by Paul Greeley
Source: marketshare.tvnewscheck.com, April 2022
The partnership between WPTA-TV and WBOI-FM is designed to share areas of mutual expertise between the two stations that will serve a wider audience. “To me, a trade is very cost effective,” says Terra Brantley, WBOI’s president. “It is a win-win for the community.”
Well, a cup of coffee and a cup of tea to be precise.
“I must say Terra doesn’t drink coffee so it was a tea,” says Merry Ewing, the general manager of WPTA, Gray’s ABC-NBC-MyNetworkTV affiliate there.
“I drink tea,” says Terra Brantley, president of WBOI-FM, a Northeast Indiana Public Radio (NIPR) radio station that provides NPR news, local news and cultural programming to 14 counties in the Hoosier state and five in Northwest Ohio.
And while both Ewing and Brantley may have different tastes when it comes to hot beverages, they both can agree that when they met, “it was like the stars aligned,” Brantley says. “She needed something from me and vice versa, so I consider it the perfect partnership.”
The partnership between WPTA and WBOI is to share areas of mutual expertise between the two stations that will serve a wider audience.
The agreement incorporates Matt Leach, WPTA’s chief meteorologist and other members of the station’s weather team to provide the latest local weather forecast each weekday morning to the listeners of NPR’s Morning Edition on WBOI.
In exchange, members of the WBOI team will provide insight into the local arts, culture and entertainment scene through contributions to air on WPTA’s ABC21 News at 7 p.m. and ABC21 News Saturday Morning. Those segments are scheduled to begin in June.
Ewing says reaching the NPR audience was very important for WPTA.
“We are just reaching a different audience than we would on a CHR or a country or hip-hop station,” Ewing says.
“We really, really needed a meteorologist when bad weather was the story,” Brantley says. WPTA’s weather forecasts air from 7:30 in the morning up to noon on WBOI.
“They are 30-second extended forecasts meant to inform people about what is going on in terms of their week,” Brantley says.
Both say the partnership brings together two media organizations dedicated to serving the community in the tradition of local broadcasting.
“When we were inundated with snow in early February it became clear a meteorologist would be a great asset to add to our local news coverage,” Brantley says.
At the same time, WPTA was looking for innovative ways to build its news audience, and so by collaborating, “we could leverage our resources and better serve the public,” Ewing says.
“WBOI is deeply connected to the local arts scene,” Brantley says. “We’ll share some of our arts and entertainment reporting with ABC 21.”
Ewing says Fort Wayne outfights its weight class when it comes to the arts and culture scene. “And WBOI does a better job of covering that scene than anyone in town,” Ewing says.
Brantley says the arrangement is a chance for both stations to provide better news coverage for listeners and viewers. “To me a trade is very cost effective,” Brantley says. “It is a win-win for the community.”
NOTE: I have had the luxury of working for a TV station that also owned the top-rated FM (adult contemporary) and AM (news-talk) stations in the market. The TV station created the branding spots for both and aired them on a fixed TV schedule to increase listeners. Both radio stations aired promos for the early evening newscasts topically on a fixed schedule in afternoon drive. On weekends, the radio stations aired news image promos when inventory was available.
You don’t need to own radio stations to have a relationship that benefits both. Add in some co-op dollars during sweeps to sweeten the deal, and you just might find year-round radio exposure will increase your station’s news viewership. There are many other benefits in terms of community events, etc that can come out of such a relationship.
