Social Scorecard

Fox’s Detroit O&O led in social media actions in the market over the last six months according to data from audience insight firm Shareablee. Why? Jay Dillon, WJBK’s senior web producer, says “We look for the local news that our audience is interested in. We are very in tune with what our audience is engaged with; what stories will drive traffic. We just push our local content first and foremost.” And besides being local, the focus is on content that’s unique to the station.

Andy Fishman, WJW’s news director, and Jessica Bates, the station’s managing editor, attribute most of their success on Facebook to experimentation, selective content and constantly responding to what their followers post. “What worked for us this morning may not be successful for us in the afternoon,” says Bates. “We’re going to take risks. Maybe it’s a graphic. Maybe it’s a video.”

Tegna’s NBC affiliate in Minneapolis has evolved its use of social media over the years, from a platform to drive users to KARE’s newscasts or website to it being the primary outlet for breaking news. “Facebook is literally the first place that we will put breaking news. The audience now demands more content on social media. So our strategy has completely been turned upside down,” says Social Media Manager Bea Chang.

WITI, Tribune’s Fox affiliate, is ahead in social media actions in the market over the last six months according to data from audience insight firm Shareablee. One reason for its dominance is a football team whose home is 120 miles away — the Green Bay Packers. Others include its use of Facebook Live and drone coverage of breaking news.

WTVR, Tribune’s CBS affiliate in Richmond, Va., is ahead in social media actions in the market over the last six months according to data from audience insight firm Shareablee. One reason for its success is its creation of several news franchises that help generate engagement.

Hearst-owned ABC affiliate KOAT is ahead in social media actions in the Albuquerque, N.M., market over the last six months according to Shareablee. KOAT has more than 2.1 million actions on social, 44% of the total engagement generated by the market, with more than 4.8 million social actions.

Steven Cejas, WSVN.com’s executive producer: “It’s all about interaction now. It’s not just throwing whatever up there. We tailor every post that we do to Facebook so that we feel like we are going to get interactions. On a regular day we try to keep it between somewhere around 20 to 25. So it’s kind of a ‘less-ismore’ mentality and we have seen that that really has helped out our numbers.”

How is Scripps-owned ABC affiliate KNXV able to dominate the Phoenix market on Facebook by more than 2.5 million actions? It says its success is due to a focus on positive, local stories, a complete station effort to listen to what its users want, inventive use of Facebook Live and a marketing team that is digitally savvy.

Contributions from all employees fuels KGTV’s performance to lead the San Diego market on Facebook. KGTV, the Scripps ABC affiliate, is first in social media actions in the market over the last six months according to data from audience insight firm Shareablee. The station’s overall focus of its Facebook strategy is to provide great, memorable content on social media, and he thinks that will translate into TV news viewers.

Tegna CBS affiliate KENS leads San Antonio’s Facebook action mainly due to listening to what people want, and it’s more than just news. Gregory Matthews, KENS’ digital media director, attributes the station’s success on Facebook to listening to what interests people and following social trends. “We are long past the days of telling the audience what they ought to care about,” he says.

KWCH, Gray’s CBS affiliate in Wichita, Kan., is the leader in social media actions in the market over the last six months according to data from audience insight firm Shareablee. Shawn Hilferty, KWCH’s digital director, says one reason his station is ahead on Facebook is its digital-first approach when it comes to local news.

Strategic and regular use of Facebook Live has helped propel WGRZ, Tegna’s NBC affiliate in Buffalo, N.Y., to first place among the market’s social media, says Kim Degeorge-Pike, WRGZ’s digital director. WGRZ has more than 2.5 million social actions, 31% of the total engagement generated by the DMA, according to data from audience insight firm Shareablee.

KHQ, the Cowles-owned NBC affiliate in Spokane, Wash., tops the market in social media actions over the last six months according to data from audience insight firm Shareablee. One of the reasons for its success is a regularly scheduled Facebook Live at around noon called Lunch Break, according to Traci Zeravica, KHQ’s news director.

WCSC, Raycom’s CBS affiliate in Charleston, S.C., is out in front by more than a million social media actions over its next nearest competitor during the last six months. WCSC has almost 1.8 million actions on social, 27% of the total engagement generated by the DMA (No. 92), with more than 6.5 million social actions.

WTOL, Raycom’s CBS affiliate in Toledo, Ohio, has three times as many social media actions as its next nearest competitor in the market over the last six months according to data from audience insight firm Shareablee. Why? A number of factors, including research on what viewers want, breaking news, weather, stories that deliver polarizing points of view and features designed to encourage viewer engagement.

WMTW, Hearst’s ABC affiliate in Portland, Maine, leads its market in social media actions over the last six months according to data from audience insight firm Shareablee. Amy Beveridge, WMTW’s news director, says the station’s use of Facebook Live during breaking news and severe weather is one reason for its success.

Morgan Murphy Media’s CBS affiliate in Madison, Wis., has more than 1 million actions on social, 32% of the total engagement generated by the DMA, with more than 3.2 million social actions. Colin Benedict, WISC’s news director, says the station’s aggressive response to breaking news is one of the reasons for its success on Facebook.

KSL, Salt Lake City’s NBC affiliate owned by Bonneville International, holds a slight lead in social media actions in the market over the last six months according to data from audience insight firm Shareablee. KSL has more than 3.2 million actions on social, 29% of the total engagement generated by the DMA (No. 30), with more than 11.3 million social actions. KSL also led the market in actions per post with 288.

WTVF, the Scripps-owned CBS affiliate in Nashville owned by Scripps, has twice as many social media actions as its next nearest competitor in the market over the last six months according to data from audience insight firm Shareablee. Including Facebook users in the newsgathering process, prudent use of Facebook Live and monitoring the various Nashville community Facebook pages are significant attributes to its success.

The CBS O&O leads Charm City in social media actions over the last six months according to data from audience insight firm Shareablee. What’s its secret to success? Being attentive to what your audience wants, powerful visuals, choosing quality posts over quantity, and, sometimes, stories that bring a smile.

WLTX, Columbia, S.C.’s CBS affiliate owned by Tegna, leads the market in social media actions over the last six months according to data from audience insight firm Shareablee. WLTX has just almost 3.2 million actions on social, 48% of the total engagement generated by the DMA (No. 77), with more than 6.5 million social actions

The Fox O&O has just over 13.5 million actions on social, 36% of the total engagement generated by the DMA, with more than 37 million social actions. It was also first in actions per post on Facebook, according to Shareablee data.

What drives social media engagement in New Orleans? WWL-TV says weather — and sometimes gumbo, of course. WWL has just over 3.3 million actions on social, 25% of the total engagement generated in the market, with more than 13.6 million social actions. WWL also was first in actions per post with 259.

The Cox CBS affiliate has almost 2.5 million actions on social, 55% of the total engagement generated by the DMA (No. 64), with more than 4.5 million social actions. WHIO is first in actions per post with 113 and leads the market on Twitter actions with almost 83,000. The key? Know what your audience wants and expects to get from you, says Tim Wolff, WHIO’s digital director.

Taking advantage of planned events, helicopter views and Facebook Live segments are just some of the reasons KTVI says it’s been able to stop on top of Facebook actions in a tight race among TV stations in St. Louis.

Tegna-owned KVUE is the market’s social media leader in Austin, Tex. according to Shareablee data with nearly 3 million actions in the last six months. Its marketing director says with its cross-generational draw, “Facebook is the best opportunity that any marketer has ever had before.”

How is WDAF, Tribune’s Fox affiliate in Kansas City, able to lead the market with Facebook engagement? An aggressive use of Facebook Live, hyper-local content generated by Facebook users, and a mission of mercy by Taylor Swift.

WAGA, the Fox O&O in Atlanta, leads all media outlets in Atlanta by about 8 million social media actions over the last six months according to data from audience insight firm Shareablee. WAGA has almost 22 million actions on social, 41% of the total engagement generated by the DMA (No. 10), with more than 53.8 million social actions. WAGA is also ahead in actions per post with 1,724.

WLS, ABC’s O&O in Chicago, is ahead in social media actions in the market over the last six months according to data from audience insight firm Shareablee. WLS has almost 25 million actions on social, 36% of the total engagement generated in the DMA (No. 3), with more than 69 million social actions. WLS was also first on Instagram with almost 950,000 actions.

Nexstar’s CBS affiliate in Providence, R.I., has almost 780,000 actions on social, 25% of the total engagement generated by the DMA (No. 52), with more than 3.1 million social actions. Lee Dooley, WPRI’s digital director, thinks part of the station’s success on Facebook is that it serves its audience with quality content wherever they are.

Raycom’s CBS affiliate dominates social media actions in Savannah over the last six months according to data from audience insight firm Shareablee. WTOC has almost four times the number of actions than its nearest competitor. Sarah Smith, WTOC’s digital content manager: “We make sure that we’re hitting our audiences on all platforms, everywhere we can reach them digitally. We share as much on Facebook as we would anywhere else, as much as we would on the air.”

KING, Tegna’s Seattle’s NBC affiliate, is the leader in social media actions among TV stations in the market over the last six months according to data from audience insight firm Shareablee. Evonne Benedict, KING’s audience engagement manager, says the reason KING tops all TV stations in the market on social media is simple: They listen.

KETV, Hearst’s ABC affiliate in Omaha, Neb., leads the market in social media actions over the last six months according to data from audience insight firm Shareablee. KETV has almost 1.8 million actions on social, 39% of the market’s almost 4.5 million actions.