Marketing Monday

Local TV people who have signed up for the free Marketing Monday newsletter from TVNewsCheck tend to have a very relaxing weekend. Because they know, come Monday morning, they can count on Marketing Monday newsletter to appear in their inboxes.

WTVJ, the NBC O&O in Miami, saw its 6 a.m. news go from fifth place to first in just one year. How did it do that? “There are so many elements” behind its ascendancy, says Jorge Carballo, WTVJ’s GM.

In 1994, WINK Fort Myers sports anchor Warren Flax, pulled off one of the most original, inventive, creative and fun feats ever seen in local television: He went on strike for 103 days.

WITI’s Contact 6 has been an advocate for Milwaukee consumers for 50 years, providing millions in refunds. But what WITI and its viewers get back is priceless. “It makes you feel better,” one viewer says.

Two Gray Television stations in different markets were able to share a promo that works for both. “There is no need to reinvent the wheel,” says one station GM.    

KTAL in Shreveport, La.,  saw ratings increases in its main newscasts thanks to a more focused direction and a marketing campaign with a call to action.

I have scoured the internet looking for the latest local TV promos. Most of the work you’ll see here is just days old.

TV stations are using Flowcodes to provide a direct link from their local clients’ television advertisements to actual sales. “All of our advertisers have seen phenomenal increases,” says Logan Marshall, the digital sales director for KTVX, Nexstar’s ABC affiliate in Salt Lake City.

WJZY, Nexstar’s Fox affiliate in Charlotte, N.C., is undergoing a makeover. The station has “meandered as a bottom station for a long time,” says Lloyd Bucher, WJZY’s new GM, but Nexstar sees an opportunity to change that.

Taking a page from the network news, local TV stations can create a sense of immediacy and urgency right at the beginning of the newscast. “That’s the secret sauce,” says Greg Derkowski, a veteran trainer.