Kudos to NBC! Monday they announced an initiative to create "locals only" web sites in each market they serve featuring news, information, entertainment, blogs, and social networking capabilities...sounds a lot like what our friends at Castanet.net have been doing for years in Kelowna, British Columbia.
Big markets like Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego will be among the first to revamp their sites and will have names like nbcsanfrancisco.com. It will still reference the NBC brand but will take a step toward developing a new brand with a new feel in each market.
"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 of NBC Local Media, in a statement. He added that NBC wants to create online destinations for news, entertainment and cultural happenings rather than to simply serve as extensions of local TV stations.
In doing so, the network is targeting a group it calls "social capitalists"--young, well-educated influencers who "care significantly about local news and information and serve as fonts of information in the community," said Brian Buchwald, senior vice president of NBC Local Integrated Media."
The article in MediaPost says Philadelphia & Washington DC will roll out October 20th while New York and Hartford will debut October 27th.
"Stand-alone Internet companies such as Yahoo and Local.com account for 57.3% of local online ad dollars, followed by newspapers (24.6%), directories (7.8%) and TV stations (6.9%), according to a report from local media research firm Chicago-based Borrell Associates earlier this year. "
It's not to late in any market to review your strategy and develop the same kind of site to serve your community, just be prepared for some new competition from the NBC affiliates that wasn't as localized as before.
To read the entire article click here