SAN FRANCISCO & LOS GATOS, Calif.—OTT news source Haystack TV has upped its game as a provider of viewer-specific personalized news with the launch of Newsline, a dynamic, interactive news ticker that gives Roku platform users of its app the ability to make quick jumps to breaking news via an interactive news crawl. 

The app relies on a new system of interactive overlays developed by Haystack TV, an ad-supported video-on-demand (AVOD) OTT service. Newsline lets viewers interact via news crawls to access local weather conditions, forecasts, weather alerts, stock market data, local news headlines, top stories and other news, including international, entertainment, business and science and technology stories, the company said.

“Innovation has long been the foundation of Haystack TV, and the introduction of Newsline reimagines TV news viewership and drives engagement for our growing user base,” said Haystack TV President and co-founder Ish Harshawat.

“Newsline is a feature that demonstrates how Haystack is reinventing the news watching experience by adding greater accessibility and interactivity.”

The new interactive ticker is the just the latest step in Haystack TV’s strategy of offering viewers customized news via its free AVOD OTT service. Viewers already can custom newscasts in their “My Headlines” channel by selecting news channels sorted by topical categories, such as “Coronavirus” and “Decision 2020.” Haystack then curates the news from each channel based on viewer selections.

Haystack TV offers local news and weather from broadcast stations covering 90% of the major metropolitan areas in the United States, including all of the top 30 DMAs.

Newsline is expected to become available on other supported smart TV and streaming platforms in the near future, the company said.

More information is available on the company’s website.

REDWOOD CITY, CALIF.—Haystck TV, a personalized video news platform, has announced a new partnership with Hearst Television to distribute Hearst-owned stations via the Haystack TV platform. Hearst joins Gray Television and Meredith Corporation as partners with Haystack TV.

In the deal with Hearst, Haystack TV users will now have access to local news and weather produced by Hearst stations in 30 markets. This brings Haystack TV’s total stable of local news and weather content to more than 70 markets.

In addition, Haystack TV has also announced a partnership with weather provider Praedictix, which offers users access to weather video forecasts for their region.

Haystack TV is accessible through free apps on Android TV, Chromecast, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Android, iPhone, iPad and the web. The apps automatically recognize users’ locations and serve local news that is relevant to their geographic area, or users can set locations manually.

WASHINGTON—The technology division of the National Association of Broadcasters, Pilot, has announced that it recently invested in the startup Haystack TV. The California-based company features a TV news app that aggregates content from a variety of sources for a continuous stream of personalized news that can be viewed on mobile devices or connected TVs.

Haystack TV launched in 2014 and is currently available for iOS, Android, Android TV, Apple TV and Chromecast. Users select trending topics based on their interests, resulting in a tailored headline news channel based on the user’s tastes.

In addition to the investment, NAB Chief Technology Officer Sam Matheny will join Haystack TV as an advisor.

Pilot, previously known as NAB Labs, also recently invested in Yet Analytics and supported incubator Dingman Center Angels.