How Local TV Should Deal With Facebook

Local TV broadcasters say they’re aware of the potential threat posed by Facebook, but they also acknowledge that they can’t afford to ignore the social-media giant and the way its massive reach is impacting all media, including local.

“Certainly, it looks like they’re going after our audience and we have to be protective of that,” said Michael Fabac, director of news and marketing for Missouri-based News-Press & Gazette Co., who participated in a panel discussion titled “Is Facebook Eating Televison?” at TVNewsCheck’s annual NewsTECH Forum conference Monday in New York.

According to Fabac and the other panelists, Facebook has grown so large and become so pervasive that no sector of media remains untouched by it. That’s because for a growing number of people — a number some estimate in the low billions worldwide — Facebook is emerging as the first place they go every day for news and information about their world, which very often means the hyper-local communities in which they live.

As a result, broadcasters today face a challenge: Should they keep their content off of Facebook, and hope audiences in their communities will choose their websites over Facebook? Or should the stations accept that Facebook is drawing a number of their viewers every day, and for that reason, they should make sure that they — the stations — maintain a high profile on Facebook?

The consensus of the panelists at the NewsTech Forum session seemed to be: Yes, become involved in Facebook because you can’t afford not to. But they advise that stations develop strategies that let them manage the amount and quality of content they post on Facebook, while also keeping in mind the integrity of their own platforms, which is, after all, the place where station content gets monetized.

Simply put, if part of a station’s audience is gravitating toward Facebook, then that’s where a station should go and find them, the panelists said. “It’s an opportunity and a threat,” said panelist Adam Wiener, EVP-GM of CBS Local Digital Media. “In many cases, it represents a place where an audience is, and you want to fish where the fish are.”

“Ultimately, we want to be where the audience is, and I think it is clear that is where a large portion of the audience not only is, but will be for the foreseeable future,” added Fabac.

All the panelists at the session seemed to agree that Facebook’s impact in the local media marketplaces today represents both a threat and an opportunity. “By definition, a disruptive technology disrupts legacy operators,” said Frank Mungeam, Tegna’s VP of digital content. “Why does a disruptive technology get a foothold? Well, obviously, it does something better. I would say it’s both a threat and an opportunity.  Our strategy at Tegna has been to focus on the opportunity as an advantage, not a threat.”

Mungeam feels Facebook gives Tegna stations a tool to determine the stories and subjects that really interest residents in their local communities. And the company has invested heavily in training its personnel to use that tool, he said.

“As broadcast audiences have declined, Facebook has grown in audience, so our focus this year is that we made a big investment in company-wide social-media listening and amplification training as a way to leverage and use the opportunity that Facebook presents to us to find stories.”

Mungeam thinks this kind of “listening” should be embraced by TV journalists. “We think if you want to be relevant, you have to be listening to the community and Facebook has enabled us to listen better,” he said. “And then there’s the reach. I don’t know any journalists who want to do a sermon in an empty church. You want to reach audiences with your content.”

The panelists said Facebook features such as Facebook Live have provided a clear benefit to them because it has enabled them to post some content almost instantaneously on Facebook, where their viewers will see it first, in the event of breaking news or an emergency such as severe weather. At least some of those Facebook viewers then seek out the station’s website or their newscast on TV.

“Our goal is to convert that audience over totally to the broadcast platform,” Fabac said.

The panelists agreed that stations must have a presence on Facebook. “The brands we represent have trust and credibility within our communities,” said Wiener, referring to the CBS-owned stations.

“And when people go to new social platforms, or even well-established ones like Facebook, they expect your brand to be there. And if you’re not, you’re losing out. It’s another place for [your audience] to engage with you so you have to take advantage of that,” Wiener said. “You should always be there because if you’re not there, then they’re headed to another brand for that information.”

To listen to a recording of this panel session, click here.

Read all about the NewsTECHForum here.