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If you buy into the notion that networks are cutting back on local affiliates’ newscasts, think again. Earlier this year Jack Abernethy, CEO of Fox Television Stations, announced local news expansions in eight key markets across the nation. Some stations are adding evening news; others are launching weekend newscasts. WJZY Fox Carolinas, in Charlotte, North Carolina, is adding a bit of everything.
“We’re really building everything from scratch,” says Karen Adams, WJZY’s vice president and general manager.
A former CW affiliate, WJZY had no local news when it joined Fox in 2013. Their hour-long Fox News Carolinas Primetime newscast launched in January, a 6:00 to 7:00 PM newscast was added in June, and in August they launched Good Day Carolinas, a morning show that airs seven days a week.
“There’s nothing greater than news expansion, but to do it all within eight months is pretty staggering,” Adams says.
On-air spots and social media have played major roles in promoting those changes to WJZY’s 22-county DMA, but cable and radio spots, event marketing, promotional items, and out-of-home advertising are all part of the mix for Good Day Carolinas.
“We’re doing a lot of billboards, and digital billboards as well. And we’re doing some transit. On the entire inside of the bus or train, we’ve taken over all of the ad space, even the ceiling,“ says Council Bradshaw, WJZY’s vice president of creative services. He says people exiting trains at roughly three-quarters of area train stations will see even more signage.
“It’s going to all hit at once to make a huge splash, both on air and off, but mostly on social media since that’s where you can really engage and get those two-way conversations going,” Adams says.
Sheeka Strickland, WJZY’s manager of digital media, introduced Good Day Carolinas on-air talent via informal Facebook introductions. In some promos the talent were asked things like, “Are you a morning person?” or “What’s your favorite breakfast food?” instead of typical background questions.
“We’re also doing promos on our YouTube page that will link to information on our website,” Strickland says. “My favorite part of our social media plan is that all across social media we’re asking people to do their own videos of themselves saying ‘You’re watching Good Day Carolinas,’ and we’re going to play those videos on our morning show.”
On-air spots — even bloopers — will be repurposed on social media and the station’s YouTube channel.
Social media plays a key role in Philadelphia’s WTXF’s new newscast, #Fox29Weekend, which will air Saturdays and Sundays starting in September.
“It’s a social media-driven show, a viewer-involved show,” says WTXF’s vice president and news director Jim Driscoll. “We’re hoping to break down the walls of the newsroom. People can be part of the show by Skype-ing or FaceTiming us and being a part of our extended news team.”
The goal is to attract Millennial viewers who don’t normally watch a lot of TV news by using social media to generate content and promote upcoming broadcasts.
“We’ve done a really good job engaging our viewers on our social media platforms. It’s helped explode our website,” Driscoll says. “We’re hoping to take that to the next level when we launch this show and really use social media as a way of getting them hooked on it.”
A hashtag-themed teaser campaign began about a month ahead of the show’s launch to build awareness on social media.
“We launched a YouTube channel, and we have a tremendous following on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. This is a truly a social media-driven show, so that’s the platform we’re going to use to promote it,” says Audrey Fish, vice president of creative services at WTFX. “It’s a natural way to think about it and promote it.”
KTBC Fox 7 in Austin, Texas added a half-hour newscast immediately following its hour-long primetime news, creating a 90-minute news block. “It’s two separate shows with two different looks and feels,” explains Kathie Smith, KTBC’s vice president of creative services. The new time puts KTBC’s popular anchor, Christine Haas, back in the time-slot she dominated at another Austin station from 2003 to 2008.
“She was featured prominently in the on-air campaign we started about ten days out,” says Smith, noting that promotions manager Lorena Higuera was the brainchild behind the station’s social media strategy.
“Our social media push really started post-launch,” says Smith. “Christine posts content-driven posts on her station Facebook page, we share that on our My Fox Austin Facebook page and link back to our website where we have side panels. You can’t miss the message. By the time you get to our website you’re fully aware when the newscast is on and that she’s the main anchor.”
Haas’ posts center on current news topics, solicit viewer opinions, and encourage people to tune in. Haas also has some radio exposure coming up, and the new late newscast will also be promoted along with Fox Prime in September.
Ratings, positioning, and demographics are important, but Smith thinks time-shifting is a new reason local stations are expanding news.
“There’s a high demand for advertising with live news content,” she says. “Other than live sports, you don’t have a lot of opportunities anymore to reach live audiences, so there’s a big demand for live news. Our sales department recognized that, and we has a station recognized it as well. It just made sense to do it now.”
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