Rich Fiscus
9 Jul 2007 8:10
NBC believes affiliates will sign on with their new venture with News Corp. called New Site, especially since they can participate on a non-exclusive basis, but it may not be as simple as that.
As we reported last week, NBC decided to change their web strategy, replacing a partnership with many affiliates after only 14 months. Although affiliates were generously compensated for their share of NBBC, the process left many of them bruised. “We weren’t sure of the [NBBC] deal to start with,” said Alan Frank, president, CEO of Post-Newsweek Stations. “The affiliates partnered with them and then it went away; it wasn’t a happy occurrence.”
Affiliates won’t have as much control in New Site as they did in NBBC. “The benefit of NBBC wasn’t so much as a distribution vehicle, but being a partner. So we were disappointed that NBC’s strategy changed relative to their own affiliates,” said Dave Lougee, executive vp, media operations for Belo Corp, owner of multiple NBC affiliates.
“We look at all the options, and we’re not necessarily dependent on what NBC does,” said Steve Wasserman, vp, general manager of WDVI, Post-Newsweek’s Detroit NBC affil.
In general, the Web continues to be a moving target for station execs. “We’ll review [New Site]; we look at everything. But right now, we’re just keeping it local,” said Randi Goldklank, vp, gm of WHDH, Sunbeam Television’s Boston affiliate, which did not participate in NBBC.
Source: MediaWeek