Using the Internet to drive viewership
WBRZ-TV in Baton Rouge, La., formerly the top station in the market and now No. 2, is hoping its newly launched Web site can help return it to dominance, TelevisionWeek reports. The ABC affiliate shares 2theadvocate.com with sister publication and local newspaper The Advocate. "WBRZ-TV's experiment is noteworthy because of the weight and expectations it is placing on the potential of the shared site to drive TV ratings," writes Daisy Whitney.Starting in October, the Web site will introduce the first of its large-scale convergence projects linking the site, the station and the paper: coverage of photographer C.C. Lockwood's houseboat tour documenting coastal erosion of Louisiana's wetlands. The site will include an Internet journal from Lockwood, plus links, polls and photos. The TV station and the newspaper will contribute reports for the Web. "I want to be No. 1 again and the Web site is a big part of your image," said Hunter Manship, media convergence manager for 2theadvocate.com. "I feel if we have a site that's a one-stop shop … hopefully people will go there before the competition." The goal is to maximize the broadband platform with multimedia presentations, streaming video, slide shows, audio feeds and, of course, text. Mr. Manship also wants reporters at both outlets to use the Web site to break news rather than wait for the broadcast or the next day's paper. If successful, the coverage could be the model for convergence on 2theadvocate.com going forward, said Ms. Yarbrough. "We don't want to do [convergence] after the fact, but work on it from the get-go," she said.
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