GSTV Unveils New Content Slate and Original Content Featuring Creators, Comedians and Celebrity Talent
National Video Network Announces Partnerships With Matador Network,
Name That Tune, Benzinga and Tank’s Good News Ahead of 2023 NewFronts
DETROIT, MI – May 3, 2023 – At its NewFront presentation this Wednesday, GSTV, the national video network engaging and entertaining targeted audiences at scale across tens of thousands of fuel retailers, will unveil a slate of new partners, as well as original content coming to its network this year. The upcoming content slate will further cement GSTV as a video entertainment platform inspiring and engaging GSTV’s 116 million unique monthly viewers across the U.S. ahead of key shoppable moments.
New partners include Matador Network, Prestige Entertainment, and Benzinga, and a refreshed series with Live Nation. Matador Network, the number one travel destination on TikTok, engages millions of viewers with its all-new travel-inspired programming series, Must-See America. Developed in partnership with GSTV, it will highlight travel trends, tips, inspiration, seasonal travel guides, holiday-themed destinations, and more. Benzinga educates and entertains GSTV viewers with snackable financial journalism as it relates to blockchain, cryptocurrency, trading, NFTs and more. In addition, Prestige Entertainment will bring beloved game show Name That Tune to GSTV screens nationwide. Promoted by music icon Randy Jackson, the series will allow viewers to test their music knowledge, unveiling key clues as they fuel up. In keeping with this music focus, GSTV Sounds Bites powered by Live Nation brings musical artists ranging from Macklemore to Nickelback and more to GSTV screens as they share interviews from touring on the road and what drives them every day.
“By doubling down on new content partners and unveiling new original programming, we want to further distinguish GSTV as a video platform where advertisers can organically integrate with or place advertising content adjacent to our entertaining, informative, and family-friendly content,” said Sean McCaffrey, President and CEO of GSTV. “Our personality-driven content features familiar faces for viewers across America. Our goal is to continue evolving the GSTV experience, providing an entertaining, engaging respite for consumers as they fuel up.”
GSTV also unveiled pilots for four new original content series produced by its in-house content studio, Ignite. These personality-driven series allow for flexible custom integrations for advertisers and include:
Tank’s Good News: Featuring digital creator Tank Sinatra, this series will feature a positive feel-good news story in 20 seconds each week.
TL;DR (Too Long; Didn’t Read): Comedian, actor, and podcast host Chuck Nice will rush viewers through a quick recap of the hottest novels or timeless classics, offering up the intel needed to help them sound smarter than the rest of the room without turning a page.
On This Day: Voiced by celebrity guests, this feature will take a look at the happenings that transpired on that particular day in history, drawing parallels to help viewers better understand their own circumstances.
Laughing Gas: Shot onstage at Gotham Comedy Club and produced by Harlan Halper of Downstage Entertainment, and Gotham’s Chris Mazzilli, this segment features some of New York’s best comedians, such as Dominican American stand-up star Julio Diaz, in 20-second quips about friends, family, and fueling up.
The new programming will appear in GSTV’s line-up of best in class short-form content providers including Cheddar News, Heal Squad with Maria Menounos, What’s Trending, So Yummy, kiwilimón, LaLiga and more. Maria Menounos is also host of the 2023 IAB NewFronts.
To learn more, tune into GSTV’s NewFront presentation, “Attention & Action: Reaching Consumers During The Moments That Matter” on Wednesday, May 3rd from 4:50 PM-5:10 PM ET in-person or virtually. Advertisers can register for the presentation on the IAB website with code GSTV23NF.
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GSTV Wins Crain's Detroit Business Excellence in HR Award
by Leslie Green, Crain’s Detroit Business
Winner: Employee Experience
“When torn between paths of whether we follow the best interest of GSTV or the best interest of the team member, where we can, we’re always going to side with a team member. It may not always be the best case for GSTV, but we’re going to support our employees,” said GSTV Vice President of Human Resources Amy Ratliff.
GSTV, a national video network serving 28,000 fuel retailers, employs 124 people. When Ratliff joined the company, it wasn’t focusing on employee engagement or open communication. Since then, she said, it has become “high-touch, high-value and high-tech.
“Our CEO (Sean McCaffrey) really wants to understand the thoughts and feelings of our employees and what we’re not doing and should be doing or things we are doing that we shouldn’t be doing so he can make changes,” Ratliff said.
Changes might be improved technology, additional staff or how the company operates “day in and day out,” she said.
Improving the employee experience also meant overhauling GSTV’s benefits package.
The company increased its 401(k)-match program and PTO and added paid parental leave for anyone having a baby, adopting or newly fostering a child. It also added departments, increased staff by 26 percent to alleviate employee strain, developed an open-door policy and began holding one-on-one meetings between employees and Ratliff.
In addition to four weeks of PTO and 12 federal holidays off, the HR department began emphasizing the importance of downtime and self-care by shutting down the office on the first Friday of every month.
“Everyone is so grateful for those self-care days when they can disconnect for a little bit,” said GSTV HR Manager Destiny Crawford. “We exceed our goals because of our teams.”
To further engage employees, the HR department has held fun social events, such as co-worker feud and virtual bingo, and developed quarterly social responsibility programs, such as fundraisers for Black Girls CODE and Susan G. Komen for the Cure and a food drive for Feeding America.
“Our Human Resources team has worked diligently this past year in helping to grow our business, increase our engagement and drive GSTV’s culture. The team has created a culture of empathy, caring and openness that allows our team members to feel like family. Their efforts have led to a significant impact on the growth of our business and overall experience for the GSTV Family,” McCaffrey said.
GSTV was named one of Crain’s Cool Places to Work in 2020.
Adweek: How GSTV Works With Music Artists and Film Companies
by Meseret Ambachew, Adweek
GSTV's chief executive officer and president Sean McCaffrey says his company reaches 40% of people across the U.S.
The digital OOH company invited MGM Studios' CMO during its NewFronts presentation to talk about the success of its content partnership
Retail digital display company GSTV presented at the IAB’s NewFronts for the third time on the event’s final day, held virtually.
The company touted its reach of 105 million people across the U.S., mainly through displaying content at gas pump stations, which is 40% of adults in the country, according to company chief executive officer and president Sean McCaffrey. With the average consumer pumping gas at least three times a month, the company chalks that up to 15 minutes of time spent with its display.
“The experience itself is outside the home when you use that three to four minutes of dead air,” McCaffrey told Adweek.
Gas prices are at an all-time high, but the alarming numbers haven’t appeared to limit GSTV’s ability to cut content partnership deals, driving its ad business and audience growth. And it’s becoming defter at showing the impact of those deals. Through GSTV’s recent partnership with insights company Affinity solutions, the company found it is 50% more efficient than digital video for campaigns like consumer packaged goods.
Raising the volume on music artists
PG County, Maryland native music artist, Reggie Becton, was invited to speak at its presentation. Becton is in a partnership with Live Nation Entertainment, which currently displays four-minute-long content through GSTV.
Artist Reggie Becton saw his listenership almost triple after his Live Nation video featured at Shell gas stations.
The music artist said he received an influx of messages from friends and fans on his Live Nation spotlight video displayed at Shell gas stations. “It was just like wildfire after that,” said Becton.
According to Becton, within two months Becton’s Spotify listenership nearly tripled, his followership on the platform is now over 255,000.
From small screens to big screens
GSTV also highlighted a partnership with film company MGM Studios, where the company used GSTV’s in-house content studio, Ignite, to create content campaigns for its films.
According to GSTV executive vice president and chief marketing officer, Steve Ochs, after MGM’s video takeover campaign to promote The Addams Family 2, MGM tapped GSTV again in February for its Channing Tatum featured film, Dog.
MGM Studio chief marketing officer, Stephen Bruno, noted the current difficulty of encouraging viewers to go to the movies, but GSTV’s method of unexpected creative—plus the time and place—”helped MGM break through the clutter,” said Bruno.