NBC Local Media lives up to its name

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The Peacock Network’s O&O station group is launching new websites targeting “Locals Only” with news, entertainment and information. The first has launched in Chicago, with all eight to be up and going by the last week of this month.


"These sites are a departure from what we’ve done in the past and the next step in our mission to provide truly relevant local content to consumers on the media platform of their choice," said John Wallace, President, NBC Local Media.

WMAQ’s new site is up and running, so you can see it at www.nbcchicago.com
 
The Chicago site will be driven by the local and national NBC Chicago.com editors, who will manage exclusive on-line content from the NBC 5 news team, local sports, news and entertainment bloggers and partners like the Chicago Sun-Times and Crain’s.

“This is a new type of user experience for the market that’s less of an extension of our television station and more of an online destination for the latest local news information and entertainment coming out of Chicago,” said Larry Wert, President, Central & Western, NBC Local Media.

NBC Local Media says the new websites will target a specific online community that wants to know more about their local cities – whether they live in them or not. They are highly social, digitally savvy and extremely interested in staying on top of the latest local news and information. They also enjoy the trappings of urban life – such as music, food, fashion, and museums – and have an interest in creating, experimenting, sharing and critiquing all they experience.

"When we decided to change the focus of our business, we specifically set out to target people who loved their cities, embrace change and have a huge appetite for local news and information. What we found is the group we’re calling ‘Social Capitalists,’ who are less about a specific demo and more about a state of mind. They’re passionate, like to stay ahead of the curve and influence others in their peer groups. We’re confident these new sites will deliver what they’re looking for as we experiment and learn together," said Brian Buchwald, Senior Vice President of NBC Local Integrated Media.

Following the Chicago debut this week, Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco will go live on October 16; then Dallas, Philadelphia and Washington, DC on October 20; and New York and Hartford on October 27.

Each site will have an entirely new look and feel with easy to use navigation features. Content will be aggregated from multiple sources – in many cases linking to outside content providers or contributed by the audience itself. The online features will also be created with a more integrated approach, using text, videos, blogs, or whatever medium is appropriate, to tell the full story.

"Our goal was to create a new type of user experience that’s less an extension of our TV stations and more of an online destination for the latest local news, information and entertainment. These sites are about putting consumers first and giving them the content they’re looking for from the best available sources,” said Wallace.

RBR/TVBR observation: Nobody does local better than broadcasters. So, why not play to your strong suite on the Web? The more focused and local a TV station’s website is, the more people will want to go there to find stuff that pertains to their own lives. Your station’s site is not likely to draw people from around the globe wanting your take on international and national events, so why devote a lot of space to material that can be found in thousands of other places? Rather, give people local information that they will find in few, if any other places. Let them sound off on local issues. Give local advertisers a reason to want to be on your site. NBC Local Media is on the right course.