The general manager of Fox TV’s District affiliate said it is incumbent upon local television stations to win back television audiences that have largely gravitated away from the sets in a multimedia environment.
“I think some of the issues local television stations have are self-inflicted,” Patrick Paolini of WTTG Fox 5 said in an interview posted by Adweek.
Mr. Paolini, who took over the helm of the Fox affiliate in 2013, decried that local stations seem to concentrate too much on the ever-important sweeps months, such as November.
“To me those days are over,” Mr. Paolini decreed bluntly. “Those stations are just trying to survive; we’re trying to evolve.”
In the 21st century world, it is incumbent upon news corporations to take a more active tack in drawing media-saturated millennials back to their TVs. Mr. Paolini said engaging with the consumers on social and other media first may drive them back to their living rooms couches.
“Viewers want to engage with the station, with the talent, and I think that’s very important to have talent people want to engage with,” he said. “I want talent on the air that I can sit down next to.”
The strategy appears to be working, as WTTG’s 10 p.m. newscast bested all other local newscasts for November. For November, WTTG’s weekday 10 p.m. newscast was tops in the market, with Adweek reporting the station enjoyed an average 1.7 rating among adults 25-54, 13 percent higher versus the same month in 2014.
• Eric Althoff can be reached at twt@washingtontimes.com.
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