Guest Posted October 11, 2011 Share Posted October 11, 2011 I figure this might not be a bad resource, as we have a lot of very different minds here. For the second time in my career I find myself at a station that just cannot hold onto viewers during their late news. After the first commercial break, viewership drops off. This hurts ratings obviously. One reason for this is that both stations put their full weather forecast in the A block. The first station had absolutely nothing of value to offer in the B block and also had problems that ran much deeper... (mediocre talent, poor writing and overall presence likened to a college news broadcast). They were a consistent 4th place show. My new station though has no problem coming in 1st or 2nd some nights... it's a very competitive market. We put our big investigative stories in our B block and people do seem to like those. How can we keep people to stick around? Current ideas being floated around include an ESPN-type rundown on the side of the screen to let people know what's coming up. Also, a little fly in graphic in the corner of the screen to tease whatever big franchise segment we're running after the commercial break. We also run a lot of viewer-involved contests and giveaways in our 2nd block or later in the show. What do you think? What keeps you watching? Or is this a losing battle? Once you have your local stories and weather, you don't need to see anything else? I can see that side of the argument too. Who wants their national or world news from a local source when you can get better quality and in depth reporting on those stories online? Anyway, very curious to hear your thoughts. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/11509-looking-for-some-advice-for-our-newscast/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daybreak 288 Posted October 11, 2011 Share Posted October 11, 2011 Where I am from, they do a positive story at the end of the B - Block where they go out into the comunity and find stories from either the schools or local business. (All 4 stations do this) The EP's says the ratings jump because people want to see themselves on television. They also do interactive newscast online so you can converse with the anchors. These things may work, but it depends on how your market is (hard news/soft news formats). Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/11509-looking-for-some-advice-for-our-newscast/#findComment-68954 Share on other sites More sharing options...
lugnuts6 91 Posted October 11, 2011 Share Posted October 11, 2011 here in the Lansing/Jackson market the NBC Produced FOX Newscast is a very loose one, yes they do serious news, but the teases and banter are very entertaining and break the monotony of a typical newscast..especially when the newsguy and weather guy would sing "7 day weather" ,or find something very funny or the news guy would break into a song reference for a tease to either a story or weather toss. a very loose 10pm newscast .and unique Some newscasts include interactive bits, including live chats, i was a part of that with FOXs Houston station (still am to this day) the Pun battles me and the lead anchor would have during video or commercials were legendary ! and the anchors loved chatting with us ! some of the female anchors were good with us too , it breaks the monotony and makes the newscast special . But if you need further : (for an hour newscast) A BLOCK should be where breaking news , and the top 11 stories of the day along w/ first weather check B BLOCK should be where you bring the world news into focus with a local slant to it C BLOCK should be where you lighten the mood with "weird news" bring in the weather guy D BLOCK should be where you recap the top stories and or update any breaking news /live guest too w/questions from viewers E BLOCK should be where you have entertainment news, a live hit with TMZ (if your station airs it) and then "THE VIEWER SPEAKS" select the best comments on the stories from the chatters , and lets say those selected will get a shirt with the stations name on it FINAL BLOCK recap, school bus forecast, and then segue to Sports , end talk/preview morning news and tag line with copyright again this is from the view of one who watches local news Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/11509-looking-for-some-advice-for-our-newscast/#findComment-68958 Share on other sites More sharing options...
alaskanews 113 Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 People generally stay up for the late news to catch the forecast. When you do the full forecast in the A-Block they have no reason to keep watching. Even if you do have an earth shattering investigation in the B, they know they can catch it online tomorrow. I say a :30 weather hit in the A and save your full forecast for the bottom of the B or top of the C. This is risky though because if the market is as competitive as you say it is, there probably isn't much viewer loyalty, so you may have people who defect to another station if they do the full forecast in the first block. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/11509-looking-for-some-advice-for-our-newscast/#findComment-68967 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bucc 4 Posted October 12, 2011 Share Posted October 12, 2011 I feel like everyone stops watching after the first weather at 11. As a viewer, I like how stations put the full weather in the first block. In the Albany, NY market FOX starts at 10:59 with a :30 weather, does news, then the full weather and then the first commercial. Why not try to have an interactive segment, you could also move the sports up -if your viewers care about local sports- to before the national/world news. I do like the idea of teasing the morning news, or if it's an ABC station you could always tease ahead to Nightline I would imagine. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/11509-looking-for-some-advice-for-our-newscast/#findComment-68968 Share on other sites More sharing options...
fox2 191 Posted October 17, 2011 Share Posted October 17, 2011 Gimmicks, graphics and more info on screen won't work. Just tease your big investiative stories and your weather. Inotherwords, hold them over and keep viewers hooked and sticking around. But, at the same time, don't break that fragile sense of "trust" either. If viewers just think you are one big tease that constantly uses obvious but sneaky tricks to hold them, they will lose faith and respect in you and not bother coming to you for news. You need a broadcast with integrity - actually, that goes for the whole station. In terms of what your rivals are doing - and let's say others in the market are doing full weather in Block A - personally, I wouldn't worry about your rivals. I would just concentrate on my own ship. At the end of the day, it is not because of "First Weather" that is the real reason people go to a station. People will go to or stay on your station for much bigger reasons, long term. They'll regularly go to you because of the quality content you offer, their confidence in you to provide them with a product, their faith and trust and familiarity with your station as a news source, their own good feeling that they get when they watch you (inotherwords, they go to bed not feeling stupid, trashy, more ignorant than their friends, less informed than if they had watched another station). Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/11509-looking-for-some-advice-for-our-newscast/#findComment-69079 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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