Broadcast Web Sites Trump Dailies. The digital revolution has reached a crossroads of sorts: some local newspapers are losing ground online to their competitors in the
broadcast media. The Media Audit, a survey of viewers in more than 80 U.S. markets, revealed people in Cincinnati, Denver, Des Moines and New Haven, Conn., are more likely to visit
the sites of their local TV news outlets than their local newspapers. Bob Jordan, co-chairman of the Texas-based International Demographics who conducted the study, says in a
release that news stations that integrate their Web sites with traditional broadcasts could have an easier time wooing national advertisers. And Web users - typically young,
affluent and educated - have always been an elusive demographic for local news broadcasts.
Liz Foreman is site director for WCPO.com, the online version of Cincinnati's ABC affiliate, which attracts 15.8 percent of adults in the Cincinnati market. WCPO.com was ranked
No. 2 on Media Audit's list of Top 12 local news sites. Foreman agrees the Web is an effective way to complement news broadcasts and attract new viewers. WCPO.com features four
short Web-only broadcasts each weekday in which the station's anchors tease upcoming broadcasts and give updates on breaking stories.
The site, frequently plugged on-air, also serves as a refuse for additional material and B-roll that gets cut from broadcasts. Foreman's staff of four works closely with the
station's producers and reporters to place content online; her Web site producer even sits in on meetings the assignment desk editor has with reporters.
"We've got someone doing Web stuff that's basically acting just like a TV news producer," she says. "That's integration."
(Liz Foreman, WCPO, 513/852-4069, [email protected].)