Broadcasting & Cable
WCWJ Jacksonville VP/General Manager Marc Hefner figured he’d see a traffic bump when the station rebranded its Website in the spring, though maybe not quite the spike that materialized. Following its acquisition by Nexstar, WCWJ swapped its MyCW17.com URL for YourJax.com–scrapping the CW outlet’s traditional branding for an entirely new Web moniker.
Users in DMA No. 47 have responded to the new URL, along with fresh content like celebrity-focused weekly Webisodes and interactive weather radar for the market. Hefner says that page views are up a whopping 150% from May to September, clicks on banner ads are up 44% and the revenue increase has been “significant.”
“It’s been fun to see it grow,” he says, “and it’s been fun to see the revenue outgrow the page views.”
Ever since stations took their first steps onto the Web, local broadcasters have been faced with the dilemma of simply moving the station branding, such as call letters or a channel position, to the Web, or creating a unique brand as the URL. More…