NBC News Reveals 'Signal' Video Streaming Service

Variety says that NBC News will join the several other traditional news outlets trying to capture the interest of people who get their news from mobile devices and streaming video.

The NBCUniversal unit now turns to broadband. Its new streaming outlet, "NBC News Signal" will feature original content and launch in 2019.

Older millennials and younger Generation Xers "are hungry for news programming as anybody, and they want to consume it in a different way," said Nick Ascheim, NBC News Group's vice president for digital, in an interview. "We want to meet them there."

So do others. NBC News will compete against several new news streaming services. CBS News operates video-streaming HUB CBSN. ABC News seeks to give streamers the most important live news at any moment with ABC News Live. Fox News is expected to launch the subscription-video service FOX Nation in weeks to come. There's also Cheddar, Vice, and others.

NBC News Signal is already up and running, available on NBCNews.com, in the NBC News mobile and OTT apps, on PlutoTV and via Youtube and Twitter.

One of the challenges NBC has to maneuver with Signal is making sure it does not take too many viewers from MSNBC, which generates healthy revenue from advertising and affiliate fees. "If you want to see Rachel Maddow, you still have to get a cable subscription," said Ascheim.

NBC News will feature some political programming on Signal in the days leading up to the midterm elections. Steve Kornacki's digital show "218: Race for the House" will air daily at 12pm ET and on election day, November 6th, Katy Tur will host a pre-show on the network from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m eastern.

Read the original story on Variety.