Monday, October 3, 2011 - Media Migraine by Gayle Falkenthal
SAN DIEGO, October 3, 2011 – The future of news coverage has seen a stunning transformation this week, thanks to the late King of Pop Michael Jackson.
Call him The King of Apps.
A new cell phone application (app) allowing fans of Michael Jackson and high profile celebrity trials to access live coverage and other special features of the Conrad Murray trial underway in Los Angeles could revolutionize the television news industry.
Just two days after being introduced last week, "The Michael Jackson Doctor Trial" app hit number one in iTunes’ news app store, and reached as high as number 29 in sales of apps overall (it dropped to number 47 by October 2). The app, which is available both for iPhones and Android phones, has been downloaded over one million times at 99 cents a pop, putting the King of Pop back on top of the charts more than two years after his death.
Conrad Murray trial coverage app screenshot. Courtesy MyFoxLA.com
Live video is being provided by the Los Angeles Fox network affiliate, KTTV. Fox executives have been quoted saying they were inspired to try it after a Casey Anthony trial app was a big seller last summer, figuring Jackson’s fans might want to check it out. The same executives denied allegations that KTTV and Fox are just trying to profit from the trial.
Why are the execs denying the desire to make some money from their news coverage and being successful at it? If I was the brainiac who came up with this idea for a new revenue stream for local TV news, I’d be taking every bit of credit for boosting the bottom line. It’s brilliant. It’s got potential to be nothing less than an economic savior. This is the insight missing from observations about the Murray trial app.
First, let’s get this straight. Television news, especially local TV news, ceased being a public service the minute some smart manager figured out the growing audience was worth something to advertisers. Television news is a business. The average TV station gets 45% of its revenue from local news. This is why you see so many hours of news today compared to 30 years ago.
Television is being hammered by a tough economy like many other businesses. According to the Pew Research Center’s “Project for Excellence in Journalism,” local television ad revenue fell 22% in 2009; triple the decline the year before. It ticked slightly up in 2010 but hardly enough to offset these dramatic losses.
Meanwhile, another survey released as part of Pew’s 2011 “State of the News Media” report shows nearly half of all Americans (47%) now get some form of local news on a mobile device. This migration is like unstoppable waves of wildebeest across the plains and the herd is growing. Audiences for all other news platforms shrank in 2010.
Television remains the number one source of news for Americans, with the web now in second place for the first time as of 2010, besting newspapers, radio, and other outlets. The writing is on the wall… and the smartphone and the tablet.
The Conrad Murray app signifies a light bulb over the head, "aha!" moment. If the number one news source, television, can catch and ride the mobile delivery wave, it just might survive and thrive for a long time to come. Why be shy taking credit for something that will drive viewers, generate revenue, and perhaps resurrect a little sector of the economy in hard times?
Profit on a 99-cent app is about 70 cents, less the development cost. Tech Crunch reports the average is about $6,000, but these costs can escalate far higher. With something like the Murray trial app, someone could have created it who’s in-house, being paid his or her regular salary.
At minimum, with one million Murray trial coverage apps sold, the profit is conservatively $650,000. Local news generates 45% of an average television station’s revenue. In a top 25 market like Los Angeles, total revenue averages about $50 million. It’s not unlikely the Murray trial app could bring in $1.5 million or more.
This is pure gravy. The station would be covering the trial and putting up online material anyway. It’s got access to the bios and court documents, so why not funnel it all to the mobile platform for viewers on the go eager to keep up with the latest juicy bits of the trial.
Gadgets like smartphones and tablets are useless without content. Television has the tools and talent to deliver compelling content. By concentrating on programming that draws and holds viewers and worrying less about the technical delivery method, television will find itself a leader instead of a follower in the modern media age. Television news can strengthen its position by leveraging the powerful brand name it has among its viewers. If a station claims to be the “Local News Leader!” then it needs to deliver that local news via whatever method consumers prefer or they’ll find it somewhere else.
Getting hung up on whether viewers are watching TV, a laptop, or an iPhone is short sighted. When a local story such as the Conrad Murray trial becomes headline news across the nation, local news organizations can own it and can capitalize on it, in every sense of the word. You’re in the information business. Deliver the goods and make some money while you’re at it.
Gayle Lynn Falkenthal, APR, is President/Owner of the Falcon Valley Group in San Diego, California. Read more Media Migraine in the Communities at The Washington Times. Follow Gayle on Facebook and on Twitter @PRProSanDiego .
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