Morning of Content: Across the Universe

Jason Seiken SVP PBS Interac2ve, Product Development & Innova2on PBS Interac2ve Mission/Strategy •  Grow pbs.org for the benefit of sta2ons –  Engage New Audience –  Addi2onal Touchpoints for Exis2ng Audience –  Drive TV Tune-­‐in –  Drive Traffic to sta2on.org AKract New Audience •  Latent PBS Fans: –  Younger people who don’t use TV as their main device –  People who watch TV but don’t support a sta2on; need more touch points •  The average pbs.org user: –  Age: 34.2 (not including pbskids.org) –  Only 26% of pbs.org visitors report having watched PBS in the last 7 days •  Since 2006, traffic up 60% for pbs.org and 100% for pbskids.org •  PBS is #16 video site on the web; PBS Kids is #1 Kids site for video –  Most months, ahead of a network or two. Addi2onal Touchpoints •  More is More: The more people engage with pubTV content, the more likely they are to become a sta2on member •  New Products –  PBS for iPad (#1 twice) –  PBSKids for iPad (#2) –  PBS for iPhone –  Google TV (Kids) –  Classroom interac2ve whiteboards –  12 PBS mobile apps launched so far Drive TV Tune-­‐In •  iPhone owners now always have your local schedule in their pocket •  Evidence that people sample at work, watch at home •  Merlin enables sta2ons to promote local content on pbs.org •  Mobile “stunts” where we promote the first episode of a series Promote Local Content using Merlin Three Trends in Digital Media •  Mobile •  Dominance of Video and Social Media •  Demise of the Website Trend 1: By 2014, Mobile will be the #1 Internet Onramp for Americans Trend 2: Video and Social Media We Asked Our Social Media Fans and Followers What They Want •  They said: more video, previews and tune-­‐in info. •  So we responded: more video previews on Facebook –  Freedom Riders exclusive preview just for fans. Men2oned in Mashable as a great way to offer value Use social media to drive tune-­‐in •  More networks and cable channels are displaying TwiKer hashtags on-­‐air –  ABC News, CNN and BBC News with their coverage of the Royal Wedding •  CNN displayed its #CNNTV hashtag on the screen for much of the event. When Prince William and Prince Harry arrived at Westminster Abbey, #CNNTV men2ons spiked at 252 tweets/minute. •  PBS producers are experimen2ng. Example: Frontline Trend 3: Demise of the Des2na2on Website •  Most media companies – including BBC, NatGeo, Discovery, PBS – are re-­‐alloca2ng resources away from web site to: –  SEO •  Drives more traffic than on-­‐air men2ons –  Social Media –  Distribu2on! •  Blip.tv: 72M video streams If you build it, they won’t come •  Walled gardens are out; distribu2on is in. Send your content to where the people are. –  Social media •  Example: PBS viral player –  Partner with other digital proper2es – local newspaper sites, Patch.com, local bloggers, etc. – to distribute your video •  Find brands and people who have large audiences, either on their web site or social followers Redefine “content” It’s not: broadcast, just smaller. It can be: Short-­‐form (2-­‐5 minutes) User-­‐generated Non-­‐tradi2onal formats (databases, interac2ves, graphics, photos only) Key is to keep it low-­‐cost and “nimble” without sacrificing quality. (Though the audience accepts lower produc2on values on than on TV.) Ques2ons?