LOS ALTOS, Calif.— Didja has announced that its live local broadcast TV platform LocalBTV is now operational in 21 US TV DMAs and that 15 new markets were added in 2021, making the service available in over 30% of U.S. homes.
The LocalBTV platform currently powers 704 local broadcast TV channels, as well as 88 hyper-local Community Video channels across its current 21 markets/DMAs.
An additional 20 DMAs – extending LocalBTV’s availability to 50% of U.S. households -- are slated for launch in the coming months and Didja it plans to make the service available in upwards of 100 markets by the end of 2022
“We are pleased to be a meaningful factor in the resurgence of local broadcast TV viewing with our versatile virtual-over-the-air platform,” said Jim Long, CEO of LocalBTV. “We see 2022 as a high-growth year for more markets, more channels, more viewers, as well as new revenue and viewership for our local broadcaster partners.”
Didja bills LocalBTV as the first and only legal virtual-over-the-air (vOTA) streaming “local broadcast bundle” platform.
It secures permission from local broadcast signal owners for inclusion in its unique “antenna TV without an antenna” service, the company said, and expands access to local broadcast over-the-air (OTA) television to include a variety of increasingly consumer-preferred digital devices – such as smartphones, tablets, laptops, and connected TVs.
LocalBTV augments its vOTA streaming service with popular consumer features like cloud-based DVR recording, intuitive program guidance/navigation, and cable TV/public access-like “hyper-local” Community Video channels.
For broadcasters, the Local BTV platform adds significant new and measurable viewership, the company said. It helps generate incremental revenue through mechanisms such as targeted digital ad insertion/replacement, in-app channel promotion, and seamless linkage to premium up-sell offerings and outside commerce/ donation platforms.
In the future, the service also plans to offer enhanced NextGenTV (ATSC3.0) programming services.
“As a local independent station, we’re constantly trying to reach as many viewers in as many ways as possible [and] LocalBTV helps us with that,” said Lynn Londen, owner, KAZT in the Phoenix-Prescott DMA. “LocalBTV allows our viewers to take us with them on-the-go. In some cases, PhoenixBTV reaches viewers in areas with poor reception, giving them a way to watch us for the first time.”
The LocalBTV app is available from the iTunes and Google Play mobile app stores; AppleTV, Amazon FireTV, Roku, Android TV, LG, and soon Samsung and Vizio connected TV platforms; as well as via standard Internet web browsers.
For more information, please visit: www.localbtv.com/.
