NBC: Local TV stations need to go mobile

NBC's president of digital media and market development said local TV stations need to diversify their offerings beyond traditional TV to the Internet and mobile platforms. "This isn't just about driving growth--it's about staying in business," Beth Comstock explained at the annual conference of the Television Bureau of Advertising. The need for "multi-platform" strategies was the central topic of the conference, marking the first time the usually disparate event had a single focus. The bureau formed a multi-platform strategy committee with executives from ABC, CBS, Gannett Broadcasting, NBC and The New York Times Broadcasting Media Group.

Local stations can piggyback on the local search trend which is sure to be big on the mobile platform. Conference attendees mentioned a "mobile physician finder" service that would use click-to-call technology. Of course, plenty of attendees suggested user-generated citizen journalism scenarios, too. It's interesting that traditional TV continues to kick themselves for still being stuck in a "1950s" mindset with one marketer at the conference commenting that, in terms of capitalizing on new media's methods of delivering content and ads, "we are where television was in the late 1950s."

For more on local TV stations' move to mobile:
- see this article from The New York Times