LeadStory, the AI-driven, hyper-personalised news streaming platform, has appointed Heidi Sayers as chief commercial officer as founder and CEO Cam Price relocates to the United States to lead the company’s next phase of global expansion.
The platform, which blends verified news from trusted global broadcasters with AI personalisation, allows viewers to curate their own mix of local and international coverage from outlets including CBS, CNBC, Reuters, Bloomberg, Deutsche Welle, Al Jazeera, Channel 10 Australia and France 24.
Tackling fake news with trust and tech
Sayers joins LeadStory from The Australian Traffic Network (ATN), where she was NSW sales director, and brings more than two decades of senior commercial experience across Nine and News Corp.
She said what attracted her to the company was its commitment to addressing some of the biggest challenges in today’s media landscape.
“In a world of fake news, declining trust and fragmented media consumption, what drew me to LeadStory is its willingness to tackle these challenges head on and deliver something truly unique to the market,” Sayers said.
“LeadStory’s news delivery for the AI age provides marketers with a highly compelling way to reach audiences in contextually relevant environments and more importantly, to be able to tell their brand story at scale, in a way that’s genuinely interesting for viewers.
“Cam and the team have built an exceptional group of tech experts, producers, journalists and presenters, and I look forward to bringing LeadStory’s unique offering to market and collaborating on content-led partnerships that I know deliver for brands.”
From branded storytelling to international growth
LeadStory’s commercial model mixes traditional video advertising with branded video storytelling – produced on-location with brands and their spokespeople.
Over the past year, the company has worked with Tourism Fiji, Sydney Water, Tourism NT, Engineers Australia, Goodstart Early Learning, Koh, Pilot and Juniper to create story-driven campaigns designed to engage audiences across multiple platforms.
The appointment follows a successful funding round earlier this year, which saw LeadStory raise more than $4 million from primarily US investors. Price’s relocation to the US will see him focus on forging new partnerships with AI stakeholders, hardware manufacturers, automotive brands and distribution platforms as LeadStory ramps up its international presence across North America and beyond.
“Heidi’s appointment marks a major milestone for LeadStory,” said Price.
“Her commercial leadership and deep relationships across the Australian marketing landscape will help us scale confidently while continuing to deliver real value for publishers, brands and audiences alike.”
Expanding into cars, planes and connected TVs
Founded in 2021, LeadStory now attracts over 13 million viewers each month across its web, mobile and FAST TV channels – Breaking News and Your News, the latter billed as the world’s first personalised TV channel – available on Samsung TV Plus, LG Channels and VIZIO across Australia, New Zealand, North America, South-East Asia, LATAM and Europe.
The company has also moved into in-flight and in-car entertainment, launching a news video app pre-installed in new Mercedes-Benz vehicles globally, and partnering with Anuvu to distribute content to airlines including Cathay Pacific, Singapore Airlines and United Airlines. Most recently, the platform welcomed presenter Tim Gilbert to its growing on-air team.
Sayers will officially commence her role with LeadStory in November.