There are some interesting nuggets in this interview with Dave Lougee, the president of Gannett Broadcasting. First off, Lougee said the group’s TV sites are close to launching new designs with a new video player. (Let us know when you see one launch.) Plus, Gannett is getting ready to roll out Metromix entertainment sites in its markets as part of a joint venture with Tribune. And Lougee said they just rolled out ArizonaMoms.com, a site dedicated to new mothers. “We’re in the early stages of that,” he said. (Gannett already has IndyMoms.com and MichiganMoms.com.)
Lougee also talks about re-engineering its stations to focus on original content and sales. Some reporters are training to shoot video. “It’s not that everyone becomes a one-man band,” Lougee says. “Newsrooms have reacted to that. They feel it means a reduction in quality. But what’s the definition of quality? If a newsroom is only sending out eight reporters on a given day, what happens if they re-engineer the workflow and can send out 24 a day?”