In 2019, broadcasting giant Sinclair took a stab at streaming with STIRR, a free service with live channels and on-demand shows and movies. It was once seen as one of the best free ad-supported streaming services on the market. However in January 2024 Sinclair sold STIRR to Thinking Media.
STIRR once had over 100 free live channels with over 5,000 hours of movies and TV shows, along with live local news. At the time of the sale service offers just four live channels and a handful of mostly unknown movies and TV shows on-demand. A few days after the sale all live TV channels and most of the on-demand content where removed from the service.
Now STIRR has started to relaunch the service with over 30 new live TV channels. You will also find a growing amount on on-demand programs.
Thinking Media has some new plans for STIRR, including tripling the on-demand content library and implementing artificial intelligence to aid in searches, according to TechCrunch. The streamer has cut the live channels available under Sinclair, but Thinking Media President Scott Schlichter told the new site that it is “actively trying to build that back up.” The company is working on new content licensing deals, and expect programming to begin appearing in March.
STIRR currently is a shadow of its former self, and now boasts a limited collection of second and third-tier shows and movies. The site lists a few categories at present, such as horror, documentaries, sports, and dramas, even if it’s unlikely that you’ve heard of the selections. Thinking Media CEO Todd Carter told TechCrunch that the company wants the platform to appeal to a “large number of smaller niche intent-oriented audiences.”
STIRR will launch more categories in June, including travel, fitness, cooking, automotive, technology, fashion, home improvement, gaming, and educational content.
The number of viewers for STIRR is unknown, but on Google Play, the app has just 100,000+ downloads compared to more than 100 million for Pluto TV and Tubi.
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