Barry Leffler -- the general manager of WNCN, the NBC affiliate in the Triangle -- has graciously agreed to answer questions for Wehr in the World readers. I thank Mr. Leffler for his time.
Q. You took a unique approach by airing short video messages asking viewers to send their feedback. How has that worked out? What's the best feedback you've received?
A. We work very hard at NBC 17 to “listen” to our viewers. One of the ways we do that is by asking people to e-mail us their comments about our newscasts. What do they like? How can we improve? It’s also a great tool for people to let us know when we get something wrong so we can go on the air and make a correction. The best part of the on-air appeal for feedback is the conversations we have with our viewers. These are exchanges we wouldn’t have otherwise. I also think people appreciate that they receive a reply from me or one of our senior news managers usually within one business day.
As to the best feedback: I don’t think any one e-mail has stood out… but the trends we see from hearing from so many people help us shape our newscasts. Combined with other “listening” techniques, we have significantly reduced the amount of crime news in our shows, and put those resources into covering topics such as education, the economy, health, etc. We have also heard loud and clear that people want a newscast balanced with positive stories… which we work hard to do.
Q. How does NBC-17 determine which stories to cover, and the length of each segment?
A. The decision on which stories to cover are made on a daily basis based on the news of the day, resources available, and as mentioned above, the type of stories our viewers tell us they’d like to see. The length is based on how long it takes to present the facts. We have no guidelines on minimum and maximum lengths… just that when we’ve exhausted the details we move on to the next story. We do have to deal with the time constraints of our program schedule (the 6pm News is 30 minutes, the 7pm News is an hour)… so if a story has more information than we are able to present on-air, after getting the key facts out over the air, we will utilize our website for those who want more.
Q. What are the most important decisions you, as the general manager, make on a day-to-day basis?
A. Every day brings something different!
Q. How is it that news stations measure how well they're doing? In other words, what data are you using to support your decisions?
A. There are various measurements… some statistical and some anecdotal. We get ratings reports that tell us approximately how many people are watching and web stat reports that show us how our internet sites are being utilized. We also conduct formal research… as well as a lot of informal research through our Community Listening Tours, informal focus groups and listening to the feedback we get.
Q. Who are the main competitors to local news stations?
A. I regard Google, Yahoo, etc as the biggest competitors to local news stations.
Q. How much competition is there between the local news stations?
A. This area is very fortunate to have three highly respected and hard working television newsrooms that push each other to be better. The winner is the viewer. Each of has our own niche/focus… but clearly we all want to be number one.
Q. How do you think local news stations will change in the next 10 years?
A. We will continue to adapt ourselves to providing local content across whatever platforms our community wants to receive information. It’s clichéd but true, we need to be ready to deliver local information “Wherever, Whenever and However” people want to consume it.
Q. It seems the market rewards news content for its sensationalism. Is this a bad thing, and if so, what can be done about it?
A. I’m not sure that’s always true. But ultimately, viewers have a big say in what we all do by voting with their remotes. If they don’t like something they see on television, they can easily choose to turn it off or watch something else.
Q. What else haven't I asked that would be especially interesting for Wehr in the World readers to know?
A. I think your readers would be every interested in some of our “non-NBC 17 branded web products. If you haven’t checked them out yet, here are a few:
www.MyNC.com: dedicated to aggregating local news, information and user contributions at a local community level. No more searching seven or eight websites looking for what’s going on in your specific town or community. There’s also an easy way for anyone to post stories about their community and see them appear online right alongside the professional media content (we view a story posted by a community member as just important as anything we would report). You will also find at MyNC.com aggregation sites for Events (things to do), Classifieds, etc (again, no more having to search multiple sites).
www.30Threads.com: the ultimate site for blogs and all things interesting in the Triangle. Hundreds of local blogs are organized by topic, geography, etc… and Ginny Skalski (and other staff members) highlight 30 posts (hence, the name 30 Threads) ranging from the hot topics of the day to the offbeat and quirky.
www.Music.MyNC.com: the local band music scene is extremely vibrant in our area and this site is dedicated to covering it. Aside from local music news, we are recoding on average of two bands a week who appear live on the web from our studio for “Sessions at Studio B”… with the video of the performances and interviews available shortly afterwards for viewing at anytime.
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