All the News that’s Fit to… Go Online?

The Today Show on NBC shook up television and online news companies alike on Tuesday when it simultaneously aired a traditional live broadcast and live online show to launch the new Today.com website. Averaging 5.3 million viewers last season, the Today Show is currently the #1 ranked morning television news show in the country and has maintained that title for the last 15 years—so when they decided to change up the formula, let’s just say it was a big deal.

NBC reported that this live online format will be a one-time-only event, but the effort itself reveals a significant investment from the network that I predict will be revisited and replicated by other large networks in the near future. Looking at the numbers, it’s not difficult to see why NBC made this move—59% of Americans get news from a combination of both online and offline sources according to Pew.

The Headlines

Given the social media buzz going around about the online show, I know I was not the only one giving this format change a second thought. Many wondered whether viewer numbers for the Today Show would decline as people left to watch the online show, while others speculated how viewers would respond to the new online format. For us here at Social Citizens, we questioned whether or not this venture into an online news show would translate into more viewers—in particular younger viewers—and could Today.com keep them coming back for more?

Many news organizations are facing similar challenges with attracting and maintaining viewers/visitors/readers. Surveys show that 70% of Americans feel the “amount of news and information available from different sources is overwhelming.” We’ve seen how the print media in particular has had to quickly transform itself over the last few years—could this shed light into the next chapter for online and broadcast media?

"After two years of research and development, we're very excited to unveil TODAY.com during this unique and social event," said Jen Brown, director of TODAY.com. "The site is designed around the news consumption habits and lifestyle of our online audience, so it's fitting to debut with a show tailored specifically for them." In fact, they have even taken the extra step to optimize the site for the iPad, iPhone and desktop browsers.

Video Killed the Radio Star, Part 2?

The combination of online video and the Internet is clearly a powerful one and will inevitably help shape how we consume information moving forward across all generations. The National Journal reported that, “the Internet rivals TV as the primary source for news consumption among 18-to-29-year-olds. [A recent study by Pew] found that 59 percent of Millennials consume most of their news via the Internet, trailing television by 6 percentage points. Gen Xers, ages 30 to 45, are close behind: 53 percent get most of their news from the Internet, compared to 61 percent from television.”

The Today Show is taking these stastics to heart and translating the numbers into programming, which in turn colors their overall approach to presenting the news. "Our audience likes to snack on stories throughout the day, so we're programming the new site to surface the news we know they crave at different times," notes Brown. "The conversation doesn't stop at 11 a.m. when the show ends. It continues 24 hours a day online."

While this format may lend itself well to online viewers as noted by Brown, it also may spell success in reaching Millennial viewers—who, as Tom Rosenstiel, director of Pew's Project for Excellence in Journalism comments are "on-demand grazers" in their digital news habits. From a viewer perspective, I honestly don't know which I prefer... there's an element of habit vs. preference that I haven't quite separated out from the other. I question if others will choose to put down the remote control in favor of the mouse and replace one screen for another? Will you?

What do you think about the blend of online shows with broadcast television? How do you think this will or will not impact the way news is presented and shared?