Broadcaster Gray Television and nearly 300 local stations have partnered on a new free streaming service called Zeam, which went live on Wednesday.
The service was teased earlier this month, and saw a quick ramp-up of promotional activity, including during the Super Bowl, and finally went live today. It boasts a myriad of channels with a focus on local programming covering nearly every city in the country. The service segments its content under the categories of sports, travel, weather, local flavor, and documentaries.
Zeam joins a growing number of free, ad-supported streaming services as the area has exploded with popularity. Everyone from Roku to FOX has a free service, which has gotten more appealing as media and cable companies have jacked up the rates on traditional subscription streaming and cable TV services. It also competes with Local Now, another free streaming service boasting local channels that is owned by the Allen Media Group, which also own The Weather Channel.
The highlight is the array of live streaming channels offer local news and weather from FOX, CBS, ABC, and NBC affiliates.
The sports section includes programming like local high school basketball and baseball, older racing competitions, and winter sports.
Beyond local news and sports, it features programming like Martin Yan’s World, with shows from the world famous chef or the Full House Rewind Podcast, featuring Dave Coulier.