NBC Universal To Give Miami Web Site A New Look

NBCMIAMI.COM In a move that has been inevitable since a sale fell through, NBC Universal is giving the Web presence for its Miami station a fresh coat of paint. The rebrand and redesign will put it in step with nine other NBCU sites, from New York to San Diego.

With its new look, the site for WTVJ will take on an NBCMiami.com moniker--and a home page that emphasizes weather and traffic information and reduces clutter by focusing on one lead story at a time.

The relaunch is the final piece of NBCU's effort to place the Web sites for its English-language stations under a collective "Locals Only" umbrella. In the process, the sites have taken on an NBC-plus-location Web address (NBCNewYork.com, NBCSanDiego.com, etc)--along with a unified design template.

The choice of NBCMiami.com instead of NBCSouthFlorida.com as the URL is curious--since so many residents in the market live in the Ft. Lauderdale area. And so many media outlets in the DMA have taken on a "South Florida" identification.(NBCU parent General Electric owns the NBCSouthFlorida.com domain.)

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NBCU has shown a tendency toward regional appeal with the addresses NBCBayArea.com and NBCDFW.com for its stations in the San Francisco and Dallas areas, respectively.

A call to WTVJ General Manager Ardyth Diercks was not immediately returned.

WTVJ's Web presence has had an NBC6.net address, placing it in line with the station's NBC 6 on-air brand. (NBC6.com is owned by the Belo station in Charlotte.)

Exactly when the WTVJ site will flip over to the NBCMiami label is unclear, although the station is notifying visitors on NBC6.net that the overhaul is coming soon.

The revamp was assured in late December when NBCU's $200 million deal to sell the station to the Washington Post Co. fell apart, as a result of the state of the economy and some apparent concern by federal regulators. The Post Co., which already owned the ABC affiliate, was seeking a duopoly in the country's 16th-largest DMA.

NBCU launched the "Locals Only" concept in October when it followed other station groups in trying to turn its sites into stand-alone local portals.

Once the Miami redesign is in place, all 10 NBCU stations (English-language) will have the same home page structure on their Web sites. The latest weather information will be in the upper left; a traffic map just below; and one news or feature piece at a time overtaking the right side. A banner ad will fall below that lead attraction.

With the unified design, NBCU would appear to have an opportunity to offer advertisers multi-market buys.

It is unclear where a link to one of its most distinctive offerings--live simulcasts of each on-air newscast--will appear in the Miami site.

In addition to its 10 owned-and-operated English-language stations, NBCU has a slew of others linked with its Spanish-language Telemundo network.

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