14,400 hours a day????

I just read an article by Greg Sandoval on CNET about Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google and how elusive profits are from YouTube.

Buried in the article parenthetically is this little gem: More than 10 HOURS of video is uploaded to YouTube every MINUTE. That works out to more than 14,400 hours of new video every day! I am still trying to get my head around this statistic. Making money from this plethora of video is apparently Google's number-one goal for this year and they have already started experimenting with different ad delivery solutions - but nothing has clicked yet. Literally or otherwise.

My take-away from this astounding statistic is the overwhelming willingness, even eagerness by the people formerly known as the audience (thanks to Terry Heaton for that phrase) are now participating because they can.

I’ll be the first to acknowledge that most of those 10 hours-per-minute is video you and I will never see – but that’s ultimately not the point. It’s really about the shift in ownership of content from mass media to the people, the leveling of the playing field when it comes to what the public views and appreciates as news and entertainment. It’s an extremely liberating development – but one that undermines the foundations of mass media as we have know it for the better part of 60 years.

This has import for all of us – and changes the way we do the news business irrevocably. And the idealist in me thinks it will all be for the better – it will just be painful living through the transition.

Consumers can be expected to accelerate their participation as the tools to contribute get easier to use, cheaper to acquire and increasingly routine. Technology already exists that allows LIVE feeds from webcams and cellphones and this will only become more pervasive in time. It will change the way news is gathered as radically as the web has changed the way it is distributed.

The great unanswered question is what role traditional media will play in this revolution – and as I’ve written before, there are a lot of attempts to answer that question. I don’t have any clear vision other than firmly believing that quality counts. Real journalism counts. Untethered creation and distribution of news content in the hands of the news consumers is ultimately a good thing.

As one blogger wisely put it more than a year ago – if my daughter skins her knee at school, that’s my top news story of the day. Soon I can fully expect video on-demand of this vitally important breaking news when I want it and where I want it.

Read More

Do you read what others are saying about traditional media? From the sublime to the ridiculous, there are dozens of unique and valuable voices available online to inform, infuriate and inspire.

If you have now committed to try anything and everything to improve your local voice - on-air and online- to expand your brand, your reach and revenue, and wonder where to start, start reading. I have links on this page to just some of the resources you should make it your job to read at least every few days. And there are many more if you just follow the trail each voice provides. These are individual blogs and topic-oriented desitinations that feature numerous voices and expertise. And it's all free.

PaidContent.org and TechCrunch both leave me reeling at the sheer volume of creative entrepeneurs that are creating new applications and tools and destinations online. The number of ventures in alpha, beta or debut is mind boggling - and it points to a reality that should make traditional media very nervous. It makes me nervous. There are people you've never heard of out there doing things that appeal to the audience you're losing. Lots of them. I don't even understand half of it - which just makes me dig deeper. Social media, web 2.0, search, WiMax, widgets, ajax, mashups, semantic web, Twitter...all terms that impact our future in one way or another.

Traditional media should be leading this change, not idly watching it, or worse, not even being aware of it. The big networks have the cash to acquire these start-up companies as they succeed or at least offer a new revenue potential - but local broadcasters seem caught in the headlights. Not to mention how many local broadcasters have outsourced their web presence to third-parties.

It's about web developers, code writers, creative digital media pros, people who don't carry the burden of history on their backs - these are the people we all need to embrace. And ultimately the cultural change they bring is as important as anything tangible they create.

Change, innovate, experiment and forget what you think you know. The enemy of learning is knowing...

At the very least, make an effort to see what's going on all around you - and plug in to the contrarians and visionaries that will shake you out of your complacency and challenge all your assumptions. You may disagree, you may even be offended, but you will be enlightened and part of the future instead of part the past. In the end, no one really has a complete grasp on where this is all headed and how to make money doing it - there are hundreds of companies trying to figure it out and rolling the dice. Broadcasters need to be in the thick of it and are mostly following instead of leading.

Easy to say - harder to do, I know. But at least start by doing some reading.
It couldn't hurt.

Try Anything and Everything

We had a good trip to RTNDA/NAB this year - our party at the Wynn Monday night was a sucess by all measures and we had a chance to meet and greet friends, clients, colleagues and competitors in a spirit that we're all in this industry together and face a lot of the same challenges.

Our thanks to Scott Tallal at Insite Research and Steve Ference from APEX Media for their continued friendship and for co-hosting the party.

Yes, there seemed to be fewer News Directors in attendance overall. And yes it's unfortunate that in the face of all the changes its even harder for broadcasters to budget for an event that could foster the exchange of creative solutions. But with that said it was noticeable how many managers expressed a willingness, even and eagerness, to try new things. We are clearly already at a place where we have everything to gain and nothing to lose by innovating.

One thing on which almost everyone agreed was that change will be the only constant. I heard a number of creative approaches to changing the way a newscast flows in tone and content and ways to foster two-way convergence between the broadcast and the website.

So there's optimism out there and despite recent news and continued cutbacks there are endless ways to turn the challenges into opportunities. Not the least of which is maximizing the 24/7 value of your station website as a local news source. I continue to believe that stations that focus on being the local news leader online will not only see their broadcast ratings stabilize and maybe even increase - but will also secure their place in the local news landscape over the long haul. And unlike the finite broadcast day - the web is an infinite landscape that can serve smaller and smaller niche news consumers. (Read: hyper-local)

It won't necessarily be cheap or profitable to accomplish at first and involves technology and staff that stations may not have right now - but everything is riding on taking the risk and doing something, anything to engage the audience in new ways. It will lead to new interactions with your local community and collaborative relationships with them - and also attract new advertisers. The alternative isn't pretty.

Of course we feel very strongly that we play a role in this process as producers of news content that appeals to key audiences. And the economies of scale we deliver are unbeatable. The happy clients and hopeful prospects we saw at RTNDA reinforce the value of what we do every day and energizes us to stay focused on delivering the best services we can. My thanks to everyone that took the time to say hello and for your continued support. We fully expect that next year we'll have even more clients to thank - we'll try anything and everything to make that a reality.

180 Degrees

In 1999 NewsProNet spent a fair amount of time and money developing a value-added service called "Know More." The concept was simple - the execution, not so much - subscribers to our video services were just starting to conceptialize the value of their web sites back then and "Know More" was a clever convergence tool. The idea was that at the end of a NewsProNet story the Anchor tag would suggest: "If you'd like to Know More about this story go to our website..."

We built a system that localized the content and served it seamlessly to the station website - locally branded, local ad positions and a custom back-end that allowed the station to activate and localize the content with talent photos, email and custom lead. It was strictly text and still photos - but it was content that went beyond what was in the video story and fostered a very real convergence strategy.

Unfortunately we were about 5 years ahead of our time - while the idea was met with genuine enthusiasm by our clients, and many utilized it, "Know More" eventually wilted from neglect in the newsroom and the lack of any focus by local sales departments. Let's face it, there are still debates raging in TV land about whether the web is a good thing for broadcasters.

In the 8 years since we debuted "Know More" things have changed a bit. It hit me like a bolt last week after I read about Tom Brokaw speaking at MIT and asking the audience a few questions.
He asked how many students read a newspaper regularly - two hands went up. He asked how many watch local TV news - no hands. He asked how many got their news online - every hand went up. Now 18-22 year-olds are not traditional local news viewers anyway - but it still points out that when these students settle down they will be habituated to getting their news online, when and where they want. Not good for local TV.

What occurred to me is that the convergence strategy has shifted 180 degrees - that now the trick is to get website viewers to tune into your local news broadcast. That the "Know More" model could work again in reverse. It assumes that local news consumers choose a local TV website as their source for news - which some do, but most people use Google, Yahoo! CNN, MSNBC and even DIGG to get their news - maybe stations should invest in locally targeted promotion on these sites?

"Tune in tonight at 6pm on NewsChannel 10 to Know More!"

It could work...

RTNDA@NAB

The RTNDA@NAB is next week - the annual convention where radio and television news professionals gather to learn, share stories, commiserate and encourage one another.

While I'm hoping that attendance is high - it would seem from various conversations that I have had around the country that it may not be the case. Another sad commentary on the state of local broadcast news. The RTNDA took a hit in 2001 and now is taking another as budgets in newsrooms continue to be squeezed. It's truly a shame.

Keitha Corbit and I will be there waving the NewsProNet Video flag - we are also co-hosting a party with our good friends at APEX Media and Insite Research on Monday night. Contact me if you are attending the show and would like an invitation. We hope to see you there.

Hire Us!

Reality check.
The world has changed and the only constant from now on is more change. Broadcast news audiences know more about most of your stories many hours before your broadcast.
Those that don't are well outside the key demographic advertisers want to reach through you.

This trend isn't reversible.

You still reach a large audience and deliver a vital community service - just as newspapers and radio before you. Your core-competency is your community expertise and the ability to tell a story and raise awareness. Some may call this your brand - but your brand is under assault, so your core competency is more valuable - and translatable to another distribution platform - the Internet. Not easy to change your focus when the whole production flow supports those hours of news you put on the air everyday - but the day is coming sooner than later when the ad dollars in your market will no longer support 3 to 4 separate, competing broadcast news departments.

That's reality.

I hesitate to say it and many think I am too radical in my prognostications. But history is an unforegiving teacher. Only the largest markets in the US support 2 newspapers and they are struggling. There was a day 40 to 50 years ago when almost every city supported 2 and even 3 daily newspapers - some published both morning and evening editions. Seems unthinkable - but this attrition is about to happen to broadcasters.

We hear about cuts and layoffs in top markets this past week - small markets have been cutting newscasts completely for a few years, next we'll hear about medium and then large markets going from 3 competitors to two...and then only one. I give it 5 years before it will start to happen in top 10 markets.

One way to stay on top is to consistently deliver stories that no one else is doing - to expand the promotable, hard news you deliver every day. To use those stories to leverage your core-competency online and re-establish yourself as the "Local News Leader" online. But how do you do that with fewer resources?

We start very day with that same thinking - uncovering the stories that no one else is covering. It's the beginning of a long process that involves finding the best interview subjects, finding an available videographer and equipping them to ask the right questions to tell the story - we fact check, and double check. Find multiple sources on both sides of an issue and funnel all the raw tape to our production facility outside Atlanta.

Sometimes the story falls apart for myriad reasons. More often than not the producers whittle hours of tape down to a 2 minute story that we are proud to distribute to our clients. And yes - we scramble to meet our deadlines too. And our clients increasingly appreciate what we do - they always have, but lately it seems we've become more and more important.

And we make a difference - proven ratings increases over lead-in and previous quarter-hour.
We hear it all the time. Now if someone in authority would just figure out that what we do on-air can also be posted online for all the people who missed the newscast - that would be something.
(Populating verticals...instigating discussions...fostering community...the mind boggles.)

So consider hiring us. We'll set you apart from your competition, we deliver every week, we don't take time off and we're the same people that used to work in the newsroom before the cutbacks...

The More Things Change...

The more they stay the same.

Budgets and staff are being cut. Enterprise journalism is expensive and rare. Competing in the ratings race eats up lots of time, effort and money. You have to be creative to win and the mantra is still - "do more with less." Isn't there a better way? Can't stations still support hard news and enterprise journalism on a budget?

That was 1997 and the beginning of NewsProNet.

Sound familiar?

Our idea back then was to bring economies of scale to the hard news ratings struggle by putting together a team of award-winning journalists, setting them free to do the stories they always wanted to do but their former TV station employers couldn't afford - and then making it available for pennies on the dollar to one station in each market as a strategic content source. We called it SweepsFeed - even though we produced it 12 months a year and it wasn't really a feed.

We took it one step further when we started - we did audence research on dozens of topics and only produced the stories that came back with the highest interest levels. We also delivered each story as a package ready-to-track - no narrator. And to substantiate the journalism - we included in-depth contact sources for each story.

It was and is a hit. Hard news, promotable stories that stations would do themselves if they had the budget - easily localized and journalistically sound.

What was true in 1997 is even more true today. The recent cutbacks at local TV stations will probably only continue and the need to keep the viewers has only gotten more urgent. And while staying focused on local, local, local is still essential - SweepsFeed has always delivered stories that impact viewers no matter where they live. Now more than ever its the quality of the information that matters.

And now there's another distribution platform that is also attracting viewers in large numbers - and also benefits from quality content - the Internet. I'll get into that subject in another post, but the same dynamic applies - the more things change...