Introduction
Each week day local television stations produce more than three hours of news. The evening newscast is where stations most directly compete in terms of ratings. On average, 44% of a station's profitability is produced by advertisements on the local newscasts (Papper, 2000). Therefore, its promotion is of the highest priority; local stations spend approximately 75% of their promotion efforts on their local newscasts (Ferguson & Moses, 2002).
Research on television promotion indicates that on-air promotion is a major factor in determining what viewers watch (e.g., Love, 1981 cited in Eastman & Bolls, 2000). Promotion is defined as "persuasive information about a program, personality, station, network, or system using on-air (and print media), intended to foster increased viewing or listening or subscribing or a positive image" (Eastman, 1991) and, of course, to raise ratings (Perse, 2002). There is a well developed body of research on how television stations promote their on-air news broadcast (e.g. Buchman, 2000; Chang, 1998, Eastman, 2000; Ferguson & Moses, 2002; Peale & Harmon, 1991), a smaller but growing series of studies on how stations use the on-air broadcast to promote the Web site (e.g.Chan--Olmsted & Park, 2000; Kaye, 1998), and even less attention to how the Web site can be used to promote the on-air broadcast, what Gralnick (2001) labels "splash back" and World Now calls "spiral marketing" (Advertising, 2002), which is one goal of promotional Web sites, according to Klein and Masiclat (2002) and the focus of this study.
News Audience
The audience for the broadcast televisions's evening local news programs is declining for a number of reasons. One may be that people suffer from information overload, exacerbated by over use of labels and graphic section titles in the on-air broadcast. News is available throughout the day from a variety of sources on cable television, talk radio, and the Internet, another possible explanation for declining news audiences. A 2000 survey of local news viewers found that they were watching the on-air broadcast less and using the Web more (Audience Research & Development/Interactive, 2001). There are now Web sites for newspapers from all 50 states and from around the world, as well as for major wire services, national television and radio networks, and the 24 hour cable news networks. A third possible explanation for the decline in the audience for broadcast television newscasts is the rise of focused news sites, providing targeted content to niche audiences. These niche news sources include headline sites such as the DrudgeReport.com (politics and entertainment gossip), IWantMedia.com (mass media), and Slashdot.com (technology). Local weather information can be found on the weather.com site maintained by The Weather Channel. ESPN maintains sites with updated sports scores as well as game highlights and player information.
A declining audience for the evening broadcast news does not imply that there is a declining interest in news. Survey results indicate that people want news throughout the day and that different media provide that information at different times of the day. They get the news on radio in their cars while commuting, on the Internet while at work, and on television at home (Kebbel, 2001). To meet the need for local information during the work day, television stations in markets of all sizes have constructed Web sites (Niekamp 1997). One benefit of the time and effort spent on convergence may be that the on air programming and the Web site will work together to create an audience who watch the television news, turn to the station's Web site for additional information and interactive features, and who then return to the evening on-air newscast.
Before considering the role Web sites maintained by local television station can play in promoting the evening news, it is necessary to examine how television stations currently promote the local news, which is considered next.
Goals of Promotion for Broadcast Television Stations
Television stations run promotional messages for two primary purposes: to retain the existing audience and to attract new audiences. Promotion effectiveness is measured by changes in the promoted program's ratings (Eastman & Bolls, 2000), and especially changes in targeted audience demographics (Eastman, 2002).
In order to retain current viewers, promotions include content designed to strengthen viewer satisfaction with the station's programming and to encourage viewers to identify with the station as a brand. Brand promotion can by done by making consistent use of the station's on-air logo, color scheme, wordmark, and slogans during both on-air and online promotions (Eastman, 2000; Eastman & Bolls, 2000). To attract new viewers promotions must tell viewers what programs are available and, somehow, give programs an appeal that coordinates with viewer interests (Eastman, 2000; Eastman, 2002). Stars of station programming, including newscast personnel, can be emphasized in promotions as well, because the audience wants to see favorite actors (Ferguson, 2000). One type of programming that can be used to promote the station to both potential as well as existing audiences is locally created programming, one of the few opportunities for stations to differentiate themselves from other television offerings. The most widely available form of locally created programming is local newscasts and, in fact, the station with the highest rated newscast is usually the highest rated station overall in the market (Ferguson & Moses, 2002). Research on newscast promotion is reviewed next.
Promotion of the Newscast
As with promotions for the station itself, newscasts are promoted in order to attract new viewers and retain existing viewers by encouraging them to watch one station's newscast over another station's programming. Research has indicated a number of reasons viewers choose from among the available newscasts in their local community, including the type of stories covered, the credibility of the newscasters, and the credibility of the station itself (Buchman, 2000). These promotional campaigns can be either on-going, making use of generic spots, or more short term, promoting specific topics (Ferguson & Moses, 2002). Long term campaigns can reinforce the viewer's perception of the reporters and anchors as reliable and knowledgeable by citing their experience, past awards, and ties to the community, as well as by showcasing local news anchors with network news stars (Ferguson, 2000; Ferguson & Moses, 2002). Other long term campaigns can tout station ratings and their use of cutting edge technology. The station's success in covering breaking stories in the past can also be emphasized. Short term topical spots can feature special segments or exclusive stories (Ferguson & Moses, 2002). Teasers can be used to promote an individual story on an upcoming newscast; they have been found to significantly increase viewer attention to the teased story, as well as recall and comprehension of the news content (Chang, 1998)
Existing Findings on Online Promotions
The use of Web sites to promote a product or company has been the subject of several recent studies. A company Web site can be used to demonstrate a product, generate interest, provide information, and contribute to viewers having a favorable image of the company. Web sites have been found to be an effective channel for delivering information on programming schedules (Chan
Olmsted & Park, 2000). The Web can also be used to conduct promotion activities such as contests and giveaways (Ha & James, 1998). Past experience has found that the more valuable the promoted content to the viewer, the greater the increase in traffic both to the site and to the on-air broadcast. This means that simply running a URL across the bottom of the screen is not as effective as indicating the specific information to be found on-line.
Promotions that encourage viewers to interact with the Web site and to communicate with the station via the Web site have been especially effective at increasing traffic (OJR, 1998). Previous research has indicated that people come to the Internet for a variety of reasons. 96% of site visitors are looking for information (Kampinsky, Bowman, & Willis, 2001) and television station Web sites provide a variety of content including news stories, sports scores, and weather. The Web can contain links that users can follow for more detailed information, along with links to photograph slide shows and interactive maps (Kampinsky, Bowman, & Willis, 2001). Entertainment is another major reason people visit Web sites (Kaye, 1998). Interactive features, such as surveys, puzzles, chat rooms, and forums, can provide a variety of entertainment value. A sense of community, along with greater identity with the brand and positive reinforcement for using the brand, can be encouraged among the users of a Web site with a chat room. These interactive features also keep a user on the site longer, which means they are exposed to more of the advertising and promotional messages on the site (Klein & Masiclat, 2002).
Web sites are created to serve at least these three purposes: to attract first time visitors, to keep visitors on the site, and to get visitors to come back to the site regularly over time (R. Dholakia, Zhao, N. Dholakia, & Fortin, 2000). In the case of broadcast television stations, Web site can expose also new audiences, such as Web-savvy younger audiences, to the station's image and brand, to the personalities of the news staff, and thereby encourage them to develop a tv news watching habit (Chan-Olmsted & Park, 2000; Jensen, 2002). All types of media use their Web sites as promotional tools."The goal of every creator of a promotional Web site has been to invest sites with an intrinsic value that makes people want to come not just for the information but for the experience, and that, ideally, feeds back masses of consumers...to increase the size of the on-air audience" (Klein & Masiclat, p. 233). Newspaper readership studies have found that even intermittent use of a newspaper's Web site tends to increase the user's propensity to buy individual issues or the newspaper and to subscribe, because potential readers are able to sample not only a newspaper's content, but also their customer service on-line (Eng, 2002). It is also working for Hollywood movies. The Web site for the movie The Blair Witch Project was responsible for a high level of word of mouth promotion at a very small cost for the film's production company (Klein & Masiclat, 2002). The technique was used to promote the Spielberg movie A.I. A set of Web sites developed the back story and involved the viewer in a complex game that encouraged movie watching for clues (AdWeek, 2001). A study of the use of Web sites to promote new Hollywood movies found evidence that traffic to such site was associated with an increase in ticket sales to the promoted movies. The Web site increased awareness of the films, and thereby word of mouth discussions of the movie's merits, and encouraged visitors to see the movie in person (Zufryden, 2000).
Existing Research on Television Station Web Sites Promotions
Specific promotions, such as announcing a specific story in that evening's newscast, are only useful for a short time. The Web can serve as an additional source of information such as contact information and merchandise. Content is provided by the writers and producers of the daily newscasts. E-mail can be used to allow viewers to give feedback on the newscast contents. Being responsive to viewer opinions enhance a station's credibility, one factor viewers use when choosing between stations (Klein & Masiclat, 2002). Besides conveying information, television station Web sites are effective means of promoting the station's image. Viewers can read background information on the station and the staff. Using the same color scheme as is used on the on air newscast also helps strengthen the image of the station. It can also serve as a place for viewers to submit feedback about the on air programming. Lastly, the Web site can be a platform for multimedia extra features to supplement and extend the on-air newscast. (Eastman, 2002). Content aside, industry commentators (e.g., Bergman, 2001 and Moos, 2001) also indicate promotion techniques for the news Web site, specifying that getting people to remember the URL is not as difficult as giving viewers a reason to actually visit the site; URLs coupled with solicitations of viewer response (tell your story) or promises of more information (full documents instead of sound bites) are more effective than providing the Web address, even an easy to remember short URL, alone. Fewer mentions are made, in academic research as well as practitioner reports, of how to promote the newscast on the Web site.
Many on-air promotions are generic, advertising the station instead of specific programs or promoting the on-air talent. (Ferguson, 2000). The Web site can act as that same type of generic promotion for the station by using the wordmark, slogan, and logo on each page of the station's Web site, and that the color scheme of the site should be similar to that used in print and on-air promotions to reinforce the image of the station created by those promotions in the on-air viewer. Web sites can provide more than just the channel number and start time of the newscast; it can also supply contact numbers for the news team, make available extra multimedia content features, and enable the audience to talk back to the members of the news team with e-mail, chat rooms, and online discussion venues (Eastman, 2000). However, generic online advertisements are not the most effective way to promote programs with content such as a newscast, that changes on a daily basis (Audience Research and Development Company, 2001; Ferguson & Moses, 2002). More interactive promotion techniques, including online tours of the news studio, contests and sweepstakes, instant polls, games, giveaways, and trivia questions, may be more effective promotion tools on Web sites (Ferguson, 2000; Klein & Masiclat, 2002). Viewers can be provided with means to vote on news stories or to apply to be actual on-air guests. In-depth content can be made available online to interested viewers to enhance the station's image as the best round the clock news source (Klein & Masiclat, 2002).
A few examples of effective use of the station's Web site to promote the newscast exist. WorldNow features a case study on their Web site about the use of e-mail alerts to increase viewership of the on-air broadcast. One of their stations used e-mail to alert viewers to a local emergency; the e-mail not only gave readers up-to-the-minute information, but it encouraged them to turn onto the newscast for more information during the evening newscast (WorldNow, 2003). The Internet Broadcasting System (IBS), a Minnesota based firm which creates Web sites for more than 60 stations including in 41 of the top 50 markets (IBS KeyFacts, 2003), created a health related "Convergence Sweeps" series of on-air segments and special Web page content. These packages referred back to the on-air newscast and promoted upcoming on-air segments during the 2001 sweeps period. The on-air segments enhanced and promoted the information available online. Both the Web site and the on-air broadcast enjoyed increased viewership during the promotion; viewership of the on-air broadcast actually increased 10-15%. A follow-up study found that while, overall, viewership may not seem affected by Web content, those viewers most interested in the content of the promotion seem to be positively affected (Audience Research & Development, 2002). KCBD in Lubbock, TX has tangible proof that their Web site is an effective way to promote the on air broadcast and to benefit the station. Their Web site attracts more than a third of their viewing audience to the Web and on-line advertising deals bring in almost $500,000 to the station. The station has made a serious commitment to the Web site. They update the news content frequently. Different types of weather information are prominently featured on the site's home page. They also include promotions for the next on-air newscast because station management realized that the visitors to the Web site were already loyal to the station but occasionally needed encouragement to tune in regularly (Whitney, 2002).
Bates and King (1996) conducted a content analysis of Web sites created by local television stations. At that time only 65 Web sites were found, 13 of which were for PBS stations. Promotional categories in this study were information about programming (16%), talent biographies (11%), and station information (10%). For almost 50% of the sites, links to other pages were the only interactivity; fewer than one percent of the sites had forums or polls. The sites served primarily to promote the station instead of the news and other programming (Bates & King, 1996). A follow-up study in 1997 found increased use of sites for station promotion (Bates, Chambers, Emery, Jones, McClung, & Park, 1997). Based on their study of 62 television stations, Kiernan and Levy (1999) found no significant relationship between the information content of those Web sites and either market rank or network affiliation. They concluded that stations did not use their Web sites to compete in terms of the news delivered, but also that stations were missing an opportunity to connect with their audience through interactive and informative offerings. Klein & Masiclat (2002) found station Web sites cluttered with links, banner advertisements, flashing graphics‹all demanding the viewer's attention and distracting him or her from both the content and important promotional information about the on-air broadcast.
The existing research on how stations promote the newscast on-air and online suggest the following hypotheses:
Methods
For this study, Web sites for the affiliates of the four major networks (ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX) were located for the top 100 Nielsen markets. The newest networks, PAX, UPN and WB, were not included because they do not yet produce their own local newscast in many cities. Stations Web sites were collected primarily from a station list maintained by TVJobs.com. If that list did not have the Web site address for a particular station, then the station call letters were entered into a variety of search engines. A total of 372 station Web sites were successfully located out of the 400 stations identified. Seven percent of the Web sites (n = 28) were not available to be coded. 22 of 28 sites not coded were for Fox affiliates, 3 for NBC affiliates, 2 for ABC affiliates, and 1 for a CBS affiliate. Some stations did not produce their own local news. Other stations had not yet created a Web site or had a page that merely stated the site was under construction. Other sites did not respond after several attempts.
Several previous studies of formal features of Web sites have looked at just the home page of a site (e.g., Bucy, Lang, Potter, Grabe, 1999; Potter, 2002). The home page is the "front door" of the site (Ha & James, 1998), a page viewed by most casual browsers that can have a significant impact on a browser's impression of the site. Other studies (e.g. Chan-Olmsted & Park, 2000) coded entire Web sites. These studies were interested in general features or general types of content appearing online. Ferguson (2000) suggested that researchers studying station Web sites need to move beyond the home page when doing content analyses, in order to obtain a more meaningful and complete understanding of the station's promotional efforts. For instance, one station's Web site might connect discussion forums to individual stories for user comments, while other stations' Web sites might feature a separate discussion section. Contests might be mentioned on the home page or on a separate contests page.
This study looked at more than just the home page, however, not every page in a site was examined, An assumption was made in this study that features appearing on the page for one news story, such as a link enabling the reader to e-mail the story to a friend or links to additional information, would appear on pages for all news stories, however stories labeled as breaking or as the top local story were coded separately for any special features. Therefore, specific page types were chosen (Table 1).
Table 1: Types of Pages Coded on Each Site
| Station home page |
| page called by "News" link |
| any link/page labeled with the time or name of a news program |
| any link/page labeled "Contests" or "GiveAways" |
| news story at the top of the news page |
| top local story if it was specifically labeled |
| first story with video icon |
| links/pages labeled "Site Map" or "FAQs" |
| breaking news stories if specifically labeled |
| links/pages labeled "WebCams" or "Live Cameras" or "Tour the Station" |
| links/pages labeled "About Us" or "About the station" or "Contact Us" |
Content analysis was used to code the content on each site. Content analysis is a systematic and quantitative method for examining media messages. Categories to be coded are created based on previous research and pretesting. Relationships between the categories are statistically tested (Neuendorf, 2002). Content analysis results describe the content, not the effects such content might have on users.
Results
The first hypothesis stated that stations would promote the on-air newscast by including information on the Web site that emphasizes newscast availability; viewers can not watch a program if they do not know when it is being broadcast. Four types of information were coded - static display of broadcast times, time of the next broadcast, encouragement to tune in tonight, and the number of broadcasts a day (see Table 2). The data provided mixed support for this hypothesis.
Table 2. Frequency of Items Indicating Newscast Availability and Current Contents
| Item | ABC | CBS | NBC | Fox |
| Static Display - Time of Broadcasts | 36.7% (n = 36) | 38.4% (n = 38) | 29.2% (n = 28) | 69.2% (n= 54) |
| Encouragement to tune in tonight | 17.3% (n = 17) | 10.1% (n = 10) | 10.4% (n = 10) | 5.4% (n = 4) |
| Time of Next Broadcast | 2.0% (n = 2) | 1.0% (n = 1) | 1.0% (n = 1) | 0.0% (n = 0) |
| Number of broadcasts a day | 1.0% (n = 1) | 0.0% (n = 0) | 0.0% (n = 0) | 1.3% (n = 1) |
A static display of the time of at least one newscast was featured on 42% of the stations (n=156), providing moderate support for the hypothesis. Such displays took different forms from station to station and there was no common location; some displays appeared as text in a graphic at the top of the home page, others as a small graphic in one of the side columns, and still others as a banner ad on the home page. An ANOVA model indicated that there was a significant difference between the networks, F(3,367) =11.50, p < .0001); the Fox affiliated stations were more likely to include this type of static display (69%, n = 54) than were stations affiliated with any of the other networks. The Fox affiliated stations may be more active in promoting the time of their broadcasts because their broadcast time differentiates them from other stations. In many markets the Fox affiliate schedules their evening newscast during the last hour of prime time, one hour earlier than the other network affiliated stations.
Eleven percent of the stations (n = 41) had text that encouraged viewers to tune into that night's newscast; the text did not indicate exactly when that newscast was scheduled, but at least it indicated to the new viewer that the station broadcast daily newscasts. The difference between networks for this variable approached significance, F(3, 367) = 2.31, p < .07); in this case, however, Fox stations were least likely to include this text encouragement (5.4%, n = 4) perhaps because more of their stations included the specific time of the evening broadcast prominently on their Web site.
The last two types of information coded to test the first hypothesis were included on very few station Web sites. Very few stations included the time of the next broadcast (n = 4) or the number of broadcasts a day (n = 2).
The second hypothesis stated that stations would promote the on-air newscast by including information on the Web site that emphasizes the credibility of the newscast, including information about network affiliation, anchors and reporters, newscast ratings, and news partner. Eight types of information were coded for this category‹network name, network logo, link to network Web site, link to network programming, links to news partners, newscast ratings, photographs of anchors, biographies of anchors (see Table 3). 12% of the sites had all eight, while the median number of items on any site was five. There was moderate support for this hypothesis.
While 69% of the Web sites included the official network logo, the name of the network was included on the home page of only 57% of the Web sites. An ANOVA model indicated that the difference between networks was significantly different (F = 22.24, p < .0001). Only 41% (n = 41) of CBS affiliated stations mentioned CBS on the home page, while 92.3% (n = 79) of the Fox stations included the network name. The results suggest that there are some differences in how the stations use the Web sites to promote themselves and the network. However, the reason for the difference is not clear. Perhaps the Fox affiliates are contractually obligated to include the logo on any promotional materials; this would be a subject for further investigation.
As found in earlier studies, stations often included information about their anchors and reporters; potential viewers can evaluate their credibility by looking for information on their experience, education, past accomplishment, as well as develop a sense of identification with them. Photographs of the news anchors were placed in graphics at the top of the page (53.50%, n = 199), or elsewhere on the site (38.44%, n = 143). There were also links to biographies of the reporters and anchors on 68.55% (n = 255) of the sites and actual biographies (with or without a biography link) on 79.03% (n = 294) of the sites.
Table 3. Frequency of Items Indicating Station Credibility
| Item | ABC | CBS | NBC | Fox |
| Network Name | 69.4% (n = 68) | 41.4% (n = 41) | 49.0% (n = 47) | 92.3% (n = 79) |
| Network Logo | 70.4% (n = 69) | 68.7% (n = 68) | 92.7% (n = 89) | 64.1% (n = 50) |
| Link to Network Web site | 60.2% (n = 59) | 49.5% (n = 49) | 33.3% (n = 32) | 52.6% (n = 41) |
| Link to Network Programming | 62.2% (n = 61) | 60.6% (n = 60) | 54.2% (n = 52) | 80.8% (n = 63) |
| News Partner Links | 30.6% (n = 30) | 25.3% (n = 25) | 63.5% (n = 61) | 24.4% (n = 19) |
| Newscast ratings | 1.0% (n= 1) | 3.0% (n = 3) | 0.0% (n= 0) | 1.3% (n = 1) |
| Reporter/Anchor photo - top of homepage | 49.0% (n = 48) | 66.7% (n = 66) | 59.4% (n = 57) | 35.9% (n = 28) |
| Reporter/Anchor biographies | 75.5% (n = 77) | 88.9% (n = 88) | 79.4% (n = 77) | 66.7% (n = 52) |
A third type of information that might help a new viewer judge credibility is the newscast ratings. Only five stations mentioned ratings at all on the home page. Since all of the network affiliates in each market were examined, one of them would have to be the ratings leader for that time period; the absence of this data is puzzling. This information would be readily available to station management and it is often included in on-air promotions; online, however, this information was often hidden in a press release or in the text of an individual reporter's biography.
The last type of information that might help a new viewer judge a station's credibility is identification of their news partners. Television stations were found to partner with local newspapers, CNN, MSNBC, and specialized stock market and sports feeds. 36.3% (n = 135) of the stations had links to at least one such partner, although that link was not always prominently displayed. The results of a one-way ANOVA model indicated that there was a significant difference, F (3,367)=15.69, p < .0001, in providing this information based on network. NBC stations (63.5%, n = 61) were more likely to provide this information than other station; the were more than twice as likely to provide information on partners than were ABC stations (30.6%, n = 30) for instance. The higher frequency for the NBC stations may be explained by the availability of the NBC cable all news station, MSNBC, which now provides local news story pages tailored for local NBC affiliates. It is not clear whether stations from the other networks have partners but do not report them on the Web site or whether they just do not have such partners. However, partners that are not identified online are partners of which the prospective viewer remains unaware.
The third hypothesis predicted that stations will promote the on-air newscast by including information that emphasizes story variety and quality on the Web site, including indications of current stories being covered and links to information included in past stories. Four types of information were coded‹links to information mentioned in past stories, video of past stories, audio from past stories, and transcripts of past stories. This information enables viewers to see if typical stories covered topics of interest to them. There was only limited support for the hypothesis. Only 18 stations (4.8%) highlighted specific stories on that night's broadcast and 15 (4.0%) mentioned future stories although without specific air dates. In each category Fox stations had the fewest features.
Table 4. Frequency of Items about Past News Story Coverage by Network
| Item | ABC | CBS | NBC | Fox |
| Links from past stories | 60.2% (n = 59) | 67.7% (n = 67) | 65.6% (n = 63) | 35.9% (n = 28) |
| Video | 42.9% (n = 42) | 36.4% (n = 36) | 57.3% (n = 55) | 9.0% (n = 7) |
| Transcripts of past newscasts | 8.2% (n = 8) | 10.1% (n = 10) | 5.2% (n = 5) | 3.8% (n = 3) |
| Audio | 1.0% (n = 1) | 2.0% (n = 2) | 1.0% (n = 1) | 0.0% (n = 0) |
| List of upcoming stories | 5.1% (n = 5) | 5.1% (n = 5) | 3.1% (n = 3) | 2.6% (n = 2) |
| Stories on tonight's broadcast | 4.1% (n = 4) | 6.1% (n = 6) | 5.2% (n = 5) | 3.8% (n = 3) |
The most frequently included category was links to information from past stories. More than 60% of the ABC, CBS, and NBC stations had these kind of links. Some of the links are for standard stories‹scam and frauds, home buying, consumer complaints, health issues, etc.‹ which would not need much maintenance.
Video of news stories was the second most often included type of information that would allow viewers to experience previous news stories and these files were found on approximately 38% (n = 140) of all sites. Interestingly, few provide video, even of stories that actually appeared on the news. There was a significant difference between networks, F(3,367)=17.06, p < .0001; Fox affiliated stations were significantly less likely to provide streaming video of any news stories. Only 9% (n = 7) of the Fox stations had any video files available compared with almost 36% of CBS stations (n=36) and 43% of ABC stations (n = 42). NBC stations were most likely to have video files (57.3%, n = 55); this may be because NBC has formed a strong partnership with IBS that provides video streaming capability as part of its service, although some of the video is for national stories provided by IBS news partners such as CNN. As more stations form similar alliances, the number offering video and other rich media may increase too. Although not specifically coded, this study found very few if any stations making available extra video or photos as background information to local stories.
Text transcripts of news stories were found on 7.0% (n = 26) of the sites. These transcripts allow viewers to read the words of past stories although no videos or photos are included. It is not so easy to explain the absence of the other type of information. Transcript could be made from teleprompter scripts. The last type of information considered was audio clips; these were found on only 4 sites. The fact that this type of information is not widely found is easier to understand given the fact that television is a visual medium.
The fourth hypothesis predicted that stations would promote the on-air newscast by including interactive features on the Web site that involve users with newscast content; this type of information would be of interest to both potential and current viewers. Six items were coded in this category‹newscast related contests, newscast related opinion polls, online tours and Web cameras, request to send in news tip, e-newscast related mail alerts, and e-mail links to reporters (see Table 5). There was little support for this hypothesis however; few of the stations included these features on their Web sites. Fourteen sites (3.5%) had three of these features, the most any station included. Interactive features provide an opportunity for viewers to be entertained, to be involved with newscast content, and to offer feedback on the newscast. They often mimic other services offered by stations, such as in-person studio tours, on-air contests which require people to watch the news for clues, and telephone directory listings for on-air personnel.Two other categories were considered, voting on a story for the newscast and newscast related quizzes, but they were each found on only one station each and so were eliminated from consideration.
The most frequently available feature was the request to send in a news tip, available on 44.9% (n = 167) of the sites, which usually involved only an e-mail link and text encouragement. Even this easy to implement feature was found on less than half the sites. The next most frequently included feature was e-mail links for the reporters, found on 33.1% (n = 123) of the sites. Both of these interactive features require little money to set up and no maintenance.
A small number of stations had e-mail lists that specifically that said messages would contain information about stories to be featured that evening on the newscast (5.0%, n = 20). It is not that stations do not recognize the power of e-mail to inform viewers about the evening news since stations did have e-mail alerts available for general news updates, weather or sports. It seems that few stations are taking advantage of e-mail for this purpose, however.
Another type of interactive feature found on a few sites is the use of contests and give aways (3.5%, n = 13). These are similar to the contests found in the on-air broadcast, where viewers have to watch the newscast to find out if their entry was selected or to get clues for their entries. Many stations use these types of contests during sweeps ratings periods for the on-air broadcast. There is little indication though that stations are using these contests on-line to boost on-air viewership. Related interactive features were votes about what story would be shown on the air, used by only one station, and opinion polls where the results would be discussed on-air, used by only three stations.
Table 5. Frequency of Interactive Features Promoting Newscast
| Item Name | ABC | CBS | NBC | FOX |
| Newscast related contests | 5.1% (n = 5) | 3.0% (n = 3) | 3.1% (n = 3) | 1.3% (n = 1) |
| Newscast related opinion polls | 2.0% (n = 2) | 0.0% (n = 0) | 0.0% (n = 0) | 1.3% (n = 1) |
| News studio Webcams, online tours | 12.2% (n = 12) | 10.1% (n = 10) | 12.5% (n = 12) | 7.7% (n = 6) |
| Vote on story for newscast | 0.0% (n = 0) | 0.0% (n = 0) | 1.0% (n = 1) | 0.0% (n = 0) |
| Quizzes | 0.0% (n = 0) | 0.0% (n = 0) | 1.0% (n = 1) | 1.3% (n = 1) |
| Request to send in news tip | 46.9% (n = 46) | 45.5% (n = 45) | 45.8% (n = 44) | 41.0% (n = 32) |
| E-mail alerts about newscast | 5.1% (n = 5) | 8.1% (n = 8) | 6.3% (n = 6) | 1.3% (n = 1) |
| E-mail link to Reporters/anchors | 32.7% (n = 32) | 37.4% (n = 37) | 28.1% (n = 27) | 34.6% (n = 27) |
Some form of pictorial tour of the news studio was included on approximately 11% of the sites (n = 40). Many times this took the form of a photograph slide show with little if any narration or explanation through which the site visitor could click. Another option for this category was a 360 degree photo around which the viewer could rotate. Again, little if any explanation was included to help the viewer appreciate the technology involved in creating the evening newscast that is shown in the photograph. It is not that stations do not have the technical capabilities to display web camera images; many sites included traffic and city Web cam options.
The fifth hypothesis predicted that stations would be more likely to promote the station itself than the newscast. Previous research found that station Web sites more often promoted themselves than individual programs such as newscasts. Eight types of information were coded for this hypothesis‹station channel number, station call letters, station logo wordmark, station identifying information in page title, station identifying information in URL, station city or geographic region, station ownership, station slogan (see Table 6). The majority of all Web sites included station identifying information: station channel number on 92% (n = 340), station call letters on 82% (n = 303), and city or region in the station's broadcast area on 71% (n = 265). This information is not accompanied by similar variety of information about the newscast as discussed above. The data coded for the first four hypotheses show that many stations do not use the Web site to promote the newscast effectively. Therefore, new viewers might be able to find the station on the television dial, but not have any information about the newscast time or content. The fifth hypothesis is supported.
Table 6. Frequency of Items Promoting Station Itself
| Item | ABC | CBS | NBC | Fox |
| Station Channel Number | 92.9% (n = 91) | 90.9% (n = 90) | 92.7% (n = 89) | 89.7% (n = 70) |
| Station Call Letters | 83.7% (n = 82) | 86.9% (n = 86) | 76.0% (n = 73) | 80.5% (n = 62) |
| Station Logo Wordmark | 78.6% (n = 77) | 72.7% (n = 72) | 74.0% (n = 71) | 65.4% (n = 51) |
| Call Letters/ Station Number in Page Title | 76.9% (n = 78) | 69.7% (n= 69) | 65.6% (n = 63) | 61.5% (n = 48) |
| Call Letters/ Station Number in URL | 78.6% (n = 77) | 76.8% (n= 76) | 71.9% (n = 69) | 75.6% (n = 59) |
| Station City/region/state | 68.4% (n = 67) | 65.7% (n = 65) | 76.0% (n = 73) | 76.9% (n = 60) |
| Station Ownership | 60.2% (n = 59) | 63.6% (n = 63) | 55.2% (n = 53) | 64.1% (n = 50) |
| Station Slogan | 54.1% (n = 53) | 55.6% (n = 55) | 55.2% (n = 53) | 28.2% (n = 22) |
Discussion
There is a well-established body of research on promoting the on-air newscast to attract new viewers and retain existing ones. Three hypotheses were developed from that literature, all predicting that television stations would use the same techniques on-line as they do on-air to promote the newscast. With this information, prospective viewers can find the station and predict how their interests match up with the kinds of stories the station typically runs. Much of this information is static; once the Web pages and graphics are created with this information they can be used over and over. These features are low-cost to build and maintain. A fourth hypothesis predicted that stations would recognize that interactivity is a feature of the Web which sets it apart from television, and so they would make use of it in their on-line promotions. The last hypothesis predicted that Web sites would be used to promote the station rather than the newscast. There was limited support for four of these hypotheses and strong support for the fifth. The results suggest that stations are not using the same techniques on the Web site to promote the news cast as they do in their other promotional efforts.
The first hypothesis predicted that Web sites would contain information about the newscast availability. Both print and on-air promotions of the newscast include the time of either the next broadcast or the times of all newscast each day. Except for Fox stations, newscast time was found on less than 40% of all stations, and usually many fewer stations. The least frequently provided information was the number of newscasts found on only two stations, and the time of the next broadcast found on four stations. The absence of this information is the most puzzling. The times of the newscast do not change from day to day or week to week for the most part. It would not require extra maintenance to publish the newscast times in the text of the home page. The time of next broadcast display would require a small piece of programming to compare the current time with a list of newscast times in order to determine the appropriate time to display, but no on-going maintenance costs would be incurred.
The second hypothesis predicted that Web sites would include information on the credibility of the newscast and the newscasters; this information would allow the prospective viewer to choose the station they felt they could most trust. The majority of stations provided information about their network affiliation, news partners, and anchors and reporters. For some reason, very few stations made any sort of ratings claims on the news or home pages. One explanation is that the information changes periodically and would take effort to update; however, much information on home pages changes more often than ratings would. A follow-up survey of station managers on rationale for features included on and excluded from the station Web site would allow the absence of ratings to be addressed.
The third hypothesis predicted that Web sites would include information about the types of news stories typically covered on the newscast. This type of information would let potential viewers determine if the newscast covered the types of stories in which they were interested. These features require technical support to create and enough server capacity to make video and audio files readily available. These files need to be created every day, require on-going technical support. Many of the files are too big to be easily downloaded by viewers with dial-up connections; therefore stations in areas with low broadband usage may realize that most people can not see that type of content anyway. However, people tend to view these types of Web sites during the day while they are at work, and it is at work where many people do have broadband connections.
The fourth hypothesis predicted that stations would make use of a variety of features to encourage viewers to interact with the contents of the newscast. These interactive features require more in the way of up front development and ongoing support of course than Web pages which are not changed throughout the day. Web pages need to be updated for changing contests. Slide shows of the station need to be assembled and annotated. Procedures have to be implemented to deal with e-mail and on-line contest entries. This might explain the low frequency of any of the items coded for this hypothesis. However, stations have images from their doppler weather system on-line and many have Web cameras that provide live weather or traffic images. These features also require technical support and server capacity. Their presence makes the absence of promotional interactive features all the more puzzling. Chan-Olmsted & Park (2000) concluded that tv station Web sites did not include many interactive features because non-interactive features were faster to develop and safer to deploy. Stations that were cautious about out-of-control chat rooms or libelous messages posted to message forums would be slow to put interactive features on promotional Web sites.
The fifth hypothesis had the strongest support. More than half of the stations contained features promoting the station. The least frequently used station promoting feature was a slogan, appearing on 55% of the Web sites or less; it may be that not all stations have slogans. The data presented here are in line with results of previous studies. The data suggest that stations are missing an opportunity to promote the program upon which they spend the most time and money and from which they earn the most advertising revenues, their daily local newscast. Given that stations are not typically making money on the Web sites themselves (Papper & Gerhard, 2001), this lack of promotional effort is puzzling. Web sites did include many items to promote the station itself, so it seems that station management understands the importance of the Web site as a tool to market the station and create a stronger brand identity among users. it is not clear however, why that promotion effort does not carry over to promoting the newscast. The station identification information was almost always on the home page. Other promotion information, such as awards won by reporters was hidden in the text of biographies, if it was mentioned at all. Including information about past and future stories gives viewers a reason to turn on the newscast; providing station identification and newscast schedule information enables viewers to find the newscast. The interactive features involve the viewer with the Web site content and may result in more positive feelings towards the station and its newscast. Many of the interactive features, more so than the other more static information displays, give the user a specific reason to turn on the newscast.
The results suggest a number of areas that need further investigation. The first is to understand what relationship stations envision between the newscast and the Web site. It may be that stations see the Web site as serving some function completely separate from the newscast, which would explain the lack of features promoting the newscast. This information might be obtained by surveying managers of station promotion departments. These surveys could also be used to determine why certain expected types of information were almost completely missing from these Web sites.
A recent study of the effectiveness of television promotions (Albiniak, 2003) produced disappointing results. No amount of promotion effort seems capable of changing non-viewers of the news into even occasional viewers. People do not normally remember the promotions they see on-air. Web sites, billboards, and print advertisements are not effective tools for brand building or for increasing the viewing audience. Sometimes advertising on cable can even serve to drive viewers to competing stations; when people see a promotion for an upcoming story, they often turn to the station they normally watch, expecting to see the same story (Albiniak, 2003). In 1999, Arbitron conducted a survey of radio diarists about the types of content they wanted to see on station Web sites. The most frequently selected types of content included information on community events (70%), concert information (69%), titles of songs (61%) streaming audio of the station's broadcast (59%), and surveys about music (47%) (Verdino & Rosin, 1999). Potter (2002) conducted a study of FM radio station Web sites and compared the types of content available on those sites with the types of content people expressed a desire to see in the Arbitron study. He found that stations did not provide many of the types of content people wanted, especially interactive features such as surveys and chats. A similar survey of expectations about Web site content from tv station viewers could be used as another basis for determining if tv station Web sites are meeting the needs of viewers and serving as useful promotion tools.
Existing research did not provide much insight into the role of companies such as IBS or World Now in terms of how the Web site is used for promoting the station. Both provide technical support and content features to stations in markets of all sizes. They provide technical support for Web site development and programmers for contests and ever green content. They also have national advertising contracts and that revenue is shared with the local station. They supply servers for video and audio files. IBS bills itself as the leading provider of local news online and WorldNow claims to be the "largest network of leading news and information Web sites in the world"(WorldNow, 2003). IBS claim that the television stations take advantage of their services to provide news and weather during the day and then to drive the audience back to the television in the evening (IBS - It's TV at Work, 2003). These are high quality Web sites and several have won prestigious awards; their Minneapolis station won the National Press Club Online Journalism Award for a second time in 2002, for example (Four IBS Web Channels Win, 2002). Both companies develop packages that can be used on Web sites across the country, including contests and polls, entertainment features, and seasonal features.These companies bring a level of expertise, both technical and marketing, that may not exist in many stations. This lack of existing research suggested a general question to be considered of just how the Web sites maintained by these companies differ in their use of the Web for promotion from the Web sites maintain by the stations themselves.
Overall, stations have Web sites with a variety of features identifying and promoting the station itself. Fewer stations use the Web site effectively to promote the newscast. Interactive features, which are more expensive to provide and support, are included on few sites, even though interactivity is one reason may people go online. Television stations still have not created web sites that effectively promote the news.
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