Usually, it follows that if you’re No. 1 in on-air news ratings, you’re No. 1 on the Web. But not always. KRON4.com had the most unique visitors, 2.9 million, for television websites during July. But KRON, Media General’s MyNetwork TV affiliate in San Francisco, is usually No. 3 or No. 4 in the television news […]
Usually, it follows that if you’re No. 1 in on-air news ratings, you’re No. 1 on the Web.
But not always.
KRON4.com had the most unique visitors, 2.9 million, for television websites during July.
But KRON, Media General’s MyNetwork TV affiliate in San Francisco, is usually No. 3 or No. 4 in the television news ratings.
So how does KRON explain its success?
“Our website is cleaner and a lot easier to navigate,” says Kevin Adler, KRON’s promotion director.
“We’ve increased our content output. We are breaking news online first and producing content specifically for mobile, social and online. We are taking advantage of our mobile applications, alerting users to unique stories and breaking news.”
Here are some examples of how KRON promotes its website and mobile apps within its newscasts.
Adler acknowledges that his station’s website performance is unusual. “What makes this news stand out is we are essentially an independent station without the backing and support of a big network.”
According to Adler, Aaron Pero, KRON’s news director, said, “the fact that KRON is not the ratings powerhouse is what makes this so impressive.”
Adler attributes the station’s focus on digital and the fact that people are getting news on many screens. “The digital team is constantly pushing out new content and the Bay Area has an insatiable appetite for news.”
ComScore measured the total unique visitors to a TV station website, desktop and mobile combined, in the San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose market for the month of July 2015.
The breakdown for the entire market is as follows:
KRON, (KRON4.com) — 2.9 million unique visitors
KPIX, (sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com) — 2.8 million
KGO, (abc7news.com) — 2.4 million
KNTV, (nbcbayarea.com) — 2.2 million
KTVU, (ktvu.com) — 1.4 million
(NOTE: In an earlier version, the call letters were incorrect for the ABC and NBC affiliate. Thanks to several readers for pointing this out so I can correct it. Sorry for the mistake.)
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