Bears and Blackberries (and Local News)

I spent last week trying to "get lost" in the wilderness of Montana...  and did a pretty good job of it.  (OK, it's a little sad to admit that the BlackBerry does work in all but the most remote places.) 

There certainly are mental benefits to unplugging from the world for awhile, but eventually you want to know what's going on around you.  With a 21-year-old son and a 17-year-old daughter in tow, we knew this was likely one of our last family vacations like this as a group.

Driving cross-country, we shared stories and listened for hours to XM radio while crossing the endless prairie of South Dakota.  Bluegrass music?  Check.  Coffeehouse acoustic?  Check.  Fox News?  Oh wait, skip that.  But when storm clouds turned black, we hit the FM button to get some local weather.  A crackly, older voice told us about hailstones the size of baseballs 50 miles behind us.  Thank goodness we missed that. 

In a week where grizzly bears attacked campers in their tents outside Yellowstone, we wanted to read a local newspaper to learn more about the story.  (Although there were no bears at our hotel.)  And yes, we watched a local newscast or two just for fun.  We learned things about trout, pine beetles killing trees, a wildfire under control and tomorrow's weather. The stuff that makes a community in Montana. 

No matter where you live or travel the need for localism endures.  Hearing local people report local news is absolutely essential to get a sense of place.  In Montana, knowing about bears and that new business coming to town seems way more important to the future vitality of local television than having the rights to air Dr. Phil. 

No matter what technology comes along, I'm convinced that the people who tell local stories in their communities have a solid future. 

Now, it's time to get "plugged in" again.  Although here in the midwest I'm going to miss those bear stories on the local news.  

- John Altenbern 

Don't Be a Railroad

If you've ever taken a marketing class, then you probably know the example about the passenger railroad industry and how it contributed to its own downfall by defining itself too narrowly (Marketing Myopia, by Theodore Levitt). It continued to focus on being in the railroad industry rather than the transportation industry. It didn't evolve and adapt to a changing world.

It's time to drag that example out again and apply it to local television... well, any media really. Are you in the local television business or are you in the business of providing local information? It seems as if many stations are still narrowly defining themselves, and then have a few things going on the side - like a website or cell phone delivery. These things are seen as separate add-ons.

But if you want to survive this technology/media revolution, it's going to take full integration and an all out culture change. Survival in the future (right now, actually) will require embracing a broader consumer-focused definition. Now... who's still working at a television station?

Brush up on Marketing Myopia and why it's so deadly to your business by reading this article. http://management.thinkahead.net.in/marketing-myopia-definition-example-and-explanation-theodore-c-levitt-theory-of-marketing.html

-Donna Petersen

News Media Gatekeepers In a NY State of Mind

If you look at an aerial map of Nashville, it's easy to see the Cumberland River winding through the city. It's not as easy to see the faces of the 1.5 million people in the metro area - thousands of whom are flooded out this week. And it's not easy to see those flood victims on  television, either. They can certainly be seen and heard on WSMV, our client in Nashville which is doing yeoman's duty the last few days, broadcasting literally life-saving information around the clock on-air and online. But in terms of national attention, the guy with some fireworks and three gas grill tanks in his SUV in Times Square is getting top billing. Oil in the gulf is - rightly so - competing for attention, too. Both are legitimate and big stories worthy of coverage. But it does make you wonder how it would be handled if the gatekeepers of big media were flooded out in Manhattan and the guy with the SUV had parked on a busy streetcorner in Tennessee.

There's a lot of speculation about what newscast rundowns will look like when citizens take control from the media "gatekeepers" and build their own lineups. It's already possible online, and the trend is building. Somehow I think we are speeding up the audience's dissatisfaction with some of the TV news judgments being made today. The "East of the Hudson" view can sometimes be a little too narrow in a country of 330 million. It especially looks that way if you're flooded out of your house in Nashville.

-John Altenbern

Local TV: A Common Currency

Like almost everyone, I've been watching those dramatic Olympic stories play out on TV. 

What's happening in Vancouver has become the "common currency" of a lot of conversations.  Did you see those snowboarders?  Is the Russian ice skater a sorehead?  Did you see that skier fall as he crossed the finish line? 

Much of America is watching NBC each night, according to Nielsen.  You might say, "Well, this is the Olympics - what do you expect?"  Ratings will likely disappear when the games are over.  But television networks - and television in general - still have the power to command a mass audience with the right programming.

It's a fact that seems often overlooked in the discussion of the new media landscape.  Much of our industry's attention seems to be directed towards the "long tail" - those incremental increases possible by satisfying the needs of a niche audience.  There certainly can be a business in becoming a news source for a neighborhood, for example, or a particular demographic like young mom's or retirees. 

But some local television newscasts are still that valued place where people come to see what's going on in their area, or to learn when the next storm is expected.  Real substitutes are few.  With the right combination of content, personalities and unique style, local television stations can command the attention of a very diverse and large audience in a geographic area. 

Research shows us that more people each day watch local newscasts than download a video or visit one of a million websites. Sure, there's business in niche websites and narrow demographic targeting, and we certainly face more competition than ever before.  But compelling and relevant stories that appeal to our unique geographic audiences never go out of style. 

Maybe we should think less about chasing every stray set of eyeballs and more on how to make local television less boring and predictable.  Your station can become the "common currency" in your market.  You can win the gold if you're willing to make the commitment. 

- John Altenbern

Teenagers are Media Content Animals

It's a "snow day" here in Iowa - to be more precise, a day off from school because of an ice storm. With sleet hitting my office window I read the latest study on young people's use of media released today by the Kaiser Family Foundation. It says that kids from the ages of 8-18 are plugged into some kind of media virtually every minute of the day except when they are in school.  New York Times article on Kaiser study

Don't believe it? I've been watching what my 16-year-old daughter is doing today. She's bored, stuck at home in the ice storm and there's no way she's driving anywhere. But the broadband connection is alive and active. She got up this morning and read her text messages, bouncing back and forth with friends. Next was Facebook for an hour while listening to music on YouTube in the background. More texts. She checked the weather on a local television station's website, but also cross-checked on weather.com. Saw a little CNN, got bored and played X-Box Live with a couple of "guy friends." Watched part of a local noon newscast, but only because someone else turned it on. Ran on the treadmill while listening to her iPod. Took a shower, the FM radio blaring in the bathroom, and then watched MTV while messing with her hair. And it's only early afternoon!
Should local television stations be worried about their future consumers? Only if they are married to a single delivery platform. If my daughter and everyone in the Kaiser study is any indication, the market for content is almost unlimited. We just have to figure out how to get it in front of them and make some money doing it.
- John Altenbern