Rivet Radio continues Scripps partnership for Alexa skills

Rivet Radio has continued its collaboration with E.W. Scripps to create audio skills for use with devices enabled with Amazon’s Alexa voice controls. The partnership began with Rivet creating Alexa material for Tampa’s WFTS. Following the completion of that pilot program, Scripps contracted Rivet to expand their Alexa skill program to eight more markets that went live in August: WXYZ in Detroit, KNXV in Phoenix, WEWS in Cleveland, KMGH in Denver, KGTV in San Diego, WTVF in Nashville, WPTV in West Palm Beach, and KTNV in Las Vegas.

“Amazon Echo devices are how Rivet envisioned consumers accessing news and information back at our initial launch,” Rivet CEO John MacLeod said. “People now can talk to their ‘radios,’ and their radios talk back — delivering just the stories that listeners want.”

“The explosion of the home speaker market has the potential to change the way our audiences consume news,” said Rob McCracken, Scripps’ director of digital solutions. “We are always looking for ways to connect with our audiences in places they are looking for news and information, and partnering with Rivet was an effective way to help our stations get their content onto the Alexa platform.”