WRAL OnLine Cited As Leader In Building Loyalty

Philip Meyer, consultant for USA Today and a holder of the Knight Chair in Journalism at the University of North Carolina, discussed the issue of “viewer trust” in The Forum column of the Tuesday, March 21 issue of USA Today newspaper.

In his article, “Extra, Extra! Local media battle for your loyalty,” Meyer talked about the various forms of media (newspaper and television) and how each is trying to adapt to the changes in the viewers expectations of receiving news, i.e.. Getting up-to-the-minute information on demand through the Internet.

Meyer discusses the mega media mergers that seem to be happening with increased frequency, and how these new conglomerates are coping with the blending of different media. He feels print and broadcasting are on a collision course with the convergence of their delivery systems.

WRAL-Online was used as an example of getting it right. “A more seamless blending of online and traditional media is developing in Raleigh, NC,” he states, “where WRAL-TV is gaining trust rapidly by becoming the dominant source of weather information in its market.”

To back up his claim, Meyers recalled the snow storm in January 2000 and how quickly WRAL Online had not only weather advisories up, but also all the school and business closing information (neatly alphabetized) and up-to-the-minute stories on how the area was affected, including live pictures on key intersections and highways from the traffic cams. On that day, WRAL-Online drew 1.5 million page views, second only to Hurricane Floyd.