Top Story: Video Cloud Advances NewsOK.com’s Award-Winning Online Video Strategy
Rated one of the top 12 newspaper websites in the world, NewsOK.com is Oklahoma’s leading local website with more than 1.8 million monthly unique visitors and 15 million page impressions. The website is owned by the OPUBCO Communications Group (OCG), the media division of the Oklahoma Publishing Company and publisher of The Oklahoman daily newspaper. Respected in the news media industry for its leadership in new technologies, OCG has been at the forefront of online video news production with Emmy-nominated content since 2000. Originally created in partnership with The Oklahoman and a local CBS affiliate, NewsOK.com has since separated from the local news station, producing and syndicating its own content for The Oklahoman.
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Speed and efficiency were critical factors in our online video platform selection. Not only did Video Cloud meet those criteria, but its content management system (CMS) provides organizational features that have really streamlined our processes and use of internal resources.”
Director of Video for NewsOk.com
Situation
Visual depictions of breaking news heavily influence the trust and respect of its viewers. With newspaper consumption evolving, online video became a prominent feature on NewsOK.com. The video production team sought an advanced technology platform capable of efficiently managing and organizing a high volume of video content at a continuously fast pace on par with the news cycle.
Solution
Brightcove Video Cloud online video platform, Summer 2007.
ROI
- Simplified the overall video management and storage process
- Provided advanced technology options and expansion opportunities
- Streamlined internal video-related processes
- Optimized content searchability and tagging
- Increased video content sharing and integration opportunities
- Tripled video views by embedding player within articles
Brightcove Attributes
Advanced, Fast, Robust
Extra! Extra! Watch All About It
Video news content is not only important to journalists seeking to tell the whole story, it’s also important to the viewers whose awareness is informed by how quickly they can receive and digest content. With both breaking news and feature stories continuously in development, NewsOK.com’s in-house video production team selected the Brightcove Video Cloud online video platform for its robust content management system and fast, efficient publishing capabilities.
“Speed and efficiency were critical factors in our online video platform selection,” said David Morris, director of video for NewsOk.com. “Not only did Video Cloud meet those criteria, but its content management system (CMS) provides organizational features that have really streamlined our processes and use of internal resources.”
For example, when NewsOK.com’s video crew loads footage – such as highlights from an Oklahoma City Thunder NBA game – into Video Cloud to populate the website, content is easily tagged in order to populate the website or NewsOK.tv mobile app. Online editors can also use tagging to locate the content and automatically syndicate it to sports-focused partner websites.
In the newsroom, using companion software in tandem with Video Cloud, the layout desk at The Oklahoman’s online counterpart Oklahoman.com is quickly informed of available video footage to accompany a current or breaking news article, allowing them to include a video link in online news coverage.
“There are so many examples of how Video Cloud has been a time- and labor-saving addition,” Morris said. “We’re huge fans of Brightcove Video Cloud.”
Changing the Way We See News
NewsOK.com’s interest in evolving technology has made it a pioneer in the news media industry. The website’s online video content strategy is structured around two distinct business goals: Increasing awareness as measured by the number of video views and growing revenue through online advertising opportunities.
“And sometimes,” Morris added, “we create a video simply for the sake of good journalism. It’s what best tells the story, and that’s what we’re here to do.”
By implementing video in a contextual manner within articles, NewsOK.com tripled the number of video views. And as the overall NewsOK.com traffic has increased, video consumption has grown with it.
“We've also seen a similar growth in video views equal to the overall growth of videos produced,” Morris said. “This indicates an appetite for digital video as an accepted and expected form of information on our news site."
Since its launch with Video Cloud, NewsOK.com has advanced these business goals by using advanced share technology and monetizing select video assets.
In order to increase views, NewsOK.com has utilized the Video Cloud application program interfaces (APIs) to tag and organize data for easy sharing to its social media properties. By tagging a video for Twitter, the content is automatically loaded into the @NewsOK Twitter feed, thereby increasing efficiency and saving time and resources. Video Cloud’s social sharing features also allow users to send video content directly to their friends on Facebook, Twitter, or embed it into blogs.
“All our reporters are using video to capture conversations, interviews and events,” Morris said. “Video Cloud makes it easy for them to reach additional, non-local audiences by posting on their blogs and sharing on their social networks. Our next goal is to look at live-streaming some of these events and interactions using Video Cloud.”
Due in large part to its use of new technology, NewsOK.com has been nominated for a Webby Award and three Emmy Awards; it also has won 17 Telly Awards, including six silver; three Edward R. Murrow Awards, and honored with the APME Innovator of the Year Award (2009).
“Video is one of the reasons we’ve received awards. NewsOK.com has changed the newsroom’s culture to think more strategically about digital and video content,” Morris said. “Our team is even being contacted by other media companies around the country who would like to advance their video content strategies.”
“We want NewsOK.com to continue to be a leader in online video content strategy, and Video Cloud is a strong partner that is equally dedicated to technological advancement.”
