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pair up on the web
Local stations bring the power to promote sites
By Marty Beard
Local newspaper web sites have long been more popular with surfers than the sites of local TV stations, and understandably so: They tend to offer more news stories and more depth to the stories they cover.
But some local TV stations are starting to catch up, according to a survey by The Media Audit, and the ones that are having the most success are the stations that have teamed up with their local newspapers.
The local stations bring to the arrangement a powerful advantage: the ability to promote the joint site widely on news shows and throughout the day.
"A few dozen local television web sites are expanding their audience and demonstrating that local TV can succeed on the web,” says Bob Jordan, co-chairman of International Demographics, which operates The Media Audit.
But those are still exceptions.
Most draw a scant share of the local media consuming audience.
Media Audit examined a total of 474 television station web sites in 85 metropolitan markets.
More than half, 273 of them, attract fewer than 4 percent of the adults in their markets.
Just55 sites bring in more than 10 percent of adults in their market.
Media Audit found that only four stations' web sites attracted 20 percent or more of that local adult audience.
Among the most effective TV sites are those that have partnerships with other media outlets.
The two most effective such sites are MySanAntonio.com, where content is culled from both KENS, which is owned by Belo, and the local daily, the Hearst-owned San Antonio Express News.
MySanAntonio.com attracts 27 percent of San Antonio-area adults.
Almost as impressive is Oklahoma City's NewsOk.com, a joint venture between Oklahoma Publishing and CBS affiliate KWTV. Twenty-four percent of adults in the vast Oklahoma City market visit NewsOK.com.
"San Antonio and Oklahoma City are clear examples of convergence," says Jordan. "And obviously convergence works. Both combinations bring together the superior promotion ability of television with the overwhelming newsgathering strength of newspapers."
Perhaps the most successful stand-alone television station news site is Channel3000.com of Madison, Wisc., which attracts 22.2 percent of adults in its market, a slightly larger share than the local daily's site, WisconsinStateJournal.com, which gets 22 percent of area adults.
Another notable local television web site, WRAL.com of Raleigh, N.C., attracts 20 percent of area adults.
The Media Audit notes that in just three markets, including Madison, a local television web site is at least as popular as a local newspaper site.
Cedar Rapids' KCRG.com draws 16.4 percent of adults and the Cedar Rapids Gazette site gets 15.9 percent of area adult consumers. Greensboro, N.C.'s PiedmontChannel.com gets 8.6 percent of local adults and the local paper's site, NewsRecord.com, draws in 8.5 percent of adults.
Ultimately, Jordan concludes, the findings show that joint paper-TV can be quite successful in their markets, but he says the business model has not yet been proven conclusively.
"We still need to see this business model as a test," Jordan says. "The question that still hasn't been answered is: Does this work financially for both parties?"
June 17, 2002 © 2002 Media Life
-Marty Beard is a staff writer for Media Life.
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