This morning many outlets were reporting about a secret mission being launched by YTD with a local TV Station in SF.  See here, here and here .

It will be interesting to see what station they are working with.  KGO is one of our clients, KTVU has KickApps and KPIX has the CBS o/o silverlight solution.  I suspect they will be working wtih KPIX.

Current installations of YTD mainly foucs on commentary type of situations WHDH is a current partner here is an example.

You Tube Direct is a good start, but is lacking on a couple of fronts:

1) You need developers to set up the platform and your own infastructure.  Many local TV stations dont have the manpower to set up and manage YTD.

2) Currently does not support photos.  Less than 10% of content uploaed to local tv stations via UGC platform is video content

3) Pre registration is necessary:  users must already have a YT account before they can upload content.  If you are looking for quick access to eye witness videos , requiring registration is counter intuitive.

The YTD team is smart and talented, but the product needs a few tweaks before it is ready for primetime

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The storm waters have finally started to recede in Nashville and things are starting to get back to normal.  Over the past week we have taken a hard look at some of the data from our Nashville stations.  We wanted to look at how much content was coming in per HOUR and exactly HOW that content was coming in.  One big advantage with Cell Journalist is that content can be submitted from mobile phones or email.  This makes it very easy for people to submit their pictures and videos.  On average over 50% of the content is submitted via cell phones or directly through email.

One of our partners in Nashville topped out at almost 1,000 images/videos in one hour!  There are definitely spikes that relate to on-air call to actions and the display of user photos/videos from around the area.   A very powerful cycle is created when content is shown on air.  It motivates the audience to keep on submitting and provides more valuable content for the stations to use.

The graph below is a snapshot of the content received, from one station, between 7:00 am on Saturday May1st through 11:00 pm on Sunday May2nd.

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http://mashable.com/2010/05/13/mobile-tech-journalists/

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This is a collection of Photos and Videos submitted from Cell Journalist customers WTVF and WSMV in Nashville and WMC in Memphis.  In total over 40,000 images/videos were submitted to TV stations who were using our platform.

See the full gallery on Posterous

See more compelling photos and videos at 

• pix.wsmv.com
• my5.newschannel5.com
• my5.wmctv.com

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Prep the Site and Spread the Word

 Cell Journalist will help you “prime the site” with content, but a great way to build station support and get the site populated is for the GM or News Director to send a memo to the entire staff requesting content.

• You can even create an internal station contest with a prize for the most popular content that is sent in.
• Have news videographers and reporters send in cell phone images from the scene of stories they are covering.

 Use Your Home Page

 Put a content widget on the front page of your broadcast website and also include the e-mail address so your audience can send in content via e-mail.

 Use Social Networks

 Promote the site via Twitter. Give your audience specific examples of what kinds of content you're looking for, such as pets, weather, and high school sports. Also promote the e-mail address so they can easily send in content.

• Use your station’s Facebook and YouTube accounts to promote the site.
• Anchors and reporters who have blogs should talk about the site and how to use it so they are ready when the Big Story breaks.

What are some other best practices that your station has been using?

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During the recent "snowpocalypse" and "snowicane" stations across the country asked the audience to send in images/videos from their own backyards.  Tens of thousands of pieces of content poured in, but now what?  Many stations put these pictures and videos in online slideshows and other sections of their sites.  One question that kept coming up was "how do we get this content on-air quickly"?  Getting content on-air quickly is one key to winning the big story.  In a competitive situation it can make all the difference.  There are several factors that need to be considered when trying to get pictures and videos on-air :  Immediacey, Quality, Workflow.

Over the next few weeks we will be looking at each of these areas in more detail.  We will also give you a look into the "Cell Journalist Labs" to see what we have been cooking up to help solve this problem. 

Stay tuned.....

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Good articles about how the local stations used technology to gather UGC and pro images/videos during the "snowpocalypse"

• TV NewsCheck - Consumer Gear, Media Enhance TV/ENG

• Philly TV Comes Through In The Storm

• Baltimore:  All Live, Local For Second Storm

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See the full gallery on Posterous

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Allowing the audience to participate is a great way for Doritos and others to engage with their customers.  What is the primary reason people send in the videos?  Money or just fame?

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Weather Applications

• Get buy-in from your weather team prior to launch—this is critical.
• Then, at least once during each program daypart (early morning, early evening, late, weekends, etc.), have your weather talent request content. Tell your audience to send images/videos to the e-mail address that you have set up.
• Be specific: ask for clouds or fog or flowers or some other theme, but don’t just say, “Send us your pictures and videos.” Viewers respond better to specific requests.
• If you have a reliable team of weather watchers, designate them as “trusted senders” so their content goes straight to the site without having to wait for admin approval.

Extended Coverage and Special Reports

• This is where stations define their position in the market. You must win the Big Story, and severe weather is frequently the biggest story of the year.
• Call to action: During extended coverage, put up a full-screen graphic and have an anchor or weathercaster request content at least once every 10 minutes.
• Better yet, put it in a lower third crawl. If you’re in a weather situation, include a call to action (send images/videos to the e-mail address that is set up) in the before and after the NWA advisory copy.
• After the fact, if you do a Proof of Performance spot, include a couple of the best shots that were sent in.

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Check out these photos from Snow to Tornadoes

See the full gallery on Posterous

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"Once upon a time, when tornado sirens sounded folks ran to the nearest closet or interior room.  It seems that in the world of web 2.0, they run for their cameras and start snapping”.

- Leslie Moody Internet Director WAAY after Tornadoes ripped through Huntsville, AL

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