Follow the money. That’s what “Deepthroat” told The Washington Post’s Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward to help them uncover the Watergate scandal. And that’s good advice when you’re exposing political corruption or when you’re setting priorities in broadcast marketing. When it comes to balancing the needs of a TV station’s news marketing, creative services directors […]
That’s what “Deepthroat” told The Washington Post’s Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward to help them uncover the Watergate scandal.
And that’s good advice when you’re exposing political corruption or when you’re setting priorities in broadcast marketing.
When it comes to balancing the needs of a TV station’s news marketing, creative services directors should follow the money as well.
What’s more important, the 40-50 hours of local news being broadcast on the TV screen, or the station’s growing usage of mobile, news apps, websites and social media?
How does one balance these priorities?
I think the value of local TV news on the broadcasting side is easily determined and documented.
But what about digital?
There is no doubt that the digital side of broadcasting is growing steadily and quickly.
But what about the money? Usage? Which digital platforms are more important?
https://vimeo.com/121727331
I asked three television executives about TV stations’ digital usage and revenue to see if we can get some clarity.
Gordon Borrell is CEO of Borrell Associates, a research and consulting firm that tracks and forecasts the lifeblood of local media: advertising. Today it serves more than 1,300 companies across North America and the U.K.
John Conway is the general manager of WRAL.com, the most popular local online news site in North Carolina and one of the most visited local news sites in the nation. Conway oversees operations and revenue while managing the website’s 35-plus employees.
Steve Schwaid has a deep background in local news and is currently the VP of digital strategies at Crawford Johnson & Northcott. Schwaid works with station groups, website developers, content suppliers, and others in three key areas: social media, web and mobile.
It’s commonly reported that in terms of revenue, TV stations’ digital platforms, their websites and/or their mobile apps account for anywhere from 8% to 15% of total revenue depending on the station and how the revenue is calculated.
Borrell says “that side of the business pales in comparison to broadcast because digital/mobile tends to be a subset of station viewers.”
In terms of usage, Borrell says “you’re probably looking at less than half of their television audience using their digital and mobile sites in any given month. And that’s generous.”
Schwaid sees it differently.
“People actually have more brand exposure and, in many case, more usage of a station’s digital platforms (mobile, social media) than watching a newscast. The issue is getting the revenue to grow.”
Conway says his station’s website, WRAL.com, averages 15 million visits a month, with another 5.4 million sessions on news and weather apps.
“That’s an audience size that gets the attention of advertisers who have branding campaigns or who want to reach targeted audiences at scale.”
How are stations generally staffing their digital/mobile platforms?
Borrell says for stations serious about digital, “they tend to have 6 to 10 people dedicated exclusively to digital. For stations not so serious, there might be one person at best.”
Schwaid says “many stations have just to to three folks focused on digital.”
Conway says his company’s new media has about 40 employees, “including editorial staff for our news, sports and technology sites, technologists, digital-only sellers, sales operations, marketing, product development and digital marketing services.”
Interestingly, Schwaid points to Facebook as the critical platform for stations. “Facebook has become the No. 1 referral engine to station sites.”
In a recent blog, Schwaid wrote: “Facebook is a referral engine to your revenue platforms. It’s the marketing tool to get users to your money-makers.”
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