New York City

WPIX, Scripps’ CW affiliate in New York City, created a 90-second music image spot as a tribute to first responders, city workers and the courageous healthcare workers by re-working its station anthem, We Are New York’s Very Own.

I follow more than 500 TV stations’ Facebook pages and what I see every day are countless examples of news coverage about the coronavirus. All necessary, all important. But what I want to share are examples of the more practical posts on how to cope with the disruptions, and the measures some are taking to help each other.

It’s the holiday. Time for lots of TV stations to create holiday promos. Got a holiday promo or campaign you want to share, please let me know.

New jobs that were posted last week on TVNewsCheck’s Media Job Center include openings from companies like Meredith, Tegna, Lincoln Broadcasting, and Buckeye Broadband.  The openings are in Nashville, New York City, Phoenix, Toledo, and San Francisco.

On Saturday, June 28, 1969, members of the New York police department raided the Stonewall Inn, a known gay bar, touching off a series of spontaneous and violent demonstrations by the city’s gay community throughout the city. “The Stonewall riots were a turning point in our city’s history,” said Nicholas Veneziale, VP for New York Live, “leading to the growth of a worldwide pride movement which has inspired global change.”

A trip to WNYW’s Tape Room, where the station keeps its archives, sparked an idea for reporter Dan Bowens. In the Tape Room, Bowens found old reports of crimes from the New York/New Jersey/Connecticut area that have remained unsolved to this day. Bowens has produced 13 audio-only podcasts so far. Of those, four were made into TV stories and then those four were stitched together for a 22-minute special called The Tape Room.

Easy to recognize with their call letters emblazoned on the sides and their dish on top, perhaps no other hardware involved in the news gathering process says TV news like the news van. So it makes sense to use TV station news vans as part of the marketing. Here are some examples.

WPIX’s David Hyman, the station’s VP of marketing and creative services, will be inducted into the NY NATAS Silver Circle, an honor bestowed on those who have devoted a quarter of a century or more to the television industry and have made significant contributions to the New York television market.

Images from five high-profile news stories are the basis of a new mobile print campaign for WPIX being seen all over New York City. The station’s coverage of these stories is paying dividends. “I think it has a lot to do with why people are watching PIX and why our ratings are improving,” said David Hyman, WPIX’s marketing and creative services VP.

This week’s Social Scorecard covers the social media scene in New York City where broadcasters are vying for their share of engagement among 140 million actions. WNYW, the Fox O&O, is far ahead of all broadcasters there. Its secret? Fewer posts that appeal to their followers’ emotions. “Sometimes, less is more,” says Dan Carlin, the station’s programming and research VP.