KING5 Integrates Twitter Into Broadcasts for Traffic Advice

KING 5 debuted TV traffic reporting integrated with live social media updates using Radiate Media’s CommuteVantage CONNECT, a new traffic-reporting tool combining live Twitter activity with on-air broadcasts. KING 5 is part of Belo Corp., operating 20 television stations (nine in the top 25 markets) and their associated Web sites. Belo stations include affiliations with ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, CW, and MyNetwork TV. They reach over 14 percent of U.S. households with television.

KING 5 newscasts incorporate CONNECT air Monday through Friday from 4:30 a.m. to 7 a.m. on KING 5 and from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. on KONG 16. Throughout the newscasts, when safety is not threatened, viewers can tweet KING 5 traffic anchor Tracy Taylor at @King5TracyT with difficulties along their commute. Taylor uses CONNECT to incorporate the tweets directly into her traffic maps, giving commuters immediate information for their morning drive; the Twitter feed and maps are also available online at KING 5 traffic.

Mark Ginther, KING 5 executive news director explained the usefulness of the innovation: “We are constantly looking for ways to further enhance our standout traffic coverage, so this tool is a perfect fit for us. Adding the capabilities of Radiate Media’s CONNECT to Tracy Taylor’s comprehensive traffic reports allows us to provide true ‘As-It-Happens’ incident coverage to our viewers when they need it the most.”

KING 5 is currently the only partner in the United States testing CONNECT’s new capabilities.

Entrepreneur Brandon Webb noted, “Social media is immediate and for television to adapt they too must move immediate — just like traffic.”

At king5.com/traffic, you can check on the current traffic news, traffic cameras, drive times, gas prices, alerts, and pass reports. Other media outlets looking to pick up more viewers and listeners should consider adding this type of service. People reporting are volunteers living the experience as it happens, doing something to possibly make things easier for others on the same path. Your audience buys-in to your efforts, building that relationship being sought, and people getting the benefit of other commuters know they get up-to-the-second accurate information. If what they learn makes a big difference to their day, they are likely to be an active participant in reporting when they are the ones with current information to share.