STIRR, Sinclair’s free, ad-supported streaming service that includes access to free ad-supported live news, sports, entertainment, and digital first channel, announced today that they hit one million downloads after being launched in January. The milestone came as a pleasant surprise to the service, which was expecting to hit that number after a year.
In addition, STIRR also announced that 76% of downloads and 85% of viewership is through connected TV devices—Roku, Fire TV, tvOS. The company also said that viewers on average watch STIRR twice a week (up 50% since launch) for one hour at a time (up 200% since launch). STIRR City, a direct to OTT local TV station, is the most watched channel with 50%+ of viewership. Live local newscasts rank as the most watched program.
“We launched STIRR with the base premise that all of the national OTT services were ignoring the value of local programming, and in particular live local news,” said Christopher Ripley, Sinclair’s President and CEO. “Hitting the 1 million download milestone, combined with the immediate success of the STIRR City channel, has confirmed our strategy, creating the foundation for continued growth. We are excited to be at the forefront of OTT, and believe STIRR will play an important role in the streaming future of local broadcast TV.”
Alongside the STIRR City channel, the service offers over 30 additional OTT TV channels including Buzzr, Comet, Charge, Stadium, Dove Channel, Dust, Con TV and Shout Factory. Over the next six months, STIRR is on target to add 10 new national channels as well as new STIRR City channels not covered by the Sinclair Broadcast Group footprint.