Not long after Tampa-based Genesis Communications debuted Newstalkflorida.com, combining its three News/News-Talk Florida stations into one main online destination, the company has launched www.espnflorida.com, following a similar template for its three ESPN affiliates in Florida.
The stations include WHBO ESPN AM 1040 in Tampa Bay; and in Orlando, WHOO ESPN AM 1080 and WAMT ESPN Deportes AM 1190.
Like Newstalkflorida.com, all three ESPN stations have separate tabs on the main site. If you go to www.espnflorida.com/espn-1080, you’ll land on www.espnflorida.com, but the WHOO sub-site of www.espnflorida.com. So each station still has its own identity and the ability to publish Sports news and content related to that market, but now there is also a catch-all for everything going on state-wide and nationally as well. This way, advertisers get more value for their buys, as the new portal has the ability to attract a greater audience share because of its depth.
The new site will bring a broad and deep range of continuously updated sports covering the entire state of Florida plus national sports updates. Up-to-date sports news will come from all areas of the state of Florida from bureaus in Jacksonville, Miami, Orlando, Tampa, Tallahassee, Ft. Lauderdale, and Gainesville. These news stories will be produced by regional bloggers/Insiders, to guarantee relevance and accuracy. ESPN Florida Insiders will cover: Rays, Buccaneers, UCF, USF, UF, FSU, Miami Hurricanes, Heat, Marlins, Magic, Lighting, and the NFL throughout the state.
“Each station still maintains its own brand and voice while gaining from the combined audience,” said Bruce Maduri, Genesis CEO. “We are now able to service the entire state. With help from our dedicated Web team that manages sports gathering and interfaces directly with our sales team, our broadcast team and our statewide insiders insure that we have the very latest sports news and information on site every day.”
RBR-TVBR note: Look for a deeper report on Genesis and Maduri’s strategy in RBR-TVBR’s Q4 Manager’s Business Report—coming in early December. RBR-TVBR will take you on an inside look from the ground up to where and how Radio and TV local stations can develop a strong local and regional presence in today’s digital business world. This approach and business plan of On-air into the internet is they way Radio must go to survive and become competitive in the internet business world. – NOT signed up for MBR, then do it now: MBR sign up
