Why NRA TV Is on Apple TV

By Douglas A. McIntyre Updated Jan 13, 7:54AM EST · Published May 18, 10:10AM EDT

Follow 24/7 Wall St. on Google

This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.

Why NRA TV Is on Apple TV — © Thinkstock

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) is in a battle for market share as Apple TV continues to go up against offerings from Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Netflix Inc. (NASDAQ: NFLX). As such, the service from the world’s largest consumer electronics company has to be as broad as its rivals. This almost certainly has helped NRA TV win a spot in Apple’s movie and television service.

The NRA announcement was not matched with one from Apple management. The nonprofit organization trumpeted that its channel will offer “the most comprehensive coverage of Second Amendment issues, events, and coverage everywhere in the world.” The channel has a natural audience among its 4.5 million members. As part of its announcement about the Apple tie up, the NRA promoted its app as a way to watch its coverage on tablets and smartphones.

NRA TV has new-era video distribution avenues that go well beyond Apple TV. It has similar arrangements with Roku, Amazon Fire and Google Chromecast.

The initial promotion for NRA TV on Apple TV is coverage of the organization’s huge annual meeting in Louisville at the Kentucky Exposition Center, which runs from May 20 to May 22. The gathering will include gun products spread across 500,000 square feet, as well as appearances from several politicians, highlighted by Donald Trump. That means the NRA launched it service at a time when its members’ interest is focused in a way it may not be during the balance of the year.
[nativounit]
The organization’s management says that “NRA TV is dedicated to building relationships with patriots who are seeking to secure the future of freedom.” Some of these are viewers Apple could use to enhance its footprint in the new world of video, while the NRA gets another place to make its argument that every American should be able to own a gun.

About the Author Douglas A. McIntyre →

Douglas A. McIntyre is the co-founder, chief executive officer and editor in chief of 24/7 Wall St. and 24/7 Tempo. He has held these jobs since 2006.

McIntyre has written thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St. He is an expert on corporate finance, the automotive industry, media companies and international finance. He has edited articles on national demographics, sports, personal income and travel.

His work has been quoted or mentioned in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Time, The New Yorker, HuffPost USA Today, Business Insider, Yahoo, AOL, MarketWatch, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, The Guardian and many other major publications. McIntyre has been a guest on CNBC, the BBC and television and radio stations across the country.

A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, McIntyre also was president of The Harvard Advocate. Founded in 1866, the Advocate is the oldest college publication in the United States.

TheStreet.com, Comps.com and Edgar Online are some of the public companies for which McIntyre served on the board of directors. He was a Vicinity Corporation board member when the company was sold to Microsoft in 2002. He served on the audit committees of some of these companies.

McIntyre has been the CEO of FutureSource, a provider of trading terminals and news to commodities and futures traders. He was president of Switchboard, the online phone directory company. He served as chairman and CEO of On2 Technologies, the video compression company that provided video compression software for Adobe’s Flash. Google bought On2 in 2009.