Other broadcasters have started live-streaming their content, with varying business models and reach into the market. FOX will simulcast entertainment programming seven nights a week, as well as Saturdays during late-night. It is essentially HBO GO, but for Fox. It means pay TV subscribers nationwide can stream summer prime-time programs like “So You Think You Can Dance“, “MasterChef” and “Wayward Pines” at the same time these shows air in their local time zones.
Advertisement
This makes Fox the first American broadcast network to offer its key programmes as a streamed service for its pay TV customers around the U.S., and stamps former Sky Deutschland chief Brian Sullivan’s mark on Fox’s digital strategy.
As Deadline reports, the beta version of the new live-streaming service will be available in 210 television markets on Fox.com as well as Fox’s streaming app, Fox Now, which is available for iPhone, iPad, Android, Kindle Fire, Apple TV and Google Chromecast.
First up will be So You Think You Can Dance: The Next Generation, and beyond that, all of Fox’s primetime programming will be available for live-streaming.
Fox is ready to give viewers a chance to watch its televisions shows live on devices other than their TV sets. The reason why Fox may have been able to roll this out nationwide is technology that’s letting local affiliates insert their ads and branding.
Advertisement
“From the start of the on-demand and over-the-top viewing revolution, Fox has been at the forefront of providing greater access to our buzz-defining shows”, said Fox Television Group chairmen and CEOs Dana Walden and Gary Newman in a statement.
