WDIV Detroit

Graham Media’s Detroit NBC affiliate WDIV and the Michigan Chronicle announced a new media partnership aimed at elevating local news coverage in the Metro Detroit region. The station said “this collaboration marks a significant step towards bolstering community engagement, fostering inclusivity, and enriching the depth of coverage on issues vital to Detroit and the state of Michigan.”

She moves up from assistant news director to oversee journalism at Graham Media’s NBC affiliate in Detroit.

How WDIV Detroit’s investigation into an underwater oil pipeline became a broadcasting and digital event is the result of quality content delivered where people want to be served.

Graham Media’s WDIV launched a Help Desk to provide answers to every one of viewers’ questions. “It has been wildly successful so far,” says Stephanie Slagle, the company’s VP and chief innovation officer.

Graham Media’s WDIV Detroit launched a “Help Desk” for viewers aiming to improve the station’s responses to viewer inquiries of all stripes. The result has been a wealth of story tips, first-party data and gratified viewers. Read the full story here.

WWJ Detroit is launching news, and will encounter some lively competitors in the 14th DMA.

WDIV, Graham Media’s NBC affiliate in Detroit, saw that a story on its website about an upcoming bridge opening got tremendous engagement. The station doubled down and sent a crew of three people four hours away to make it a promotable event for its broadcast viewers.

As solo acts in the field, multimedia journalists are very particular about the kit they carry. From cameras to lights and audio, connectivity tools to editing software and apps, experience has taught them that flexibility and portability are among their gear’s most important qualities. Above: Sony’s remote production package, which includes the PXW-Z280 4K handheld camera, allows MMJs to remotely control, capture and transfer high-quality content in real time from any location.

Newsletters, documentaries, citizen journalism and better-quality UGC are driving better-engaged viewers in higher numbers to stations, leaders from Tegna, Graham Media and Sinclair said at a TVNewsCheck webinar last Friday, where they made clear that quality trumped novelty.

In the latest of TVNewsCheck‘s How To video series, Ken Haddad, digital special projects editor at Graham-owned WDIV Detroit, breaks down successful approaches to developing newsletters that connect with audiences and build meaningful — and revenue-generating — audience engagement. Watch more How To videos here.

Graham Media is moving him from GM of WJXT Jacksonville, Fla. to succeed the retiring Marla Drutz as head of its Michigan NBC affiliate.

Sometimes news innovation comes in the form of sheer reporting tenacity, as Graham-owned WDIV Detroit has shown through its long-haul coverage of the pandemic. Led by Kim Voet-Potter, a veteran news director, and featuring physician Dr. Frank McGeorge, the WDIV team has pushed itself to new creative heights in relaying critical information to a virus-weary viewership. This is the latest of TVNewsCheck’s “Newsroom Innovators” profiles, a series showcasing people and news organizations evolving the shape and substance of video reporting. Read the others here.

The head of Graham Media’s NBC affiliate will step down later this year or early next, capping a career in local TV of nearly four decades.

“We wanted to further our Juneteenth efforts this year by creating opportunities for learning and outreach that support the cause of combatting injustice and racism,” says Emily Barr, Graham Media’s president.

New jobs posted to TVNewsCheck’s Media Job Center this week include openings for a multimedia sales account exec, a news producer, a general manager, a national sales manager, a broadcast technology manager, a senior account exec and a digital sales director.

Ken Haddad says he began the “Vaccine Hunter” project when he noticed a huge influx of emails and viewer feedback to the Graham Media NBC affiliate from people having trouble finding vaccines. “It is a once in a lifetime opportunity to offer life-saving information to our viewers,” he says.

New jobs posted to TVNewsCheck’s Media Job Center include openings for a promotions manager in Detroit and a creative services photographer in Boston.

Consistent branding that resonated with viewers, effective synergy between broadcast and digital and a simple, free marketing tool helped WDIV have a 2020 to remember.

Graham Media expands its ambitious campaign to develop a membership program for Graham stations and potentially pave a new path to sustainability for local TV news.

WMYD, WXYZ, WDIV, WWJ and WJBK have implemented NextGen TV technology. Also debuting is the Motown 3.0 Open Test Track for merging automotive applications with NextGen TV.

He joins the Detroit NBC affiliate from WCAU Philadelphia to succeed Marcus Williams who’s retiring at the end of the year.

New jobs posted to TVNewsCheck’s Media Job Center include an opening for an assistant director of technology at Graham Media Group’s NBC affiliate WDIV Detroit.