Having a diversified and increasingly local readership requires thoughtful storytelling that is not only engaging but also hyper-relevant. Stories need to be interesting not just because of the topic, but also because they are happening in readers’ backyards. Nexstar Media Group, a company whose digital division operates 120 local sites across more than 100 markets, understood this unique challenge.
And Stacker saw it as an opportunity to support local newsrooms. Collaborating with and elevating local media has always been central to Stacker’s mission, and through a partnership with Nexstar we were able to do exactly that. Since early 2021, the two teams have worked together to leverage Stacker’s local content at scale to drive social referrals, fill content gaps, and further engage Nexstar’s audiences. We’ve delivered headlines within traditionally successful verticals like money and real estate. And stories such as “These are the highest-paying jobs in San Francisco” and “Most expensive homes for sale in El Paso” have seen great success. But we’ve also been able to experiment with new content areas.
“We are in an evolution mode trying to broaden what we offer beyond the typical daily news cycle, '' said Bill Disbrow, Nexstar’s Director of National Digital Content. “Stacker represents a broad set of content types that can go through everything from baby names to academic data to house buying, and that alone… is a huge asset.”
Today, Nexstar and Stacker alike are experiencing incredible growth but have continued to elevate each other through story syndication and distribution. To learn more about the details and strategies of our partnership, keep reading for a conversation with Bill Disbrow, Director of National Digital Content at Nexstar.
STACKER
How has Stacker helped you reach your audience?
DISBROW
A big priority for us is retaining and growing local audiences in our 100 plus markets, and Stacker has been incredibly helpful in growing a local audience because it provides data-driven stories that specifically target each of them individually. So, it helps us provide content that can be habit forming. Our local audience knows they can come back to our sites and find stories that give them relevant data that can help them sort of understand their community.
STACKER
What type of content does well with your audience? You said habit forming, but what else do you look for when deciding what to promote?
DISBROW
Our audience is extremely utility focused. They want information that helps them understand how to navigate their world. That can be policy changes from the government, community-based coverage like understanding where your neighbors are moving to and from, how much houses should cost in any given community, and other sort of “kitchen table” topics. Stacker has been helpful because it has a lot of topics that are really useful for the reader to navigate their neighborhood or town.
STACKER
Are there any surprises that you've seen within the content Stacker has shared? Maybe something you hadn't tried before, but ended up performing really well?
DISBROW
I was a little surprised by some of the COVID statistics. I had felt like this far into the pandemic, a lot of that information was known. But when we looked at how those stories were performing in the individual markets, I think, again, it was the fact that you're able to drill down specifically to their communities and provide data that is out there but a little bit hard to track down for a typical internet user. Stacker provided that data in a really digestible way so that readers really understood the local numbers better and the local implications of the pandemic.
STACKER
Why did you decide to work with Stacker in the first place?
DISBROW
I knew that utility was a driver. And then more broadly, I felt like, for our markets who are not always used to using partner content beyond the Associated Press or a local wire, it was a way for them to see a proof of concept of working with other publishing partners. Stacker was a data-driven avenue of content that they could feel confident in publishing. It wasn't an opinion piece or something that we might get from another partner. It was something that felt solid and newsy to them.
STACKER
Have you seen that internal buy-in or approval change since the start of our partnership? Are people on your team more on board for not just Stacker content, but third party content in general?
DISBROW
I don't know that there was a really obvious reservation initially, but I do know I will now get asked by some of our markets on occasion, “Hey, does Stacker have anything coming?” Or, “This is a piece of content I could use that supports our content flow and fills in a gap for us.” So, yes I do think there's been an increased interest in running Stacker stories.
STACKER
Talk to me about the biggest challenges in reaching Nexstar’s massive audience. How has third party content helped you?
DISBROW
The biggest challenge with Nexstar is the scale of our properties. We operate from the largest markets to the smallest markets, so finding a partner that can have relevance across all of those different market sizes, staff sizes, audience loyalties for various websites, is really challenging. Taking it back to data-driven content, it kind of cuts across that and allows somebody to want to opt in at all of those different properties. And it's turnkey for those small properties that don't have to do this kind of work on their own. And even for the larger staff, that may allow them to prioritize something else, instead of tracking down that latest COVID number story.
STACKER
Is there anything else you'd like to say about working with Stacker content, or anything about our partnership?
DISBROW
Just that the team itself has been really open, understanding, and eager to experiment. There's an open door policy and we can have ongoing conversations around what's working.
STACKER
Say a publisher came up to you, and is trying to replicate the success you've seen with third party content and working with Stacker in their own newsroom. What would you say to them about what's worked and why maybe somebody should take advantage of working with someone like Stacker?
DISBROW
Local news media are both shrinking, yet very competitive. And when you're an organization of our scale, you need to have something that matches that scale. It [third party content] is a huge asset. So if you're trying to work in multiple locations, or you're trying to work with a team that's willing to hear you out on what's working for you to see how they can accommodate those needs, Stacker’s would be just great for them.
This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
Learn more about Nexstar Media Group Inc.:
Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: NXST) is a leading diversified media company that leverages localism to bring new services and value to consumers and advertisers through its traditional media, digital and mobile media platforms. Its wholly owned operating subsidiary, Nexstar Media Inc., consists of three divisions: Broadcasting, Digital, and Networks. The Broadcasting Division operates, programs, or provides sales and other services to 199 television stations and related digital multicast signals reaching 116 markets or approximately 39% of all U.S. television households (reflecting the FCC’s UHF discount). The division’s portfolio includes primary affiliates of NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX, MyNetworkTV and The CW. The Digital Division operates 120 local websites and 284 mobile apps offering hyper-local content and verticals for consumers and advertisers, allowing audiences to choose where, when and how they access content and creating new revenue opportunities for the company. The Networks Division operates NewsNation, formerly WGN America, a national news and entertainment cable network reaching 75 million television homes, multicast networks Antenna TV and Rewind TV, and WGN Radio in Chicago. Nexstar also owns a 31.3% ownership stake in TV Food Network, a top tier cable asset. For more information, please visit www.nexstar.tv.