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Local TV Stations Break the Rules to Stay in Business

Local television stations are stepping outside tradition thought - turning away from TV sets and looking towards the internet - to formulate new, creative ways to stay profitable, writes The New York Times. While consumers continue to demand choice and flexibility when watching TV content and new streams of programming offer potential sources of revenue, TV stations are forced to break the rules.

“Conventional wisdom, it’s an enemy at a time like this,” said Beth Comstock, NBC Universal’s president of digital media and market development. “In media today, I don’t think there is a single rule that can’t - and frankly, probably shouldn’t - be broken.”

“This isn’t just about driving growth. It’s about staying in business,” added Comstock at the Television Bureau of Advertising’s annual marketing conference - which for the first time was dedicated to covering one topic: the importance of the “multiplatform.”

“Advertisers and their agencies are increasingly asking for - make that demanding - a multiplatform strategy from all their media partners,” said Christopher Rohrs, president of TBA.

Christine M. Di Stadio, senior vice president of marketing and new media for the New York Times Broadcast Media Group, said local stations should offer social networking on their sites, to compete with popular services like MySpace; stream video, to compete with sites like YouTube; and utilize mobile marketing.