VUit Hires Local Broadcast Veteran and OTT Innovator Kevin Dunaway as Vice President of Affiliate Relations and Content Development
Seasoned Local Broadcast Executive and Former News Director to Help Local Broadcast Station Partners Optimize and Effectively Develop Content for OTT
VUit (pronounced “view it”), launched in September by its parent company, Syncbak, as a new free, ad-supported national streaming service aiming to be the “Netflix of Live, Local, and Free,” announced today that they have hired local broadcast executive and OTT innovator, Kevin Dunaway, as Vice President of Affiliate Relations and Content Development. In his new position, Dunaway will educate local broadcast stations on the value of VUit, guiding the stations in OTT innovation.As the executive behind the OTT broadcast of the I-500, the longest straight-to-OTT sporting events (10+ hours) in history, and other exciting OTT content, Dunaway will leverage his experience to show local broadcasters how to push the envelope in filming and delivery of local content to audiences across the nation. This includes, as well, owning the development of VUit’s in-house production efforts that serve as proof-of-concept for stations as they are developing their own OTT lineup. VUit’s “Studio 39” in the heart of NYC, home to VUit’s NYC Live street cam, acts as a central hub for this innovation. In his new role, Kevin Dunaway will report to Syncbak founder & CEO, Jack Perry..
Mr. Dunaway has over 20 years of broadcast television experience having started out as a television news producer at the CBS affiliate in Traverse City in 1998. Over the first two years of his career, he held the assignment manager and assistant news director positions before becoming the News Director in 2000. During his tenure as News Director, Kevin expanded the news presence from 4.5 hours a day to 9 hours. In 2016, he began his new role as VP, GM and GSM at the company.
Jack Perry, CEO and founder of Syncbak, said, “Kevin has an amazing talent for understanding the kinds of hyperlocal content that will work well on OTT and well beyond the origin market. He’s done incredible work with us as a partner station, and we look forward to seeing how he works with other local broadcast partners to innovate in the OTT space as he takes on this new role with VUit.”
“Innovating in OTT with live, locally produced programming on VUit has been my passion for the past two years,” said Dunaway. “I’m excited to bring my broadcast experience and perspective to the team at Syncbak. We will continue to demonstrate how easy it is for stations to reach viewers across the nation while enabling advertisers to follow the viewer regardless of what they are watching, whether it be a VUit exclusive production out of Studio 39 or the 6pm news in their local market,” he added. “I look forward to helping local broadcasters maximize their OTT presence on VUit.”
Doubling down on the power and potential appeal of hyperlocal live content to a national audience, VUit carries more than 200 local TV channels along with a range of themed curated feature channels across politics, sports, food, business, entertainment and culture. Overall, VUit expects to stream more than 3 million hours of live programming annually, featuring a wide range of local, regional and special interest programming produced by leading television stations from across the country, along with thousands of “VUit Originals.” Since its launch, many of VUit’s hyperlocal content has attracted viewers from across 100s of US DMAs.
VUit is now available on all major streaming platforms and devices, including mobile and desktop web, iOS and Android devices, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, AppleTV, and more.