MyFoxHurricane.com covers T.S. Fay

The MyFox team and the Tampa FOX station have been covering Tropical Storm Fay’s approach on a multimedia-heavy weather site at myfoxhurricane.com. The site has a ton of information, but I’m most impressed with the active live chat along the side. At the time I wrote this, nearly 2,000 people were chatting about [...]

Idaho paper cancels AP service

Calling it “the worst value for anything we purchase,” the Publisher of The Post Register of Idaho Falls has sent a letter to the AP announcing the end of their relationship effective August 15, 2010, according to Editor and Publisher. (AP requires a 2 year notice before canceling service.) It’s a bold move, but [...]

Disney may sell ABC O&O’s, analyst says

Although Disney emphasizes the report is “purely speculative,” an analyst who has followed Disney since 2000 says the company may be considering selling its 10 local ABC O&O stations, reports Bloomberg. David Miller, the analyst from Caris & Co., says the move would put Disney out of the distribution business for TV, and solely [...]

McClatchy freezes wages

In a memo to employees, the publisher of The Herald notified her employees that annual raises are being delayed for one year, starting Sept. 1st. The move is said to be a way to control expenses. The McClatchy Company operates 30 local daily newspapers. While I’m sure it’s better than being laid off, [...]

Weather-O-Meter grades Denver forecasts

In a brave display of transparency, The Denver Post publishes how accurate their forecast is each day in their Weather-O-Meter. But they don’t stop there, they measure the accuracy of every Denver forecaster. Even the Weather Channel and National Weather Service are compared. According to the site, last week The Denver Post [...]

Local papers, Politico partner for conventions

When the national political conventions take place in Denver and St. Paul, the local newspapers will be engaged with Politico.com to provide coverage both online and in print. The Denver Press and The Pioneer Press logos are already on the Politico convention page, and according to Editor and Publisher you will actually see Politico’s [...]

Let the games begin!

With the Olympic games just hours away, we’re looking to find the best coverage you see from a local station traveling to Beijing. Post your tips in the comments, and we’ll add them to this list.

Hearst-Argyle’s team is producing a blog about the culture and life in China.
KARE 11 has a nice section on [...]

WBBM uses interactivity to introduce new anchors

This is a unique way to answer a problem you may have experienced: supporting promotional efforts to introduce a new anchor team. Often promotions wants you to post the anchor pics, and that’s it. Or you might be asked to upload all of the new image promos. But neither of those ideas [...]

YouTube to broadcast Olympics

So, while NBC is likely going to be watching YouTube closely for users who upload video of the games in Beijing, the IOC has now approved YouTube as an official global partner for any region not covered by a local exclusive deal. The page is actually available now even in the US, so check [...]

Moonves projects $1 billion in interactive revenue

On this morning’s CBS earnings call, paidContent reports that CEO Les Moonves praised the purchase of CNET. Moonves then went on to say, “The stated goal is to reach $1 billion in revenue in the next three years, from the mid-$600 million this year.” Also mentioned in the call was the deal between [...]

CBS Radio launches WorldNow video

Today radio took a big step in the direction of local TV sites, with 140 CBS stations signing up for WorldNow’s video system. You can see the player now on the homepage of WCBS-AM. The press release contained a very telling quote:
“Rethinking and evolving our business had led us to this transformation and in the [...]

Gossip Girl streaming ban fails

In April we reported that Gossip Girl would no longer be streamed on cwtv.com so that the network could try to boost the TV ratings for the show. Today TV Week reports that this strategy had no impact on the ratings, and the show would again stream online. As a commenter on TV [...]

Product placement in Las Vegas newscast

In a move that will make capital-J journalists cringe, it appears product placement has made its way into a Las Vegas morning newscast. The Las Vegas Sun reports KVVU now has two iced coffee drinks from McDonald’s sitting on the desk during the 7AM newscast. The station ND says this show isn’t a [...]

Netflix movies coming to Xbox 360

Subscribers to Netflix will be able to watch nearly 10,000 movies on their Xbox 360 starting this fall, reports AP. The deal was announced today at the E3 video-game conference in Los Angeles. Netflix currently has 8 million subscribers, but hopes to bump that number up to 20 million with this new deal.

It’s official: Weather Channel sold to NBC

A group of investors, led by NBC Universal, closed the deal to acquire the Weather Channel, according to the NY Times. The price is reported to be around $3.5 billion, although an official number was not announced. TWC will not be folded into NBC’s Weather Plus, instead being run independently. The NBC [...]

National Murrow Awards announced

Congratulations to the just-announced web winners of the Murrow Awards!

Network: cbsnews.com
Large Market TV: wfaa.com
Small Market TV: 9wsyr.com
Large Market Radio: wtopnews.com
Small Market Radio: AkronNewsNow.com
Website Non-Broadcast Affiliated: dallasnews.com

You can find the full list of awards for the broadcast side on the RTNDA site.

Fun webcast brings personality to KRIV site

Many stations have webcasts. Heck, even several newspapers have webcasts. But the program that MyFoxHouston is producing is above and beyond most others. The show is made up of several people at the station, including some who don’t usually appear in front of the camera. Watching the show is like watching a group of friends hang out and talk about what’s going on.

Karen Koch, the producer of the webcast (when she isn’t doing her full-time job in the promotions dept), says the goal was to create a program that is fresh and unique. “Our GM and News Director led the way with a real pioneering spirit, and our corporate folks gave us the freedom to ‘have fun.’ So we did,” said Koch. “In the middle of the busy news day, our Webcast provides a quirky oasis where staffers can contribute content that doesn’t fit the traditional news mold. It’s a chance for everyone to show off different skills and fresh ideas, and I think people really value that.”

The program is streamed live at 4PM central weekdays on myfoxhoustonlive.com, and then is available on loop so you can always catch the most recent show.

Tips from Karen about how your station can produce this type of program, after the jump!

WeatherPlus.com relaunches

WeatherPlus.com has a new and improved look, but it’s a site that’s future some are forecasting as foggy with the likely deal by NBCU to purchase Weather Channel and weather.com. The new WeatherPlus.com has a ton of content beyond weather, but the focus on the homepage is the important weather. My favorite feature [...]

Yahoo joins CBS Audience Network

CBS has reached a deal with Yahoo that will bring the web giant access to CBS Primetime shows. The deal would have Yahoo join the CBS Audience Network, which already includes major outlets like Google Inc’s YouTube, Time Warner Inc’s AOL and Microsoft Corp’s MSN, as well as sites like Joost, Veoh, and Bebo, [...]

NBCU reportedly wins bid for Weather Channel

NBCU has unofficially won the bid for the Weather Channel at $3.5 billion, according to NewsBlues. That’s well under the $5 billion that Landmark had hoped to earn. NBCU was part of a consortium that included Blackstone Group and Bain Capital. The offer of $3.5 billion, roughly half of which, or $1.8 [...]