NBCU’s owned-and-operated station in Philadelphia has soft-launched DigPhilly.com, a social networking site that features current events, local features, music, nightlife, shopping, restaurant reviews, video sharing and classifieds. Explains the site, “You can review your favorite restaurant, post videos and blogs, join discussion groups, sell stuff, find out about new music and meet new people.” Kudos to NBCU for taking a fresh approach to attracting younger users who increasingly don’t watch local TV news or visit local TV websites. Also, kudos for burying the NBC brand on the site — you have to drill down into the terms of service or click on the weather link at the top of the site to figure out the WCAU association. (In situations like these, brand association with a major local media company can actually hurt your chances of success.) If you ask me, DigPhilly.com (which has some similarities to Vita.mn, by the way) is a great example of a TV station branching out into new audiences and local niches to attract new online revenue. Keep in mind the site is in deep beta — they just launched — but take a look around.
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Frank Wilson is a retired teacher with over 30 years of combined experience in the education, small business technology, and real estate business. He now blogs as a hobby and spends most days tinkering with old computers. Wilson is passionate about tech, enjoys fishing, and loves drinking beer.
