FreightWaves reached a milestone this month in its mission to provide the latest freight industry news and groundbreaking content to a rapidly expanding audience. The Chattanooga, Tennessee-based company is introducing the FreightWavesTV streaming service app for mobile, tablet and at-home TV entertainment devices.
Users can access the full lineup of FreightWaves content. That includes livestreamed programs as well as the entire library of digital content: FreightWaves shows, news segments, SONAR demos and exclusive interviews. Videos are available to download for offline use as well.
The FreightWavesTV app is available on iPhone, Apple TV, Android, Android TV, Roku and Fire TV.
“It was so exciting. Yesterday was the first time we streamed live on the app, so I could watch ‘What the Truck?!?’ on my cellphone,” FreightWaves News Director and Anchor Emily Szink said of one FreightWavesTV show. “It’s cool to watch past episodes, but when we were actually able to watch live content, it became more real. That’s what we’re working toward — being live all the time.”
The process of building “the first-ever streaming TV network dedicated to freight” has been remarkable. FreightWaves itself is less than 3 years old, but its video operations are even younger.
FreightWaves Digital Content Producer Jonathan Smith spearheaded the streaming push. Smith, who has been with FreightWavesTV for almost a year, filmed his first content with just a GoPro camera.
“Now we have over seven cameras that are production-level equipment, as well as the capability to go live on our app, YouTube and other sites,” Smith said.
The biggest challenge for him and his team? Making their content as “badass” as possible in such a short period of time. But in true startup fashion, FreightWaves has mastered the art of making something out of nothing. FreightWavesTV has no designated studio. Instead, Smith noted, “We use our space creatively.”
The team films all content throughout the FreightWaves offices in Chattanooga. The FreightWavesTV crew has adroitly designed four or five unique “sets” around the building, often sharing spaces, according to Smith.
That unconventional approach is no barrier to offering a wide variety of programs that tackle the world of freight from every angle. Here are just a few of the available programs:
- “FreightWaves NOW” provides daily weather and freight market updates through use of the FreightWaves SONAR platform.
- On “Fuller Speed Ahead,” FreightWaves CEO Craig Fuller hosts in-depth interviews with industry heavyweights.
- “What the Truck?!?” offers a fun take on the week’s freight news.
- “Off the Supply Chain” highlights the perspectives of three market experts on topics surrounding shipping.
- “Night Shift” provides industry news and insights into the SONAR platform. New episodes are released in the evenings.
“Our content is interesting because we’re in such a niche news market,” Smith said. “A lot of our stuff is relevant to people’s jobs. I’ve heard stories before where brokerages will play ‘FreightWaves NOW’ on a TV to their entire office.”
FreightWaves has forged its own path in the media-verse by covering industry-relevant stories often overlooked by traditional news outlets, as well as providing revolutionary data insights through the SONAR platform.
The company’s trailblazing take on news brings together industry experts and seasoned journalists who understand there are compelling stories to be told from the world of freight — and a large audience eager to listen.
Before joining FreightWaves, Szink was an anchor, reporter and producer with a CBS-affiliated TV station. What drew her to FreightWaves was the chance to break the mold of traditional news media.
“I think it was Craig Fuller’s vision of wanting to have a network dedicated to freight because it’s such a big and broad industry,” Szink said. “It’s not just about trucks, but about seaports, air cargo, logistics and supply chains. There’s so much involved with it and no one’s covering it. It’s a huge opportunity, and that’s what I saw it as.”
From filming on a GoPro camera to launching a livestreaming app, FreightWavesTV has seen tremendous growth in less than a year. Szink and Smith are proud of their team’s accomplishments so far and look forward to what’s next for the burgeoning video operations at FreightWaves.
“I’m just excited about the content that we’re going to produce,” Szink said. “Seeing where we’ve come in the six months that I’ve been here, it will be crazy to see six more months from now where we’re going to be.”
