OK, it was only by one-tenth of a ratings point in the adults 25-54 demo. But the last time WMAQ was the top choice for late news viewers in Chicago was May of 1996. “We’re very humble about this,” says Diane Hannes, VP of creative services at the NBC O&O. Last May, WMAQ’s late news […]
OK, it was only by one-tenth of a ratings point in the adults 25-54 demo. But the last time WMAQ was the top choice for late news viewers in Chicago was May of 1996.
“We’re very humble about this,” says Diane Hannes, VP of creative services at the NBC O&O.
Last May, WMAQ’s late news finished behind WLS in the demo by only three-tenths of a point.
“It’s nice to see consistent ratings growth. We’ve been winning since the May book was over,” says Hannes. “We only lost one night.”
Granted, winning the late news race in one ratings period by one-tenth of a point is not in itself a sign of seismic movement in news viewing habits in Chicago.
And WLS did come out on top in the household ratings.
But it is a win regardless of the score. And it comes as the result of slow and steady growth.
“It’s just a trend, these ships move slowly,” Hannes says.
In many major markets like Chicago, the choice for local news is often dominated by the ABC O&Os.
So you can bet that the NBC-owned stations in Philadelphia, New York and L.A. are watching this closely. And wondering how they can duplicate this performance in their markets.
Did a higher NBC lead-in at 9 p.m. influence the results?
Not really.
According to Hannes, while the NBC lead-in was up slightly, the ABC lead-in was up significantly by comparison.
Did WMAQ do something differently tactically? Like increase the number of late news topicals, or change the way they spent their outside media dollars?
“Nothing more than what we did in prior books,” says Hannes.
Hannes attributes WMAQ’s success at 10 to consistent image promotion.
“Staying the course,” is how Hannes characterizes it.
“Slow and steady attention to the attributes of our brand,” she says.
“The most experienced weather team, the biggest investigative team, and our community efforts which are making a difference,” she adds.
“Those three things are a strategic part of news and promotion. And we continually promote those three areas.”
So no secret formula, no tactical tricks, no quick fix, according to Hannes.
“News is very focused on the execution of their strategy — good investigative, being first on major news and weather coverage. And just making sure they’re delivering a lot of quality news.”
Hannes thinks a severe weather event in April may have helped.
“We were the first ones on the air, and stayed with the story and kept people safe. Weather is important in winning the viewers’ minds.”
Hannes points to the station’s investigative team and how she markets that as a contributing factor.
WMAQ has the “largest investigative team in the state,” she says.
“We really promote the results we get from their reports. We’ve changed laws and policies, exposed wrong-doing, and in a very political town, those are watershed moments.”
Staying the course with consistent marketing and great weather and investigative coverage over a long-period of time.
It takes real leadership to have the patience to develop and execute a plan like that.
Here’s a short compilation of image promos that Hannes says “best illustrate our commitment to building our brands.”
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