LAS VEGAS: Syncbak, a Marion, Iowa-based media technology company, has
introduced its mobile app for local broadcasters at CES 2012. The iOS and
Android apps are part of the company’s internet broadcast platform, a
technology debuted in early 2011.
Syncbak’s platform
enables broadcasters to stream live content to mobile devices and connected
TVs. Fifty stations in 35 markets have installed Syncbak’s technology and are
ready to launch over-the-top services on mobile phones and tablets.
The debut of Syncbak’s
mobile app coincides with broadcasters’ launch of over the air Mobile
DTV services in 2012 and is
seen as an alternative method for broadcasters to get their local signals onto
the growing landscape of mobile media devices. Unlike Mobile DTV,
however, Syncbak’s technology allows broadcasters to only make their signals
accessible to consumers within their local viewing markets, whether on mobile
devices or the living room HDTV set.
“In this time of media disruption, our first job was to build an
authentication technology to move broadcast to broadband. We did that and today
our technology authenticates 25 million households per second,” says Syncbak
Founder and CEO, Jack Perry. “Now our job is to get the content flowing. Live
mobile apps and social are exactly the tools broadcasters need to do that.”
The first limited release of the platform is scheduled for this month in
Spokane, Wash. where KAYU, KXLY, and KHQ have been piloting the technology.
“Consumers are voting with their devices,” says Brian Brady, CEO of
Northwest Broadcasting and Chairman of the Fox Affiliate Board. “As
broadcasters, we need to make sure our content is seen by our viewers,
regardless of device. The Syncbak platform not only helps us compete OTT, but
to lead the way.”
Syncbak’s internet broadcast platform dynamically manages content rights and
distribution in the cloud using proprietary technology installed in partner
television stations. Broadcasters on the platform can immediately stream the
content they own or negotiate the rights to on Apple and Android smart phones
and tablets and can go OTT on Smart TVs. There is no equipment cost and the
service is free. The platform offers multiple levels of viewer authentication
with the highest being absolute in real time.
“We’re going to make it easy for any station who wants to become an internet
broadcaster,” says Syncbak Founder and CEO, Jack Perry. “This is the year of
OTT and we’re giving broadcasters, for free, the tools to immediately reach
viewers with live television on all platforms from mobile phones to smart TVs.”
The Consumer Electronics Association, National Association of Broadcasters,
several former NBC senior executives and a number of broadcast groups are
investors in Syncbak. The Syncbak platform supports both iOS and Android mobile
devices and talks are underway with manufacturers of connected TV and gaming
platforms.