TV Newsrooms Increase Digital, Tech Efforts
The RTDNA/Hofstra University Newsroom Survey shows more TV and radio stations are streaming more content, but newsrooms are becoming more strategic, sharing digital and social media content on fewer, proven platforms. Also, the growth of Facebook Live is slowing and Twitter use among TV newsrooms is down. Social media drives a significant portion of traffic to TV and radio websites, which are growing in reach. Drone use is up significantly for local TV newsrooms.
Univision is making a U-turn in its digital media strategy. The Spanish language media company said Tuesday that it is looking to sell most of the online properties that it has acquired in the past few years. This includes the family of websites formerly known as Gawker Media — including brands like Gizmodo and Jezebel — and the satirical publication The Onion.
Using Wide Orbit’s Programmatic Open Marketplace allows Tribune stations to accept complying offers for ad time around the clock — even outside of normal business hours.
Exclusives
Sinclair Broadcast Group is planning to launch a streaming TV service this year that could create a new competitor for Fox News. The free streaming app, called STIRR, would house a 24/7 TV channel featuring local news and national programming, according to sources familiar with the project and a trademark application. It would also offer a variety of other live and on-demand programming, from TV shows to movies to sports.
Small Heartland Media Has Big Digital Goals
Heartland Media may have just 11 stations in smaller markets, but it’s already flying its flag on both the OTT and voice platforms. Lisa Bishop, Heartland’s chief digital officer, says its strategy is driven by growing an audience on as many platforms as it can, even if monetization there remains frustratingly elusive.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Univision Communications is exploring a sale of Fusion Media Group, which houses websites including Gizmodo and Deadspin, as it pursues a companywide restructuring following a leadership change, people familiar with the matter say. The move would be a reversal for Univision, best known as the largest Spanish-language TV broadcaster in the U.S. Over the past several years, it has invested in digital assets and sought to diversify its audience by buying English-language websites that appeal to younger, bilingual Hispanic-Americans. Journal subscribers can read the full story here.
Even though the price of UHD/4K TV sets continue to fall, the fact remains that there’s still a dearth of available ultra-high resolution content and what content is — even in 2018 — is reserved for high-profile events such as the FIFA World Cup. Except when it comes to over-the-top streaming services.
The attempt to provide regulatory oversight of the tech industry’s data collection is considered the most comprehensive in the nation.
Finlayson: Mobile, Social Key To Drive Viewers
SmithGeiger exec Andrew Finlayson says smartphones are a critically important tool for stations in driving viewership. “You can reach out to viewers watching Netflix or Amazon and tell them you have breaking news. Mobile screens really matter. Get people to reach for the remote.”
Tegna consumer reporter and digital deal hunter Matt Granite leads the DealBoss coverage across TV and digital. The service provides discounts, information and reviews from major online stores and many smaller, independent retailers.
WJLA Launches Crowd-Sourced Traffic App
Sinclair-owned ABC affiliate WJLA Washington (DMA 6) has introduced the free crowd-sourced TrafficWatch7 App, what it calls “the only news station navigation app in the D.C. area.” TrafficWatch7 App lets […]
There is no stopping media apps and processes migrating to the public cloud. Here’s why broadcasters and professional media types should care and what they should be doing now.
Netflix, is estimated to only get bigger — Todd Juenger, senior media analyst at Bernstein Research, estimates Netflix will hit nearly 90 million subs by 2030 from its current base of 57 million U.S. this year. Most of those new customers could be today’s younger TV-video consumers.
Roku introduced Audience Marketplace, which will allow advertising buyers and sellers to target audiences on the Roku platform in the U.S. The new ad exchange will offer Roku’s first-party data and proprietary ad technology to let publishers sell targeted audiences on the Roku platform to advertisers.
The former VP and general manager of the Cox Media Group starts at the local media consortium on July 16.
We Have Reached ‘Peak Screen’
With smartphones, everything digital has been managed through screens. Now that all of our visual capacity has been captured, the tech giants are starting to build a less eyes-only world.
