Syncbak Launches New Local Content Streaming Platform Zeam

The new offering will debut with nearly 300 local stations featuring news, sports and culture both live and on-demand, plus more than five billion advertising unit avails for marketers. The launch will be backed by an eight-figure marketing campaign, headlined by a Super Bowl spot starring John Stamos.

The new offering will debut with nearly 300 local stations featuring news, sports and culture both live and on-demand, plus more than five billion advertising unit avails for marketers. The launch will be backed by an eight-figure marketing campaign, headlined by a Super Bowl spot starring John Stamos.

Syncbak, a provider of OTT solutions, today launched a new streaming platform called Zeam that it describes as “a new and free offering designed as the ultimate compliment to binge mode: a streaming home for in-between binge sessions to get informed and entertained through news, sports, and culture — live and on-demand — from hundreds of local television stations across the country in one central, highly personalized hub.”

To maximize consumer awareness and buzz, Zeam will release an eight-figure marketing campaign with the centerpiece being localized Super Bowl ads featuring John Stamos, airing across the country in around 100 different markets.

Zeam’s mission “is to connect every broadcaster to every viewer through a platform that makes viewers feel connected to any locale and any news, sports, or cultural event that has meaning to them. In doing so, Zeam also creates a huge opportunity for marketers to reach and follow, at scale, the local and regional audiences that most matter to them.”

This value proposition has already gotten the buy-in from nearly 300 stations and 30 groups including Gray, CBS, News Press & Gazette, Hearst and Morgan Murphy. At launch, Zeam will have station representation that covers nearly 80% of the U.S.

“As viewers and the industry continue to migrate to streaming, local television stations need to find a way to build a sustainable business that helps them not just survive but thrive in the streaming age,” said Jack Perry, Syncbak CEO and founder. “That’s why we are launching Zeam, which not only serves as a master connector between stations, advertisers and viewers, but will also redefine what a successful model for local OTT looks like by breaking down the biggest obstacles local stations face in streaming – cost and complexity.”

Zeam will help stations “drive meaningful streaming revenue by seamlessly distributing their content to a national audience, facilitate national and local ad sales through Syncbak’s proprietary advertising technology, and provide training to stations to best enable them to create Zeam exclusive content that can generate even more revenue opportunities.”

For advertisers, Zeam “provides a seamless on-ramp for them to connect with viewers who matter to them. With more than 5 billion advertising unit avails, Zeam will boast one of the largest ad inventories and first-party data pools in streaming,” the company said.

“Under Jack Perry’s leadership, Syncbak has a long-established reputation for being the champion of local content that the industry needs and deserves,” said Pat LaPlatney, Gray TV co-CEO and president. “With the launch of Zeam, we are taking this to a whole new level, providing a platform that will benefit not just local station groups and advertisers, but also viewers themselves.”

Accompanying the debut of Zeam is the launch of Zeam360, a mobile production studio in the form of a Zeam-branded van, which is also “the first-ever, 24/7 livestream mobile channel.” As part of the launch, Zeam360 is embarking on a barnstorming tour, stopping at nearly 30 stations en route to the Super Bowl to help stations learn about the possibilities of OTT while also creating compelling hyperlocal content for viewers. Zeam360 will continue on the road, visiting local broadcasters post-Super Bowl, as well. In addition, Zeam has established a new studio in Times Square to host local, independent creators and provide a platform for them to reach a broad base of viewers. The studio will also serve as a billboard to promote the power of local to thousands who pass through Times Square daily.

Throughout his career, Perry has pioneered patented solutions that have enabled local television stations to thrive as new technologies have continually disrupted the television industry – including creating the first geo-fencing and subscriber authentication technology, Geneva, which enabled satellite companies like Dish to deliver local TV signals to subscribers across the country.

The launch of Zeam is his latest innovation, building on the proof-of-concept that was VUit, the hyperlocal streaming platform Perry and Syncbak launched in 2020 that created revenue for many of its station partners. “Meant as a sandbox for local stations to experiment in streaming, the service saw the average VUit user log on for 29 sessions a month and watch content from several markets. Meanwhile, stations that took advantage of VUit’s full technology and distribution capabilities saw some of them generating in excess of six figures in monthly streaming revenue,” the company said.