Dayton to be a test market for new regional strategy

[gr8oldies]

http://www.radio-info.com/sections/...648-cox-will-use-dayton-as-a-test-tube-market

Radio running TV? TV running newspaper? What does this mean to the Cox palace?

 

[alans613]

I'm with ya gr8...pretty confusing stuff here.

 

[TANKSBACK]

Actually it's a great move! No more invisible lines between departments at the radio-TV complex on Wilmington Avenue, better cooperation and input from departments that had some overlap, the opportunity to leverage the power of radio-TV-newspaper combined in better ways for clients, the opportunity for people in one medium to learn and use the other mediums, what's not to like? I see virtually no jobs disappearing as the radio and TV stations are pretty streamlined already. Dayton was way ahead of the curve in both the Cox empire and radio in general when it comes to maximizing the volume of work with a smaller staff. Plus Donna Hall. who's a great G.M., gets to bring her expertise to both Dayton and Lousiville radio. That's my opinion, now let the sniping from malcontents begin.

 

[inquisitor]

Actually it's a great move! No more invisible lines between departments at the radio-TV complex on Wilmington Avenue, better cooperation and input from departments that had some overlap, the opportunity to leverage the power of radio-TV-newspaper combined in better ways for clients, the opportunity for people in one medium to learn and use the other mediums, what's not to like? I see virtually no jobs disappearing as the radio and TV stations are pretty streamlined already. Dayton was way ahead of the curve in both the Cox empire and radio in general when it comes to maximizing the volume of work with a smaller staff. Plus Donna Hall. who's a great G.M., gets to bring her expertise to both Dayton and Lousiville radio. That's my opinion, now let the sniping from malcontents begin.

Media General had done the shared newsroom thing in Tampa for quite some time, and recently realigned management to reflect basically the same approach. I also think it's smart. One guy does the legwork to develop a story ... the same editor can edit a newspaper version ... maybe the same editor, maybe a different one can do a TV version? I'm not in the media, but since a good number of stories in the broadcast media come from the print media anyway, this seems like a more efficient and less repetitive way of accomplishing the same results.

In the past, I never thought the issue of newspaper/broadcast combos was such a big deal because the newsroom separation has always existed. It is curious though, that most markets where the TV station is connected to the newspaper, that TV station tends to be the top station in the market, even though they haven't made the best use of thier existing infrastructure. However, to the extent newspaper/broadcast combos start making better use of their newspaper reporting staff, they now really have the opportunity to leave their competition in the dust. Imagine, for instance, The Dayton Daily News or The Columbus Dispatch running an in-depth investigative series, and then (after the newspaper run is complete) doing a broadcast version. This could also be the basis of local or even statewide "60 Minutes" type broadcasts.

I'm also not familiar with the mechanics of the sales end, but it seems far more efficient for both the paper/broadcaster and the client to have one sales rep as a contact. Again, I'm not a media professional, but I think there's lots of potential here.