NBC Rebranding their O&O's and their local websites

[Newschannel4SF]

As we draw closer to the magic date of 2/17/09 we are seeing many of the NBC stations including KNTV rebrand. Effective 10/16/08 KNTV's website will be renamed NBCBayArea.

The new sites will replace the current station-centric sites produced by Internet Broadcasting and will feature Web addresses with the names of the markets rather than channel numbers.

NBC's Chicago site, for instance, is switching from nbc5.com to nbcchicago.com.

The new sites will feature content not only from the stations, but also from other sources, including print, online publications, bloggers and individuals.

"These sites are a departure from what we've done in the past and the next step in our mission to provide truly relevant local content to consumers on the media platform of their choice," said John Wallace, president, NBC Local Media.

"Our goal was to create a new type of user experience that's less an extension of our TV stations and more of an online destination for the latest local news, information and entertainment. These sites are about putting consumers first and giving them the content they're looking for from the best available sources," Wallace added.

Following the launch of nbcchicago.com this afternoon, NBC will roll out Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco on Oct. 16; Dallas, Philadelphia and Washington on Oct. 20; and New York and Hartford, Conn., on Oct. 27.

See below for the stations and the new Web addresses.

According to NBC, the new sites will target local users who are highly social, digitally savvy and extremely interested in staying on top of the latest local news and information.

"When we decided to change the focus of our business, we specifically set out to target people who loved their cities, embrace change and have a huge appetite for local news and information, said Brian Buchwald, senior vice president of NBC Local Integrated Media.

"What we found is the group we're calling ‘social capitalists,' who are less about a specific demo and more about a state of mind," he said.

"They're passionate, like to stay ahead of the curve and influence others in their peer groups. We're confident these new sites will deliver what they're looking for as we experiment and learn together."

The sites will have an entirely new look and navigation, integrating text, videos, blogs or "whatever medium is appropriate to tell the full story," NBC said.

The new online approach is part of NBC Local Media's strategy of transforming itself from a company that runs TV stations into a full-service multi-platform content provider for the local marketplace.

Other elements of the strategy include the recent acquisition of LX.TV and Skycastle Entertainment; continued investment in NBC Everywhere, the out-of-home media division; and the soon-to-launch 24/7 news and information channel at the flagship television station, WNBC.

The new Web addresses (in order of launch):

WMAQ Chicago: nbcchicago.com

KNBC Los Angeles: nbclosangeles.com

KNSD San Diego: nbcsandiego.com

KNTV San Francisco: nbcbayarea.com

KXAS Dallas-Fort Worth: nbcdfw.com

WCAU Philadelphia: nbcphiladelphia.com

WRC Washington: nbcwashington.com

WVIT Hartford: nbcconnecticut.com

WNBC New York: nbcnewyork.com

It will be interesting to see what the other Bay Area stations will rebrand themselves as such as KRON 4, KPIX, KGO, KTVU, KQED and the UHF's.

 

[LKellerIII]

As we draw closer to the magic date of 2/17/09 we are seeing many of the NBC stations including KNTV rebrand. Effective 10/16/08 KNTV's website will be renamed NBCBayArea.

The new sites will replace the current station-centric sites produced by Internet Broadcasting and will feature Web addresses with the names of the markets rather than channel numbers.

NBC's Chicago site, for instance, is switching from nbc5.com to nbcchicago.com.

"They're passionate, like to stay ahead of the curve and influence others in their peer groups. We're confident these new sites will deliver what they're looking for as we experiment and learn together."

The new online approach is part of NBC Local Media's strategy of transforming itself from a company that runs TV stations into a full-service multi-platform content provider for the local marketplace.

The new Web addresses (in order of launch): WMAQ Chicago: nbcchicago.com, KNBC Los Angeles: nbclosangeles.com,
KNSD San Diego: nbcsandiego.com, KNTV San Francisco: nbcbayarea.com, KXAS Dallas-Fort Worth: nbcdfw.com'
WCAU Philadelphia: nbcphiladelphia.com, WRC Washington: nbcwashington.com,WVIT Hartford: nbcconnecticut.com,
WNBC New York: nbcnewyork.com.

It will be interesting to see what the other Bay Area stations will rebrand themselves as such as KRON 4, KPIX, KGO, KTVU, KQED and the UHF's.

There was a thread about the KNTV rebranding more than a month ago. At least here in the Bay Area, it just took their website URL a few weeks to catch up with the branding of the station, that's all.

Hmmm....if NBC is doing this all over the country, it must not mean that NBC is buying KRON...you think?

Again - the reason is obvious - with cable and satellite, dial locations (channel numbers) are increasingly becoming meaningless. Network O&Os, affiliates, and even independents are re-branding to be more like basic cable.

If you'll notice, the new "KOFY TV 20" graphically emphasizes the call letters and de-emphasizes the "TV20/Cable 13" in their on-screen bug. No more big number "20" in the logo. Eventually, they may just refer to the station as "KOFY."

I can see KTVU just using call letters - they use the call letters during local programming now, it's only "Fox 2" when they're referring to network programming. But I can't see the other network stations dropping the "CBS5" or "ABC7." . If they all start copying KNTV, and saying "Fox Bay Area," "CBS Bay Area," and ABC Bay Area, it will just become a branding muddle in everybody's minds.

 

[ihEARDtHAT]

If I'm not mistaken, KNSD 7/39 San Diego has been using www.nbcsandiego.com for some time already.

 

[JackBauer112]

KNSD has used NBC San Diego since 2001.

 

[LKellerIII]

KNSD has used NBC San Diego since 2001.

I remember visiting San Diego years ago, and watching "NewsCenter 39," which sounded kind of funny....I guess because I was used to "NewsCenter 4" in LA and the Bay Area.

Being broacast channel 39 with a cable dial position of 7 would be a good argument for just calling yourself "NBC San Diego."

When KNTV became an NBC affiliate (then later an O&O) they fought for (and got) cable channel 3 from ComCast. I guess it was preferable to cable 11 (their broadcast dial position) for some reason. First they branded as NBC3, then changed to NBC11 - supposedly because of viewer confusion with KCRA (NBC broadcast channel 3) in Sacramento, which can apparently be received over the air in some the north-eastern parts of the Bay Area.

So going to "NBC Bay Area" seems much simpler to me.

 

[JackBauer112]

KNSD has used NBC San Diego since 2001.

I remember visiting San Diego years ago, and watching "NewsCenter 39," which sounded kind of funny....I guess because I was used to "NewsCenter 4" in LA and the Bay Area.

Being broacast channel 39 with a cable dial position of 7 would be a good argument for just calling yourself "NBC San Diego."

When KNTV became an NBC affiliate (then later an O&O) they fought for (and got) cable channel 3 from ComCast. I guess it was preferable to cable 11 (their broadcast dial position) for some reason. First they branded as NBC3, then changed to NBC11 - supposedly because of viewer confusion with KCRA (NBC broadcast channel 3) in Sacramento, which can apparently be received over the air in some the north-eastern parts of the Bay Area.

So going to "NBC Bay Area" seems much simpler to me.

Not to mention in addition of KCRA being on cable in the Antioch/Brentwood area on Channel 23 and in Fairfield/Vallejo area on Channel 3 in replacement of KNTV, KNTV is also available as a distant network signal on Dish network which I got via All American Direct which imports channel 11 along with channels 2, 5 and 7 to those that qualify for those networks. And from where I live, I got all 4 of them! So in actual terms being about 95 miles east of the area, KNTV is still available albeit SD not HD.

 

[1069_KIFR]

I believe KNTV's thinking was...NBC used to on 4, let's be on cable 3. So viewers only have to move one channel over instead of 7.

 

[Newname]

That's pretty much it...they wanted to keep the network affilates more or less in a row on cable systems(2 through 7, excluding KICU on 6 in most areas). They also wanted to be as close to channel 4 as possible, so that people who mistakenly turned on KRON out of habit to watch NBC would be able to find the 'new' NBC channel more quickly.

 

[TheRob]

Off topic a little, but there's a rumour going around that part of NBC's upcoming cuts might include merging KNBC/L.A. and KNSD/San Diego. I don't know how much credibility to give it, but that would be an alarming move if true.

 

[wolfdreamer]

Off topic a little, but there's a rumour going around that part of NBC's upcoming cuts might include merging KNBC/L.A. and KNSD/San Diego. I don't know how much credibility to give it, but that would be an alarming move if true.

Ooohh, that *would* be alarming. And that scenario raises some interesting questions:

* Would KNBC-LA produce and broadcast all (or a portion of) KNSD's news & local programs for the SD market from LA?

* Would the combined entity result in the elimination of each station's individual branding identities ("NBC Los Angeles", & "NBC San Diego") and possibly be replaced with a new single branding scheme of "NBC Southern California" or something similar?

* Could KNTV-SF possibly be included in the mix as well? (Think "NBC California" or NBC "West Coast" etc.)

Aren't all the NBC West coast O&O's currently controlled to some extent from Burbank master control facilities anyway? It probably wouldn't be too technically challenging to operate the stations as one "virtual station".

It's seems doubtful that NBC would move forward with this scheme. Ideally it would probably alienate a lot of viewers, advertisers, and generally result in lot of confusion.

But it does bring to mind a similar scheme from some years back when Young Broadcasting owned KCAL9 LA, and was preparing to purchase KRON4 SF and take it independent from it's heritage as an NBC affiliate. They were touting the wonders of "synergies", "simulcasts", and shared-resources of combining many facets of both stations operations, with the emphasis on news programming. They estimated that there would be a viewing audience hungry for California statewide news coverage that both their stations would capitalize on. KRON4 would air KCAL9 news programs & segments, and vice-versa. They would in essence, operate both stations as one entity.
Of course, none of this ever came to light. The purchase of KRON4 decimated Young's financials, and they had to put up KCAL9 for sale which ultimately became a Viacom/CBS property. Ironically, a much more streamlined & integrated merger of KCAL9 went through with now-sister-station KCBS2, and the rest is history. Of course, it made more sense as KCAL9 and KCBS2 served the *same* viewing market!

 

[wolfdreamer]

Now if I may get back on the thread topic at hand:

The original post was about NBC Rebranding their O&O's and their local websites.

So far, (at least in KNBC4 LA's case, which is the O&O I have access to view) it seems that *only* their website was rebranded, and not the station itself.

I seem to recall that KNTV SF had gone all the way, including removing most references to channel 11 from their on-air identities and replaced it with "NBC Bay Area" (which of course, their website now reflects as well.) Perhaps someone from the Bay Area can confirm this?

So my question is this: Will KNBC be doing the same thing, and ultimately be removing on-air references to Channel 4, replaced by "NBC Los Angeles?" If so, when is that expected to happen?

I must admit that it would be strange to no longer hear "Channel 4" and "Channel 4 News", as well as lose the "4" brand from the on-screen "bug" and the news mics! To me, NBC (KNBC) will always be "Channel 4"!

 

[compubit]

I suspect whether a station stays with the channel number (NBC 4) or area name (NBC Bay Area) may have to do with the "heritage" of the signal and distribution...

KNTV is fairly new to NBC vs. KNBC, which has (nearly if not) always been NBC in LA. Plus KNTV has played "musical numbers" - NBC 3, NBC 11 - and is not on one standard channel in the San Francisco market. KNBC is almost always seen on 4 either on cable or OTA.

San Diego is a different beast (with cable penetration there and a UHF channel number)...

I've noticed some stations that had gotten away from channel number are bringing it back, since with DTV, the stations show up based on OTA analog channel number, and satellite uses the OTA channel number too - WCNC in Charlotte had been Channel 36, then NBC 6 (cable position in the market), then WCNC, and is back to Newschannel 36...

(Personally, I prefer a number in the channel identifier - but maybe that's because I've been fascinated with numbers since I was very young. Here's a hint, my 2 favorite TV shows as a small child were Jeopardy and Concentration; was it the answers or the rebus puzzles? No it was TV Screens full of numbers for a half hour!!! ;D )

Jim

 

[LKellerIII]

Now if I may get back on the thread topic at hand:

The original post was about NBC Rebranding their O&O's and their local websites.

I seem to recall that KNTV SF had gone all the way, including removing most references to channel 11 from their on-air identities and replaced it with "NBC Bay Area" (which of course, their website now reflects as well.) Perhaps someone from the Bay Area can confirm this?

That is correct. In the Bay Area, KNTV re-branded as "NBC Bay Area" on air first, and eliminated all references to "11." It's funny - I noticed that it took a few weeks for them to replace those microphone logo things - the on-the-scene news reporters were turning the peacock logo to face the camera, but you could often see the 11.

The website followed about a month later.

 

[1069_KIFR]

Some microphone bugs had the '11' blacked out. But you could still tell it was '11'.