Our Multi-Platform World

It is certainly not a new idea, but from the first answer of the first session “in the Bear Pit,” at the 2016 RTDNA Canada National convention in Toronto, “multi-platform” was on the tip of everyone’s tongue.

A big priority for Troy Reeb, Corus /Global VP of News, Radio and Station Operations, is to “build out news talk on multi-platforms.” He stressed the importance of following the audience, which he notes “has a good appetite for good storytelling.”

At CTV, President Wendy Freeman is encouraging her team to “do everything” in the ongoing fight for more eyeballs on their content. And she stressed that in this evolving world, “everybody does everything.”

There are even multi-platform content units and assignment editors at CBC now. But GM and Editor in Chief Jennifer McGuire insists the government subsidized digital news teams is just serving the public’s best interest and it’s just how the are connecting to their audience. (Reeb wondered aloud if an 1,100 person digital team wasn’t a bit extreme. McGuire assured him they weren’t all in news.)

At the radio news panel, reporters shared stories of having to carry two cell phones, a Marantz, and a selfie-stick so they can record audio, take videos, pictures, live tweet and record video stand-ups for video packages that are expected after the radio report, web story, and social is complete. All done from their car on an iPhone before being dispatched their next assignment. AM 640 Program Director Nathan Smith added, “Radio isn’t cut any slack on digital, because we are radio. The audience expects multimedia coverage.”

Multi-platform audience measurement was also a topic. The future of measurement is in being able to track users as they transition from device to device throughout each day. A concept which could become too invasive on panelists if not done elegantly. And we’re closer to that reality than we think, according to Numeris EVP Lisa Eaton, “We know, throughout the day, what people are doing.” (Editor’s note: creepy.)

Former Al Jazeera America TV anchor Ali Velshi sobered up the room with a reality check. He preached about how radio and TV have enjoyed perpetuating a good thing, but despite continued monetization we have a false belief that radio and TV are still relevant and we are on a road to oblivion. The newly monikered “Multimedia content creator” dreams of a virtual reality world where he reads the news to each person personally in the form of an avatar. Velshi also insists operations like VICE News have an edge because they aren’t having to defend legacy systems and processes and can go straight to innovation and experimentation. He added, “I’ve come to believe we need to embrace digital NOT as an adjunct, but to fully replace radio and TV.” He was passionate that our digital plans should be completely disrupting our traditional platforms and should be capable of destroying the current radio and TV models.

It’s certainly food for thought. The world is changing fast and we need to more than keep up, we need to be on the front lines trailblazing and creating the future.