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Television on the Web, 1996: Local Television Stations' Use the World Wide Web
Although the World Wide Web is less than eight years old, its emergence has
triggered a massive growth in Internet usage around the world. The emergence
and rapid growth of the Web has generated both interest and concern among
traditional media outlets: interest in taking advantage of the opportunities
offered by the new systems; concern over the rise of competition for the time
and attention of audiences, the development of information systems which bypass
the traditional media's gatekeeping efforts, and for the continuing
technological developments of Internet and telecommunication technologies that
threaten to open up alternate delivery mechanisms for traditional media content,
audio and video in addition to print and graphics. But while the threat of
competition is there, there is also interest in the potential for using the Web
to supplement and support traditional media and contribute to the basic media
mission: communicating and delivering information to people. How are existing
media, particularly local television stations, reacting to the rise of the World
Wide Web?
Are local television stations using the Web primarily as a promotional tool, as
suggested in an earlier study of television Web sites (Bates and King, 1996)?
Are they seeking to market their news products and communicate with their
audiences, as suggested by one Freedom Forum report (1996)? Are they jumping
onto the Web to reach and regain what they fear are fleeing viewers (Christian
Science Monitor, 1996)? Television stations, like other media and information
businesses, are struggling to figure out how to best use the Internet and the
World Wide Web to their advantage (Jensen, 1996). Will stations be effective in
their efforts; are they offering the kinds of content sought by Internet users,
are they taking advantage of the interactive and multimedia capabilities of the
World Wide Web?
This study follows an earlier one addressing how one component of the American
media is using the World Wide Web. Specifically, we examine how local
television stations are utilizing the World Wide Web through an examination of
the content of the Web sites they have established. A list of U.S. local
television broadcast stations was compiled, as of October 1996, and those sites
were visited and downloaded over a five day period, utilizing computer software
designed to collect site content. The content of those sites was then
content-analyzed in order to examine both content and use of Internet and World
Wide Web features. This study reports on the analysis of the home pages of
these commercial and non-commercial full-power television stations.
Background
The growth of the Internet in recent years has been phenomenal. The subset of
the Internet known as the World Wide Web, which offers a simplified interface to
consumers, has grown even more rapidly since its initial proposal in 1989. On
the network side, surveys suggests a growth from some 25,000 domains and
roughly one and a half million hosts, in 1993, to almost 500,000 domains and 13
million hosts in July 1996 (Kantor and Neubarth, 1996).[1] Estimates of the
number of U.S. Internet users in 1996 range from 9 million to 35 million, but
most estimates also indicated that was double their previous year's estimates
(Kantor and Neubarth, 1996; Nua, 1997). The Web is attracting a large
cross-section of people who appreciate and contribute to its universal nature
(National Academy of Sciences, 1996).
As noted briefly above, this growth has raised both opportunities and concerns
for traditional media, including television stations. Is the Web an emerging
new form of mass media which will compete directly against existing mass media
(Morris and Ogan, 1996), or is it a new form of media which will draw audience
time and attention away from other media? Will it provide opportunities to
expand the audience and reach of stations? Does it provide related business
opportunities for broadcasters? While the revenue potential of the Net is
currently quite low, some market analysts are predicting that the Internet
economy will approach $200 billion by 2000 (Nua, 1997).
The World Wide Web is not merely another media, however. In 1976, the
Rockefeller Commission suggested that the rise of a computer-based
telecommunications system had the potential to not only extend existing media
and communications systems. Perhaps more importantly, though, the Commission
argued that the development and spread of a national information infrastructure
had the potential to revolutionize communications by enabling new patterns of
communication and empowering users. The Internet arguably began to develop this
potential by building the basic system framework. It was the development of a
simple GUI (Graphical User Interface) overlay, the World Wide Web, which brought
the potential to a wider audience.
It is the potential offered by new patterns and forms of communication that
makes the impacts of the Internet and the World Wide Web so uncertain. Scholars
of the development of media systems (Boyd-Barrett, 1979; Innis, 1964, 1972;
McLuhan, 1964) have long argued that it is the newer forms and structures that
are likely to have the greatest impact, as they shape how the new communication
system will be used, and thus their social impact. Perhaps more importantly for
existing media systems, these impacts are said to strengthen as new media
systems become dominant systems for distributing information. As the Internet
and the World Wide Web continue their evolution into a Global Information
Infrastructure, their impact on existing media will only increase.
The threat, and potential, of computer information systems such as the Internet
and the Web is arguably most immediate for print media such as newspapers and
magazines, who have been experimenting with videotex, on-line services, and
other telecommunications and information systems for years. However, the likely
impacts of the Internet and the World Wide Web are not limited to print media:
traditional broadcast media are also beginning to consider the implications of
this new medium upon their business. Local television and radio stations began
to have a presence on on-line service providers such as America On-Line and the
Web soon after their emergence. On-line service providers encouraged networks
and local affiliates to establish e-mail links, discussion groups, and program
related content.
Each of the four major networks (ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC) took their first test
drives on the Information Highway in 1994, primarily on the commercial on-line
services. Initially, most of these efforts seemed to be primarily in providing
an alternate means of viewer feedback, through e-mail, electronic bulletin
boards, and the use of chat rooms. A second early approach was clearly
promotional, providing tie-ins with particular programs and specials. ABC's
Super Bowl site on America On-Line, set a record early in 1995 with more than
250,000 visits. Other tie-ins included promos for the network's late night
programming, and information on upcoming sports coverage. The networks also
encourage their local affiliates to establish a presence on these systems
(Mandese, 1995).
Within a few years, though, most of these on-line efforts had migrated from the
private on-line services to sites on the World Wide Web. The Web offered new
opportunities to reach broader audiences with relative ease of its
user-interface, and its capacity for storing and retrieving sound and video as
well as text and graphics. A 1995 National Association of Broadcasters (NAB)
conference focused on the opportunities and costs of maintaining a presence on
the Web. They noted that stations can spend up to $250,000 for a Web site.
Stations were encouraged to start small, providing indices of local links,
station promotional material, and local news; the important thing for
broadcasters was to get people to regularly visit the site (Jessell, 1995). The
Public Broadcasting System took a more systematic approach, creating an Internet
Publishing Group to help member stations establish Web sites. Cited strategies
for PBS stations included providing educational resources, interactive events,
and opportunities to purchase merchandise (Berniker, 1995).
More recently, with the establishment of MS-NBC, NBC is encouraging their
affiliates to not only establish Web sites, but to develop them around a common
template focusing on local news and information in cooperation with the MS-NBC
site. In a similar vein, Warner is marketing a standardized Web offering to
local stations.
How are local television stations responding to this threat and opportunity?
Some stations are probably ignoring it, hoping that perhaps it will all just go
away. Others are probably uncertain as to whether the Internet or the Web will
actually pose a threat, or are unclear as to what opportunities they might
present, or what values those opportunities may hold for their traditional
businesses. Entry onto the Web, while it can be relatively inexpensive, is not
costless. And it can be costly, depending on the size of the site, the kinds of
content offered, and the frequency of updating and revision needed. Some
stations are experimenting with the new technology, exploring some of the
perceived opportunities. Whether these experiments are considered successful
will likely depend both on what stations are seeking from their Web sites and
whether the sites and their visitors can deliver the anticipated value. From a
consideration of what the technology offers, and from considerations in trade
magazines, there would seem to be several basic opportunities offered by a
presence on the World Wide Web.
While placing content on the World Wide Web may offer local television stations
certain opportunities, the value of those opportunities depends on the content
being used, on the site being accessed. Although the Web is a relatively new
phenomenon, it is also a fairly well researched one. One of the early GVU
studies showed that respondents in the U.S. mostly used the Web for browsing,
with entertainment showing up as their primary use, followed by work and
educational uses (Pitkow and Kehoe, 1995). Respondents to that survey also
indicated a preference for sites with greater interactivity, highly visual
content, and guides to other sites. A more recent GVU study reported that
respondents reported spending an average of six hours a week on the Net, with
more than a quarter of respondents indicating that their Net use displaced
television viewing on a regular basis (Pitkow and Kehoe, 1996). Another major
source of information on Internet users is the CommerceNet/ Neilsen (1996) user
surveys. Both the initial 1995 survey and a follow-up in early 1996 indicated
that the most frequent uses of the Internet were for accessing the World Wide
Web and communications.
These considerations give direction to this study of local television stations'
presence on the World Wide Web. What kinds of opportunities do television
stations seem to be seeking to take advantage of? This general question
translates to what kind of content is provided on web sites: are they focused on
delivering mass entertainment by providing that kind of content; are they
focused on delivering advertising messages, by placing those kinds of messages
on their web pages; are they focused on providing local news and information, by
placing current or archived news, weather, and sports stories, camera shots of
local traffic, or other local information; are they focused on promoting the
station; are they focusing on community service and ties, by providing consumer
information and links to local activities and sites; or are they combining
aspects of some or all of these activities? In following the Children's
Television Act, are they providing outreach activities for children through
links to sites designed for children, or providing their own content aimed at
kids?
A second general research question deals with the basic issue of whether local
television stations are providing the kinds of content, and the types of
features which Internet users have indicated that they are interested in.
Related to this is the issue of whether local television stations are taking
advantage of their position as audio and video content providers to
differentiate themselves from other media and sites. Are stations taking
advantage of the hyperlinking that the Web offers? Are they taking advantage of
the opportunities for two-way, and interactive, communication that the Web
offers? Are they taking advantage of the emerging systems for transmitting live
and archived sound and video?
A final general question for this study is how recent television station use of
the World Wide Web has changed over time. One previous study (Bates and King,
1996) looked at television station Web content in the summer of 1995, allowing a
foundation for examination of how television station Web use has begun to evolve
over time.
Methods
This study focuses on the content of local television stations' World Wide Web
sites. Thus, the first step of this analysis was the identification of those
stations having Web sites, and locating those sites. The first step in locating
the sites was visiting four collections of television Web sites URLs: TVNet
(1996), Yahoo's list of television stations (1996a, 1996b), InfoSearch's
Broadcasting Links and WebOVision's USA Television list (1996). Lists of
television web sites were obtained from each of these locations in early
October, and combined into a master list of potential sites. Each site was
briefly visited to insure that it was a valid, working, television-related World
Wide Web site. At this time, some station URL changes were updated. The valid
master list, containing some 464 listings, was then entered into the NetAttache
Light software program. This program will automatically visit and download the
content of listed World Wide Web sites.
NetAttache Light, the freeware version of the program, allows some user
selection of just how much content is downloaded from sites. The user may
select how many levels of a site to download (going "down" a level means that
the program will download all web pages linked to pages on the original level),
whether to include only "internal" links (those residing on the host computer--
i.e. those within a web site) or to also include external links (those located
elsewhere), and whether to download graphics and other non-text inserts. As the
content to be considered included the use of graphics, it was decided to
download the graphics and other non-text inserts with eligible pages. On the
other hand, since the focus was on the content of television station web sites,
it was decided to not follow and download external links. This left the
decision on how many levels to download.
An earlier study of television station Web sites found a total of 3316 separate
Web pages for some 61 stations, or sites (Bates and King, 1996). This suggested
an average of more than 50 pages per site, in early implementations. With more
than 450 possible sites on the list, and the likely expansion of sites as new
content is added, and older pages remaining as an archive, this suggested that
we could expect well over 20,000 separate pages of Web content if we collected
the entire site for each station. Since each web page generally contains a
number of different files (each graphic is a separate file), and the software
creates pages for links not followed, it was decided that a full census of
television station Web sites was not practical under existing time and funding
constraints. There seemed to be two basic ways to reduce the data set to
manageable levels. First, we could restrict the number of levels collected.
Second, we could sample within the universe of local television Web sites.
It was decided that the basic goals of defining how stations utilize their Web
sites, in terms of the types of content offered and the types of features
utilized, could be achieved by examining only the upper levels of each site. It
was felt that stations would want to showcase any advanced uses and features on
those pages that users would visit first. Similarly, it was felt that stations
would showcase, or at least identify, major types of content on the home page,
or at least on the next level down. In addition, it was considered important to
examine as many different sites as possible, in order to get the full picture of
this rapidly evolving medium. Thus, we decided to collect data from all sites,
but at only two levels (the initial home page, and those internal pages directly
connected to the home page).
NetAttache Light was used to download the selected Web pages in four parts.
The program was run overnight over a period of five days, and resulted in a
collection of more than 40,000 files totaling more than 100 Mb of content. Upon
examining the data, it was found that the download was not fully complete: some
sites were not available when the download was conducted, and some files did not
download cleanly and were not readable when the page was examined. It was
decided to check the downloaded sites against the original sites, and where
possible, determine what, if anything, was missing and include that in the
content analysis. In addition, the content of several sites indicated that they
were not associated with full power local television broadcasters, but rather
with low-power stations, or with cable-only channels. These sites were excluded
from the sample to be coded. This left a total of 426 sites. At this point,
several of the sites originally found not accessible were still not available on
the net, suggesting that the Web sites had been taken off, or were still under
construction. While missing or corrupted files prevented some coding of
specific variables, a total of 416 usable downloaded sites were collected. The
cases where apparently existing Web sites were not accessed in the initial data
collection runs were few enough that it was decided that it would not be
necessary to recollect the entire data set. For this initial examination, the
home page of each usable site was examined and content analyzed by members of
the research team.
The list of general research questions suggested a broad range of content,
factors, and features to measure. To begin with, the Web page was selected as
the basic unit of analysis. Variables were constructed to measure Web page
content in three basic areas: basic identifying variables, types and amount of
content appearing on the page, and the use of selected Web features of interest
within the page.
Identification variables included assigning identification numbers to each
page, coder information, as well as specific information on the page (station
URL, domain type for server, use of a its own server, page level and type),
information on the station (call sign, channel, affiliation, ownership), and
market information (market as identified on the page, market as identified by
Neilsen DMA, market rank and other characteristics). A station Web site was
coded as having its own server if the host address referred to the specific
station, such as "www.wzzz.com," or "www.news10.com." For this specific report,
as only the initial home pages were included, all page levels were coded as 0
(base level).
Content related variables overlapped with some of the feature variables at some
points. Of basic interest was the general content of the page: what kind of
information, if any, did it offer? What kinds of promotional content, such as
station and network logos, links to related media and program sites, ownership
and personnel information, was offered? Did the station offer community service
content, such as links to community or community service sites, children's and
educational links? Did the station incorporate advertising into its site? If
so, how much, and what kind, of advertising was included? Did the station
incorporate multimedia components, such as photos, audio, or video? Did the
station site incorporate interactive components, and if so, to what degree?
These issues suggested a range of content related variables, starting with
basic size measures such as the length of the Web page. Since different
computer systems and browsers were used to code the sites, a standard "page
length" was defined, and coders were informed to set their browsers to just
cover that standard page. The size of the Web page was defined as the number of
screens it took to display the entire Web page content, rounded to the nearest
integer. The general type and purpose of the page was measured as the overall
apparent purpose of the page. Again, most of the pages coded for this analysis
seemed to be primarily introductory home pages, guiding users to pages and
content farther within the site. A number seemed to focus more on providing
local information such as news and weather and were coded as being primarily
informational. The timeliness of a site was coded as to the apparent frequency
of the site being updated. If the site contained any current data (such as
time, temperature, live audio feeds, or live video or video captures), it was
coded as being current. If the page contained the day's top stories, or
information about that day's programming, it was coded as being daily. If there
seemed to be no timely content on the page, it was coded as indefinite.
Intermediate codes were for weekly, and monthly updates.
As one area of interest was the use and provision of information and
entertainment content by television stations, separate variables measured the
number of different news, sports, weather, and programming stories or content
contained on the page. In addition, the number of links to networks, program
syndicators, and other media were counted. Promotional content variables
included the whether the page utilized and displayed the station's logo and it's
network logo; whether the station identified itself by using its call sign,
channel assignment, and network affiliation. The related issues of the
provision of community-related content, and content focusing on children and
education was handled by general page type codes, and counts of the number of
links to that type of content. The advertising content was coded as to the
location of the advertising on the Web page, and the proportion of the page
devoted to advertising. Also coded were the number of panel ads, the number of
icon ads (including displays of browser logos, or logos of related products such
as RealAudio), and the number of links to advertisers (defined as business sites
located off the broadcaster's Web site).
A series of variables examined the site's use of graphics and other non-text
content. Sites were coded as to their use of frames, image maps, and
specialized backgrounds. The number of large, medium, and small graphics, and
large, medium, and small photos were counted. A graphic or photo was classified
as large if any of its dimensions was more than half of the standardized page
size. Small graphics or photos were those of icon size. Very small photos or
graphics used as bullets accompanying text were coded and counted as specialized
bullets. Photos and graphics were not included in this count, however, if they
contained any hypertext links. If they contained a single link, they were
counted as icons; if they contained multiple links, they were counted as image
maps. Photo icons and graphic icons were counted separately. In addition, any
links to downloadable graphics or photos were counted. Any graphic displaying
movement or motion was counted as a motion graphic.
Use of audio on television station Web pages was measured by several variables.
If sound was incorporated as a basic component of the Web page (automatically
loaded with newer browsers) it was counted as unsolicited audio. The number of
links to live sound feeds, archived sound, or to the software needed to take
advantage of sound feeds, were counted for each page. The use of video was
measured in a similar manner. Separate variables counted the number of video
capture photos, unsolicited motion video, and live video feeds on the page.
Also counted were links to archived video, video capture photos, and video
playback software. The use of other interactive features were coded in two
basic ways. First, by counting the number of index links (internal to the
page), internal links, and external links as indicators of the incorporation of
hypertext features. Second, the use and incorporation of e-mail links, forms,
search engines, upload access, and real-time interactive features on the page
were counted.
Five coders were used to code the collected home pages for the local broadcast
television station Web sites. The coding process was overlapped somewhat, so
that reliability could be coded. Overall, there was about 85% agreement between
coders. A total of 425 home pages were coded, although nine home pages
contained too little codable information to be useful; thus a base of 416
stations was analyzed. Within page coding difficulties might reduce the exact
sample size for some measures, however. The data was entered and cleaned before
using SPSS for Windows for analysis. It should be noted at this point, that
since the data was obtained from a census of television station web sites, the
use of standard sampling-based statistical estimates of statistical significance
is not necessary, in the strict sense. However, as there is a possibility of
some error in measurement and as a result of missing values, those statistics
will still be reported where appropriate.
Results and Analysis
The 416 stations forming the basis of the data sample came a wide range of
markets and affiliations. As indicated in Table 1, not only has there been
considerable growth in the number of stations with Web sites, but the
affiliation proportions have changed somewhat from the early study (of stations
on the Web in June 1995). Three shifts are particularly notable. The rise in
the proportion of NBC affiliates may be partially attributable to the formation
of MS-NBC and their efforts at encouraging their affiliates to establish Web
sites, and links with the Internet side of MS-NBC. There is also what seems to
be a concerted push among Fox affiliates to establish a presence on the Web.
There are several potential factors behind this: the emphasis of Fox on a
younger audience (which are also higher Internet users), and the rise of the Fox
children's programming block, and its related Kids Club. Many Fox sites
included links to local and/or national Fox Kids Club sites and activities. The
relatively slower growth of PBS sites is somewhat of a disappointment, since PBS
had hoped to have all 345 of their affiliates on the Web by 1996 (Berniker,
1995). However, it should be noted that this proportion is somewhat misleading,
as in a number of cases, PBS home pages represented several stations.
Table 1. Network Affiliation and WWW Presence
Affiliation
1995 Stns
1995 %
1996 Stns
1996 %
ABC
16
26.7%
66
15.5%
CBS
14
22.9
71
16.7
NBC
10
16.4
88
20.7
Fox
3
4.9
45
10.6
WB
0
9
2.1
UPN
1
1.6
19
4.5
PBS
13
21.3
50
11.8
Other types of affiliates
4
6.5
5
1.2
Independent
17
4.0
Affiliation not noted on page
42
10.2
(1995 data from Bates and King, 1996)
Table 2 shows the distribution of these pages, as to domain type. In 1996,
commercial domains (.COM) were the predominant type of domains. More than
three-fourths of local television Web sites were located on commercial servers.
Much of the increase in proportion of commercial domains seems to be coming from
the .NET domains, which are reserved for the commercial telecommunication
network providers, and the on-line services. This could be the result of a
movement from on-line service systems to more directly linked Internet sites,
and the increase in the linking of internal station computer systems to the
Internet, which would give the station its own server and domain. There was also
a considerable increase in the number of .ORG domains, which are reserved for
non-profit organizations. This group of sites, along with the educational
domains (.EDU), were primarily associated with PBS stations.
Table 2. Domains and Server Types.
1995 Stations
1995 %
1996 Stations
1996 %
Domain Type
.COM
31
50.8%
328
78.8%
.NET
16
26.2
28
6.7
.ORG
3
4.9
26
6.3
.EDU
11
18.0
31
7.5
Other
3
0.7
Own Server
326
78.2
Site Created by Station
61
39.4*
Site Maintained by Station
81
52.2*
(1995 data from Bates and King, 1996)
* The created by, and maintained by, figures are for the 155 stations where the
information was provided on the page.
Table 2 also indicates that three of every four local television station home
pages were located on the station's own server. The coding used, however, does
not allow discrimination between truly independent servers (those located on its
own, dedicated computer) and virtual servers (a dedicated area on a computer,
which may also host other servers, with a separate address; this is a service
offered by many Internet Service Providers (ISPs). Still, the creation of a
separate server address is an indication of interest in creating and maintaining
a long-term presence on the World Wide Web. The question of whether this is a
separate station server or a ISP service, though, would really seem to be
related to a more fundamental question: Is the site truly a station effort,
created and maintained by station personnel, or is the station outsourcing their
Web activities? Regrettably, most Web sites contained no indication of who
created or maintained the Web site and individual pages. For the 155 home pages
that provided that information, almost 40% seemed to suggest that the page was
created by station personnel, and more than half (52.2%) seemed to indicate that
the site was regularly maintained and updated by station personnel.
One of the interesting basic content measures was that the 1996 home pages
seemed to be tighter, more focused, than the pages examined in 1995. As
indicated in Table 3, the number of pages having more than three screens of
content declined from 35% to just over 20%. Moreover, only two of the 1996 home
pages examined contained more than 10 screens (one with 11 screens, the other
with 18), where Bates and King (1996) had reported that more than 5% of 1995
site pages ran longer than 10 screens. Another interesting result was the fact
that in 1996, television station Web pages seemed to be both more current, and
more fixed, that the 1995 sample would suggest. In fact, this result would seem
to reflect the effects of two different factors at work. One factor is the
increased capacity to incorporate current information on Web pages, such as live
audio feeds, video captures from live cameras, and current weather information.
This increase might also reflect a trend towards the incorporation of more news
and weather information, with an emphasis on timely information.
Table 3. Page characteristics
1995 %
1996%
1996 N
Page Length
405
One Page
12.2%
20.7%
Two- Three Pages
52.8
58.8
More than Three Pages
35.0
20.5
Timeliness
398
Current (live and daily)
10.5
22.6
Regular (weekly & monthly)
35.8
13.5
Indefinite
53.7
63.8
Page Content Type
403
Guide/Index
95.5
Informational
3.0
Other
1.5
Page Focus Type
403
Home Page
85.6
News
10.2
Weather
3.2
Other
1.0
(1995 data from Bates and King, 1996)
The increase in the "Indefinite" category reflects somewhat of a shift in
television station Web designs. Early adopters tended to not incorporate many
of the hypertext elements of Web site designs. Pages were longer, often
incorporating many different elements. Many site designers now recommend that a
site's home page, at least, be small, simple and clean, serving primarily as an
informative guide to other pages. Following such a design course would suggest
that the home page would become more static, with the more current and more
frequently updated pages located further inside the site. That television
stations seem to be taking this advice can be seen in two other variables
reported in Table 3. First, the results indicated that, for almost all of the
examined pages (95.5%), the content was primarily in the forms of guide and
indices to other pages. There may have been other elements, but the basic
purpose would seem to be to lead the user to other pages. This focus is further
supported by the page focus variable, which once again indicated that the main
focus for most pages (85.6%) was to serve as a home page, an introduction and
guide to the site's content rather than serving as a more direct provider of
that content. This basic focus is further supported by the finding (in Table
5), that 67.3% of the pages contained more than six links to other pages in the
site.
In retrospect, however, this should not be a surprising result, given that the
sample used for this study consisted of the initial pages on local television
stations' Web sites, by definition often considered the home page. Perhaps more
interesting, are the related indications that even with this limitation, more
than 10% of the pages seemed to focus more on providing news, and more than 3%
with a focus on weather information, than serving simply as a guide to further
pages.
The results reported in Table 4 would seem to indicate a relatively greater
use of graphic and visual elements than indicated by the earlier study. In most
of the measured categories, there was higher use of visual elements than
indicated by the Bates and King study. There was a considerably higher use of
graphics and most types of photographs. In addition, there are fairly high
level of use of graphic icons, and backgrounds, simple yet effective ways to
incorporate distinctive visual elements onto a Web page. The one measure where
this trend does not hold is for the use of medium photographs. It should be
noted, though, that the 1995 figures reported in Tables 3 and 4 refer to the
total sample of pages, and not just the designated home page for the site. And
the 1995 sample contained a large number of pages (roughly 11%) which were
classified as promotional pages for talent, which may have inflated the medium
photo figure. This result further reminds us, though, that the two samples are
different in nature, the 1995 data set containing all the pages on a site, while
the 1996 data includes only the initial, home page. This limits the true
comparability of the two data sets.
Table 4. Use of Visual Elements on 1996 Home Pages
Use of Large Graphics
397
None
82.8
72.0
One
12.7
26.4
More than One
5.5
1.6
Use of Medium Graphics
398
None
70.9
47.5
One
24.1
36.4
Two to Five
4.6
14.8
More than Five
0.5
1.8
Use of Small Graphics
398
None
86.4
62.6
One
12.6
14.6
Two to Five
0.9
15.6
More than Five
0.3
6.3
Use of Large Photos
398
None
96.7
94.5
One
3.0
5.3
More than One
0.3
0.3
Use of Medium Photos
398
None
68.7
92.7
One
13.8
5.8
More than One
17.5
1.5
Use of Small Photos
398
None
99.7
93.7
One
0.2
3.8
More than One
0.1
2.5
Use of Background/Color
37.2
403
Use of Custom Background
21.8
403
Use of Specialized Buttons
6.5
398
Used graphic icons
20.4
70.6
398
Used Photo icons
7.8
398
(1995 data from Bates & King, 1996)
While the above tables give us some indication of the diffusion of television
station Web home pages, the overall focus of their use, and their use of visual
elements, they do not give much indication of the content of the textual and
visual elements, or the types of links they guide the visitor to. We begin to
examine the nature of that content, and the inferences the content provides
about the purpose of local television Web sites, in Table 5. The content
variables have been loosely grouped to aid in the interpretation of focus and
use. The first to be examined are indicators of promotional content. Most of
the content types listed in this section refer to use of logos, links to network
and other program suppliers, and the provision of basic information about the
station. The data suggest that there is a fairly high use of promotional
elements on television station Web home pages. Just under 90% of home pages
Table 5. Page Content
Type of Content
1996 Percentage
1996 N
Promotional Type Content
Station Logo on Page
88.7
401
Station Call Letters on Page
97.5
403
Station Channel on Page
93.7
399
Station Location on Page
83.2
403
Network Logo on Page
59.8
398
Ownership Info on Page
39.4
401
Links to the Network Site
46.2
403
Links to Syndicated Programming Sites
7.0
403
E-Mail Links
402
None
29.7
One
49.3
More than One
21.0
Informational Type Content
Guides and Indices
403
None
7.2
One
77.7
More than One
15.1
Internal Links
403
One to Five
27.6
More than Five
67.7
External Links
403
One to Five
70.2
More than Five
12.4
Internal Links to Other Media
403
None
91.3
One
7.2
More than One
1.5
External Links to Other Media
401
None
81.8
One
12.2
More than One
6.0
News Information
403
None
83.6
One story
12.7
More than One story
3.7
Sports Information
403
None
90.8
One
8.4
More than one
0.7
Weather Information
403
None
88.3
One
9.9
More than one
1.7
Programming Information
403
None
82.6
One
12.6
More than one
3.7
Table 5. Page Content (continued)
Type of Content
1996 Percentage
1996 N
Community and Service Related Content
Internal Links to Community & Service Sites
403
None
64.7
One
24.6
More than One
7.2
External Links to Community & Service Sites
401
None
84.5
One
11.2
More than One
4.2
Internal Links to Kids or Educational sites
403
None
74.9
One
21.3
More than One
3.7
External Links to Kids or Educational sites
401
None
95.5
One
4.0
More than One
0.4
Advertising Content
Use of Advertising Icons
403
None
62.5
One or Two
31.7
More than Two
5.7
Use of Panel Advertising
403
None
92.8
One
6.0
More than one
1.2
Links to Advertisers
398
None
55.0
One or Two
35.9
More than Two
9.0
Proportion of Advertising Content
403
No advertising
70.0
Less than 10% of page
27.0
More than 10% of page
2.9
incorporate the station's logo in some form or another, and a slightly higher
percentage indicated the station's channel allocation. Almost 60% incorporated
the network logo on their home page, and just under half of the stations
included a link to their network's Web site. Somewhat surprisingly, some
stations' home pages failed to include what most would consider vital
information: 2.5% of home pages failed to have any indication of the station's
call sign, 6.3% failed to mention the channel the station broadcast on, and
almost 17% of pages failed to indicate the community which the station served.
The solicitation of e-mail through the inclusion of a hypertext link was also
considered to be an aspect of promotion, as it could be interpreted as
encouraging viewer input and involvement with the station. The data in Table 5
indicate that about 70% of stations included specific e-mail links (using the
"mailto" feature of HTML) as well as providing e-mail addresses.
There are several ways in which local television Web site pages can convey
useful information to the visitor. The most obvious way is by placing the
information content directly on the page being examined. Another way is to
provide some indication of information content to be found elsewhere, and then
to provide access to that other location through the use of a hypertext link.
While arguably a more indirect way of providing information, it is a way that
also takes fuller advantage of the hypertext capabilities of the World Wide Web,
and gives the user greater control over her information seeking behaviors.
Certainly, previous surveys of Web users have indicated that providing guides
and indices is one of the more valuable functions of Web sites.
As indicated in Table 5, while the television station home pages examined tend
to do a fairly good job of providing such guides to information (92.8% of pages
contain at least one set of guides), they have not done quite so good a job at
linking to other media sites, or with provision of local news and information
content. Again, most provide a number of internal and external links, although
a couple of pages went nowhere else and provided only minimal information on the
page itself (often only an indication that the site was under construction).
Most links on sites were to internal locations, either index links within the
page, or links to other pages contained within the local television station's
Web site. As Table 5 indicates, two out of three home pages contained links to
more than five internal pages. There were not as many external links, however;
only 12.4% of the home pages contained links to more than 5 external sites.
This suggestion that station home pages provide only limited information is
also reflected in the variables looking for the provision of specific or
detailed information beyond indicating links. Only 16.4% of station home pages
contained any specific mention of local news stories. Even fewer home pages
included specific weather or sports information. It would seem that most
stations are not using their home pages to complement their local news
operations by either providing promotional leaders to the night's broadcast or
but providing more in-depth information in support of broadcast stories. While
this result is initially somewhat disappointing, it should not be inferred that
there is no information of that type on the station's Web site. This result
indicates only the lack of such content on stations' home pages, which may be,
in part, a result of trends in Web design, moving more current information
deeper into the site and maintaining the initial home page as a guide. There
was slightly more information available about programming. Roughly 17% of the
home pages contained some specific information about station programming. This
often included reference to the station's local newscast, but without mention of
a specific story.
The use of the Web's potential for community service activities also seemed to
remain largely underutilized. None of the home pages seemed to concentrate on
that type of content. Only about a third of station sites indicated that the
station provided any community or service information on their web sites (as
indicated by the presence of internal links to such sites). Even fewer, about
15%, maintained any links to community or service related sites outside of the
station's site. Only about one in four stations appeared to provide any content
targeted at children, or serving an educational function, despite a mandate from
the Children's Television Act requiring stations to undertake service activities
outside of normal programming targeted at children. Even more disappointing was
the finding that less than 5% of stations even took the minimal step of linking
with an outside site serving kids..
Advertising is a relatively new phenomenon on the Internet and the World Wide
Web. It would seem to be an innovation which television stations seem to be
somewhat cautious about adopting. Only 7.2% of station home pages contained
explicit advertising panels, and only 1.2% contained more than one panel of
advertising. There are other ways in which stations can promote outside
businesses on their home pages, however. Home pages can contain icons for
products and businesses that provide links to outside commercial sites. Some
local television station home pages contained lists of links to firms that
advertise on the station. The study results in Table 5 indicate that both of
these indirect forms of advertising are much more widely utilized by stations on
their home pages. More than one-third of station home pages contained icon
advertisements, and 45% contained links to outside businesses. The advertising
does not appear to overwhelm the non-advertising content of pages; in only 2.9%
of pages did the advertising content appear to comprise more than 10% of the
page.
The overall results of Web page content suggest that the majority of these
initial site pages were in fact incorporating "home page" design
characteristics. They were relatively small pages, incorporating graphic
elements, and serving primarily as an introduction to the site and a guide to
its contents. While some sites did incorporate more specific informational
content on their initial pages, this did not appear to be a consistent or common
component of local television station home pages. In addition, most stations
did not appear to be taking advantage of either the opportunities for community
service or provide educational and/or children's content. In particular,
stations did not seem to be taking advantage of the wealth of related sites in
these areas by provided links to those sites. On the other hand, stations also
appear to be slow in integrating commercial messages and links on their sites.
The apparently slow integration of content opportunities also seems to be
reflected in the integration of more advanced HTML and World Wide Web features
on local television stations' home pages. Only two of the features coded for
were used by more than one-fifth of station home pages. Image maps were used by
24.8% of home pages, and motion graphics were used by 20.5% of sites. Their
high rate of adoption may be partially related to the fact that these advanced
graphics features are relatively easy to incorporate into Web sites; they
require no special equipment or programming expertise to incorporate these forms
of graphics into Web pages. Framing, a somewhat more complex design feature, is
used by only 8% of station home pages.
Audio and video features seem to be starting to make inroads onto local
television station home pages, although such features remain far from common.
Compared to Bates and King's (1996) finding that less than one percent of
station pages in 1995 contained any audio or video elements, Table 6 found
considerably greater use of those elements, although the overall percentages
remained low. About 2% of stations' home pages incorporated audio elements in
their basic design; that is, loading the page brought forth music clips (often
program themes) or unique sounds. In addition, more than 5% of the home pages
contained links to audio archives, where visitors could download audio clips.
Providing access to live audio feeds remained rare, though, probably due in
large part to the need for specialized equipment, software, and a dedicated link
to the Internet.
Table 6. Use of Advanced Features in 1996 Home Pages
Feature
Percentage
N
Use of Image Maps
24.8
403
Frames
8.0
400
Used motion graphics
20.5
400
Use of unsolicited audio
2.0
402
Links to Live Audio
0.4
401
Links to Archived Audio
5.1
403
Use of unsolicited video
1.5
403
Use of video captures
2.2
403
Live Video
0.4
402
Links to Video Captures
6.9
403
Links to Archived Video
1.4
403
Incorporated Forms
1.5
403
Incorporated Search Engines
5.0
403
Incorporated Upload Capability
0.5
403
Incorporated Real-Time Interaction (Chat)
1.5
403
It was expected that video applications would be utilized less frequently than
audio applications, as the technology for delivering video over the Internet is
newer and not as widely adopted. The equipment needs are also higher. In
addition, video clips are much larger than audio clips, which restricts interest
in downloading. As expected, there was considerably less incorporation of live
video, or of links to video archives, than there was use of the relevant audio
features. One aspect of video did seem to be used somewhat more heavily. Video
captures, where a frame of a video feed is digitally captured and presented as a
still photograph, did exhibit higher levels of use. Just over 2% of local
television station home pages included video capture photos, often from
dedicated cameras overlooking some portion of the community served from the
station's tower. Further, almost 7% of the home pages contained links to video
captures, suggesting even greater adoption of this technological feature.
Finally, there seemed to be some increase in the incorporation of interactive
features on local television station home pages. Compared to Bates and King's
(1996) finding that, in 1995, there was virtually no use of interactive features
other than e-mail and links to other pages and sites, this study indicated that
5% of station home pages incorporated search engines, allowing site visitors to
personalize their information seeking behaviors. In addition, 1.5% of pages
incorporated forms, allowing visitors to provide feedback to the station
indirectly, and 1.5% also included some form of real-time interaction, allowing
that feedback to be immediate and direct. While the adoption rates for these
features are still quite low, they do indicate an increase in use over time.
Conclusions
There are several clear conclusions that can be reached from this examination
of the "home pages" of the sites which local television stations are putting on
the World Wide Web. First, is seems clear that the number of stations with
World Wide Web sites continues to expand at a fairly high rate. The number of
local television stations with World Wide Web sites increased almost eight-fold
from June 1995 to October 1996. With the continued emphasis placed by networks
on achieving an Internet and Web presence, it can be expected that this growth
will continue in the future.
While this particular study only examined the initial pages on station Web
sites, it seems fairly clear that local television stations remain somewhat
uncertain about how to use the World Wide Web, and how to use it effectively.
The primary focus of sites seems to remain promotional, with a secondary
emphasis on providing information content. For the examined pages, however,
that information content remains primarily in the form of links to other pages
and sites. There is a suggestion, through the use of internal site links, that
there is more dedicated content located elsewhere on the station's Web site.
The nature and extent of that information content, however, remains to be
determined in further studies.
There are indications that some stations are taking greater advantage of the
opportunities for content and service that the World Wide Web offers. This
study indicated that a sizable proportion of station home pages included
specific programming (17.4%), news (16.4%), weather (11.7%), and sports (9.2%)
information. The presence of internal links on the home pages further suggested
that a fairly large percentage of sites contained community service related
information (35.3%) and educational and other content directed at kids (25.1%).
Still, for most stations, this initial, "home," page remains primarily a guide
to the site's offerings.
It can be argued that, over time, stations are becoming a bit more adept at
integrating into their home pages and sites the kind of design features which
World Wide Web users seem to prefer. There seems to be a greater integration of
visual features onto these pages, while also keeping the site relatively small,
and thus easier and faster to download. Stations also appear to be integrating
more timely features into their sites. The use of interactive and multimedia
features has also increased, although those features remain relatively rare on
local television station Web sites. Already, nearly seven percent of stations
incorporate video on their sites, in the form of video captures. Live audio and
video feeds are beginning to make their appearance on home pages, and their use
should increase as the technologies improve. This can help to further
differentiate television station sites from other media sites. The use of other
interactive features, such as search engines and chat rooms, has also increased,
although such features remain scarce.
Overall, it would seem that while local television station Web sites have
increased in numbers, and in their use of beneficial features and design
factors, there is still a great deal of uncertainty over what the role and
function of local television station Web sites should be.
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Television on the Web, 1996:Local Television Stations' Use of the World Wide Web
by
Benjamin J. Bates, Ass. Prof.
L. Todd Chambers, Ph.D student
Margot Emery, Ph.D student
Melanie Jones, M.A. student
Steven McClung, Ph.D. student
& Jowon Park, Ph.D. student
College of Communications
University of Tennessee
Paper submitted to the Communication Technology & Policy Division,
Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication,
for the 1997 Annual Convention in Chicago.
Contact: Benjamin J. Bates, Dept. of Broadcasting, University of Tennessee,
Knoxville TN 37996-0333
phone: (423)-974-4291 e-mail: [log in to unmask] fax: (423) 974-3896
Copyright 1997, Benjamin J. Bates
Television on the Web, 1996:Local Television Stations' Use of the World Wide Web
Abstract:
This study examines the use of the World Wide Web by local television broadcast
stations in the U.S. A census of television stations on the Web as of October
1996 was compiled, and the content of those sites downloaded. Based on a
content analysis of the stations' home pages, the study finds improvements in
the use of the Web and Web features, although the use of audio and video
features remains very low, and there is not much non-promotional content
feature.
[1] A host is defined as a domain name with a specific IP address associated
with it, such as www.bigstateu.edu, while the domain measure focuses on the
overall site owner, i.e. bigstatu.edu.
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