CC SOCIAL NETWORK GROWING AllAccess Move over Myspace, Facebook and Friendster -- there's a new kid on the social networking block reports mysanantonio.com. Clear Channel Communications is launching a network of sites targeting specific radio audiences across the country. Clear Channel recently debuted portals linked to stations in Chicago, New York, Dallas, Minneapolis, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and West Palm Beach. Another 10 are scheduled to go online this summer.
"After we successfully got all of our stations up and streaming, the natural extension was to offer our local communities the opportunity to meet up online," said EVP/Online Music Division Evan Harrison. "Our feeling was that our listeners wanted to connect on a local level."
A test of Clear Channel's social networking service in Oklahoma City early this year led to a 25% larger online listening audience and a 50% increase in time spent on station sites, Harrison said. A month after Clear Channel debuted its first seven social networking sites, they had garnered a combined 53,000 members, each of whom has uploaded an average of two photos to their profiles.
Kiss Nation in Dallas has almost 6,000 members who have posted nearly 3,000 blog entries and 5,000 comments. It looks and functions like a mini-Myspace with a local twist. "With so many national social networks, there seems to be a tremendous opportunity to do something local," Harrison said. "With a local network, not only can you make friends online, but you have the opportunity to meet up locally." |