that investment were not disclosed either.
Burst marks another user-generated-content investment Sinclair made under its fledgling digital ventures group. In April Sinclair Digital Ventures led a $2 million seed round for San Diego-based ScoreStream Inc., a company focused on sourcing live scores and photos from high school sports games from fans. That seed round included Under Armour Inc. CEO Kevin Plank and Millennial Media founder Paul Palmieri as investors.
Sinclair's other digital efforts of late include an online lifestyle magazine for the Washington, D.C. area and the overhaul of the defunct news website Circa. Sinclair also closed on a $350 million acquisition of the Tennis Channel last week.