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How TVNZ boosted live blog content ranking and reader engagement

Case study

TVNZ, New Zealand’s state-owned, commercially-funded broadcaster, aims to inspire conversations of Aotearoa (New Zealand) and enrich the lives of New Zealanders by sharing significant moments that matter to their communities and regions.

Through channels such as TVNZ 1, 2, DUKE, and the online entertainment platform TVNZ+, TVNZ reaches over 2 million Kiwis daily. Their leading news site, 1News.co.nz, along with the socially driven news brand Re: engages audiences with important issues throughout the day in their preferred format.

The challenge: poor user experience in breaking news scenarios

As one of New Zealand’s most trusted media companies, TVNZ is the source readers turn to for full coverage of major news and sports events. To meet the demand for real-time updates on the most pressing issues, the broadcaster chose to implement Norkon’s live blogging solution, Live Center.

Before implementing a live blogging platform, TVNZ used its standard article templates to cover fast-moving events, which required the team to republish the articles after each update.

“We couldn’t direct our audience to a specific part of the live blog easily, and embedding large numbers of videos and social media posts made our articles very heavy to load. Our audience could sometimes miss an update if they hadn’t refreshed the page”, explained Veronica Schmidt, General Manager, Digital News and Content, TVNZ.

The Solution: a tool capable of coping with video embeds, images and social posts

Leading the Digital News and Content team responsible for live blogging on the 1News.co.nz website, Veronica Schmidt shares that: “We really wanted a tool that was easy for our team to use, and that could handle a large number of embedded videos, images and social media posts. It needed to be a great user experience for a wide range of content – from sports matches to political events to breaking news.”

This led TVNZ to Live Center, a solution that not only addressed their breaking news challenges but also met several other key requirements, including:
– Deep linking for easy sharing
– Strong SEO and effective social sharing
– Clear timestamp system for updates
– Fast update speeds without compromising page load
– High uptime of service
– API-based configuration for front-end customization
– Integration with Brightcove video player and Google Analytics

Results: Increased dwell time and returning visitors

While individual sessions on live blogs are short, the format encourages repeated visits, with users frequently returning for updates. TVNZ observed a higher rate of returning visitors compared to traditional news articles, as audiences check in multiple times for the latest updates.

SEO and web traffic

Live blogs frequently rank among the top-performing content and have become a significant source of web traffic for the 1News.co.nz website.

Page views

A typical live blog sees about 15,000 unique visitors, while a blog covering a big event attracts up to 150,000 unique viewers.

Reader engagement

TVNZ increased interaction with its audience and opened up the dialogue by enabling readers to submit their questions to journalists and personalities directly during live Q&As.

Live Q&A blog example

 1News.co.nz, organised a Live question & answer event with an expert around a specific topic.

 

Conclusion

By leveraging a live blog strategy, TVNZ has enhanced its ability to deliver real-time, engaging content to its audience, solidifying its position as a trusted source of news and information in New Zealand. TVNZ further meets its goals of serving its community by utilizing a live blogging approach to open up dialogue and engage their audience, fostering a more interactive and responsive relationship with viewers.

Case Study: Monetizing engagement with live blogs

A key ambition for La Presse is fostering deep reader loyalty and maintaining a dialogue with readers. Live Center stands is used as the most direct communication tool with readers, easily attracting 15,000 visitors per live blog and reaching up to 23k visitors during major hockey games. –> Read more

Case Study: British Broadcaster drives app downloads with live blogs

As a leading news and politics source, this major British broadcaster continuously seeks to expand its listenership and introduce their highly popular podcasts to a new audience. But how to grab new audiences’ attention in the first place, in an increasingly fragmented platform-landscape? That’s where live blogs come into play. –> Read more

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In collaboration with SEO Specialist Barry Adams, this guide dives into the details and best practices for news publishers to master SEO, exploring the technical steps that need to be taken and content elements that need to be provided to ensure better ranking of your live articles. –> Download the e-book

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