SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE BY BROADCAST STATIONS

1. SOCIAL MEDIA USAGE BY BROADCAST STATIONS Frank e. parcells, ph. D., professor, austinpeay STATE UNIVersity Broadcast education association convention 2013, lasvegas, nv

2. Broadcast stations enjoy well established web presence, but social media use? • Marszalek (2012) notes that Twitter and Facebook have quickly become one of the basics for TV news. • Amy Wood, an anchor at WSPA-TV, in Greenville-Spartanburg, S.C.-Asheville, N.C. (DMA #37), carries on a daily, near round-the-clock conversation with viewers via social media. • In Chicago, Nancy Loo, a reporter at Tribune’s flagship WGN, wants to stay connected to “on as many social media platforms as I can.” Loo’s on-air story about the nearly complete recovery of a seven-year-old shooting victim was “liked” 704 times and shared 26 times within five hours of being posted online for her 312,000 Facebook subscribers.

3. NEWSPAPER REVENUES DECLINING • Traditional newspapers continue to lose ad revenuesand daily metropolitan newspapers must seek other ad revenue sources to make up the difference. • One such revenue source is moving primary publishing functions online. • Newspaper use of social media to establish still another revenue source is clearly one workable option.

4. THE PRINT NEWSPAPER BUSINESS IS REALLY HURTING TODAY THE American newspaper business is “stagnant” ONLINE OFFERS NEWSPAPERS A COMPETITIVE HOPE In 2003, Bennett points out, newspapers collected a mere $1.2 billion from their online operations; in 2012 the figure was nearly $2.7 billion. Newspaper print income has losses, while online newspapers have growth. • Farhi (2008) notes that the print business is "stagnant," acknowledged by the Newspaper Association of America's media guru, Randy Bennett. • He says newspapers have staked out a solid position online.

5. NEWSPAPERS: PRINT REVENUE DOWN – ONLINE REVENUE UP • Rapidly declining ad revenues continue to be the newspaper industry’s core problem. • The losses in 2011 were slightly worse than those of 2010, – 7.3% compared to 6.3%. • Ad revenues are now less than half what they were in 2006.

6. NEWSPAPER REVENUE GROWING ONLINE

7. NEWSPAPERS CHALLENGE BROADCAST STATIONS THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA ONLINE PRESENCE • Newspapers share collaborative outsourced news services. • Newspapers are offering customized news services. • Newspapers are offering branded communities via the social media. • Burying traditional journalism by going to all-online editions. • Newspapers are offering social media journalism which is popular with the younger, visually-oriented, generations. • Newspaper reporters are familiar with building relationships through contact networks. • Newspapers offer Twitter news headlines. • Newspapers acquire social media service providers. • Newspapers create more online events to attract readers. • Newspapers are promoting and monetizing user-provided content. • Newspapers are building story-based social media communities. • Publishing application programming interfaces (APIs) for third party software developers.

8. TV Series employ social media strategies • Smart networks have realized that social media is a great way to create conversation about the cultural touchstones of television. • Bones (Fox), The Big Bang Theory (CBS), and The Walking Dead (AMC) are three good examples of shows employing a social media strategy for their consumers. • Television programs face a special set of challenges when formulating their social media plans. • People enjoy TV on their laptops and mobile devices, or sometimes browsing on one of those gadgets while streaming the show in the background — the so-called “second screen” phenomenon.

9. SOCIAL MEDIA “LIKES” FOR CORDILLERA COMMUNICATIONS TV STATIONS

10. LOCAL TV NEWS STILL DECLINING THROUGH 2011

11. LOCAL BROADCAST TV AD REVENUE DECLINING

12. Local tv station websites cut back while local tv station social media usE increases

13. Social media add value to local tv stations • Social media not only represent a high octane fuel for driving viewership, but they can also empower account reps to offer advertisers the cross-platform marketing promotions that can transport viewers from programming to digital destinations. • Those under age 18 account for 34% of the overall social media population, yet make up only 12% of the population on social media sites talking about TV. • Traditionally, higher ratings and greater ad revenues have always traveled on the same road. • The more viewers, the easier it is to attract advertisers and the higher the price for spots. • It’s that old law of supply and demand. • Social media tools are quickly becoming a hybrid powerhouse for achieving both outcomes.

14. Social media add value to local tv stations • In the 25-34 year-old demographic, which typically accounts for 17% of the overall social media population, represent nearly 30% of the of the population talking about TV on social media sites. • There is very little difference between the use of social media by ethnicity. • The highest uses of social media coincide with the days when many major shows air.

15. Social media add value to local tv stations • Local TV stations are discovering the value of social media by tying local programming to Facebook and Twitter. • Examples include KOMU Columbia-Jefferson, Mo., where the station’s Facebook page was used by its Facebook fans to coordinate and share important information following the tornado that hit Joplin.

16. Facebook & twitter still another promotional and information tool for television • In 2013, U.S. advertisers are expected to spend $4.81-billion on social network advertising, up 23.4% over 2012. • Facebook will get the vast majority of social network ad revenues. • In 2012, Facebook’s tally amounted to $5.78 billion, OR 72%: $7 out of every $10 spent on social network advertising revenues, and accounting for 7.9% of all online ad spending in the U.S. • When Barack Obama was elected to the U. S. Presidency over Mitt Romney, the major news outlets all tweeted the results updating TV viewers via the social media (Everett-Green, 2012). • Everett-Green (2012) noted that the volume of social TV comments more than tripled during 2012. • “TV is above all a medium that demands a creatively participant response,” wrote Marshall McLuhan in 1964.

17. Exploring broadcast station use of social media for marketing • Twitter.com • Facebook.com • YouTube.com • We are now responding to McLuhan’s challenge that TV demands creative participation from its viewers via television’s use of the social media. • And today we’ll explore the uses of Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube for broadcast station marketing.

18. THE BIG QUESTION FOR BROADCAST TELEVISION today: WILL NEWSPAPERS OUTPLAY AND OVERUSE THE SOCIAL MEDIA CONTROLLING THAT INFORMATION AND REVENUE SOURCE? • Newspapers today are leveling the playing field with broadcast television by creating a new digital information parity. • Online information delivery through breaking news, chat rooms, blogs, discussion boards, opinion pieces and online news featuring video, photo, brevity in news writing and the social media tools are already in place for traditional print journalists.

19. DO SOCIAL MEDIA HOLD BOTH NEWS SOURCES AND ADVERTISING REVENUE STREAMS FOR THE MEDIA • Is broadcast television ready for the online challenge of relationship building through the use of social media to recognize a network of news sources and develop the accompanying ad revenue streams. • Newspapers have moved online and use social media because they have to in order to survive in today’s overly fragmented media marketplace. • Do the social media hold a future for both online newspapers and local broadcast television?

20. OUR PANELISTS FOR BEA 2013 ROBERT BARON, Ph. D., Assistant Professor @ Austin Peay State University JIM THOMAS, VP for Marketing & Programming @ the Journal Broadcast Group KATHY LEE HEUSTON, Associate Professor @ Austin Peay State University

21. References • Bauder, D. (Dec 3, 2012). Television & social media: Viewers use Twitter as part of the TV experience @ Associated Press. Retrieved March 30, 2013 from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/04/television-social-media-twitter-viewing-experience_n_2236622.html. • Collins, M. (Nov 18, 2011). Social media is stations sales trump card @ TVNewsCheck.com. Retrieved March 30, 2013 from http://www.tvnewscheck.com article/55532/social-media-is-stations-sales-trump-card. • Edmonds, R., Guskin, E., Rosentiel, T, & Mitchell, A. (2011). The state of the news media 2012: An annual report on American Journalism @ Pew Research. Retrieved March 31, 2013 from http://stateofthemedia.org/2012/newspapers-building-digital-revenues-proves-painfully-slow/newspapers-by-the-numbers/.

22. References • Everett-Green, R. (Dec 29, 2012). Is Twitter turning TV into social media’s hot new hub? @ The Globe and Mail. Retrieved March 30, 2013 from http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/television/is-twitter-turning-tv-into-social-medias-hot-new-hub/article6642163/. • Farhi, P. (Dec/Jan 2008). Online salvation? @ American Journalism Review. Retrieved from http://www.ajr.org/Article.asp?id=4427. • Lewis, W. (March 11, 2009). 10 ways newspapers are using social media to save the industry @ Mashable. Retrieved March 31, 2013 from http://mashable.com/ 2009/03/11/newspaper-industry/. • Marszalek, D. (April 24, 2012). Status of social media rising at TV stations @ TVNewsCheck.com. Retrieved March 30, 2013 from http://www.tvnewscheck.com/ article/58947/status-of-social-media-rising-at-tv-stations.

23. References • Pew Research Center. (2012). Local TV by the numbers: The state of the news media 2012. Retrieved March 30, 2013 from http://stateofthemedia.org /2012/local-tv-audience-rise-after-years-of-decline/local-tv-by-the-numbers/. • Small, J. (2012). How our local TV stations use social media @ IslandPress.org. Retrieved March 30, 2013 from http://www.inlandpress.org/111018_inland_ broadcast_social_media.ppt. • Washenko, A. (Feb 11, 2013). 3 TV series with social media strategies @ SproutInsights.com. Retrieved March 30, 2013 from http://sproutsocial.com/ insights/2013/02/best-social-media-campaigns-tv.