Market Share

With more than 2,000 posts, Market Share will celebrate five years of daily articles about television and its marketing in 2019. I say to people that I believe something interesting is going on at every TV station in every market every day in either news, sales or marketing and I just want to share it. 2019 is going to be an exciting year, let share it together.

The COO of a couple television networks half-way around the world has been using local TV promos seen on TVNewsCheck‘s Market Share blog as a teaching tool for marketing and promoting peace in the country.

When Chicago’s NBC O&O overhauled its approach to morning news, Diane Hannes, VP of creative services, and her team crafted a multi-part campaign that introduced the new team, explained the scope and pace of the coverage and tied it all in with the station’s other news broadcasts.

Sure, news is a serious business, but that doesn’t mean your promos have to be. It helps if your staff and management can laugh at themselves.

Stations across the country take different tacks in promoting their morning newscasts. From humorous to urgent to testimonials, the campaigns focus on their news teams and resources and often attempt to reference and reinforce a market’s unique characteristics.

The Cox ABC affiliate in Orlando has taken a different tack in its news promos to stay atop this contested market. It uses campaigns from Churchman Productions that feature station viewers because “viewers talking on our behalf can be more powerful than anchor-driven, on-camera spots,” according to Bob St. Charles, the station’s creative services director.

Without must carry, LP stations might rely on viewers with antennas and the willingness to receive TV over the air. One LP operator in Atlanta sees this as a challenge. He is promoting OTA reception the best he can. Another, in Portland, Ore., warns that the FCC spectrum grab is going to make it tougher for LPs and full-power stations alike.

Often with the help of outside companies that provide software and support, broadcasters are finding that Groupon-like group buying deals and rewards programs are a valuable new source of revenue — a good way to bring in smaller, local businesses like massage therapists that may not be able to afford traditional on-air spot campaigns.

From nowhere in 2003, to the third largest Hyundai dealership in the U.S., Scott Fink’s  New Port Richey, Fla., store grew because he had a plan and a consultant who made it happen. But in some cases, success came in spite of station account execs who, Fink says, often don’t listen to what he wants and needs in a buy.