GFWBW on local TV networks' web-weaving

This week's Greater Fort Wayne Business Weekly includes a story about the local TV networks' web strategies, including WANE's new election portal, fortwaynepolitics.tv and the WFFT parent-group's Nexstar Green program.

I'm quoted in the piece, with a few comments about targeting and the ways traditional media can build their brand with a web presence:

Digital advertising is moving toward becoming a large-scale business. Total local online ad spending is expected to increase 48 percent this year to $12.6 billion nationally, according to estimates by Borrell Associates, a consulting firm to online publishing companies.

Ads in local searches will command the largest portion of the total, about $5 billion. Local online video will be worth about $1.3 billion, the company estimated.

Juliano said the way consumers get information is changing. TV stations still want them to watch the nightly news, but they realize they also have to promote other ways to access information, he said.

“The two work in collaboration and when done well can be extremely effective in building a media brand,” Juliano said of broadcast and digital information.

There’s a good reason why media companies are wise to extend their brands onto the web: people are spending less time with every individual medium, but about the same amount of cumulative time with all media. If you only offer one choice—a single TV network, for example—you only have one chance to get a consumer’s attention. Offering multiple choices, however, makes it more likely that consumers will spend more time with you, even though they may split that time over multiple media.

The bottom line is that twenty years ago people had far fewer choices and more discretionary time, so you could expect people to come find you if you had news and information to share. Now, the equation is reversed: people have far less discretionary time, but unlimited access to news and information. As a result, they’re quicker to switch from one medium to another, knowing they’ll eventually find a source that gives them what they want. The key for advertisers is to understand how this dynamic is changing, and to understand that they may be better off with a strategy that’s precisely targeted instead of one that simply aims for the most eyeballs or ears.