Steve Safran writes:
With the MyFox deal, the Fox-affiliated television stations have just taken the path of least resistance in the area where they need to make the biggest strides. They have chosen ease over risk. ...
... We have seen stations fail in their online attempts. What do those failures have in common?
- A lack of an independent platform
- A failure to invest in a station’s own infrastructure
- The ability to be creative and reflect the needs and desires of their own communities
- No entrepreneurial spirit
- Complete control over management
- No buy-in from the upper ranks
- Revenue sharing
In short: ownership.
The stations that have failed to make money from their online efforts are those that have failed to take ownership - true ownership - over their sites. By handing over the command and control to vendors, stations get into this loop where A. They produce an inferior product, B. They make no money and so C. They don’t invest in the product. ...
In an email heads up about this post, KAKM's John Proffitt adds the following comments:
This logic follows with how I look at pubcasting station web sites as well. When control and leadership of online work is ceded to an outside entity -- even one that's a partner/friend/helper -- the local station staff treat online activities as a forgotten backwater and ignore engaging the public in meaningful "new media" ways. ...
... Since the web allows for one-to-one and many-to-many connections, using a third party platform strikes me as antithetical to the nature of the web. To my way of thinking, stations across the country that want to remain relevant and engaged going into the future should do two things:
1. Drop the word "station" from your vocabulary -- that word has declining value and meaning
2. Do all your online work and social networking yourself -- never turn that over to a hired gun ...
Thanks, John. --Dennis
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