KARE, Tegna’s NBC affiliate in Minneapolis, increased its morning news viewers by 90% from Jan. to May 2023. Jim Thomas, KARE’s marketing director, says the reason for KARE 11 Sunrise growth is “not a new formula.”
TV stations have different formulas for growing their morning news viewership. It might depend on what network affiliation you are, or how long your morning newscast is.
Some focus on the longevity of their morning news team. Chances are if your team has been around a long time, your newscast probably leads in the ratings.
For some stations, it’s the team’s personality. Some think having home-grown anchors is the right formula. Some think hard news is the formula. And some win by being outrageous and unpredictable.
The winning formula that works in one market may fall flat in another.
The formula being promoted in Minneapolis has shown dramatic results in a short period of time.
KARE, Tegna’s NBC affiliate there, increased its morning news viewers in adults 25-54 by 90% from January to May 2023.
This comes on the heels of KARE’s 25% growth in its late news in November 2022.
Jim Thomas, KARE’s marketing director, says the reason for KARE 11 Sunrise’s growth is “not a new formula. You get the right group of people together.”
That winning formula was helped with the addition of anchor Jason Hackett to the morning news line-up in February.
“Viewers have really responded to this new team,” Thomas says.
And viewers are also responding to the pledges KARE is making about its content. “We have been promising things that people want and have wanted over the years and continue to want from morning news,” he adds.
And what is that?
“Ultimately, people have expectations for breaking news, what happened overnight and morning weather forecasts to start them on their day,” Thomas says. And, he adds, traffic, because there is a morning rush-hour in Minneapolis.
As Thomas says, it’s not a new formula. “People want that.”
Thomas says there are a lot of ways to convey that, and you can be as creative as you want about it, but at KARE, “we are just trying to reassure people, let them know that we are going to have those things, and you meet this team along the way.”
Thomas says in addition to selling the basics on traditional TV, they pay attention to opportunities to get the team more exposure on social media.
“They have their own accounts, but we look for opportunities that fit with what we are promising and what people expect from morning news,” he says.
Thomas says the station is in the midst of a big food drive inspired by the morning news team.
“A few months back, they were covering the news in the Twin Cities that kids were searching for meals once school was over,” Thomas says. “The team for Sunrise came to us and said we have an idea that we really feel strongly about.”
The station followed their lead to give them support. The station teamed up with the Second Harvest Heartland in the Twin Cities and the campaign started in May.
“This team has been all over it, behind it fully,” he says. “It’s been a really good thing.”
Another way the station is increasing exposure for the morning news is a Friday morning social post.
“We are calling it three things from KARE 11 Sunrise,” Thomas says.
It’s a wrapup of the stories of the week viewers are talking about along with a weekend forecast, he says.
“They pick it up at their lunch hour on Instagram or on YouTube and it gives them a sense of the news we have covered this week,” Thomas says.
Thomas admits that the rapid growth in such a short amount of time surprised him.
“It did,” he says. “It reinforced that we had to continue to say what we were saying because people seem to be responding to it.”
Thomas says the growth is “never a 100 percent marketing success. You have got to have the right people who fit well together. You can’t possibly fake that, so these people are delivering.”
Comments (0)
Reader Interactions