Tribune Interactive announced it has signed an agreement to provide the digital platform for more than 60 newspaper, radio and television station websites owned by Schurz Communications.
Tribune Interactive (TI) offers a toolset known as “Power to the Producers” or “P2P,” blending power and performance with flexibility and freedom. Schurz plans to use the innovative platform to re-launch the websites of all of its media properties later this summer.
“Using P2P will be a significant forward step for Schurz,” says Kerry Oslund, VP/Digital, Schurz Communications. “We’re certain that a shared, common platform will let our publishing and broadcast partners collaborate better and compete more effectively in the online space. Tribune Interactive gives us exciting new ways to serve both clients and consumers.”
Under the agreement, TI will provide Schurz with the digital technology, syndicated content and customer service necessary to power the company’s newly enhanced websites. TI has a track record of success with P2P, having deployed it across more than 50 news and entertainment websites, including chicagotribune.com, latimes.com, wpix.com (New York), ktla.com (Los Angeles), as well as the television websites of Local TV LLC.
“The combination of P2P’s technology, syndicated content, and TI’s incredible customer support has made a big difference for our 19 television stations. Since we launched on this platform 13 months ago, we have shattered our audience records; growing monthly unique visitors by 35% and page views by 80%. The intuitive toolset has not only given us more to sell, but more time to sell it,” said Steve Baron, VP/Interactive Content for LocalTV LLC.
P2P is currently available to businesses individually or as part of an innovative suite of online platform and service solutions.
“We know the extraordinary demands of leveraging a syndicated network across multiple platforms and diverse media partnerships. These solutions have been painstakingly developed and tested to operate with maximum efficiency, whether yours is a breaking news website in a large metropolis or an FM radio station in a small town. We know our solutions work—after all, we’re a client,” says Marc Chase, President of Tribune Interactive.
Indiana-based Schurz owns 10 TV stations, 13 radio stations (and operates three others), 11 daily and eight weekly newspapers.
RBR-TVBR observation: We’ve obviously seen several of the Tribune websites, since its TV stations and newspapers are large market operations and well-known as news sites. While there are some similarities, it is clear that the TI Internet platform can be customized quite a bit to fit the needs of the local media outlet. It will be interesting to see it implemented in the smaller markets where Schurz operates.
