KMVT, the local CBS affiliate in Twin Falls, Idaho, is the leading TV station in DMA 192. Prior to November 2004, however, the station’s web presence was practically non-existent with only a webpage as a marker, minimal traffic, and absolutely no revenue. The station had experienced a change in ownership and, after a year of trying to negotiate a new site with the old owners, General Manager Lee Wagner was finally granted his wish.

"Unlike a growing number of local television stations, a website was not part of our day to day objectives for news or sales. We were searching for a cost-effective, flexible solution, one that would not burden our editorial staff or necessitate the need to hire new employees for the site’s upkeep,” said Wagner.

Broadcast Interactive offered KMVT a turnkey package of Promotions, Newsroom Support and Website Design and Technology. With daily support from the Broadcast Interactive Newsroom, KMVT could publish local stories to the station website with little or no additional work from station staff.

“The thing that sold us, and in particular, sold me, on Broadcast Interactive was their ‘Return on Investment’ guarantee,” said Lisa Collins, General Sales Manager of KMVT. “Frankly, without it, we would not have gotten the okay from corporate. We needed the site to pay for itself. As the site was being built, we set up training and market visit dates with Broadcast Interactive for a two-program launch, and planned to launch and promote the revenue programs just after the site went live.”

Broadcast Interactive was able to build KMVT’s website within six weeks, using an original site design based on one of the various customizable website templates already available from the Broadcast Interactive design team. Station personnel were trained to publish local news articles and video clips at any time, but also to rely on the Broadcast Interactive editor to publish the majority of their stories each day.

At the end of January, the sales team had booked three solid days of appointments for local businesses to learn about Your Health Matters and Ask the Experts, two web-based promotions provided by Broadcast Interactive. By the end of the Broadcast Interactive sales visit, the station had closed 25 new sponsorships between the two programs.

“There were advertisers that had never (purchased) TV that we had been going after for five years,” explained Wagner. “Then they saw the presentation and the new site, and they were falling all over themselves to sign up for an annual sponsorship.”

“The sales team at KMVT was extremely well managed, focused and motivated. The success they’ve just experienced is due to the strong backing of Lee Wagner and Lisa Collins. They followed our guidelines, set incentives for their staff, and, obviously, it paid off big for them,” observed Julie Moses, Promotions and Marketing Director for Broadcast Interactive.

“New revenue to the tune of $387,000? We’ll take it,” remarked Wagner. With the launch of the station website, the KMVT team is very excited with the end results, but also with future possibilities. Broadcast Interactive has a full suite of revenue programs that should keep new advertising dollars flowing to KMVT.