Hyperlocal news
Nov 1, 2009 12:00 PM, By Angela Snell
Neighborhood content adds depth to TV newsrooms.
KOMO’s producers aggregate all content that comes into the news desk and upload it onto the hyperlocal sites.
On the revenue side of things, the hyperlocal sites have opened up a new set of advertisers that the station would ordinarily never do business with. For example, a local dry cleaner might not be interested in advertising with a local TV station because it will end up attracting eyeballs that will never do any business with it. But the dry cleaner is interested in advertising on the hyperlocal sites because of the matchmaking between the advertiser and the user at an appropriate neighborhood level.
Khanuja identifies four things a broadcaster needs in order to be successful at hyperlocal news. First, the station must have a brand that creates a positive feeling amongst users as well as advertisers. The second key is content — the bread and butter of broadcasters. The third step is working with a partner that can provide a technology platform offering content discoverability and segmented monetization. If Web site visitors can't connect to the right kind of content quickly, they'll leave the site. Since employing search and discovering on KOMO's Web site, the search-related news has gone up by a factor of five.
Lastly, sometimes small- and medium-sized businesses that could be potential advertisers for a local TV broadcaster don't understand how to best market their products. They don't know what it means when a broadcaster asks them to send a jpeg that's 300 x 250 pixels, and many don't even have a Web site. In addition, TV stations often don't employ enough sales staff to reach out to these smaller businesses. Broadcasters may find it beneficial to partner with a technology company that can help with local ad sales.
Conclusion
Fisher plans to extend the hyperlocal concept to all of its markets in the future; the media company is already launching another 20 to 30 sites in the Seattle market this month, with others in Bakersfield, Boise and Idaho Falls coming soon.
McGuire says, “Our mission is still the same. It hasn't changed in 50 years, and it's all about making a better connection with the people that we serve in our community. That's why we embrace the technology and use it to find better ways to get content to them that's relevant to them. That's how you increase viewership on the TV side. We still believe in [TV]. This is a way to build two things at once.”
In this rough economic whirlwind, TV stations have an opportunity to reach out to viewers and advertisers at little cost. The change starts in the newsroom with the staff embracing a new workflow and fortifying its online presence.
Angela Snell is a production editor for Broadcast Engineering.
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