Dot bomb: Redux
This week's not guilty verdict in the Hugo Selenski trial proved just how valuable a website can be to a TV station. Within minutes of the verdict, WNEP had a story posted online, with updates as they were made available. WBRE, on the other hand, waited until later that afternoon to post a pitiful story of only a few lines. The story on WYOU's website is even shorter.
I know getting Nexstar to spend money on a better website is like getting water from a stone, but more TV stations are investing in websites with actual information. I've covered this before, and it bears repeating. More people go online to get their news, and if you've got a big story, why wait until the 5 p.m. newscast to have the full story? You can slap the information you have on your website, and direct readers to watch your newscast for more info.
(And if you want to make the bean counters happy, just slam a bunch of ads on the website, and let the sales department worry about it. It seems to work for WNEP!)
Fact is, a well-done website is becoming a requirement for TV stations. As I mentioned in January, stations in Elmira and Binghamton (Markets 173 and 154, respectively) can manage to throw together an informative website. Why not WBRE and WYOU?
I know getting Nexstar to spend money on a better website is like getting water from a stone, but more TV stations are investing in websites with actual information. I've covered this before, and it bears repeating. More people go online to get their news, and if you've got a big story, why wait until the 5 p.m. newscast to have the full story? You can slap the information you have on your website, and direct readers to watch your newscast for more info.
(And if you want to make the bean counters happy, just slam a bunch of ads on the website, and let the sales department worry about it. It seems to work for WNEP!)
Fact is, a well-done website is becoming a requirement for TV stations. As I mentioned in January, stations in Elmira and Binghamton (Markets 173 and 154, respectively) can manage to throw together an informative website. Why not WBRE and WYOU?
posted by Howard Beale at 8:09 PM
15 Comments:
WBRE and WYOU need BETTER management PERIOD. Example: Who in their right minds with any programming experience would place The King of the Hill during the 7 to 8 PM hour and expect any ratings?
To Anonymous: They don't air King of the Hill in the 7 to 8 PM hour, They air it during late night, and a matter of fact, there are some people who do watch it because they can't sleep, or just got home. 7 to 8 PM is there entertainment news hour with "The Insider" and "ET." But yes, Nexstar needs better management.
Keep in mind that much of the "management" decisions on programming don't come from in-house. As far as the websites go, from what I understand the layout and design of the site is corporate dictated and managed by a couple of not-too-terribly experienced people at corporate. Now, that doesn't mean that the content of the stories couldn't be better, that's for sure. But hands are really tied at WBRE and WYOU when it comes to the websites. They have been begging for their own web department and control for a long time now, knowing that in-house web managment is important and would make all the difference.
Why doesn't Nexstar transfer someone from the "lame excuses" department to the "web department?"
WNEP had canned multiple versions of the Hugo story for their website - then posted the appropriate one immediately when the verdict came down.
However in the process of preparing it, they accidentally posted a "Hugo Guilty" story to their site on Monday!
See Talkback 16 thread here:
http://www.wnep.com/Global/link.asp?L=103920&messageID=227036&numReps=7
ouch mr. 10:25am. What about that blog would make you get so nasty? And if there WAS a "web department" their site would be much better than it is. That's not an excuse, that's fact, and so is the point that Nexstar thus far hasn't allowed one. Try to relax this weekend and lose the bitter attitude.
Mr. 10:25 am here... I've never seen a bigger group of excuse makers than Nexstar employees... we don't have the people, we don't have the money, we don't have the leadership, we don't have a web department, the ratings company is screwing us, the dog ate my homework, an evil demented gnome stole my pencil...
You should see the dump where I work. We have nothing to work with, yet we get a better than passable product on the air every day. Tell someone get off their lazy butt and update the dang web site once in a while. It's not that hard.
The fault lies not in our Nexstars, but in ourselves.
There is no doubt in my mind, a station without a decent website, today, is not a decent station. More and more people are depending on the web for news/weather/sports, and WNEP is definitly in the need. No huge surprise, but how could they not, with an admirable website and cell phone access. Away from home this week, I realized how crucial a stations website (and mobile site) is. Just because the Nexstar stations are having "issues' and are "begging" does not mean that they can't post info online in a timely manner.
The only people that post on the WBRE/WYOU websites are the producers, and then it is usually at the end of their shifts so they want to get home. Nexstar really needs to get an in house person to handle at least the story aspect of the website.
They DID air "King of the Hill" at 7 or 7:30 pm when they first started running it. Like most of the other same shows they picked and placed in the wrong time slot, it ended up running late nights.
Remember what fills a "dump" mr. 10:25 am. It's the garbage that fills a newsroom with the low-morale crap you dish out. It spreads like a cancer. If you think it's such a dump, just leave. They'd be better off without you. As far as that WBRE/WYOU website goes, I never said the content was award-winning. It's pretty pathetic. They're hands are tied with design and layout. That is corporate controlled, and unless someone learns to hack into corporate, or volunteers to head up a web department for free, they are pretty S.O.L. Are you volunteering?? I'm sure you would get your oh-so-energetic and holier-than-thou saintly butt up and man the website for free, wouldn't you?? DOUBT IT!
Mr. 1025 again... Yes, my station is a dump. I'm part of the solution, not part of the problem. I'm working to make it better, and I'm making myself better in the process. A previous poster said the producers add content to the web site. Tell the producers to get off their lazy butts and do something.
It looks like Nexstar management reads this blog. I've noticed more updates on the WBRE and WYOU web sites. It's still weak. Other stations are doing a lot more.
Typical Nexstar half a**ed effort.
WELL,WELL,WELL, AS AN INSIDER AT WNEP TV IT WAS ASTONISHING HOW THE GENERAL MANAGER SAT US ALL DOWN (IN A CIRCLE BY THE WAY) TO DISCUSS THE WNEP "FAMILY." IT WAS SO TOUCHING WHEN GM, SWEET LOU KIRCHEN, AKA "THE BIG BAD WOLF" WITH A TEAR IN HER EYE SAID HOW DISAPPOINTED SHE WAS THAT SOMEONE INSIDE THE WNEP (DISFUNCTIONAL) FAMILY WOULD EVER DISCUSS THE FAMILY BUSINESS OUTSIDE THE GREAT WALL OF NEP. AS A LONG TIME EMPLOYEE OF THE STATION, HAVING WORKED FOR THREE DIFFERENT OWNERS, I HAVE NEVER SEEN MORALE SO LOW AT THE LOCAL MEDIA GIANT. FOR EXAMPLE, THE DAILY WITCH HUNTS FOR A BLAME BITCH, THE LACK OF BODIES TO AS THEY SAY IN THE NEWSROOM NEEDED TO "FEED THE NEWS MONSTER," THE CUTS IN RETIREMENT BENEFITS FOR LONG TIME LOYAL EMPLOYEES AND THE DEN OF RATS (wipe the brown lipstick off) INSIDE CAUSING PROBLEMS FOR FELLOW WORKERS JUST BECAUSE THEY CAN. THIS IS THE WNEP FAMILY. THAT WELL MANNERED "MAY I HELP YOU" CLAN OF TOTALLY DISATISFIED MUPPETS, FOLLOWING THE SACRED "RULES OF THE ROAD," AS DICTATED BY THE NEW YORK TIMES CORPORATE LEFTIST CZARS. IT IS A PERFECT EXAMPLE OF DO AS I SAY, NOT AS I DO, SINCE THE RULES ONLY APPLY TO THE LOWEST FORMS OF LIFE IN THEIR FOOD CHAIN. RECENTLY AN EMPLOYEE WAS FIRED FOR AN INDESCRETION. THE INDISCRETION WAS WITH A MEMBER OF MIDDLE MANAGEMENT, THE MANAGER GOT A WEEK OFF WITHOUT PAY. HOW DO THE RULES OF THE ROAD APPLY TO THAT SITUATION? WELL, THERE IT IS! JUST ONE...BIG...HAPPY...FAMILY! HA HA HA.
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