Local Television Websites Report Card

Recently, I was watching Channel 5’s (WTVF-Nashville’s CBS affiliate) news, when it suddenly occurred to me that I had not seen a regular reporter on their newscasts in some time. So, in an effort to determine if my suspicion that this reporter was no longer with the station was true, I did what every web savvy viewer would do. I went online to their website to view the station’s staff bios. After five minutes, I was still digging through all the pages and navigation and could not find the bios of even the station’s most recognizable personalities. I finally found the station’s bios, two days later when I was looking for something else. I stumbled upon it which is a terrible way to find something after the fact.

As a disclaimer, I should confess, I come across hundreds of web sites every day. Most through my work as a product manager for a social network, but also as a user of social sites like Facebook and Twitter. Rarely do I come across sites that are less user-friendly for their audiences than local television web sites. Often, these stations pack too much information into their pages or overload them with ads. It seems like user experience is a secondary concern for these stations.

All of this leads me to this blog post. Rating these web sites is long overdue. We’ll start with the best and work our way down to the worst.

WKRN - Channel 2 (ABC Affiliate) Grade: B Review Breakdown Design: B Content: B Video Player: B+ Structure: B SEO: F

This web site’s is the tale of two homepages.  The top half of the homepage is clean and easy to navigate.  The lower half is jumbled, with uneven blocks of content that are a complete withdrawal from the clean theme displayed at the top of the page.  Over all, WKRN’s web site is as good a user experience as any local television web site in Nashville.

WSMV - Channel 4 (NBC Affiliate) Grade: B Review Breakdown Design: B Content: B Video Player: B Structure: B SEO: F

This web site’s layout is classic yet functional.  There is the obligatory banner ad right under the masthead of the homepage.  It is intrusive and breaks the flow of the web site.  It’s to be expected, since tv stations rely very much of advertising revenue.  The three column content layout is easy enough to navigate and the menu on the left is very easy to use.

WZTV - Channel 17 (FOX Affiliate) Grade: C- Review Breakdown Design: F Content: C Video Player: F Structure: B SEO: A

The FOX 17 web site is different.  The content modules with blue backgrounds and white text set the tone, with orange elements offsetting the blue, its a different approach to a serious news web site.  Parts of the homepage are very professional, other parts are very campy.  The biggest downfall of this site is the lack of an integrated video player.  The absence of this feature really sets it back.  Of all the TV station sites reviewed, this web site actually hits the mark with their SEO efforts.

WTVF - Channel 5 (CBS Affiliate) Grade: D+ Review Breakdown Design: F Content: B Video Player: B+ Structure: D- SEO: F

It saddens me to put NewsChannel 5 at the bottom because it is my preferred station for news, but after spending an excessive amount of time trying to find a reporter’s bio, I realized this web site is a bit of a train wreck.  I noticed a common theme between WKRN and WTVF’s web sites.  Both use a content management service called WorldNow.  Both sites are using last generation markup for the site structure and overall design is a bit scattered.  The lack of a true sitemap only adds to the misorganization.  My biggest pet peeve with this web site is when the anchors say visit our website for more details about a story and you can’t find the story without scanning several pages.  This is a very poor user experience.  Add a true search, not the watered down Google site search.

If you have opinions about local television’s web sites, please leave a comment.  I would love to hear what you think of these four websites.

SXSW Interactive Recap

Today, my SXSW experience comes to an end.  With this, I return to my daily life a more enlightened person.  This is an annual phenomenon for me.  At an event like this, you experience an idea overload.   This experience works in unison with sleep deprivation.  This is SXSW.  The discussions about new technologies, ideas and how we can change the world through the digital medium starts early in the morning and goes late into the night.  You reunite with old friends.  You make new friends.  If you have ideas, you have a countless number of ears to spill your ideas to.  For five days this is Disneyland for many of us.

I can go on and on, waxing poetic about SXSW, but to save you any further revelry, I will outline some of the things I will take from this year’s SXSW:

• 10,000 tech geeks in a 10 block radius, 80% using iPhones will cripple AT&T’s 3G network
• Guy Kawasaki is now synonymous with spam
• A bigger Nashville presence this year than last (but we do have work to do)
• No controversy this year close to last year’s Zuckerberg-Lacy debacle
• I’ll get to speak on a panel next year
• The world is here (at least Europe, hello friends)
• The tech community is increasingly going Mac.  Last year was 70%/30% Macs to PCs.  This year is closer to 90/10.
• If you have either a client that you represent at SXSW, this is an excellent opportunity to get together in a laid back setting where all the layers can be easily cut through and you can establish much better conversations as a result.
• If you need a job and don’t mind moving, you could get one here.  A guy overheard my conversation and came up and within 5 minutes was trying to recruit me to move to Portland.  Sorry, I am neither A. Moving to Portland or B.  Interested in taking your job.
• The more times you use #sxsw on Twitter, the more envy you build up amongst your followers who did not attend.
• Zappos is a great company to work for and buy from, but when you attend a Tony Hsieh keynote, expect the same general discussion he always leads - customer service is #1, everything else follows.  Don’t be disappointed by this, its his deal, you should know to expect it…
• Seeing certain high profile technorati shitfaced on 6th Street is another experience unique to SXSW
• Crutches suck at SXSW - Just ask Scott Gordon (http://www.theantipimp.com)

Go ahead and make a commitment to be here next year.  And keep these tips in mind as you plan your 2010 SXSW experience:

1. Pay the extra coin to stay within walking distance on downtown and the convention center
2. Don’t forget your power cords (Phone chargers, etc)
3. Bring a powerstrip.  You will be everybody’s friend.
4. If you are introverted, find a way to be an extrovert for a few days.  It makes all the difference.
5. Use tools like Twitter to connect with fellow attendees before the conference begins
6. 1st day of SXSW is not mandatory, but stay until Tuesday afternoon
7. The accelerator event at the Hilton has tons of free Startup T’s - take full advantage

I hope you start planning your 2010 SXSW now.   I have already started mine.  How to see you here next year!