Changing Channels

Local TV stations are investing heavily in high-definition technology and reaching out to viewers via the Web. Can the new strategy save their shrinking ratings—or are they just jumping the shark?

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While the HD revolution is fast approaching, some other major technological uprisings are already under way, including the growing popularity of the digital video recorder (DVR) and the pervasive use of the Internet for providing local news and information. The DVR is rapidly replacing the videocassette recorder (VCR), and every day new and improved digital recorders come to market, the best-known brand being TiVo. Unlike a VCR, which can hold a few hours of content on tape, a DVR can record more than 100 hours of programming, which, depending on the system being used, can then be played back on a TV monitor, computer, or personal entertainment device such as an iPod.

As basic DVRs become more affordable (a TiVo HD DVR retails for about $300), they're rapidly losing status as a cool electronic toy and turning into just another household appliance. In May 2007, an estimated 20.5 percent of the households participating in Nielsen ratings surveys had DVRs, compared with 8 percent in January 2006, according to Nielsen. "First there was the toaster, then the VCR, and soon the digital video recorder," says Channel 5's Wert.

In addition to ample recording capacity, DVRs give users greater control over how and when they view shows—hours, days, or weeks after their original airtime. Right now the majority of DVR use is aimed at sporting events or regular network prime-time shows, such as NBC's Heroes or ABC's Grey's Anatomy. That viewing trend is so commonplace that Nielsen's clients, among them major advertisers and TV stations, are pressing to learn the total audience for a show for up to seven days after broadcast—a combined measure known in industry parlance as ‘live plus seven.' "Clients are telling us to follow the video," says Anne Elliot, a spokeswoman for Nielsen.

Local station managers note that DVRs will be playing a larger role in determining what they can charge advertisers for content, whether it's their newscasts or other locally generated sports or entertainment programming. They're ramping up to sell those metrics to clients, but that may be difficult given that one of the DVR's main perks is the ability to zap past whole blocks of content, including commercials. "Lots of the ratings occur nonlive," says Wert. "Do we think that has value to an advertiser? We think, yes."

Other experts note that many big advertisers don't know how to evaluate this new ratings system yet. "Advertising? It's kind of a mess. They're putting a lot of pressure on the stations, but [advertisers] don't know what to do," says Limor Peer, research director at Northwestern University's Media Management Center.

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While trying to determine the value of delayed responses to their programming, local TV stations are also dealing with the real-time demands of the Internet era. All of Chicago's network owned-and-operated stations and Tribune Company's WGN-TV have upgraded the design and content of their Web sites in recent years. These sites serve primarily as marketing vehicles that bolster a local station's brand name, showcase its network shows, act as "portals" to other Web sites, and dish out regular helpings of news, weather, sports, and other information.

Now, to keep pace with the public's appetite for more Web-based access, they're providing a growing assortment of customized Internet products and content. Click on Chicago's TV station sites and you'll see a glut of Web-based come-ons, including podcasts of restaurant reviews, text-based sports and weather alerts for cell phones, and blogs penned by the station's star reporters.

As the digital capabilities improve, stations will transmit more video alerts and other information to individuals' cell phones, computers, and other mobile devices, general managers contend.

Some stations are also getting really local. Channel 32's Web site highlights local high-school football games with videos shot by family or friends and then posted on the site. "We've got to build out channels to niche audiences," says Patrick Mullen, general manager at Channel 32. "Our belief is high-school sports are underreported."

Others are coining their own original Internet programming. Channel 2 has used its Web site to stream breaking news events, and Channel 7 offers a daily Web brief, anchored by Alan Krashesky, produced exclusively for its site.

That's just the beginning. Every local station is being forced to determine new and different ways of using its Web site, especially in covering local news. More than ever, local TV Web sites are becoming important vehicles for breaking news or for advancing ongoing stories. In the bygone era of TV journalism, newsrooms could break into regularly scheduled programming with "bulletins" reporting a major accident or event. Now it's just as likely that a station will maintain its regular programming and flag the breaking news with an electronic "crawl" at the bottom of the screen, which directs viewers to the Web for details. In the future, viewers may also be regularly referred to one of the station's smaller digital channels, too.

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