Media General switches to WorldNow, Tampa station debuts new site

Media General has announced it has signed on with content management system provider WorldNow, and launched its first site on the platform, WFLA.com.

The new site, which is the online home of the company’s Tampa NBC affiliate, went live yesterday.

“Worldnow’s extensive broadcast-centric experience has helped deliver strong audience and revenue growth across their existing 450-plus managed websites,” Andy Lobred, vice president of digital media for Media General, said in a joint statement. “Our partnership will allow our stations to leverage Worldnow’s technology, content and revenue best practices in new and exciting ways.”

Plans call for Media General’s other 17 stations to switch to WorldNow by the end of the first quarter.

The new WFLA.com sports a clean if slightly uninspired design that features a bold black navigation bar and the familiar WorldNow featured content slider on the homepage.

Notably missing from the design is any local imagery, which is commonly found in the headers of TV station websites. The site also has one of the most microscopic radar images we’ve ever seen — the mid section of Florida where Tampa lies is pretty much indiscernable.

The remainder of the site is filled out with boxed modules linking users to various content. The station also makes good use of WorldNow’s video player, which is backed by one of the industry’s most robust Web-based video editing and content management systems.

Advertisement