local TV
WSB-TV showcases anchor retirement on social media
When WSB-TV’s Monica Pearson announced her retirement on Monday after 37 years on the air, it was big news for Atlanta. After all, she worked through seven presidencies and six Georgia governors, and the state’s population doubled during her tenure. WSB not only splashed the news on air, but on social media — “Monica” even became the #2 trending topic on Twitter nationwide.
Should TV stations promote talent’s personal social accounts?
As local news organizations begin to define the “value” of social media, many newsroom executives wonder what these accounts are actually worth to the station. And if they’re truly valuable, then who is the rightful owner: the reporter who populates the account or the newsroom that promotes it?
Tech reporter Noah Kravitz and his former employer, PhoneDog are hung up in a lawsuit to answer that very question. Kravitz changed his account name from @phonedog_noah to @noahkravitz when he left PhoneDog to work for a competitor. PhoneDog currently has no access to the account or its 21,000 followers.
TV station giving away a car in Facebook contest
We’ve written lots of stories on Lost Remote about TV stations throwing Facebook contests to drive new likes — giving away iPads, concert tickets and donations to charities — but WFSB-TV in Hartford, Conn. is holding a contest with the biggest prize we’ve seen to date: a brand new 2011 Nissan Maxima. The contest, timed with sweeps, has four days remaining, and the station has already shot up to 76K fans, up from 58K fans a month ago.
10 broadcast TV groups team with ConnecTV for second screen
In one of the largest social TV partnerships to date, ten local broadcast groups are announcing a partnership today with ConnecTV to power second-screen experiences in markets covering 76 million households. The long-term commercial partnership spans marketing, advertising, and for some partners, an equity investment in ConnecTV.
The partners make up a who’s-who list of broadcasters: Gannett, Hearst, Belo, Scripps, Cox, Media General, Meredith, Post-Newsweek, Raycom and Barrington…
TV stations battle for Facebook reach in Milwaukee
Three TV stations in Milwaukee are not only battling it out in the November ratings, but also for Facebook likes. At last check, WISN has 28,605 likes, WTMJ has 43,660, but WITI comes out on top with a whopping 85,153, ranked #7 in our leaderboard of the most popular Facebook pages in local TV. Impressive for the nation’s 35th largest market.
‘Have you heard about social media’s killer app? It’s called TV’
At Lost Remote, we enjoy exploring all the new apps that hit the market and pledge to make TV more social. Many of them are beginning to see early stages of maturity. The relationship between TV and social media continues to become clear. TV definitely needs social but how much does social need TV?
We spoke with TVB President Steve Lanzano about the organization’s thoughts on social TV and how their CMO’s belief is that TV is “social media’s killer app.” TVB is a not-for-profit trade association for America’s commercial broadcast TV industry, starting as the Television Bureau of Advertising in 1953 (cue up the South Park Colorado Department of Internet episode) when the nascent TV industry was still unsure of its future (similar to social now). TVB now actively promotes local media marketing solutions to advertisers.
NBC adds Telemundo to local TV site deal with BIM
Broadcast Interactive Media announced today that Telemundo’s TV stations will soon relaunch their sites on the BIM platform. BIM is already powering NBC’s ten owned-and-operated local TV websites, and the deal with Telemundo adds ten more.
“We selected Broadcast Interactive Media for its revenue-focused approach to site development as well as their flexible solutions including the Developer’s Access CMS model,” said Manuel Martinez, President & General Manager of WSCV-TV in Miami, and the Digital Group’s business leader. “Telemundo is excited about the new partnership and the enhanced functionality BIM’s technology will bring to our staff and end-users.”
Local TV is back and more social than ever
After a few years of tough times, many local TV stations are roaring back with higher margins and more newscasts. But have TV stations taken the economic turbulence to heart and embraced innovation in a new media world? “Our view was that local broadcasting had gone on autopilot,” said Dave Lougee, president of Gannett Broadcasting [...]
Newsroom mourns untimely death of clock
Not just any clock, but the clock, the one that hovered over WLOX’s newsroom in Biloxi, Miss. for decades. So what’s a newsroom to do when the clock stops ticking? Write a story about it, of course. “When Hurricane Katrina’s winds ripped off pieces of the WLOX Newsroom roof, and rain drenched the carpet, furnishings [...]
KOMO TV launches lifestyle site SeattlePulp.com
The media group Fisher Communications has launched a new lifestyle brand tied to its Seattle TV and radio operations. Aimed at the 18-49 demographic, SeattlePulp.com covers the “newest restaurants and bars, upcoming events, the latest in technology, gadgets and gaming, personal and career development and reviews of the ‘Best Of’ the city.” The site is [...]
TV station execs urged to invest more in social media
Hundreds of representatives from TV stations across the country gathered in Las Vegas this week for the first-ever Promax Station Summit. I held a social media session showing many success stories we’ve covered on Lost Remote, and Facebook’s Andy Mitchell followed in a session offering tips and tools for TV stations to step up their [...]
Using QR codes to interact with a TV audience
We’re all trying to figure out about QR codes – those boxy, digital things that look like a bar code for the digital age. QR codes enable the user to get much more information about a product or story. Check out the example to the right. You’ll need a QR code reader for your mobile [...]
Guest article: Six best Facebook practices for on-air
Kimberly Wilson founded Social News Desk, a company that specializes in “social media solutions for newsrooms.” She approached us with this article which offers some great tips for talent who use Facebook. -Safran
As founder of SocialNewsDesk, I work with dozens of stations and on-air journalists who have concerns over security with social media. Some are afraid of the technology, some are afraid of offending viewers and some are even afraid of compromising their own personal safety. To help allay some of these fears, I recently interviewed four anchor/reporters to find out how they would answer some of the most common questions about Facebook best practices for on-air talent:
1. Should I have a personal profile or fan page?
Tammie Fields, Anchor/Reporter WTSP: “I have a personal (profile) page and a professional (fan) page – my personal Facebook (profile) is only made up of people I know well, family, news buddies, and less than half a dozen viewers who are trusted contacts.” NOTE: This is the prevailing suggestion for how best to set-up your Facebook accounts.
Jennifer Bauer, Reporter KPRC: “When I first joined Facebook I joined as “Jennifer Bauer” and accepted all friend requests. I didn’t feel comfortable posting “personal” things on that (profile) with so many strangers as “friends.” So, I separated the two. “Jennifer Bauer” remained my professional page and I created a maiden name page. I try not to use my maiden name on the Bauer page at all so viewers can’t connect the dots and discover what my legal name is. But a few friends who are friends on both pages have tagged me in some pictures as both Bauer and (maiden name), so I’m afraid my secret is out now!”
Staci Spanos, Anchor WJXT: “I basically don’t have a personal Facebook page. I’ve let viewers onto Staci Spanos (profile) and WJXT Staci Spanos (fan page). It’s just easier that way.”
Lauren Freeman, Anchor KPRC: “I honestly never had a Facebook account until the station recommended we all get one. I wasn’t crazy about the idea but now I love it. It does give you a chance to reconnect with old friends and communicate with viewers.”
How James Spann sparked a social news phenomenon
Just watching Alabama meteorologist James Spann in action on TV is impressive by itself. When a rash of tornadoes crisscrossed the state last week, he tracked them all in real-time, calling on dozens of communities to take cover — sometimes more than once as tornadoes reformed or double-backed. Spann and the rest of the ABC 33/40 team saved countless lives that day.
What’s even more amazing is how Spann’s social media accounts exploded during and after the story. As we wrote a couple weeks ago, he has more social fans and followers than anyone in local TV (60,000 on Facebook and 26,000 on Twitter). When the tornadoes hit, those social channels turned into a reverse torrent of information: thousands of people posted on his Facebook wall and sent him tweets with damage reports, questions and pleas for help. This firehose of social reports — directed at a single person — is unprecedented in local media, and it could signal a new approach to covering big stories.
In fact, @Spann still has so many incoming tweets right now, he’s set up a hashtag system to help users connect with each other. First, he created #WeAreAlabama, which spread like wildfire. Then, he created the hashtags #ALNeeds and #ALHaves, turning Twitter into a real-time resource to help with recovery efforts. “My stream has evolved into one that is matching groups or people with tornado relief needs with those who can meet those needs,” he explains. “I was blessed to have a large number of followers before the tornado, and we are using this vast army to really make a difference to our neighbors in need.”
So how did a Birmingham, Alabama meteorologist amass so many dedicated social followers? Why are thousands of residents sending him messages instead of submitting their reports to news organizations? How does he multitask on the air, balancing live tornado coverage with social media updates?
We interviewed him, via Facebook, of course…
TV neighborhood blog company to hire 220 more
While everyone watches AOL’s Patch, a Seattle-based hyperlocal company continues to grow like wildfire. Datasphere powers the technology and sales end of huge network of neighborhood blogs — 1,000 sites and counting — in collaboration with local TV groups Gannett, Raycom, LocalTV, Fisher and Hubbard. This week Datasphere said it was hiring 220 people for [...]
New TBD.com and WJLA.com to launch soon
The remaining staff at TBD.com and WJLA-TV are planning to relaunch two sites in the coming days. “The new WJLA.com will be fueled by the region’s largest, most experienced, and most nimble TV news staff,” explains a post on TBD.com. “Immediately upon arriving on the scene of a breaking story, ABC7’s reporters transmit photos, video [...]
TV meteorologist thrives in social media tornado
To get an idea of the popularity of James Spann, all you have to do is look at his Facebook and Twitter accounts. As far as I can tell, Spann has more combined Twitter fans (19,837) and Facebook followers (42,376) than any local TV talent in the country. For a meteorologist in Birmingham, Alabama — [...]
Bamboom promises free local TV over the web
If you work in local TV, here’s an interesting one for you. Bamboom is a new startup that’s working on a service that lets subscribers watch live and time-shifted local TV on phones, tablets and TV sets — without licensing the programming. Um, how? Let’s start with the Cablevision court ruling in 2008 that allowed [...]
