digital dma

With the Detroit Free Press publishing the No. 1 local news site in the city, news-producing  affiliates WDIV (NBC), WXYZ (ABC) and WJBK (Fox) are investing heavily in their digital platforms to secure core audiences while drawing newcomers. “We are trying to be the No. 1 sites, and we are trying to figure out what the secret sauce is to do that,” says Catherine Badalamente, VP of digital media for Graham Media, which owns WDIV. “That is 100% of my goal.”

Hawaii’s palm trees and gentle breezes have given rise to one of the nation’s boldest experiments in online news. Honolulu Civil Beat, founded by eBay creator Pierre Omidyar, is vying to take its place among the usual newspaper and TV sites in the Honolulu online arena.

With the city on the rebound, Detroit’s news-producing affiliates WDIV (NBC), WXYZ (ABC) and WJBK (Fox) are investing heavily in their digital platforms to secure core audiences while drawing the newcomers (artists, techies and the like) lured by the chance to build from the ground up.  “We are trying to reinvent ourselves along with them,” says Catherine Badalamente, VP of digital media for Graham Media, which owns NBC affiliate WDIV.