Robby Thomas, WBTV’s marketing director, said the station went into the February sweep with a strategic plan. However, said Thomas, that plan changed when an investigation helped expose issues that undermined the public’s confidence in an election.
NOTE: As you can imagine, I get a lot of press releases about ratings performance. TVNewsCheck does print sweeps performance stories from newspaper articles and other media.
So when I get a press release about a sweeps performance, I send back a response asking that the station try and put that performance into some kind of context.
Why did your station do well, do you think? What did your station do differently from a marketing and /or coverage point of view? Please provide any relevant marketing and examples of actual news coverage.
This way, perhaps we can all gain a perspective.
Here is how WBTV, Gray’s CBS affiliate in Charlotte, N.C., responded about its February sweeps performance:
According to a statement from the station, WBTV news won with adults 25-54 at 4 and 5 p.m., while tying for the lead at 6 p.m. The 11 o’clock newscast was up 25% over last year. In the mornings, WBTV News This Morning grew 30% over last February among adults 25-54.
Robby Thomas, WBTV’s marketing director, said: “We went into February with a strategic plan designed to reach research-driven target markets with a calculated outside media buy that included a mix of launching our latest image advertising campaign and promoting a targeted special report calendar.”
However, said Thomas, that plan changed when an investigation helped expose issues that undermined the public’s confidence in an election. To see all of the stories related to WBTV’s reporting on this investigation, click here.
“Reporters in Raleigh were relaying updates back to the newsroom via social media and digital publishing,” said Thomas. “Journalists back in Charlotte were taking the reporting from the ground and providing more depth and context throughout the day. WBTV had one of its best months on social media — ever — with some credit due to that. The overall social performance does correlate to the ratings lift. We were modifying the on-air promotion daily to drive viewers to the latest newscasts and the high interest on digital translated into ratings.”
Thomas also said that the station launched a new image campaign during the Super Bowl to celebrate its 70th anniversary.
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