FCC studies Tampa's convergence model
FCC commissioners are looking at the Tampa converged News Center as they prepares to rule June 2 on rules that generally prevent companies from owning newspapers and TV stations in the same market, the L.A. Times reports. Journalists have been watching the Tampa Tribune, WFLA and TBO.com ever since Media General brought its three properties under one roof three years ago.The Times says "so far, the Tampa experiment promises less than a revolution. To the chagrin of numbers crunchers, the combination hasn't yielded big savings: Budgets and staffing levels for the paper and TV station are about the same as before, executives said. And cross-platform advertising deals added just 2% to the Tribune's revenue last year. At the same time, dreams of creating a new-style 'multimedia reporter,' adept at both television and newspapers, have fallen flat. After three years, only one print reporter regularly produces stories for the TV station, the top-rated in the market."
But the article also points out some pluses: tips and story ideas are shared; each other's product has been cross-promoted and the newspaper's reporters have been featured on TV. "Being with TV, you have to move faster. We're quicker. We're more visual," said Tribune Executive Editor Gil Thelen. "We moved from being a mediocre paper to one that is good."
May 08, 2003 | E-MAIL | SAVE | PRINT | PERMALINK | DISCUSS(0)
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