More Important to Retain Viewers or Attract New Ones?

[overthehill]

Develop a strategy for your station's newscasts:

1. Retain the viewers you have, prevent further erosion of audience, hang on

or

2. Attract new viewers, ones now watching another channel(s) or not watching at all

What factors figure in your decision?

Is the answer unique to each station and market?

Is this strictly promotion's concern or can you format your newscasts to help achieve the goal?

Have viewers grown savvy to our "live, local, late breaking" approach?

Do viewers know we're trying to "hook and hold" them in early segments of newscasts?

[ August 28, 2007, 06:41 AM: Message edited by: overthehill ]

[LENSCRAFTER]

In our market at least... it appears that the oldest station is looking to attract NEW viewers and could care less about the old ones.

They've spent a LOT of money on the launch of their new website and it is GOD AWFUL. Viewers are even posting in their comment section about how much they hate... but the station could care less.

You barely know you are on a tv station website... but apparently that's what they want.

Check it out... I think it sucks.

www.digtriad.com (http://www.digtriad.com)

[DoneThatToo]

You have to look at where you are and where you want to be. Are your current viewers a large portion of the audience or a nitch segment? Do you currently get your share plus of the market consumer dollars (meaning do your advertisers feel they get a good return on their investment in your air time)? Is another station pulling in more revenue with a different section of the viewer population? So many things to look at.

The trick is to find where the next source of money is to be made, what area of the population will have the dollars to spend on your advertisers products. Find the source and met the demands of what they want to see. And by all means think out side of the (TV) box! Drive your web and mobile products, and if you don't have those then your are truly in trouble.

[overthehill]

LENS: I'd agree that the site has NOTHING to do with television.

However, I think many stations are using this strategy of getting away from call letters, channel numbers and such...to become a "portal" or "all things" Website to the community/market. Not sure I agree with that strategy but...it's happening. In my market the legendary station, heritage station (whatever you call it) is dropping a long time call-letters web address to become a "community portal" hoping to attract more web users/hits and advertising revenue.

I fully recognize that a station's Website/image on the Internet is CRITICAL. But is the Web the ONLY method to reach ANYONE NEW???

[ August 28, 2007, 07:06 AM: Message edited by: overthehill ]

[LENSCRAFTER]

Good explanation overthehill. And they could be making EXACTLY the right move. I'm just one of those old viewers I guess... resistent to too much change at once.

[Jane Craig]

Whether to adopt a REACH-primary or FREQUENCY-primary strategy depends on where you stand now.

If you have a lot of viewers but they don't watch often, you may gain the most by getting them to watch ust once more each week. On the other hand, if you have a cadre of loyal viewers who watch often, you may be maxed out with them and need to draw new people to your air.

The more "desirable" viewers (from the standpoint of Mindy the Twentysomething Media Buyer) aren't as available and don't watch as much as the "undesirable" older folks who are faithful news viewers, so you actually need more of these lower-frequency people to equal a smaller but more frequent audience.

One thing to consider -- it's generally wisest to start your strategy with late news -- finding ways to keep viewers at news time. You can use prime to reel them in, and if they go to bed with the set on your station, you have "right of first refusal" with them in the morning as well. Early-evening viewing habits are harder to move, generally speaking.

And one way to get the younger viewers accustomed to looking to you for news is with your website -- something they can check during their work day, etc.

[ August 28, 2007, 08:08 AM: Message edited by: Jane Craig ]

[jrat33]

Yes.

[TV Dad]

Ideally, you'd want to do both...hang onto loyal viewers while also attracting new viewers. I think it's a crap-shoot to chase after those who don't watch very much tv or who prefer another station. It's the old "bird in the hand vs two in the bush". Yes, two birds are better than one, but ONLY if you're certain you can catch them.

[ August 28, 2007, 08:41 AM: Message edited by: TV Dad ]

[News Is Broken]

The short answer is: Go for the new viewer (people not watching local news at all). There's far more of them than there is local news viewers for all local stations combined.

I recommend giving away expensive prizes daily and hiring total babes to accomplish this.

[Obewon]

Television News Strategy is an oxymoron.

Decision making on issues like this is, and always has been, nothing more than machine gunning into a dark closet.

You're talking about 30-something idiot salesmen who got promoted to GM to manage an extremely complex business about which they haven't the slightest clue.

Most of them I'll wager, had never set foot in a newsroom before getting the big promotion. They are all quick fix artists in a business for which there are no quick fixes (unless an airplane hits someone's tower)

That's why the consultants continue to thrive. The salesmen, being blowhards, are totally dependent on the consultants in order to know which way to pass gas.

Anybody who claims to know what works in the news ratings game is a fraud and anyone who listens to them is a moron.

Take it from someone who spent thirty years being both.

[ August 28, 2007, 09:05 AM: Message edited by: Obewon ]

[Consider This]

Originally posted by overthehill:
Develop a strategy for your station's newscasts:

1. Retain the viewers you have, prevent further erosion of audience, hang on

or

2. Attract new viewers, ones now watching another channel(s) or not watching at all
-- Or --

3. Get viewers you already have to watch you more often. People who call themselves regular viewers might watch only twice a week. Or they watch only one newscast. Give them reasons to tune in more often and at different times and you'll grow your ratings with people who already like your product.

Then you focus on the first two options.

[News Is Broken]

Originally posted by Consider This:
3. Get viewers you already have to watch you more often. People who call themselves regular viewers might watch only twice a week. Or they watch only one newscast. Give them reasons to tune in more often and at different times and you'll grow your ratings with people who already like your product.

Then you focus on the first two options.Adding to this, you can never have too much of stories like "there's something in your tap water that might kill your whole family - details tonight at 11."

[Roy Hobbs]

The key for Today's NewsChannel is to be On Your Side with The Spirit Of having News That Matters Most in The First Ten Minutes of The Home Team on Your NewsChannel.

[News Is Broken]

You forgot to add the part about the news that matters most to YOU.

[Another side]

Originally posted by Consider This:
3. Get viewers you already have to watch you more often. People who call themselves regular viewers might watch only twice a week. Or they watch only one newscast. Give them reasons to tune in more often and at different times and you'll grow your ratings with people who already like your product.Sorry ... I've never found this to be a reasonable expectation. Most viewers have lives and routines, and if we can get them to tune to us for news, once a day, day in and day out, then I think we've accomplished something.

But to hammer them with "Watch us at 6 and 10 ... and don't forget the early show ... and if you happen to be around at noon ... and we've got a 5 p.m. show, too ... " and expect them to do that isn't very realistic.

I think Jane hit it -- focus on your 10/11, and reel them in from there.

And Obewon ... I know only one 30-something GM ... and he came up through news.

[Consider This]

Originally posted by Another side:

Most viewers have lives and routines, and if we can get them to tune to us for news, once a day, day in and day out, then I think we've accomplished something.
If you can do that you have accomplished something. But few of those who consider themselves regular viewers watch every day, day in and day out.

In some meeting a few years ago, our ND cited research that showed people who considered themselves loyal to our station still watched as few as two days a week.

If you can get the same people who already say they prefer your news but watch it only twice a week to tune in five times a week instead, you've raised your ratings without having to earn new fans.