USA TODAY Sports Weekly Launches Socially-Integrated App Across All Major Platforms, Powered By MAZ

NEW YORK, April 17, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- MAZ, whose publishing platform powers over 750 apps across the Apple's iTunes Store, Google Play, and Amazon's Appstore, announced today that they have partnered with USA TODAY Sports Weekly to create its apps across all mobile and tablet devices.

The first digital edition of USA TODAY Sports Weekly, produced using the MAZ publishing platform, debuts today, and is available on iTunes,Google Play, and Amazon Kindle. USA TODAY Sports Weekly provides readers with in-depth coverage of major league baseball, pro and college football and basketball, hockey, and other sports. It includes previews, analysis, commentary, and fantasy information from the USA TODAY Sports staff, USA TODAY Sports Digital Properties platforms, and more than 100 Gannett properties around the country.

With an audience of more than 50 million consumers each month, the USA TODAY Sports Media Group is one of the top sources in the country for sports news and information. The new digital edition of USA TODAY Sports Weekly will now include increased interactivity, and an all-around improved user experience.

"Our audience has dramatically shifted towards mobile experiences," notes Matthew Graham, VP of Audience and Product for the USA TODAY Sports Media Group. "This partnership is a great next step as we continue to provide our users with best-in-class native apps."

The app will also feature Stream, a social feature that creates a live, crowd-sourced feed of new USA TODAY Sports Weekly content as curated by the community. Stream allows USA TODAY Sports Weekly readers to participate in a localized social network right inside the app by "cutting out" anything they see on their screens with their fingers to save or share via social media.

"The best thing about this partnership is how easy it has been for us to publish," said Krys Krycinski, head of mobile for the USA TODAY Sports Media Group. "We're now distributing to three different platforms with a variety of fresh features, but we've really been able to concentrate on the content instead of the tech."

Using MAZ, USA TODAY Sports Weekly has been able to make this transition in-house, without any additional hires. "We are able to provide an exceptional digital product for our readers without getting bogged down in development."

"What's really exciting about partnering with USA Today Sports Weekly is that their weekly print publication has now been transformed into an app that is being updated minute-by-minute, by their community of readers," adds MAZ CEO Paul Canetti. "Using Stream, the reader becomes the editor in a sense. It's fascinating to follow live updates of what other people are sharing and saving."

About the USA TODAY Sports Media Group
The USA TODAY Sports Media Group encompasses all sports initiatives across USA TODAY Sports and Gannett's more than 120 well-known local media brands. It also includes the sports photography wire service USA TODAY Sports Images; leading high school sports destination USA TODAY High School Sports;Sports On Earth, a joint venture with MLB Advanced Media dedicated to great sports writing in all its forms; the social news hub For The Win, and the hundreds of sites within USA TODAY Sports Digital Properties such as TheBigLead.com and mixed martial arts site MMAJunkie.com, among others. USA TODAY is owned by Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI).

About MAZ
MAZ (mazdigital.com), a software company founded in 2010 by former Apple and Adobe designers and engineers, is revolutionizing the way people share and consume content with their mobile publishing platform. Their signature social product, Stream, allows anyone to "cut out" anything on the screen to share or save it. Stream is available in apps published using MAZ including those created by USA Today, Forbes, The Economist, OK! and over 750 more, as well as Stream Web, a new, free gesture-based mobile browser for iOS. Their apps are used by millions of people across the world.

PRESS CONTACTS:

USA TODAY Sports Media Group:
Steve Kidera
703-854-6077
[email protected]

MAZ:
Shouvik Paul
1-855-629-3444
[email protected]

SOURCE MAZ

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