In August, the STARZ app launched on [VIZIO Smart TV]s, expanding the streaming service’s reach. The app is available on most other devices as well, giving subscribers access to a vast on-demand library of Lionsgate movies, original content, and titles from the Starz linear channel.

Fox Corporation and connected entertainment specialist VIZIO have announced a multi-year expansion of their distribution partnership. The FOX Sports app is now available on VIZIO Smart TVs, joining Tubi, FOX Nation, and FOX NOW. As part of the agreement, the FOX Weather channel has been added to VIZIO WatchFree+, alongside existing FOX ad-supported channels LiveNOW and FOX Soul. VIZIO Ads will also have access to FOX’s premium inventory for audience-based opportunities with advertisers.

Vizio smart TV users now have access to the Fox Sports app and the Fox Weather channel. Vizio already provides access to a number of Fox properties including Fox Nation, Fox Now, and Tubi, with the arrival of Fox Sports and Fox Weather marking an expansion of the agreement that was already in place between Vizio and Fox.

Fox Weather wants to blow through your devices.
The Fox Corp. climate-news service, which got its start as a streaming app when it launched in October of last year, is not so quietly winding its way into as many platforms as it can. On Thursday, Fox Corp. and smart-TV manufacturer Vizio unveiled an expanded distribution agreement that puts Fox Weather on Vizio WatchFree+ alongside existing Fox ad-supported channels. Since its debut the app has been downloaded more than two million times.

Amidst hurricane and football seasons in the U.S., smart TV manufacturer VIZIO is making sure that its customers are getting up-to-the-minute coverage of both. On Thursday, the company announced that it is adding support for the FOX Sports app on VIZIO SmartCast TVs. VIZIO also announced that it has added the FOX Weather channel to its free ad-supported TV service VIZIO WatchFree+.

Vizio’s home screen Nov. 12-13 will feature a “sports blitz” section highlighting live college football and NFL games via Fox Sports. The app is the home for streaming live and on-demand sports from Fox, FS1, FS2, and Fox Deportes. Every Live Fox Sports game and studio show is available to TV subscribers, making NFL, MLB, NASCAR, college football, college basketball, FIFA World Cup, UEFA European Championships, CONCACAF Soccer, MLS, WWE, USFL, and Liga MX, as well as on-demand highlights of top moments from TV shows and sports leagues.

Fox Corp. and Vizio said they signed a multi-year expansion of their distribution agreement that will bring Vizio SmartCast users access to the Fox Sports app and Fox Weather. To mark the launch of the Fox Sports app, the Vizio home screen will feature a “sports blitz” execution showcasing the live college football and NFL games airing the weekend of November 12 and 13.

Interest in connected TV and over-the-top platforms has “skyrocketed” since the 2020 presidential elections, said Joe Marino, the head of client success at Madhive, which helps companies run and manage ad campaigns across streaming services. “Going into this cycle now, streaming is literally a part of every single buy, and it’s a big part of it,” Marino said.

He added that the platforms have matured dramatically and have made it much simpler to run campaigns than in the past, approaching Facebook-like ease.

A way of finding brands you want to partner with is by joining influencer marketplaces like CreatorIQ or GRIN. With these sites you can find brands you feel would be a good fit and contact them to organise a partnership.

Hearst Television announced today that its free streaming service, Very Local, is now available on Vizio smart TVs.

Very Local provides round-the-clock local news in Hearst Television markets nationwide. Viewers can also stream Very Local original series that encompass food, travel, adventure, dating and true crime—all with an emphasis on stories from viewers' hometowns, and content relatable to communities everywhere.

“Connected TVs continue to be a driving force behind turning the TV screen into a full-funnel marketing tool, bringing together the premium environment of television with all the tools digital has and more," said Adam Helfgott CEO of Madhive, which supports the SSAI protocol and began working with local broadcaster TEGNA in 2017 on streamlining campaign planning, buying, and measurement to give broadcast sales better returns. Through its self-service ad serving platform, advertisers can customize and automate the buying process into a single operating system that ad and operations teams can use to increase revenue.

“We have transformed from a hardware company to an integrated hardware and software entertainment company. By owning the hardware and distribution of entertainment as well as the data that flows through it allows us to really focus on the consumer experience the second VIZIO products are turned on.,” observes Katherine Pond, Group Vice President, Platform Content and Partnerships at VIZIO. “I think the genesis of WatchFree+ was really a result of us looking at what consumers wanted, and then figuring out a way that we could fill that need. WatchFree+ also gives us the opportunity to be able to serve ad supported entertainment that will meet the needs of our content, brand and agency advertiser partners.”

VIZIO has introduced My Watchlist, a new feature that allows viewers to add their favorite TV shows and movies from different streaming services into one central location on VIZIO SmartCast TVs. To add shows and movies to My Watchlist, users can search for a title, actor or select the “+ Watchlist” button on the content detail page of each title. Once added, a dedicated My Watchlist row will appear on the SmartCast Home Screen. When ready to begin viewing, the user selects the preferred title and is immediately launched into the service.

CreatorIQ, the influencer marketing platform advancing the creator economy, today released exclusive insights into creator-led campaigns on TikTok, gained through its first-party data integration with the social video service.

Alan Wolk is co-founder and lead analyst at the consulting firm TV[R]EV. He is the author of the best-selling industry primer, Over The Top: How The Internet Is (Slowly But Surely) Changing The Television Industry. Wolk frequently speaks about changes in the television industry, both at conferences and to anyone who’ll listen.

Wolk's Week in Review is an opinion column. It does not necessarily represent the opinions of Fierce Video.

There are going to be some certain winners in this world -- among them Amazon, Netflix, Roku and VIZIO. There are some companies for whom this might deliver mixed results, including TV companies like Disney, Comcast and Warner Bros. Discovery, all of which will both lose and gain some business,

With so many options to choose from, a little bit of chaos and uncertainty are expected— but Tubular is here to help make sense of the chaos. With deeper insights, you can create a framework that helps identify the perfect influencers to build out your wider program. At Tubular, we always say — start with your KPIs.

With My Watchlist, Vizio says that a user can build a queue of TV shows and movies across premium services including Apple TV+, discovery+, Disney+, HBO Max, Hulu, Paramount+, Prime Video, Starz, WatchFree+ and others. “This solves one of the biggest challenges viewers have in today’s fragmented streaming environment—keeping up with what is available on which service,” said Vizio in a statement.

Vizio tackled streaming TV’s fragmented user experience, announcing My Watchlist, where users can access favorite TV shows and movies from certain streaming services in one location. Users search for a title, actor or hit the “+Watchlist” button on a title's…