NEXSTAR DISCOVERS THERE'S GREEN IN GREEN

First, a confession: I have a strong bias in favor of today’s column. The moment I heard about NexstarGreen, the station group’s multimedia environmental initiative, I decided it was a good idea.

As a veteran of Group W Television, I already believe that a station’s public interest commitments are more privilege than obligation and what’s more, stations can do really well by doing good.

And when you hear how much “green” this campaign is making for Nexstar, I think you’ll be inclined to agree.

“It was obvious from the sheer growth of the green movement and from public opinion polls that consumers favor green companies,” says Nexstar COO Brian Jones, who credits VP of News Chris Manson for pulling together the supporting statistics. “We were looking for ways to create programs that serve the community and also generate revenue,”

Nexstar corporate officers and the station general managers quickly settled on a three-pronged strategy: making their own workplaces more eco-friendly, getting good information out to the viewers, and, oh yes, making some nice piles of green stuff in every Nexstar market.

Each of those goals was designed to be highly local, starting with getting the word out.

“Community focus is how we frame the green initiative,” says Jones. “It’s not about the station; it’s a community issue. In fact, none of our station Web sites are branded ‘call letter-dot-com.’ They’re named after the communities they serve and feature portals that aggregate communities within our audience.”

Of course, with 50 stations ranging from DMA 9 (WHAG in Hagerstown, Md.) to DMA 201 (KOTV in St. Joseph Mo.), not all Nexstar stations are equally well-equipped to produce original program segments. So Nexstar employed another strategy that might have come from the old Group W playbook. They created a program cooperative not unlike the old Evening Magazine (a.k.a. PM Magazine.)

“We have 25 markets that do news,” says Jones. “And each station produced at least one story with green content—52 in all. That way, regardless of market size or newsroom staff, each station could launch its own version of NexstarGreen with at least a year’s worth of unique green content.”

The features were gathered and redistributed by Chris Manson and Nexstar’s VP of Marketing and Operations Blake Russell, who made sure each story arrived with scripts and split audio tracks, giving stations the option of inserting local talent.

Most stations augmented their weekly features with numerous home improvement and lifestyle tips that benefit both the environment and the pocketbook.

“And who better to serve as a local spokesperson than your chief meteorologist?” asks Mike Vaughn, general manager of Nexstar’s Fayetteville, Ark., duopoly KNWA (NBC) and KFTA (Fox).

“We immediately produced messages with Dan Skoff about everything from energy efficient light bulbs to tankless water heaters.”

Other program segments focused on environmental mythbusting—putting to rest viewers’ concerns about the alleged dangers of compact fluorescent light bulbs (true, they contain mercury, but it’s less mercury than is found in a fish, says Vaughn) or aftermarket automotive gadgets that claim to increase gas mileage.

Another sort of concern turned out to be no problem at all: that the whole “green” concept was perhaps too closely connected with global warming and perceived as a “liberal” issue.

Nonsense, says Nexstar’s Jones. “We quickly discovered that, presented properly, this is a topic everybody cares about and everyone can use. It doesn’t have to be a global warming issue. You can focus on the reality of $4 per gallon gas and everyone’s desire for our children to have a clean environment. Saving energy is good for the planet and it’s good for your pocketbook.”

And it’s also good business for Nexstar.

Since its launch in Januaray, Nexstar Green has generated in excess of $2 million, more than $107,000 of which came from new business in DMA 74, Springfield, Mo., where Nexstar operates KOLR (CBS) and KSFX (Fox). (The duopoly’s Web site is branded as Ozarks First.com, while the campaign is branded OzarksGreen)

“Our advertisers buy an ad package and get added visibility on our weekly green tips and on our Web site,” says VP and GM Mark Gordon. “Our two main sponsors include HVAC, which sells energy efficient heating and cooling solutions and Fantastic Caverns, a private park that offers underground tours of caves.”

The OzarksGreen campaign also includes live events, says Gordon. “We partnered with Computer Recycling Center, which handles environmentally-safe disposal of used electronics—anything from old CDs to a large-screen TVs.”

On two separate promotional days, viewers brought in nearly 50 tons of e-waste, Gordon says.

Even more impressive is the stations’ “Reforest the Ozarks” promotion, urging viewers to buy saplings at 10 bucks a pop and then plant them to replace the many trees lost to last year’s ice storms. “We partnered with a local nursery and a trucking company. We’ve done this three times and have sold and planted a combined total of 4,900 trees.”

Nexstar has earned even more revenue in DMA 102—at the aforementioned duopoly in Fayetteville, Ark., where the project is branded LiveGreen. It has predictably attracted such eco-friendly local businesses as Nitron Lawn & Garden Products and Ozark Natural Foods.

“We’ve earned north of $200,000 so far in 2008. That’s a big deal in our annual budget,” says GM Vaughan.

But then Fayetteville duopoly has an advantage over other Nexstar stations: it’s the home of some of the biggest corporations in the country, including JB Hunt, Tyson Chicken and Wal-Mart. “We met with Wal-Mart and they told us how they’re pushing their vendors to make their products better for the environment,” Vaughan says. “In fact, Wal-Mart is favoring those businesses.”

That’s allowed KNWA and KFTA to go after some national companies who want to promote awareness of their eco-friendly efforts to retail customers, to investors, and, not incidentally, to Wal-Mart. Among the national brands eager to become a LiveGreen underwriter was GE Energy Smart Light Bulbs.

But what if your signal doesn’t happen to reach Wal-Mart headquarters? Can you still attract a national brand?

“I think you can,” says Vaughn. “If you’re in, say, Amarillo, Texas, you’ve got the Nacona Boot Co. [a product closely tied to the great outdoors.] A business like that looks at this as a PR opportunity more than just advertising. So I think you can sell this campaign in Anymarket, USA.”

“In fact,” adds Vaughn, “We just partnered with the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal to showcase the Greenest Office in five categories and we’ll highlight the finalists in our newscast. So we’re not just marketing to the Wal-Marts and GE’s of the world. We’re also working with [companies like] Bob’s Appliance Store.”

By the way, that $2 million in total revenue does not include the financial benefits that will accrue to Nexstar by greening their own physical plants and subtracting energy costs from the expense ledger. And we’re not just talking light bulbs here.

“We had a consultant perform an energy audit that we could use as a road map for all of our markets,” says COO Jones. “Some things like recycling may seem obvious, but a TV station can waste an amazing amount of power with all the equipment that’s just left on. Now we’re more careful to switch things off and we’re installing motion-sensor lighting. We’ve also changed all of our traffic systems to be as paperless as possible.”

Nexstar has also studied energy-saving opportunities that are available in key regions, such as Texas, where the group owns 15 stations in seven markets.

“Texas allows customers to choose their own power company,” says Jones. “That’s allowed us to negotiate all of our power service from one provider, which gives us significant savings on our electric bill. We’re looking to do the same in Pennsylvania.”

Still more energy and money-saving ideas have come from station employees themselves, ranging from vastly improved recycling programs, to water-saving plumbing to ground source heating systems that lower energy costs and also earn tax rebates.

“We’ll use the summer months to revisit what we started in January,” says Jones. “In June, each of our stations will produce a primetime special that will serve as a kind of green report card for the market. At the same time we’ll promote our plans for what’s next for NexstarGreen.”

Oh, lest I forget, Nexstar has picked up an additional $1 million and change in a similar effort. It has capitalized on its obligation to inform viewers about the DTV transition by selling additional PSAs and Web placements to local advertisers. But that’s a story for another day.

Market Share by Arthur Greenwald showcases successful station activities every Monday in TVNEWSDAY. Don’t be shy. Share the story of your own winning efforts by writing to Arthur at greenwald@tvnewsday.com.