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Blog post on making appointment TV

Making Appointment TV When You Have 10 (14? 24?) Hours of News

April 12, 2021/in Futuri Fundamentals, Television/by Zena

Local stations have more news time than ever. But with all that time on the air, do viewers really think they’re missing something if they don’t watch? Here’s how to build appointment viewing so your viewers know the value of your newscasts–and know when to tune in for the biggest impact.  

By Tim Wolff

“Tonight at 5, this story, then at 5:30, that story, at 6, another story, and make sure to watch at 10 and 11 when we have another must-see story…”

This is what it can feel like to be a promotions producer, trying to figure out how to tell viewers they need to watch every newscast every day. Unfortunately for the viewers, they just can’t hold that many stories in their heads at once as critical, must-watch stories. Besides, 90% of the newscast isn’t really set until just a few hours before air. So how do you convince viewers there are times when they need to watch your news?

It’s a question that gets more complex every day, with time-shifted viewing and a plethora of places to find news. The biggest challenge, however, is the sheer amount of time local news is on. Many local ABC/CBS/NBC stations now do 3 hours in the morning, an hour at midday, 3 hours in the evening, and a late newscast, too. Some Fox stations add another 3 hours in the morning and sometimes 90 minutes at night. When you are on the air for 10 or 14 hours a day, you face the same challenge that 24/7 news stations face: how to avoid having your news turn into wallpaper for your viewers.

What you need is a reason for them to consciously turn you on, and, once there, to choose to watch you for longer. What you need is appointment television.

Trying for appointment TV

Some stations try to solve the appointment TV conundrum by switching the on-air talent. It’s almost like saying, “We might have the same stories at 4 o’clock and 5 o’clock, but different anchors are reading them, and because everyone in our DMA knows the names of each of our anchors and when they are on tv every day, it becomes appointment viewing for them. Unless someone is on vacation or working on sweeps–then the 5:00 anchor also anchors the 4 and the 6, but that only happens for 3 or 4 months out of the year.”

Right. Unless your anchor truly is a transcendent superstar (and there really are a few), their talent alone won’t create appointment viewing in the middle of a 3-hour block of news.

Some of you are thinking that what you really need to do is enterprise more, and ramp up promotions of big stories. While that is probably true, that is only a small dent in your news day. Your promotions team and your leadership might all be extremely focused on a great 4-minute investigative piece at 6 pm… but your viewers are hopefully also curious about the other 9 hours and 56 minutes of news. You’re not going to fill all that with enterprise news that you can spend limitless hours creating promotions for.

You’re also not going to add a whole bunch of staff to try to create more new content. Instead, what we are seeing at most stations are hours of news that are essentially repeats.  Some stations have even taken to repeating entire news blocks every half hour…but if you’re one of those stations, you may be beyond help.

Watch, repeat, repeat: the morning conundrum

I watched 4 hours of a local morning show recently, just to see what the viewer experience was like. This happened to be a station that did a lot of repeating; what you saw at 5am was mostly what you saw at 6am, at 7am, and 8am. They did mix in another reporter, and had one or two interview segments. But about 80% of the show was re-racked videos and scripts. Even the teases, which are the lifeblood of keeping viewers watching longer, were copied from one hour to the next.

Newsrooms might tell themselves that the repetition is fine, because the average morning viewer only watches for 20 minutes. Unfortunately, it is a self-fulfilling prophecy. As a viewer, would you keep watching a show where they teased stories you’d already seen?  Besides, the best way to get those viewers watching for a longer average is to give your loyal viewers a reason to watch longer.  Your loyal viewers like you. They want to watch more.  But the repetition just sends them away.

But you can’t add staff.  You can’t snap your fingers and have all the news be new.  And your producers can’t magically produce more stories while they are boothing 3 hours of live television.

Or can they? 

A solution to help your overworked staff

What you need is a simple, easy way to at least add a few new stories that will pop for the viewers. They need to be easy turns, and they are unlikely to magically appear on the wires or your affiliate feeds.

You need to help your staff find these stories, and social listening is a great way. There are products that will tell you which posts you and your competitors are having success with, or which stories are trending nationally. But what you really need is the next step: knowing what is just beginning to trend, and what will be trending with your local audience over the next few hours.  There’s a great tool called TopicPulse ContentAdvantage, which tells you what those stories are, and even tells you whether other news outlets are covering them. It even offers a quick, easy way for your staff to turn those stories into videos you can put on air (or online). And because it is predictive, your producers can have confidence that those new teases they quickly write will resonate with your audience.

 

You won’t be able to reduce that 80% repetition to 0%, but you might be able to get it to 60%, while feeling a lot fresher to your audience.  

 

It’s true in the evening news, too.  Once your 4pm news starts, your assignment desk is focused on crew logistics, your reporters, producers, crews and managers are focused on finishing their stories for air, and your digital team is busy putting out digital versions of what you’re airing.  If you’re on live from 4 to 6:30, then live again at 7, that doesn’t leave much time to be finding new news.  Having someone spend a few minutes in an efficient way finding stories your local audience is interested in can make all the difference in having something teaseworthy for the next newscast.  That’s the best way to create appointment viewing; when your viewers are already there, and need reasons to watch another newscast.

Finding those quick and easy stories and teasing them well may be all you need to turn your short-time viewers into long-watching viewers…and viewers who pay attention to your newscasts, instead of leaving them running quietly on the wall.

Tim Wolff is Vice President of TV and Digital Publishing Innovation at Futuri. He has 20+ years of experience as a digital and broadcasting leader who’s led top-performing teams across the country at companies including Gannet, Belo, and Cox Media Group Ohio, which includes three daily newspapers, three radio stations, WHIO-TV, and more. Wolff, who holds a Master’s in Journalism from the University of Missouri, also makes a mean green chile stew.

Want to learn more about this crucial topic, especially as sweeps approach? Enter your information below for immediate access to Tim Wolff’s webinar on this topic. 



https://futurimedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Blog_-1.png 355 640 Zena https://futurimedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/futuri-logo-.png Zena2021-04-12 13:29:472021-04-23 09:16:14Making Appointment TV When You Have 10 (14? 24?) Hours of News

Protected: The Power of TopLine

December 2, 2020/in Futuri Fundamentals/by Mia Cross

This content is password protected. To view it please enter your password below:

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9 Reasons We’re Thankful for Radio

November 25, 2020/in Futuri Fundamentals/by Mia Cross

As radio turns 100 this year, we’re more thankful for the role it plays in our lives than ever. Here are nine (of the many!) ways we’re thankful for radio today. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

Radio brings local communities together.

Radio brands know their audiences so very well. The local news, sports, health information, promotions, and more that they deliver on-air, on socials, on their websites, and in their podcasts play a vital role in their communities.

Radio is free, 24/7, 365.

One constant over radio’s 100 years: Listeners can access local radio content at no cost to them. Paywalled or subscription content is interesting and appeals to many, but having the core radio product remain free and available to all without requiring expensive devices is one of the many reasons radio has remained important to the communities it serves. 

Radio doesn’t go offline or require wifi. 

Other than the rare and brief moments of dreaded dead air, radio is always there for you. When the power goes out, radio is still there. When the internet goes down, radio is still there. When your device isn’t working, radio is still on the air.

Radio provides choices — but not an overwhelming number of choices.

Over time, one cultivates their group of presets or go-to radio brands that they rotate through as their mood or situation changes. You don’t need to scroll through 1,000 stations or put the work into cultivating a playlist. Radio brands work hard to provide content their listeners want to 

Radio creates memories.

Think about the heritage brands you grew up listening to. Chances are that you have memories of those brands that are like comfort food for the brain that simply can’t be replaced or recreated with another medium. Many of today’s radio brands are embracing digital methods to create those same types of memories with younger audiences. 

Radio highlights local businesses.

Local advertisers + great copy and production = yet another way radio plays a unique, irreplaceable role in its communities. 

Radio keeps you in the know.

No other medium can match the speed, accuracy, and trustworthiness of radio brands when it comes to delivering the big news you want to know about. Whether it’s updates on your favorite local sports teams, weather alerts, bad traffic alerts, celebrity life events, or any number of other topics, you’ll frequently hear it first from a station’s broadcast or mobile app notification. Futuri partners WSB in Atlanta and KRMG in Tulsa are two brands that do this particularly well.

Radio personalities are like trusted friends. 

You come to look forward to your favorite personalities’ takes on what’s happening in the world just about every day. Personalities that are great about maintaining an ongoing relationship with their audience make their key content available on-demand for those days when you just can’t listen live, or go deeper with original podcast content. Some of our favorites are The Dave Ryan Show on 101.3 KDWB in Minneapolis, Greg & The Morning Buzz on Rock 101 WGIR-FM in Manchester and 100.3 WHEB in Portsmouth, and Dave & Chuck the Freak on 101 WRIF in Detroit. 

Radio is made up of incredible people in front of and behind the mic.

While personalities play a big role in what makes radio special, there are so many passionate people working in all aspects of the business. From Programming to Sales to Production to Marketing to Traffic to Digital and more, radio professionals are a truly special breed.

https://futurimedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/THANKFUL-BLOG-IMAGE-2.png 355 640 Mia Cross https://futurimedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/futuri-logo-.png Mia Cross2020-11-25 09:42:372020-11-25 09:42:379 Reasons We’re Thankful for Radio

Grow Your Content

June 10, 2020/in Futuri Fundamentals/by kara

With Futuri solutions, you’ll never need to worry about your content being stale, hard to find, or time-consuming to produce. With easy-to-use technology that’s been proven to deliver Nielsen-verified ratings growth, Futuri gives you the magic touch.

  • Enhance your ratings performance: Get ahead of your competition with Futuri tools specifically designed to deliver proven ratings growth.
  • Enhance your insights: Never lose the attention of your audience or sponsor. Get them leaning in with access to AI that tells you exactly what your audience wants to hear at the moment.
  • Enhance your abilities: Your team will operate up to 40% more efficiently with Futuri solutions that automate time-consuming tasks and simplify content production.
https://futurimedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/futuri-logo-.png 0 0 kara https://futurimedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/futuri-logo-.png kara2020-06-10 16:07:032020-07-19 21:32:53Grow Your Content

Grow Your Revenue

June 10, 2020/in Futuri Fundamentals/by kara

Futuri arms your sales team with AI-powered tools and insights that help close more deals and increase sales team productivity by up to 20%. You’ll have a magical edge on your competition.

  • Expand your opportunities: Never lose a deal with more persuasive sales stories to close more business. Futuri solutions helped deliver $125 million in revenue for our partners last year.
  • Expand your client base: Uncover new prospects and open doors with the “right” prospects when they’re more likely to buy.
  • Expand your capabilities: Earn more money from each client as Futuri insights shift your team to a solutions-based approach to how best to help clients achieve their business goals.
https://futurimedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/futuri-logo-.png 0 0 kara https://futurimedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/futuri-logo-.png kara2020-06-10 16:06:302020-07-19 21:35:34Grow Your Revenue

Grow Your Audience

June 10, 2020/in Futuri Fundamentals/by kara

A large audience is good, but an engaged audience delivers higher ratings and higher revenues. Futuri’s solutions magically solve your audience engagement challenges using AI and content that has more than doubled audience for some Futuri partners.

  • Engage intelligently: The Futuri team arms you with up-to-the-minute insights into how your audience’s habits are evolving so you can execute strategies to keep them engaged in their new normal.
  • Engage efficiently: With social content matched to what’s relevant to your specific target audience, you’ll create digital marketing opportunities at a fraction of the cost of traditional methods like outdoor.
  • Engage everywhere: Getting your content on the platforms that will deliver the highest ROI is quick and easy with Futuri solutions.
https://futurimedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/futuri-logo-.png 0 0 kara https://futurimedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/futuri-logo-.png kara2020-06-10 16:06:112020-07-20 20:29:09Grow Your Audience
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Futuri is the leading provider of cloud-based audience engagement software for the enterprise. Brands rely on Futuri to make their content more relevant, accessible, engaging, and results-driven. Founded in 2009, Futuri holds 12 published or pending patents in 151 countries. Named to the Inc. 5000 List of America’s Fastest-Growing Private Companies for seven consecutive years, Futuri is the only audience engagement platform that includes solutions for sales, marketing, and content teams.

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