Five weeks ago (Aug. 9), Allbritton Communications’ TBD — which re-branded WJLA-TV’s Web site as TBD.com and repurposed Newschannel 8 as TBD TV — launched in the greater Washington, D.C., metro to significant trade-press fanfare as a new model, and perhaps a new hope, for news coverage and delivery. So, with the initial hype having since dissipated, how is the TBD hybrid faring?

Allbritton Communications CEO Robert Allbritton tasked longtime digital media executive Jim Brady to head up TBD’s operations. Recently, Brady took BIA/Kelsey inside TBD’s walls for a newsroom tour and a discussion of its ambitions.

TBD General Manager Jim Brady (courtesy: PaidContent.org)

Much of the spotlight has focused on TBD as a synergized TV-Web “hyperlocal” experiment. Brady cautioned against misuse of the “hyperlocal” mantra, however, noting that there are “hyperlocal elements within the site, but we’re covering the entire region.”

Hyperlocal features include allowing users to register for geotargeted news in their ZIP code, but TBD also deploys reporters to canvas broader beats such as arts & entertainment and the Washington Redskins that touch every coverage zone. Defining the “what” and “where” of coverage can be tricky, and TBD is still identifying where the sweet spot lies between being “regional with your big stories and hyperlocal with everything else.” News events continually arise that “test your theories,” Brady said.

Early progress has been both tangible and intangible, content-centric and ad-driven. Brady cites recent Nielsen returns indicating that TBD’s site engagement (time spent on the site and sessions per user) exceeds other D.C. TV stations. Less concrete but equally satisfying victories come from community feedback that speaks to growing ubiquity.

Earlier this month, TBD earned side links to its coverage of the hostage crisis at Discovery Communications headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland, from highly trafficked sources such DrudgeReport.com. Rather than post breaking news on a blog or continually update a single news story, TBD instead fed time-stamped, real-time updates coupled with frequent Twitter notifications.

Courtesy: LostRemote.com

TBD has established a well-chronicled blog consortium, or “Community Network,” that is now 162 strong, up from 120 at launch. Advertisers can participate in the network to extend their reach beyond TBD into specialized blogs that focus to specific geographies, demographics and activities. The response has been gradual, but early takers such as MLS soccer team D.C. United and the Washington Opera warmed to the ability to tailor ad buys to highly targeted audiences beyond the mother site (sports fans or Fairfax County families, for instance).

The site has been both acclaimed and questioned for its transparency in pointing to competitors’ stories if they are more definitive. It is not unusual for TBD to send users to washingtonpost.com or competing TV station Web sites. The goal is to provide trusted service to the reader and if that means making a hyperlink referral to another media brand. It seems that Brady figures what goes around comes around. Brady says that TBD aggregators comb through more than 300 local and regional RSS feeds to curate and geotarget content. The blog network adds another layer of textured content to the overall offering.

This follows the site’s hub-and-spoke position, which, as Brady framed, subscribes to the idea that “if you love someone, set them free, and they’ll come back.” In other words, the days of single destination news sites have long faded, replaced by resources that curate relevant sources and guide readers to the most useful places to consume particular bits of information.

According to this philosophy, competitors can also be colleagues and partners. AOL’s Patch, which plans to hatch in 500 markets by the end of 2010, focuses on individual suburban community coverage. With 23 Patch sites having recently launched in Maryland and Northern Virginia, and with AOL presumably green lighting expansive national growth to create an advertising network across its scaled hyperlocal platform, Brady sees an opportunity for TBD to share its existing local clients as part of a revenue share, similar to the blog network.

TBD’s mobile strategy includes iPhone and Android apps that rolled out with the Web site. Toyota has already inked a mobile sponsorship for the rest of 2010. Brady emphasizes that location-based advertising that takes advantage of the native capabilities of the phone and the local merchant/retail market is firmly on the radar.

BIA/Kelsey will continue to monitor TBD’s evolution, including an upcoming local marketing campaign, the growth of the blogger ad network and other new advertising and content partnerships that are perched on its horizon.

Tags: Allbritton Communications, hyperlocal, Jim Brady, Patch, TBD

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