Is your local website a total mess? Proud of your revenue gains? Does the person in charge of your Newspaper, TV or Radio site know about navigation, layout or design? These questions will freak out the old school managers inside of your news organization. But the answers will be a real opener for you.
As a media sales rep, digitally deficient bosses drove me batty. Since they got paid based on traditional sales, top management typically looks the other way when it comes to proper execution of online business models. Too many VP’s of Digital ( salaried ) made decisions that were not very smart. This had a direct affect on my income. Over time, I started to see a pattern. There were obvious issues that were killing our Internet based sales. Here’s just one of them:
Clunky CMS; Content Management Systems. Site layout, functionality and maintenance are usually handled by an overworked, advertisement-hating webmaster. Not only do webmasters see ads as clutter, but they’re under constant pressure by salaried newsroom execs to squeeze even more crap onto the page.
Recently, the FOX local stations group decided to stop the bleeding with their money-losing TV sites. They’re dumping their own CMS, and will outsource to a 3rd party vendor: WorldNow. Ugh. We think it’s NEVER a good idea to outsource a key growth asset to a technology vendor. Read about the Fox TV Stations moving to WorldNow.
FOX should have considered:
- BENN – The Block Electronic News Network (BENN). They provide news organizations with a no-cost online infrastructure.
- WordPress VIP – Some of the world’s biggest NEWS brands and industries rely on WordPress.com VIP. CBS Television, CNN and the New York Timed to name a few.