How can an enterprising company like Nexstar find a core
distinctive market position in a crowded field such as news? Sean Fassett, VP
Research and Insights, WGN America & Antenna TV, has been applying his
research skills at finding the answer.
Nexstar has just announced the launch of News Nation which
is carving out the middle of the road for primetime news coverage. Fassett
explained that this is an, “alternative to the news talk show choices on cable
TV today utilizing the 110 local Nexstar Newsrooms across the US, with over 5500
Reporters in the field.” The service is headquartered in Chicago with
additional reporters in Miami, NY, Dallas, LA and DC.
Charlene Weisler: What research did you conduct on News Nation?
Sean Fassett: We have
conducted four custom Research studies pre-launch to gauge the marketplace,
develop an awareness of what people felt was missing in their primetime news,
test taglines, determine genres of stories important to viewers in a post COVID
world and understand the overlap of digital and linear news usage.
Weisler: Can you share some of the takeaways?
Fassett: The promise of an “Unbiased Newscast, No Opinions”
and a “Facts Only Newscast” drew the support of nearly 75% of respondents
across all demos and ages. More than 6 in 10 viewers want national news
reporting that does not give indications of a networks political affiliation. They
don’t want a news broadcast to tell me what to think or have a host tell his
opinions. They want the facts to make their own decision.
Weisler: Were there any surprises?
Fassett: What we found interesting is that most of the
respondents know that the cable news they are watching on TV are politically
left or right driven, but they don’t have any other choices on TV. While conducting internal research across two
different Research firms, we correlated those results with research from syndicated
services to show that the majority of the U.S. citizens are politically middle
of the road, or politically agnostic. This presents us with a large opportunity
to deliver news reporting that is politically agnostic.
For example, one tagline tested was “Your News Matters”. We
found that respondents felt we were telling them we are presenting news we felt
mattered to them. “Your News, Your Nation” was ultimately decided on as
respondents this tagline spoke more to our brand promise: we are presenting
your news across their nation - Our ability to present both sides and present
stories that are important to them.
Weisler: How has the research been used so far?
Fassett: The research has been used to gauge the
marketplace, show that people embrace our positioning, track our awareness, intent
to view, and assist our marketing department on the rollout of their national
promotion effect which hit the streets on 8/17.
Weisler: Is there any further
research planned?
Fassett: Post launch we plan on continued monitoring of social
media, ongoing weekly awareness and intent to view, and evaluation of Nielsen
ratings. We also will be conducting focus groups, online panels, and will be
tapping into Research that allows our Programming team to see what stories are
resonating across all the Nexstar stations locally. Some stories that may not
be top of mind or carried by other networks allow us to give voices to the
voiceless locally but at a national level. In addition to our custom research,
we will be utilizing syndicated services from social, digital services and
Nielsen ratings.
Weisler: What are the most important metrics to use?
Fassett: Metrics of success will always be evolving. Right
now our most important metrics are program and network awareness and intent to
view. After launch we will need to tap into sentiment, perceptions and
delivering on our unwavering promise of middle of the road, non-biased news.
While ratings always become a networks typically “gauge of success”, we are
planning the network for the long term, and following stories of importance
rather than just ratings. We are not chasing stories to drive ratings. Our
ratings will be driven by our viewers embracing our stories both on air and on
digital. We will also be working with rhetoricians who will be analyzing our
anchors and wording to make sure we continue to deliver on that promise
Weisler: What do you see as the competitive set?
Fassett: We are competing in a very wide category, both on
TV and digital. While most will bucket us going up against the other cable news
nets as our competition (CNN, MSNBC, FNC), they also are not. We will not be
doing what they are doing. We will not be delivering politically driven talk
shows in primetime.
Weisler: What are the biggest challenges in launching and tracking this
new service?
Fassett: One of the biggest challenges is offering news
programing on a network not known for news programming. We are going against
networks like CNN, now 40 years on TV, MSNBC and FNC are coming up on 25 years.
Weisler: What are the opportunities?
Fassett: The opportunities are to serve the community with
those stories which are important nationally but sometimes don’t make it out of
the local markets. Utilizing the 1000’s of hours of news produced across the
196 Nexstar stations allows us the opportunity to make that happen.
Weisler: Where do you expect to see the service a year from now and
what research are you planning to monitor its success?
Fassett: We hope to continue to listen to our viewers and
provide them with a service that meets their needs. We hope to grow with them,
and embrace new technologies and stories that help them every day.
This article first appeared in www.Mediapost.com
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