WNCN launches MyNC.com in beta
Cory Bergman July 17th, 2008
Media General’s station in Raleigh has launched new hyperlocal site called MyNC.com. It combines aggregation with user-generated content organized around North Carolina communities. They’ve tapped liasons in the community to help get the word out and foster more content submissions. And yes, it’s not branded with the TV station in any way (watch video of them wrapping a couple SUV’s with MyNC.com branding.)
I’m a big fan of this approach to hyperlocal — using aggregation as the “core” content and letting users build around it — as it’s the same approach behind CitizenRain.com, which we launched earlier this year when I was working at KING TV. The challenge is “jump starting” the community, especially when just about everyone else in the world is trying to do the same thing. But having a local media company with a big megaphone, respect in the community and established sales relationships is a big advantage.
10 Comments Add your own
1. tdc | July 17th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
i wonder why folks fail to think these things through when launching something with great potential like this.
like cory above did in checking the geo-version of the new .me domains, my first inclination was to check what/if/where myMI (for michigan) resolved.
you guessed it… marco island, fl.
2. sirkevin | July 18th, 2008 at 5:53 am
WKRN in Nashville already has something like this, too. The site is http://www.nashvilleistalking.com. After looking at the mync.com beta version, I have to say, WKRN does a better job. Plus, at least they’re transparent about who runs/hosts the site. WNCN should be, too.
3. Dan Bradley | July 18th, 2008 at 6:16 am
First, for the sake of transparency and full disclosure, I am the VP of News for Media General’s Broadcast division and have been involved with this project from the very beginning. I am not sure what the previous comment is referring to regarding transparancy. A quick check of the link for nashvilleistalking.com does not overtly reveal its connection to any local television station other than the copyright at the bottom that states the site is the property of Young Broadcasting. You will find the same at the bottom of any of the local channels on mync.com. Television stations have to come to grips with the fact that their internet activity need not be limited by their call letters and their stations branding. We need to serve communities and not just our broadcast mission. Hyper local sites like the ones mentioned in the article above are the fertile grounds of growth for local television stations and we should not leave that opportunity to someone else.
4. Amanda E. | July 18th, 2008 at 11:25 am
@sirkevin
NashvilleIsTalking is basically a shiny blog aggregator much like the one I’m putting together (click my name, site in very early stages).
MyNC on the other-hand appears to be a site where the public can actually submit content directly instead of having it fed in from external sources.
@Dan Bradley - WKRN’s logo is at the bottom of the site.
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Between the two sites, I’d have to pick NashvilleIsTalking though. The MyNC interface is not of the “angry fruit salad school of design” look thankfully, but its just way too busy looking.
5. Marsh | July 18th, 2008 at 11:39 am
Don’t worry Media General will screw this up like they do everything else…horrific…archaic management….look at their stock price and earnings…terrible leadership in all divisions…
6. Tom | July 18th, 2008 at 11:43 am
nice…like the idea that it’s not branded with the TV station…agree with comment 5 though..
7. splendid | July 18th, 2008 at 4:40 pm
Branding it with NBC-17 would only hurt. Trust me.
8. test | July 18th, 2008 at 5:29 pm
ignore me
9. Anonymous | July 18th, 2008 at 8:15 pm
“Hyper local sites like the ones mentioned in the article above are the fertile grounds of growth for local television stations ”
That’s the problem with MG. They only see growth in the web. For some reason they are more enamored w/ a stations web site then they are the on air product. It’s almost as if they believe that TV is dead already. The fact is, broadcast is outperforming all their other divisions.
10. sirkevin | July 21st, 2008 at 5:02 am
Don, I appreciate your pointing out that Media General’s name is at the bottom of the mync.com page. You’ll notice that at the bottom of nashvilleistalking.com, though, in addition to Young Broadcasting’s name, there’s also the station logo for WKRN. That minor difference aside, NIT says it is produced and hosted by WKRN-TV in its “About” section. WNCN-TV should do the same in mync.com’s “About” section (which, by the way, should also be included in the home page and not just the local pages). Of course, these are just my opinions. I agree with you, though, about this being a way for the future of TV.
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