Local TV Transforms - Towers and Transmitters Meet the Social Web
December 11, 2007
NBC’s Local Media Initiative
In a move that acknowledges the diminishing influence of one-way communication channels, NBC has renamed the Television Stations Division “Local Media Division”. There was a great deal of coverage in industry blogs. Media Week and Lost Remote have both framed the change as a fundamental shift in business.
NBC Local Media better reflects the full scope of our capabilities, as well as our ability to offer clients a fully-integrated, local media solution across the full portfolio of our assets.-John Wallace - President, NBC Local Media Division, from press release
As marketers continue to shift ad dollars from traditional media to online, it’s vital for companies like NBC to take the brand where the people are. Increasingly, that means web and mobile. As newspapers and TV move to build online, the distinction between the two becomes meaningless. Right now local “newspapers” appear to be winning online.
Creating an Engaging Experience While Building a Business
The static web sites of most TV and Radio stations have been eclipsed by the more interactive offerings of newspapers. Perhaps the economic imperative of the dying newspaper industry has forced print publishers bring online innovations to market faster. So the challenge for local media is to build an engaging, imersive, media platform that actually becomes something the community can’t live without - at the same time scaling the user base to a point where the enterprise is economically worthwhile.
What would that platform look like? What key elements would satisfy both the community and the media company? I took that question to my very smart Twitter posse and they came up with some great ideas. Here’s a small sampling:
All very smart ideas from early adopters of social web technology. Smart ideas about the evolution of local media can be found in practice and in theory, but ultimately big media companies are looking for the ones that will generate increased traffic and ad revenue. I do think it is vital for those in charge of any local media initiative to get input from outside the corporate meeting rooms. They should be talking to the local blogging, tech, and social media communities. They should be sponsoring conferences, discussions and meetups with the pioneers of the social web in their local communities.
I strongly feel that media companies need to discover and encourage the brand champions within their own organizations to use social media. While there may be some who grumble about already burdensome workloads - and believe me, TV news is a pretty thankless sausage factory - standing by and hoping that the sales and promotions departments will save careers is not a good career strategy. I’ve discovered that meeting and listening to people on the social web, through platforms like Twitter, blogging, Facebook, and meetups, has enriched my life both personally and professionally. It’s also allowed me to bring the NBC News brand into this space.
Envisioning Local Media
Mel Taylor outlines the key points of a recent speech by former CBS News chief Andrew Heyward. In it, Heyward outlines the current problems with the state of TV news, and discusses some forward-thinking approaches to building succssesful online platforms. Don Dodge, while blogging about newspaper strategy, puts forth ideas that are equally resonant in television’s web efforts. Essentially he says be local, be a marketplace, and be the best local search engine out there. A good example of very useful local search platform is the Boston local search platform Citysqaures.
I think the key to success in transforming local media is to build a platform that people can’t live without. It should be a place where people can connect around ideas and affinities, build their own social netowrk profile, network and create events, have a robust mobile component, and should recommend content and events based on the users profile. People want to share and create content and links. Making that easy and customizable, in a locally relevant way, is key to getting the Facebook generation passionate about local media.The bottom line is, of course, the bottom line. But while media companies have to focus on profits, they should not look at their web presence as a secondary effort, or simply repository for recycled newscast content.
For local media platforms to be successful, they will have to implement imersive, relevant, engaging, and useful experiences for the community. So my assembled readers, how would you build a successful local media platform? What are some good examples of ones you’ve come across?
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Posted in TV news, Twitter, big media, disruptive media, local media, mainstream media, new media, newspapers, social media, social networking, tradtional media
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December 11th, 2007 at 11:14 am
Yes, it certainly seems that newspapers are out in front when it comes to transitioning to the web. But I haven’t seen one yet that has done much at all with video or audio content, even though from a technology standpoint, there’s nothing at all stopping them from doing that. What is stopping them is that they have no videographers on staff. Why? “Uh, we’re a newspaper. We don’t DO video.” And the opposite excuse comes from the local TV stations. “Uh, we’re television, we don’t do print stories.”
Well, Duh… Why doesn’t someone (oh, maybe named “Jim”) start a local news text/video site that does BOTH and equally well?
ps. Please make the royalty check out to “Joseph Cascio, Jr.”, K? Thx.Bai.
December 11th, 2007 at 11:18 am
Keep up this kind of deep thinking, Jim, and NBC’s going to yank you out from behind your camera and turn you into a desk jockey as a “local media strategist” or something (at which point your fan base will rise up in revolt!).
December 11th, 2007 at 11:20 am
Jim, didn’t mean to imply you didn’t get it in the above, but that you would be the PERFECT guy to try something really revolutionary like that.
December 11th, 2007 at 11:28 am
Joe, Washington Post does a pretty impressive job with video, and they have a good stable of video shooters on staff (yikes!) Printing your check now Joe!
Tim, the more likely scenario is for those above to absorb good ideas and take credit. LOL (KIDDING!!)
thanks guys!
December 11th, 2007 at 12:29 pm
I would love to see a split screen approach. One side is traditional media push. Reporting and footage. The other side would be blogs, YouTube, twitter etc buzz about the news. So you can get “expert” journalism and reactions and alternative points of view inline with each other. Sort of like YouTubes’ video responses.
December 11th, 2007 at 12:30 pm
Ideally two-way will enhance the responsibility level of local newsrooms in particular by providing a backchannel through which the viewership can tamp down paid content and needless sensationalism. but I fear that increasing the information velocity will have the opposite effect; that local newsrooms will feel more pressure to be first and further abdicate the responsibility to be accurate.
December 11th, 2007 at 12:30 pm
its nice to see that the larger media companies are beginning to rebrand and re-imagine how they can use the online community to sell the traditional media elements of their empire. At the same point in time As someone who creates media strickly for online consumption i feel as if the landscape of online media is now more conveluted and its harder for independant content creators to get their voice heard above the din of the marketing.
Local media has the resources and the potential to make web 2.0 and social media really work in a true niche market economy, bounded by geography. Its nice to see local papers getting local again. You can read about iraq anywhere but when things go down in your neighborhood there is a truly limited audience.
Still a great article though.
December 11th, 2007 at 12:31 pm
The news media outlets, especially the local markets aren’t the news anymore, it is newsertainment. For example Channel 11 news in NYC has a dance Friday with their overly attractive for news Jill Nicolini. Until the news goes back to being just that, the news, the industry will suffer.
As far as improving the user experience, the voting style of Digg has taken off, but when it is exported to other outlets it doesn’t seem to be as popular (see Netscape).
People want something that is straight to the point, not all this filler that the broadcast news has currently. Perhaps a separate video for each story on the websites, instead of re purposing the bloated version for tv would be a viable option for the short attention span of the viewers online.
December 11th, 2007 at 12:34 pm
I am not sure of the how (a question I am currently struggling with (and not very well lately)), but local and real time is part of the next wave of how we interact (I think). Why wait for news and/or be bombarded by news that is not regionally relevant to my life? What about news that is about things I care about and the places I live/work/play?
My sort of solution is to try and create a network based around a physical proximity. Again, I am not doing this well (yet), but the network will be based around a local business and who interacts there. The network will expand (hopefully), but expand through similar physical representations. (picture overlapping circles of regional proximity with an all encompassing circle that represents the platform).
Anyways, just my thoughts and part of my goals for the coming year.
December 11th, 2007 at 12:35 pm
December 11th, 2007 at 12:37 pm
Really? Im not sure that the newpapers (or big business) really get it yet. The biggest challenge they seem to face is understanding the open source nature of social media. i.e. it’s about influence, not control.
December 11th, 2007 at 12:37 pm
Hmm…Really? Im not sure that the newpapers (or big business) really get it yet. The biggest challenge they seem to face is understanding the open source nature of social media. i.e. it’s about influence, not control.
December 11th, 2007 at 12:38 pm
I’d have to say that locally AZCentral has done a fair to decent job at best, and that overall the only media companies in Phoenix that are really moving towards the web in any significant way are (surprisingly) the radio stations.
Still most are still failing at creating a sense of community and simply recycling material from offline sources. I know that some companies are having trouble figuring out what they can do, and merely copying others’ innovations in hopes of attracting visitors. The big issue here is that if someone else has already done it, they’ve probably done it better, and have figured out (or are figuring out) all the back-end kinks that come with any innovation.
Overall, I can see a time when local media must find a centralized area online to present their opinions and bend on the world and let users choose what they find important and interesting.
December 11th, 2007 at 12:38 pm
David Irwin- that sounds interesting!
Jon Plummer - that also has the added value of unfiltered market research, not sure I’m seeing the negative effect.
Caffination Paul local media may JUST be the content partner someone like you is looking for. the key is LOCAL content and community. now…can I get a cappucino please?
Nick Starr I don’t disagree with you. i do think news should be just one “bucket” in a local media platform, just as news is just one program on a TV local channel.
December 11th, 2007 at 12:39 pm
Jim, It is amazing to me that the local TV stations aren’t getting more on board with this yet. I pitched blogging to one of our locals here. The strongest supporters were the sales guys of all people. The execs couldn’t get it.
From the media perspective it’s all about eyeball attention and many of the open source social media apps that are available out there could greatly extend the local TV web sites and bring in more ad revenue.
Eventually they’ll adapt.
December 11th, 2007 at 12:40 pm
I love my local news outlets in Cincinnati. One network affiliate has gone to great lengths to brand themselves as “Local12″. It will be interesting to see the trend continuing. I also am witnessing more “user-generated content” via the local media websites.
As much as I enjoy new media content via podcasts, for example, I still have to turn to local news for weather and traffic conditions - because it’s real-time.
I’ve begun tracking job openings for new media in Cincinnati, and I’ve noticed more and more the openings are for local media outlets.
December 11th, 2007 at 12:41 pm
For me, the deal with OLD MEDIA ala TV News is that I can’t respond back - except by yelling at the TV. Online, is the right areas and channels, folks can respond and give more meaning to media events - even shaping how things are reported. Every time i see a reporter shoving a mic into some poor lady’s face that has been dealing with tragedy I want to cry.
December 11th, 2007 at 12:43 pm
As someone who’s primary interest is in conversation and interaction I think it’s vital that national, and local news media evolve and transform into conversation agents. One problem area I think is the hyper-local, every ‘traditional’ media person I speak with talks about ‘going’ hyper-local… but hyper local doesn’t do it for me, I really think we need to focus on inclusion, let’s include the movers and shakers in those hyper-local areas, lets let the PEOPLE contribute and enhance our coverage of local and national news.
Being in a university environment, I see lots of reporters go into ‘reporting’ tracks for newspaper or TV, rarely do they transcend those lines. (unless they’re like me and go for a hybrid convergence track). The problem is, despite the writing on the wall, and recent history, they’re content with being a traditional reporter even though they know that there is no such thing as a traditional reporter now.
Recent graduatea from the Missouri School of Journalism (where I’m a senior in convergence journalism) have come back and said that EVERY new hire (at least the recent grad hires) at local TV stations are put in charge in some respect of posting news online, it’s that FEAR of journalism on behalf of the ‘traditional’ reporters that drives this I think. The fear in newsrooms of the technology that is moving and shaking local, and dare I say it, hyper-local news is the next step.
Whether its newspaper, tv, or purely community driven journalism, it’s the fear of progress and change that’s driving me crazy. You don’t have to understand how it works to know that it works and to participate.
December 11th, 2007 at 12:44 pm
A company like NBC is in a prime position to create the right kind of local media community on the web. They have the news, the contacts, the advertisers, etc. all lined up. And so far, very few entities have done it in such a way the the community can all participate.
I’ve seen a number of local ‘news sites’, but for the most part, its still just content being delivered to an audience. There’s really no attempt at building a community.
If you build it, they will come. It’ll be interesting to see if the NBC execs get it, and do it right, or if it will just be another http://ctnow.com/ .
December 11th, 2007 at 12:46 pm
I don’t why I was surprised, but yesterday I went to my favorite local frame shop only to find it vacant. Picked up the iPhone, went to Google local and typed “frame shop” plus the zip. Up popped a list of frame shops with address, phone and distance, AND I found out that my favorite had only moved down the street.
It’s not TV broadcast, but it’s a small clue that with some technology and ingenuity all things are possible. Local TV lost me years ago. Sad, because I probably don’t know nearly enough about what’s going on in town. Why did they lose me? Because they they seem to be targeting the lowest common denominator with promos about how they have the “exclusive” dirt on someone or something. The presentation itself smacks of inauthenticity and one-way messaging.
The contrast is even greater if you spend a lot time in online communities where there are quality conversations ongoing. Totally not a broadcast media expert, but I think that asking some “what if” questions as you are, is a good start!
December 11th, 2007 at 1:22 pm
You’re right on the money here. Who better to connect people to their immediate surroundings than local media? But, changing broadcasting from a one-to-many medium to a two-way conversation with individuals requires a seismic shift in thinking.
In Canada, national networks are adopting many social tools with polling, rating stories, live streaming, integrated social bookmarking and re-packaging audio and video content as podcasts. But local stations are falling short of the social media mark, barely soliciting for video and photos and fumbling with how to pull it all together to create real value, real dialogue.
In the end, reduced viewership, leading to lowered ad revenues will force some to change and adapt, while others will simply go extinct.
December 11th, 2007 at 3:00 pm
Joe Cascio makes a good point. Neither newspapers, nor TV news departments are set up to handle Internet news to even a potion of it’s potential. And unfortunately, they are both to deeply vested in their business models that it’s too much for them to change (or at least to change quickly enough). While some national Web-only news sites have carved out nice niches, I haven’t seen any local Web-only news offerings that are worth anything at all. There is still great value in local news, and the Internet is the preferred deliverey mechnasim for an entire generation of people. When I stop to think about it, it really is surprising that companies haven’t stepped in to pick up the ball the the newspapers and TV stations have fumbled.
December 11th, 2007 at 3:27 pm
It’s obvious that even local TV stations are just now starting to see they need to go in this direction. Just yesterday, in the business section of my local paper, a full page article talking about how video is the up and coming thing for social media! Heck, most of us have seen this for a while now! You hit this on the head in your article. Now if we can only educate the right people to get the TV, Radio and Newspapers into the 21st Century!
December 11th, 2007 at 7:31 pm
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December 12th, 2007 at 8:31 pm
Jim, I enjoyed reading your thoughts on this subject. I spend a great deal of time thinking about what the future of journalism will be. One of my good photog friends believes that TV is dead. While I believe that the TV news experience could certainly be much different in the future… some kind of converged Internet platform, I believe that there will always be a place for TV, and possibly newspapers (even though papers are such a waste).
That being said I think there a couple of issues to be considered in the community building aspect of online news orgs. They certainly need to be interactive, as well as engaging, but what hasn’t been mentioned in this conversation is diversity. Folks are going to blogs, and alternative news sources that cater to specific interests and information needs. Mass media is exactly that, it attempts to cater to the masses. What we’re witnessing, however, is the demassification (sp?) of the media. Sure the mainstream outlets will be able to “own” the big news stories, but we all have individual interests… how can the mainstream be all things to all people, especially online? Plus the news culture is so obsessed with stories that have little impact on our lives. I think ideas that center around public journalism would be most useful to the community, but community stories don’t generally attract viewers, or readers. This is getting long, but my last point is that I believe that newspapers are in a much better position to dominate the online landscape. They just need to get the video thing down. If the major print stories would include even a short soundbite in video form online, I believe it would be a big draw. By the way check out WFOR’s website. I think they got the video thing right. The flash player/video archive is great. http://cbs4.com/
PEACE Bro Jim!
December 14th, 2007 at 2:04 pm
I happen to like what Music City Bloggers has done. They have created a robust local blogging aggregator. Volunteer Voters is based in our local ABC affiliate’s webspace. It has about 8-12 political stories of the day. For a town the size of Nashville, both are pretty cool.
December 14th, 2007 at 2:35 pm
Jim,
I really like your blogging style. You go for deip. I know when I stop by, it’s going to be something insightful that’s going to make me think.
December 14th, 2007 at 2:36 pm
whoops, that was supposed to be “depth” not “deip”
January 29th, 2008 at 7:36 am
Building a community or getting into the local scene can prove to be challenging if you have not done your research. But it can also be very rewarding in the end. We all want to be or at least involved in these local media platforms.
April 11th, 2008 at 2:27 pm
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July 31st, 2008 at 12:42 am
Relationships. They’re hard to create anymore, with local newscasts/newscasters. But I am finding some encouraging results embracing social media on the local level. In this age of new media, the social connections are the foundations where the information sharing then happens. It is crucial to get out there and connect. That’s why I dreamed up hosting a live chat as I solo anchor and have linked up to all the social sites plus Ping/Twitter to let folks know blog topics, live webpolls, breaking news. I feel like I am heading out west in Pioneer times, all alone… because I can’t find many other local anchors doing this? It’s a no brainer isn’t it?!
November 29th, 2008 at 9:18 pm
January 10th, 2009 at 2:23 pm