NBC ‘Hyper-Local’ TV Sites Go Live

NBC is rolling out its “hyper-local” (”Locals Only”) strategy around its TV affiliates and has started to launch the sites with personnel poached or acquired from other publications. According to AdWeek:

Offering lifestyle, entertainment and news, the redesigned and enhanced city Web sites have only an oblique reference to their NBC affiliation in the upper lefthand corner of the home page, though “NBC” still leads off the Web address, i.e., www.nbcchicago.com and www.nbcla.com. As part of the official launch, city sites invite visitors to interact and engage with the site by contributing content and registering their emotions about particular stories and events. Content can be shared easily on Twitter and Facebook.

The sites are news and entertainment news sites but also have a cityguide flavor. And then there’s the geo-targeted ad opportunity. It pits the TV affiliates directly against newspaper sites in their respective markets.

Video is a central focus of the sites.

Internet Broadcasting says that “local TV station Web sites beat all other local media sites in total local minutes in 28 of the top 50 markets. In the previous edition of the IB Local Index we found that TV sites reach up to three times the local unique visitors of the top newspaper site.”