Social Media

“Love ABC Primetime? We do too.”

That’s the message behind #liveonkomo, the ambitious new Twitter initiative from Seattle ABC-affiliate KOMO aimed at boosting primetime ratings by promoting social media interaction among viewers, as well as the station’s on-air talent.

KOMO launched #liveonkomo with the season premiere of “The Bachelorette” earlier this month and Kristi Waite, KOMO’s digital strategist, says that the station plans to promote top ABC shows through the upcoming 2012-13 season, using the model established by the “Bachelorette” debut. Read more

Launch a social media campaign that will build your brand and deliver results in our online Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting June 7. Speakers include Abigail Cusick (Bravo Digital), Gregory Galant (Sawhorse Media), Alex Leo (Thomson Reuters Digital), Jim Tobin (Ignite Social Media), and many more. Read the reviews.

#BREAKING: Jury begins deliberations in #RodneyKing beating trial.

— Real Time LA Riots (@RealTimeLARiots) April 23, 2012

KNBC is currently covering the 1992 LA riots in real time, on Twitter.

The Los Angeles NBC station recently launched the Twitter account @RealTimeLARiots with the intention of taking followers through a blow-by-blow account of the Rodney King trial and the subsequent riots that rocked Southern California 20 years ago. Read more

KGO is canceling “7Live,” the interactive local talk and entertainment program on the San Francisco ABC O&O.

In a statement to TVSpy, KGO general manager Bill Burton called the newscast “a bold experiment in locally produced TV.”

“We’re tremendously proud of everyone involved with ’7 Live’ and their terrific work that earned an Emmy Award and other recognition,” Burton said. “Unfortunately, ’7 Live’ was unable to build enough of an audience to justify the major financial commitment necessary to continue the show.” Read more

WOWT‘s morning team is now locked in a competition for the most Facebook Likes.  Whoever has the most new Likes by Friday, April 27th, will get $100 to donate to the charity of their choice.

Anchors Jim Siedlecki and Serese Cole, reporter Jodi Baker, and meteorologist Rusty Lord are competing for the charitable prize using promo videos, which have been uploaded to YouTube.  Cole, who joined the station last summer, may have the upper hand considering that her video (above) features Nebraska icon Tom Osborne.

KOMU‘s interactive newscast is moving to noon and scaling back on Google+ involvement from viewers beginning later this month.

Jennifer Reeves, the interactive director of the Columbia NBC-affiliate, told TVSpy the interactive newscast is not being cancelled, noting that the only changes are “the show’s time, name and format changes to boost its professionalism.”

“We’re scaling back on how we present interactivity in a way our audience is more wiling to accept,” Reeves said. “This is partly the challenge of bringing new delivery to a traditional space.” Read more

With 344,145 Facebook fans and 78,056 Twitter followers, Los Angeles’ KABC is leading all local news stations in social media, according to Lost Remote. Cheryl Fair, vice president and news director of the ABC O&O, talks to the website about the importance of a strong online community:

As a news organization, we see social media as a way for our viewers to talk to us, and not just as a way for us to talk to them. Listening is important. Since starting our Twitter feed in 2008, we have made it a commitment to reply to comments and questions as often as we can. People will frequently Tweet us to let us know about what’s happening near them and to ask us for details. That carried over to our relationship with our viewers on our Facebook page.  Read more

Local stations continue to increasingly devote resources to engaging viewers online. Advertising Age examines how some local stations have been successful with social media — and the impact that can have on advertisers:

Social media helped a local NBC affiliate push past the dominant station in the market during Hurricane Irene, said Valari Staab, president of NBC Owned Television Stations.

“We were watching the Facebook page, and it just lit up. … The conversation got bigger and bigger, and more people became involved,” Ms. Staab said. “The station went on-air live at 3 p.m. instead of 6 p.m. and stayed on. We slaughtered our competition on the coverage.” Read more

Seattle’s KIRO will air primetime special tomorrow night to educate viewers to the benefits of social media.

KIRO traffic anchor Jenni Hogan, who has more than 40,000 followers on Twitter, will host a live show called “Connect with Jenni Hogan” at 10:30 p.m. tomorrow. The show will focus on “inspiring and educating viewers about the benefits of connecting online,” according to a KIRO statement.

The show will begin as a livestream on the station’s website at 10 p.m. and will be live on KIRO at 10:30 p.m. Viewers will be encouraged to use the #KIROConnect hashtag to interact with Hogan throughout the broadcast. Read more

Although KUSA anchor Kyle Dyer has been silent following Wednesday’s on-air dog bite, viewers in Denver have been very active on her Facebook page, writing their support on her wall.

“My prayers are with you and for your speedy recovery,” one person wrote this morning, echoing the sentiments of many.  “We miss you!”

“You are greatly missed,” another person wrote, alluding to the fact that Dyer is off the air as she recovers from reconstructive surgery.  “You always have such an engaging smile and you make everyone feel like they are part of the family… We look forward to seeing you back on camera again soon.”

And while the majority of the comments on Dyer’s Facebook wall have been positive in the 24 hours or so following the attack, this being Facebook, there have been a handful of negative comments as well as a few arguments. Read more

Cincinnati CBS-affiliate WKRC has named Katie Clavey as the station’s first reporter specializing in online and social media coverage.

“Katie will be working with all aspects of our social media platforms, as well as reporting on-air about online trends and social media topics into ‘Good Morning Cincinnati,’ as well as our other newscasts,” news director Kirk Varner wrote in a memo to staffers obtained by the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Clavey joins WKRC from the Cincinnati Enquirer, where she is the calendar editor of the entertainment guide. For the past year, she has contributed to the weekend morning newscasts on WLWT, the Fox-affiliate in Cincinnati.