Owning A Community Event On Air and On Line
Updated: July 30, 2008 1:24 PM
When was the last time your television station popped "Super Bowl-Like" ratings - outside of a Super Bowl? For WCMH-TV in Columbus it was just a few days ago.
And with a stronger emphasis on the Internet and mobile devices, the station had a record day in cyberspace too.
The occasion was the annual "Red, White, and Boom" celebration in Columbus on July 3rd. Tens of thousands of people flocked downtown for food, games and a spectacular fireworks display. WCMH has owned the event for years.
This year the station put an added emphsis on their web site, and it paid off with over 213,000 page views last Friday - nearly 60,000 more than a year ago. Unique visitors for the big day increased by nearly 50% - to almost 47,000.
They had visitors on their station web site from almost every state in the union, as well as emails from users in 14 countries saying they were watching the live streaming of the event. The countries ranged fom Australia to Brazil to Iraq to China.
WCMH also offered traffic and other alerts on cell phones. I signed up to check it out - and the information was timely and easy to follow - even giving tips on where to park.
On the broadcast side, WCMH did a 2 hour live preview before the fireworks blasted off at 10 p.m. It was filled with stories of local heroes, as well as anchors and reporters stationed in numerous spots all around downtown. The station also showcased their new downtown studio. The anchors interaction with the people at the event was fun, and very natural.
Then at 10 p.m. WCMH carried the 27-minute fireworks show live on air and on the web. It too, was well-produced, and really took you to the event.
The TV ratings for the first quarter hour of the fireworks display earned a 28.1 rating and 47 share. The second quarter hour was a 27.6 rating and 47 share.
The entire three hour live show on WCMH averaged a 13.1 rating and 24 share.
It was a truly spectacular show - and made the point to me that owning a big community event is still a viable TV showcase in this world of fractured viewing. So, before you off-handedly reject the next idea for owning such a community event in your market. Think of the success of NBC4 in Columbus.
Comments