Archive for October 25th, 2006
Big fat disclaimer up front: I work for KING5.com and NWCN.com, two Belo sites that have just relaunched new designs in the last few days. KHOU.com, KGW.com and KTVB.com just relaunched as well, as well many more Belo sites (WFAA.com and DallasNews.com are coming soon). Among the new features: a streamlined design and navigation, embedded video and a customizable tab with drag-and-drop headlines from any RSS source. And as you can see, each local site has a good deal of control to customize their own designs. Also worth mentioning, KOMOTV.com in Seattle also just launched a new look. I can take it, so let me know what you think…
October 25th, 2006
So I wasn’t in New York for the RTNDA event (see above story), but I’ll take this opportunity to share my biggest lesson for local TV sites. Digital strategy at most TV stations is currently driven in reverse. That is, driven by existing TV resources, core compentencies and brand extension. In other words, TV extended online. While those are certainly important components, they shouldn’t limit new ideas. You should ask yourself, what does the user (not viewer) want and need? What online opportunities are available in your market in local news, information and entertainment? Brainstorm new ideas, and then tackle the resource and return-on-investment issues that follow.
October 25th, 2006
Fox News is now producing short, web-only news updates twice a day on FoxNews.com and MySpace.com. The morning editions are hosted by Kiran Chetry and the afternoon editions are handled by Shep Smith, reports TVNewser.
October 25th, 2006
The nation’s largest network of radio stations (and quite a few TV stations) is in negotiations to be taken private by a group of investors for more than $18.5 billion. Clear Channel’s stock has been in a overall decline for the last five years.
October 25th, 2006
Something occurred to me during the RTNDA session on stations’ efforts to convert to HD: stations are spending a ton of money to go hi-def, and nobody is asking “are we going to be able to monetize this next quarter?” But many stations still ask that about online efforts. Sure, there is a difference: the FCC is mandating stations go digital by 2009. But the marketplace is demanding stations get serious online right now, and it’s still hard to get them to part with a penny that doesn’t show an immediate return. You have to stop thinking of the web as an expense. It’s your future. Someone asked Dave Spirak of WFTV if the station saw a ratings spike after going HD. Spirak said no. Of course the station didn’t. It improves the product as a whole. Same with the web. And the web has potential far beyond simply making the TV picture twice as clear: you can make your audience’s understanding infinitely clearer. There’s money in that. You’re doing your budgets for 2007 right now. Stop putting the web into the expense column, and start coming up with a five-year business plan that makes it a profit center.
October 25th, 2006
Saginaw, MI
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Written by Chip Mahaney at the RTNDA technology event in New York: One of the biggest challenges (and opportunities too) for traditional news organizations is going from a linear (newscast) mindset to a mindset that’s totally non-linear. The final session of the day featured digital news executives from ABC, CBS, CNN and FOX talking about the challenges their organizations are facing in a world that no longer relies on television for the bulk of its news, and what strategies they’re counting on to grow their brand in the years ahead. Transcript follows…
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Stephen Warley, Richard Warner and I just finished our presentation, “Lessons from the Lost Remote Guys,” whipping through a bunch of different examples of sites and tools stations should be using. Once again, Chip Mahaney was kind enough to take notes. In truest managerial fashion - he’s doing the work, I’m getting the byline. Read on…
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A lot of questions here about how stations add contributed content from their newsrooms and viewers without having to hire a ton of new people. One questioner summed it up very well: “We have web producers who spend all day putting what’s on TV online. When are they going to have time to monitor what people are contributing?” Easy: STOP REPLICATING YOUR NEWSCAST ONLINE! The web is not TV. Tell stories in new and different ways. Jeff Jarvis had other good suggestions: if you fear hosting comment boards, link to others. Change your workflow, take advantage of the new tools and change your mindset. You don’t have to spend a lot of money to get a lot more content.
October 25th, 2006
Well, panelist Jeff Jarvis (pictured) would take issue with calling it “your” audience, but that’s the title of the panel. Here, Desiree Hill VP of News Development, Pappas Telecasting, Dallas, kicks things off by showing KDBC’s “Community Correspondent” program. People can go directly to the site and put up their own news without being filtered. The station monitors it, but does not edit it before it goes online. “We have not had one inappropriate thing posted yet from among our eight stations. I thought we would.” Mitch Gelman SVP and EP, CNN.com talked about iReport: “We’re expanding the way we define and incorporate different points of view on the news.” Showing examples from the iReports in America Votes 2006, Gelman said “It’s a great way to get out of the beltway.” Douglas Warshaw, Chief Marketing Officer & Co-founder of, Motionbox showed off his chops: The Motionbox product is fantastic. It is used on conventional media sites like NBC10.com in Philadelphia. Think of it as the interface between citizen video and TV stations that want to filter. Stations can decide which of the uploaded Motionbox video they want to feature. People can edit online, share with embeddable player… it’s a YouTube with editing.
On to Jarvis, who pointed to my fave, WKRN in Nashville, as an example of inviting bloggers into the conversation. The station even reached out to bloggers in the region to show them how to shoot better video and created an ad market for the blogs. Characteristically, Jeff got to the heart of the matter: “What’s your strength? You’re local? Are you local enough? No way. The way to make it into an opportunity is to create a relationship with the people who used to be known as your viewers.” Jeff pointed to the ease of production of video, but how expensive the stations’ production budgets still are. “How do you use those tools to be more local than the news papers and build respect with the people who will help you survive?” Updated with a transcript…
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A study by the Conference Board concludes that 10 percent of U.S. online consumers are watching TV broadcasts via the internet. The top TV programming watched online are news (62 percent) and entertainment (50 percent). The reasons to watch? Convenience and fewer commercials. Three out of four say watching TV online has not changed their television viewing habits. Press release with a few more details…
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Retired GE CEO and Boston native Jack Welch is reportedly interested in buying the Boston Globe. Discussions are in the early stages, but sources put the price tag around $550-600 million, well below the $1.1 billion the New York Times Company paid in 1993. And a new trend is emerging: local business leaders moving in to buy struggling newspapers. (Thanks Alyssa for the link!)
October 25th, 2006
MTV Networks, Discovery Networks, ESPN, NBC Universal Cable and Turner Broadcasting System have all told Nielsen that they will opt out of the new commercial ratings system, which is scheduled to launch in December. The issue centers on how Nielsen measures commercial breaks on cable, which are more difficult to track than broadcast breaks. Early results show that ratings drop 6-12 percent during commercial breaks, so Nielsen is under incredible scrutiny from both cable and broadcast execs.
October 25th, 2006
Step one in a good HD video demonstration: have an excellent HD projector and speaker system. Done. With that in place, we got an eyeful (and earful) from three presenters with different goals and challenges. Will Wright, GM of VOOM TV showed an excellent compliation of national and international news from HD News, focusing on video from the Middle East. Watching a reporter in HD run for his life from an incoming rocket attack definitely lends a new level of understanding. “Our goal is to give viewers a vicarious experience,” said Wright,” “To put them there and to experience what our viewers are experience.” Dave Sirak of WFTV in Orlando (pictured) showed off the work of his place - the first in Florida to go HD. Dave pulled off a small miracle: he turned his station HD in nine months and within two percent of budget. Leesa Moore Cregge of WRAL in Raleigh’s reel shined with a cool weather demo - a product called “HD Vipr.” And if you want to hear compelling audio - WRAL’s NASCAR clip puts you on the track. Updated with a transcript below…
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Stephen Warley, Rich Warner and I are at the RTNDA News and Technology Summit today. I’m liveblogging the sessions, although the Javits Center WiFi is pokey and keeps defaulting to the “pay me” page. $30 a day for a 128k connection. Such a deal.
October 25th, 2006
News.com has compiled a slide show of screen grabs of the worst political and campaign sites on the web. My favorite is Texas Rep. Kay Granger, who’s running for re-election, who posted a recipe for her “killer margarita.” Funny stuff.
October 25th, 2006
