HARKER BOS GROUP
Friday Harker Roundup
Friday, September 22, 2017
Univision is trying out WhatsApp to distribute news and information during hurricane emergencies
September 20, 2017
Newsrooms’ well-worn refrain about their audiences — we need to meet them where they are — means something more urgent in the middle of a category five hurricane. Where are the shelters? Where can I get water and food? Where is the storm now? Univision Nathalie Alvaray, Univision’s manager of local digital news, and four other newsroom colleagues began sending out brief but constant bulletins to a WhatsApp group Alvaray created to field questions around Hurricane Irma as it was bearing down on Miami — where major Univision studios and business operations are based — after destroying parts of the Caribbean.
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Scholarships Aim To Lure Engineering Students To Broadcasting.
September 20, 2017
The shortage of broadcast engineers continues to be a problem for station owners looking to recruit a new staff member or schedule some work to be done with a contract engineer. In an effort to boost the size of the broadcast engineering ranks, the Association of Federal Communications Consulting Engineers (AFCCE) each fall and spring semester awards cash scholarships to junior, senior and graduate engineering students who have an intention to pursue a career in telecommunications engineering. With the new school year underway, AFCCE is already looking forward to the next semester.
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Do Major TV Sports Retain High Value?
September 21, 2017
TV networks focused on high-priced sports programming maintain a content addiction that won’t go away. What’s the end game? Much depends on the big professional games via the NFL, NBA, Major League Baseball, NCAA’s Men’s Basketball Tournament and Nascar -- to name a few -- that keep broadcast networks and some cable networks relatively healthy. The major rub? License fees for those big sports franchises continue to grow sharply higher. However, national TV advertising revenues are not keeping pace. For example, Magna Global projects the NFL's total national TV advertising -- for all networks -- at $3.9 billion for this season.
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Engaging Consumers In The Era Of The Eight-Second Attention Span
September 19, 2017
According to a 2015 study from Microsoft, the average consumer’s attention span has dropped to eight seconds – one second less than that of a goldfish, the often-cited study revels in pointing out. Concurrent to this finding, marketers en masse have been retreating to create shorter content and front-loading it with calls-to-action while relying on mediums (e.g., video) that are reported to be more attention-grabbing. Short content for short attention spans, the logic suggests. But what about contradictory research that reveals how easy it is for us to binge watch a season of television on Netflix in four days?
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Radio’s Digital Marketing Prowess Adds Value For Advertiser
September 19, 2017
From Facebook to Google analytics, local businesses need help navigating an increasingly complicated digital landscape. The average local advertiser spends 11.8 hours per week on marketing, yet nearly three-quarters of small business operators consider themselves novices or apprentices in marketing, according to a new report by Borrell Associates. “I don’t think the average advertiser is aware of the amount of time and money they are spending on advertising and their level of expertise,” says Borrell Associates CEO Gordon Borrell. “You have to be really careful…if you misfire, you could damage your business.” That’s where local media companies can help.
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Thanks to Streaming, Music Sales up Big.
September 21, 20170
If the trend continues, 2017 will be the third straight year of growth for the music industry. It’s still a far cry from the glory days of the 90’s when CD sales were booming. This new growth spurt can be attributed to streaming and to specific services like Spotify and Apple Music. According to the latest report from the RIAA, revenues from streaming music services accounted for 62% of the total market for the first half of 2017. Total revenues from streaming platforms were up 48% to $2.5 billion. Cary Sherman, Chairman & CEO, RIAA said, “Today we report the state of the U.S. music business mid-way through 2017. Retail revenues for recorded music increased 17%, powered by 30 million music subscriptions and a talented array of artists and the professionals who support them."