AR&D Reinventing Local Media

It was the most bizarre thing I have ever seen in a newsroom - and that’s saying something as I have visited literally hundreds of stations in over 150 markets during my two decades with AR&D. “It” was an ugly bobble-head doll that lives in a coffin-like box in a newsroom that will remain anonymous to protect the guilty.

Take a look for yourself - this strange idol apparently has the power to turn an extremely slow news day or two - into one that is teeming with local breaking news.  All you have to do is take it out of the coffin - and Boom!

I saw this little monster in action recently.   The assignment manager removed it from deep in a secret cabinet so I could get a look at it.   He opened the coffin-container and began to take it out so I could get a close look - as the assistant news director warned him not to do it.   I laughed at the strange looking doll - until the next morning.  The assistant news director warned of a heavy dose of breaking news to come quickly our way - and she was right!

It started with a fatal house fire early in the morning.  Then a few hours later they evacuated a large portion of the downtown business district as a worker cut through what he thought was an old water pipe.  It turned out to be a very much alive natural gas pipe - that fortunately did not blow up.   By noon - a half dozen big local stories had broken all over the market.   I stopped laughing - it looks like there really is something to this scary “news god.”

I was talking to another station employee who told me that she had touched the “news god’s” head when she first met the idol.  Once again - there were warnings - don’t ever do that - it brings snow!  Sure enough, she says, four inches of snow hit the ground the next day.   Shazam!

So, count me in as a believer in the “news god.”  Here’s my question - do you have such a little monster in your newsroom to conjure up breaking news on slow news days - or are there some other superstitions that come into the picture with the same result?  Let me know - and I’ll share them with all of you.

Jim

Most folks who watch TV programs online seem to be forgetful types.  Nielsen says these customers either forgot to watch a favorite TV program, or forgot to set their DVR to record it.  12% of them are sneaking a peek at work - watching a program online in their cubicle - we can only assume this is during lunchtime. LOL!

Nielsen reports that 54% of people who watch a TV program online forgot to watch it on their television set when it originally aired.   Another third of these users forgot to set their DVR to record their favorite program when it aired on TV.

They also use online viewing of TV programs to catch up because they missed a large number of episodes (47%), or to catch up on episodes from a previous season before the new season begins (33%).   Another 18% use online viewing to watch an episode they missed because someone else in the household was watching another program at the same time as their favorite show.

Interestingly, the Nielsen research shows that viewing TV programs online is a solitary activity.   Half of the people say they “never” watch these online TV programs with another person.  Another 35% say they “rarely” view programs online with another person.

Here is another interesting - but not surprising - nugget from the NSI study.  While Hulu gets a lot of publicity as the place to watch TV programs online - they are blown away by You Tube.   Hulu had over 600,000 video streams of TV programs during January - but You Tube had 6.6 million streams.  You Tube streams grew by 3 percent over December- while Hulu was flat.   ABC television had a little less than 130,000 streams - but that was an increase of 71% from December.  The third place site - Yahoo - had a little over 221,000 streams - a drop of 9%.

The total streams - for all online sites - is impressive at 11 billion for the month of January.  That activity came from just under 143 million unique users - a jump of 5% from a year ago.  These folks spent an average of just over three hours online each time they viewed a TV program.

Jim

Apparently Super Bowl advertisers missed the mark in their attempt to extend their ads from the big game by using social media to give life to their brands beyond one multi-million dollar spot within the most-watched event.  I leave the diagnosis of why this effort missed the mark to 2.o guru’s like our Terry Heaton - but I find the information fascinating.

The Friday before the Super Bowl USA Today ran an article on how marketers were going all out to create an on line buzz for their brands that were being advertised in the game.  One expert was quoted as saying, “They’ve deputized an entire population via Twitter and Facebook to spread the news of these ads.”   Many of the Super Bowl advertisers offered social networking tools to breathe life into their ads beyond one 30-second blast.

Unfortunately, a survey of 1,500 consumers by Boston advertising agency Chadwick Martin Bailey showed the effort fizzled.  They followed the actions of those consumers for 24 hours following the Super Bowl and found that “few went on line despite many advertisers’ efforts to drive them to the web.”  The advertisers’ goal was to drive the viewers to go on line and chat, Tweet and become a Facebook fan.

But despite a record TV viewership of the Super Bowl, when it “came to sharing the ads with friends on line - during or after the game - only 7 percent of respondents took this action.”   The study showed that 47% of the sample was on line for scores or research during the game, but only 2 percent Tweeted about their favorite ads, and a mere 1 percent became a fan of the brand on Facebook.   The study also found that while 12% took action by visiting a Super Bowl advertiser’s web site - 67% took no action at all.

No one has explained why this web effort failed - but there may be a further clue in a study by HCD Research in New Jersey.  Their on line poll showed that scores for the top Super Bowl spots performed lower in qualities like emotion and memorability that the highest-ranked spots from 2008 and 2009.

They do feel that commercial clutter may have been a problem.  There was a record-setting 47-minutes and 50-seconds worth of ads in this year’s Super Bowl - beating the previous record by a full two minutes.  There were 66 pitches from 41 companies!

So, there you have some interesting info on attempts to send viewers to the web for value-added sizzle for the Super Bowl advertisers.  While I’m not an expert, I assume that the failure was tied to the fact that there really was no great user benefit for going to these web sites.  I watched the Super Bowl with my trusty Mac at my side - but never felt the urge to go to the web for more info on a spot.  I guess the effort in the future must be overt.  It is the same question we see from viewers who are watching/or not watching local TV news - “What return am I going to get for the invest of my time?”

Jim

I am a big proponent of owning storm coverage but KTVT in Dallas turned that opportunity into a huge annoyance as an unbelievable 13 inches of wet snow fell on Dallas - a one day record.   As I watched primetime television on CBS it felt like I was stuck watching Bill Murray in Groundhog Day!

All of the Dallas stations had strong storm coverage - including KTVT (the CBS O&O) during the early evening newscasts.  But when the early evening newscasts ended - KTVT decided we needed a “Weather Alert” during EVERY commercial break - right through Craig Ferguson (and maybe beyond I hit the sack after Craig).

So, every time the CBS network went to a commercial break - the KTVT weather dude came on with the exact same phrase, “we promise you are not going to miss any of the program, we are taking this commercial break time to update you on the latest weather.”  OK - good idea - but there was nothing to update.

The snow had tapered off dramatically by the evening, and it was just sitting over Dallas without moving - something I learned every time the weather guy from KTVT went to live radar.  Pretty much everyone had worked their way through a traffic mess and were home by now - not wanting to be reminded about the snow every few minutes.  This is especially true when there was absolutely NO new information to deliver.

So, just like Bill Murray in Groundhog Day - we were subjected to the same information over, and over, and over and…   It was really maddening.

Oh, and then at ten o’clock this morning, I flipped over to KTVT - and in the middle of Price Is Right they were still doing the same Weather Alerts during every commercial break.  I could not turn the TV off fast enough.

The message of course is - Yes, you must own weather coverage but this approach was like touting fake breaking news.  It was nothing but an irritant to viewers - no doubt having the opposite effect that KTVT was hoping for.

Jim

There are lessons to be learned from the rise of the New Orleans Saints from the bottom of the NFL barrel to Super Bowl Champs.  And there are parallels to your local news ratings as well.

For decades the Saints were the doormats of the NFL.  Fans took to wearing paper bags over their heads with “Aint’s” written on them.  Then - just a few short years ago it all changed.

Here’s how they did it:

• Hired a smart, innovative coach with a solid plan and the guts to stick with it
• He was also willing to take risks (like an onside kick to start the second half of the Super Bowl)
• The coach surrounded himself with smart middle managers (assistant coaches) who bought into his plan and were willing and capable to execute it ruthlessly
• The coach did not waver when his rise in the standings faltered last year - instead he went out and hired a new creative, fearless coach to shore up the defense - kind of like hiring a brand manager to be sure your plan gets carried out in the newscasts every day
• Along the way the coach had the courage to move out some players who were no longer on top of their games - or did not buy into his philosophy.
• He also brought in some bright new players to make the team stronger
• Then coach Payton demonstrated strong leadership every day in a myriad of different ways to keep his team believing in his strategic plan

This determined dedication led to the former NFL bottom feeders ruling the roost after their win Sunday.

Take a look at those bullet points again - they all hold the key to building a strong brand at your station.  If you couple the plan with buy-in from the staff, and consistency in your newscasts every day.  You can rule the roost in your market too.

Jim

I ask your indulgence this time around - as I vent about my ridiculous experience with a credit card company today - specifically a MasterCard from a company called Juniper.  My experience really shows why Congress must enact legislation to clamp down on these vultures.

I pride myself on always paying my bills on time - or in many cases ahead of the due date.  That has been the case for the past four years with this particular credit card.  That promptness has kept my rate at 7.99% - with the admonition that they can raise it sky high if there is a late payment.

So, I sent out a check to Juniper on January 2nd -for a payment that was due on January 9th.  That has been my pattern forever.  Well, today I get a letter from Juniper informing me because my payment was late - my interest rate is now nearly 29%!!

I checked my account - and they posted my check on January 11th.  So maybe the postal service was slow and the check may have arrived one day late - two at the very most.  But the envelope was postmarked January 2nd.

I was angry enough at this to wait on hold for 15 minutes to get a human being to finally take my call at Juniper.  Unfortunately it was a woman in Manila who spoke nearly incomprehensible english with a very strong accent and a soft voice.

She was one of those trained robots who kept reading off cue cards - no matter how I tried to engage her in a real discussion.  Of course, I asked for her manager - and waited an additional 10 minutes for him to come on the phone (he was probably just another lowly employee sitting right next to her down in the Philippines.)

Imagine this - he too had a thick accent - was difficult to understand - and just kept reading from cue cards.  I asked to speak with someone who could right this wrong - and he said, “if you want to escalate this I can give you the fax number at our headquarters.”   I said I want a number to speak to a real person - he said OK -and imagine this - gave me the fax number at headquarters.

I was about ready to take the next plane to Manila - but decided instead to call my bank.  An easy to understand voice answered the phone (I actually had met him before) - and he said I was already pre-approved for a credit card with them.  That was it.   Great customer service took over - and we were done in less than 5 minutes.

That proves once again that it is always best to do business with people you know - and people who provide great customer service.   It is also best to avoid doing business with these Juniper people who can’t pronounce - much less spell - customer service!!

Thanks for listening - I feel better already.

Jim

Well, looks like NBC read my blog, took my advice,  and finally came up with the right resolution to the Leno/Conan nightly verbal slugfest!

Just kidding!   I doubt those NBC suits read blogs - maybe they have others read it for them?  But as I had suggested - it was time to let Conan go and reinstate Jay to the Tonight Show.

It is also time to stop blaming Leno for forcing these moves - the NBC affiliates - more correctly the NBC O&O’s - forced the network to stop the bleeding before and after local newscasts.  The timing is right for NBC.  The Olympics will give NBC a boost - and they come out of the Olympics high viewership with the right lineup in late night.

The only downside is I will really miss the nightly war of words between Leno, Conan and Letterman.

Jim

I am really enjoying watching the predicament that NBC finds itself wallowing in.  It’s one thing to deal with two big-time personalities like Leno and Conan behind the scenes - but to do it while still giving them access to rip NBC every night on their programs makes this true reality TV.

I tune in each night to their monologues - and, of course, you have to catch Letterman’s comments too - for the pure sport of watching them bash NBC.   It is much better than “Survivor” or any other so-called reality program.  This is real-life network stupidity playing out in front of us each night.

I also smile while watching the so-called media experts on all the network newscasts, morning programs, and cable news channels as they expound on the battle.  Many of them seem to portray Leno as a Big Foot stomping on poor Conan’s lifelong dream of hosting The Tonight Show.   They need to get their facts straight.

Fact One:  NBC made a huge mistake by living up to a promise to O’Brien that he would inherit The Tonight Show in 2009 or they would have to pay him $40 million.  Leno is still a young man - and he kept the program on top (except for a slight stumble in the beginning) for over a decade.  By forcing Leno out to avoid paying the $40 million to Conan,  NBC cost themselves over $200 million in lost revenue because Conan’s ratings are much smaller than when Leno left (was forced out of) the program.

Fact Two:  While I may not be a programming expert, I said from the beginning that Conan would not play in The Tonight Show slot because he had a narrow following in late night.  Yes, he gained some younger demos but Conan also drove away the loyal audience from when Leno held forth. 

Fact Three:  Research showed, and I also espoused in various interviews that Leno would bring many of his loyal Tonight Show audience with him - but that is also a niche audience.  It is strong for late night - but paltry when compared to primetime hit shows.  That is exactly what happened.

Fact Four:  While Leno promised a fun new show that would help drive viewers into local late newscasts - his program was a disaster.  I am a Leno fan but found it unwatchable on many nights.  The contributors were awful, many of the bits were worse (especially the driving track) and Leno was clearly uncomfortable sitting in a chair - without being behind a desk - doing interviews.  As one person said to me - it looks like a local cable-access program.

Fact Five:  Leno’s anemic ratings leading into local affiliates - and O&O’s - late newscasts caused the local ratings to come crashing down too.   In Tampa, for instance, despite lowly NBC primetime programming, WFLA was #1 in late news for 18 weeks straight.  That ended when Leno debuted.  Leno’s numbers were so bad that he was 3rd or many times 4th in most every metered market.

Fact Six: No one is talking about the fact that Leno’s tsunami that killed NBC station’s late newscast numbers also carried over to their morning newscasts.   Conan is a big culprit in this too.  Because the lead-in was a disaster, and the local news numbers plunged, and Conan had a small niche audience - the affiliates and O&O’s morning newscasts also took a big hit.  For the first time for many stations, NBC wasn’t the channel viewers were on when they switched off their remote for the night - so it wasn’t on their station for the morning newscast the next day.

And while I am bashing NBC, it seems crazy that they would offer Leno a half-hour after the late newscasts and try to keep Conan as host of  The Tonight Show after that.   Wake up NBC suits!   Stop the financial and ratings bleeding - restore Leno to The Tonight Show right after the local newscasts and let Conan go somewhere else. 

Conan is a little like the longtime anchor you have doing your local news who is not drawing ratings - but you’re afraid to let him/her go because they may go across the street.  Who cares?  If they can’t draw viewers on your station why would they draw them somewhere else.  Pay Conan off, restore Leno to Tonight and move on.  The monetary hit in doing that is far less than making another stupid decision to try and appease O’Brien.

Jim

This is the time of year for leaders to step up - hold a meeting with their staffs - and clearly articulate their vision and expectations for 2010.  Managers, on the other hand will continue with business as usual as their employees drag themselves back to work after a little holiday time off.   Their attitude is Ho Hum - it is the middle of winter, we still don’t have enough people to compete, our equipment is old etc. etc. etc.

So your challenge is to move past being  just one of those managers - and to show true leadership.  Believe me - it is leadership that your employees crave right now.  The new year starts at the top with the general manager, the news director and all the other department heads.   The time for that leadership is right now!

So put your thoughts together, call a meeting - and be a strong leader that fires up the troops.  Show them a plan that puts a rough 2009 behind you.  Get them excited about the opportunities.  Have a conversation with them - let them raise their concerns.  Your demeanor is excited, smart, confident and ready to kick butt in 2010.

The alternative is - don’t hold a meeting.  Let your employees continue to wallow in all the travails of 2009 as they slog their way through the rest of the winter. 

So - are you a manager - or are you a dynamic leader?  

Jim

I was thinking the other day about how my life has changed at home and on the road as I finish out my second decade of consulting at AR&D.   When I started there were no laptops - so I used to read about one new book a week - now I never have time for that as the airplane has become my office.

When I was on the road a few years ago - I would spend my evenings catching up with emails sent by clients during the day while I was busy at a client station.  Now - thanks to wireless Internet cards and a cellphone with email capability - I can get back to my clients quickly thoroughout the day.

The Slingbox has also been a wonderful bit of technology.  I can now watch a client station’s newscast in real time - emailing them a quick review to share immediately with the staff during the newscast post-mortem.  They can also send an email and ask me to watch a specific newscast for a special investigative report etc.  It is a wonderful tool.

My favorite Slingbox story occured a couple years ago now - I landed at O’Hare airport in Chicago and a colleague was driving us to South Bend for a research presentation.  It was also the day that my Honolulu client was debuting a new morning newscast.  So, I hooked up my wireless Internet card to my laptop, fired up the Honolulu Slingbox - and watched their newscast live while we drove through Chicago toward Indiana.  I gave the news director a call - and we discussed the newscast as it was happening.   That was pretty cool!

The Blackberry allows me to receive emails and view attachments without having to use my laptop.  The GPS feature is awesome.  When I’m on the road I insert my destination and “the voice” guides me flawlessly to my destination.  No more getting lost trying to follow a map or scribbled directions.   I can also quickly check the Dallas radar - and the stock market - on my Blackberry.

My local television viewing has also been forever changed by technology.  I almlost always watch prime time programs out of pattern because of my DVR.   I do believe this puts me in the same universe as the average television viewer these days.   I will record programs while watching another and then watch those DVR’ed programs later that night or the next day.  If I am watching a program live, I must confess, I let it get about a 10 minute head start so I can zip through the commercials and watch an hour program in about 40 minutes.

I have a Facebook page (thanks to a client news director who pushed me through the process a year or so ago).   I’ve even learned how to upload pictures to it.    No wonder so many of the younger folks have moved away from Facebook with all us old codgers on it now.

Like so many people I am constantly checking for news updates on my computer when I am in my office all day.   Last week while watching the Fox News Channel, I heard about a Tiger Woods’ voicemail message left for (it turns out) one of his many, many women.   I quickly went to US magazine’s web site - and listened to the clip.  This is what your news viewers do on a daily basis.    It would have been much better to see that information on a local TV station’s continuous news web site - with a link to the clip.

Oh, while I am rambling, there is one more thing I do that I know through focus groups - the average local news viewer does.  I seem to frequently avoid the local late newscasts.  Instead of waiting for a 10 p.m. newscast - or wading through local stories of crime and car wrecks that have no affect on my life - I simply flip my TV set to the Fox4 newscast at 9:40 p.m. knowing that is when their local weathercast comes on.   I am on and off in three minutes - and back to recorded programs.   Now, that’s service (although one that does not deliver a meter rating to the station).

Well, enough rambling.  Although I do challenge you to step back and spend a few minutes thinking about how technology has changed your life - and by extension the lives of your customers - as 2009 draws to a close.  Make it a short pause though - because plenty more technology will assault all of us in 2010.

Jim