Adam FlomenbaumAt its NewFronts event earlier this month, Newsy, the Scripps-owned streaming news network, announced a slate of original programming along with new advanced targeting opportunities for advertisers.
On the programming front, Newsy is putting muscle behind The Why, a two-hour nightly news show that will launch this summer. The show will be hosted by Chance Seales, and its production will be a joint effort from Newsy’s bureaus in Chicago, Washington, D.C., and Columbia, Missouri. There are plenty of nightly news show on TV that The Why will competing against, but, Blake Sabatinelli, GM for Newsy, told us, “a majority of them are focused on the latest breaking news, rarely providing anything more than the who, what, where and when. We know that with The Why, our focus on adding context — instead of running to the next story — will help help our viewers understand the why of the story.”
In addition to The Why, Newsy is developing original programming about human trafficking, climate change, and esports.
With new content, Newsy is looking to build upon the1.3 billion views it generated in 2016 – numbers that are certainly attractive to advertisers. To better serve this group, Newsy also announced Newsy Plus, an expanded set of advanced targeting tools.
“Advertisers are excited about Newsy Plus, as it allows them to buy against a robust set of data to validate their ads are running in front of their target audience,” said Sabatinelli. “We are also excited because both our programmatic and direct sold advertising partners can benefit. On the programmatic side, they can continue to buy Newsy through their preferred DSP, now with our deep audience data layered onto the buy. For instance, if you want to drill down and run a campaign for a user in the market for a car, Newsy Plus will help us deliver to that audience.”
Even with a set of new content and advertising offerings, Newsy has plenty of competition to contend with on both linear and over the top. Still, Sabatinelli is confident that the brand’s focus will be the differentiator for audiences.
“We’ll continue to stay ahead by staying focused where it counts. Put simply, that means investing in quality, accuracy and enterprise original reporting. We hear from longtime and new users all the time. They tell us they’re grateful to have found an honest and engaging news provider. Competitors will find that consistently delivering on a brand built to last takes a whole lot of sweat. So you need to really believe in what you’re doing and be willing to put in the hours to make sure you’re serving your audience.”
