MOUNTAIN MORNING SHOW

CONTENTS

research objectives & research strategies...........................................................................................................4

Background of Morning Shows

overview ................................................................................................................................................................6
morning show statistics ......................................................................................................................................6
successful morning shows...................................................................................................................................7
format of morning shows...................................................................................................................................7

Research objectives
Based on research, come up with recommendations about how to create a new and improved Mountain Morning
Show for Park City Television to reach and engage 3 target audiences:

1. Millennials
2. Locals
3. National/International Audience

park city tv ............................................................................................................................................................9

target audiences..................................................................................................................................................11

Focus Group Findings

overview...............................................................................................................................................................18

Survey Findings
overview...............................................................................................................................................................21

Web and Social Media

overview...............................................................................................................................................................36
optimization........................................................................................................................................................38
website performance..........................................................................................................................................39

Millennials

Millennials are an important demographic for any business and Park City TV
wants to create a morning show that will have greater appeal primarily to millennials in Utah, as well as to the large national audience of millennials.

Locals

Local support contributes to the success of any organization, and that is especially
true with a local television morning show. Park City TV wants to garner more
local viewers from Park City and the surrounding Utah community by making
the morning show more appealing to local interests.

National/International Audience

Park City TV wants to offer a little bit of everything so that it can appeal to a
broad national audience, and to some extent an international audience.

The Perfect Morning Show

overview...............................................................................................................................................................42

Works Cited

Research Strategies

Conduct secondary research on the history and background of morning shows

to better understand what elements contribute to making a successful morning
show.
Conduct primary research through focus groups, surveys and social media to determine more specifically what people think of the Mountain Morning Show and
to determine what can be done to better reach target audiences with the Mountain Morning Show and make it more appealing to the target audiences.

Background of
Morning
Shows
Overview
Morning shows are television news programs shown live typically between 6 and 10
a.m.. They are often hosted by one person or a
small group of people and the show is designed
to be informative and entertaining. This combination is known as infotainment.The first
half of the morning show targets individuals
who are getting ready for their day and prefer
watching hard news. Because of this, the shows
feature some updates of recent events, including political news, business news and sports
news, as well as various interviews. Another
important element of morning shows is the
forecast for the day and, for large cities, traffic
reports. The second half of the show has more
soft news where they show lifestyle interviews
and entertainment stories. Morning shows
from many T.V. channels offer a break for local
stations or affiliates to air a small newscast that
serves as a recap of major local news headlines.
Morning shows follow this same format in
many countries around the world. Approximately sixty-one countries use a similar format
on their own T.V. channels.

Morning Show Statistics

For years morning shows had seen declining
viewership, particularly since 2004. An average of 12.4
million people watched network morning news in
2010, down 3 percent from 12.8 million in 2009. On
average, viewership had been declining by 382,000
viewers a year. However, not all the morning shows
suffered major declines. Viewership of ABCs Good
Morning America held steady at an average 4.3 million from 2008 to 2010; ratings were also stable at 3.2;
share grew in 2010 to 12.4, up from 11.9, which means
that a higher percentage of people who happened to
be watching TV during that time period were tuned to
ABC than the year before.

After a major decline in viewers for most

morning shows from 2004 to 2010, audiences for
morning shows have begun to grow since 2011. An
average of 13.1 million people watched the three major
network morning news programs, up 5.4 percent from
12.4 million in 2010, which is an increase of 666,400
viewers for the year on average.
While the Internet is responsible for some loss
in potential morning show viewers, as stated previously, early morning newscasts have been doing fairly well
over the past couple of years compared to the rest of
the television business. This is due in part because people are busy getting ready for their day and are more
likely to turn on the TV than to take a moment to
search something on the Internet. However, morning
viewership can vary greatly depending on the market,
because some people are more night owls then morning people. For example, the Birmingham, Ala., market
is relatively wide awake at as early as 4:30 a.m., with
26.7 percent of households tuned in to early morning
newscasts. The Salt Lake City market has the lowest
percentage with 9.1 percent (Stetler, 2010).

Demographics of
Morning Show Viewers

Unfortunately for the CBS Early Show, they

suffered the largest loss in viewership falling to 2.9 million viewers, from 3.1 million. Ratings fell to 2.2 from
2.3 in 2009. CBS share fell by .3 points to 8.5.
(Guskin, 2010)

Morning news audiences skewed slightly

younger than evening news audiences and were more
likely to be female. The average age of a regular morning news show consumer in 2010 was 51, which is five
years older than the average survey respondent and
two years younger than the average evening news consumer (Guskin, 2010).
Over two-thirds, or 68%, of morning news
audiences were female, compared to 52% of the survey population. Currently, more people are watching
morning shows than in the past few years (Taibi, 2014).
The following is a list of additional demographic information for what types of people watch morning shows:
Gender of morning news viewers: 38 percent male, 62
percent female
Ages of morning news viewers: 12 percent 18-29, 29
percent 30-49, 36 percent 50-64, 21 percent 65+
Women ages 16 - 34 spend more hours watching TV
than men, especially those with school-aged children
Ideology of morning news audiences: 25 percent Republican, 29 percent Independent, 39 percent Democrat

Education level of morning news audiences: 27 percent college graduates, 27 percent have some college,
46 percent of a high school diploma or less education
(Taibi, 2014).

Money in Morning Shows

Morning shows have proven to be a very
lucrative business. While the Internet has upended
the nightly news, and on-demand services like Netflix
continue to disrupt prime time, the morning shows remain one place in the TV industry where the business
model still really works, at least for now. Today earns
NBC $500 million in annual revenue because of its five
million daily viewers (Stetler, 2013).
Another reason why morning shows are a
lucrative business to be in is because many morning
shows are like talks shows, which are relatively inexpensive to make. It costs less than $100,000 per episode, as opposed to $1 million or more for a TV drama
episode. These things combined have led to a proliferation of talk shows and morning shows, which is part
of the reason why competition is so intense between
morning shows (Tennant, n.d.)

or anchors, as well anyone else who runs the show.

People often develop virtual relationships with show
hosts, and the nature of those relationships, whether good or bad, can often determine how interested
people are in watching the show. The relationship they
develop can be comparable to the fixation people have
with their favorite celebrities. The better people can
connect with these hosts the more willing they will
be to invest their time and attention to watching the
show. Bernard M. Timberg of the Museum of Broadcast Communication, said, The host maintains a high
degree of control over their show, from subject matter
to comedic tone. They are also the brand and must carry that burden. The host can attract and repel guests,
negotiate in kind for their program and, in many cases,
name a successor when they retire.
Timberg also gave advice on another important
aspect to morning show success. He said, A talkshow
must be experienced in the present tense, whether it
is broadcasted live or taped in front of an audience
earlier in the day. They should feel fresh, as if they
are happening in the moment, even if the show is a
10-year-old rerun. These are important elements to
incorporate to create any successful show.

Successful Morning Shows

Show Formats

Some of the most popular morning shows on

the air are Good Morning America, The Today Show,
This Morning, Morning Joe and New Day (Stetler,
2013). Good Morning America (GMA), at its number
one spot among successful morning shows has over
5.3 million viewers on an average week day, which is
700,000 more than second-placed Today Show (Stetler,
2013). Much of GMAs success can be attributed to the
content they have on their show. In the last few years,
GMA has become more entertaining with its stories,
ranging from serious news stories and sensational
court cases to celebrities and current trends. While
GMAs rivals dismiss the show as too tabloid-oriented,
ABC defends GMAs coverage as a reflection of what
viewers want to see when they wake up. People want
to hear stories about celebrities, hard news, tabloid
news, human interest stories, and activities; they want
the show to have good hosts, random funny things,
intriguing subjects and good storytelling.
Other major elements that contribute to the
success of these morning shows are the morning hosts

Good Morning America

ABCs Good Morning America has two hosts,
one news anchor, one lifestyle anchor and one weather
anchor. They themselves come from various backgrounds as well. For example, one of the hosts Robin
Roberts is 53 and she studied communications, had
breast cancer and publicly declared she is a lesbian. The
number and personalities of anchors play key roles in
the set up and execution of each morning, as does the
order, length and type segments that the show features.
The following is an outline of a typical GMA schedule:
00:00 - 01:05 - Breaking news
01:05 - 07:10 - Other news
07:10 - 08:20 - Weather
08:20 - 10:45 - Over the shoulder graphics of news
and voice over video
10:45 - 12:49 - News with correspondent in
Washington
12:49 - 15:00 - More news
15:00 - 17:28 - Other news
Commercial break

17:28 - 31:45 - News

31:55 - 32:18 - Traffic update
32:18 - 33:36 - News
Commercial break
33:36 - 36:52 - Pop news
36:52 - 39:15 News
39:15 - 47:29 Dancing Cast Revealed
Commercial break
47:29 - 54:43 Dancing Cast Revealed
54:43 - 56:47 News on Oscar
56:47 - Wrap Up
Total Running Time: 01:04:50

NBC Today
NBC Today is similar to GMA. It has a 2 main
hosts, Matt Lauer who is 56 years old and Savannah
Guthrie who is 42 years old. Today also has a weather
anchor, a news anchor, and a social media reporter.
The following is typical outline for Today:
Breaking news, 3 minutes
Breaking news follow up, 3 minutes
Interviews with specialists possibly done
standing up
Developing news, 5 minutes
Weather, 2 minutes
Short commercial break
World news, special interest, 3 minutes
Orangeroom (social media reporting), 2 minutes
Live tweeting
Long commercial break
Developing news, 4 minutes
Interview, 8 minutes
Pre-recorded, done in interviewees home
Short commercial break
Orangeroom, 1 minute
Developing news, 4 minutes
OrangeRoom, 1 minute
Whats Trending - 4 minutes
Celebrity interview, 4 minutes
Everyone sitting on the same couch
Interview (continuing from earlier interview), 5
minutes
Technology, 3 minutes
OrangeRoom, 1 minute
Commercial break
Backstage with viewers, 3 minutes
Music, live performance and interview, 5 minutes
Total run time: 88 minutes
In NBCs Today show, about every half hour

the anchors and other hosts would switch from sitting

around a high table to sitting on a couch. The color scheme of the set was orange and blue. The most
viewed clips from the show are news interviews, not
celebrity interviews, and in most cases you cant watch
the entire show online No news was repeated except
for the weather.
Late Night Show
Late night shows are distinct from the their
morning show counterparts, but similar principles
and formatting apply to late night shows as they do for
morning shows. One major advantage that late night
shows have over morning shows is their shareability
on social media and how they draw people to re-watch
segments of the show online. This is due in part to
their unique content and format. Jay Lenos Late night
show is one of the most successful late night shows,
and the following is an outline of a typical show:
Announcer talks about opening credits
The first part is a 10 minute monologue from Leno,
talks about current events with comedy mixed in
Example: jokes based upon the facts of current
government blunders
Second part is a comedy sketch
This can be extremely varied, often its comedy
involving spoofs on current events and popular
figures
Third part and fourth parts are an interview with a
main guest
Interviews can be extremely varied, but they are
often with celebrities, political figures, actors and
musicians
Fifth part is an interview with a second guest
Guests also are varied
The last segment is usually a musical performance,
but sometimes a comedian performs
Various bands and singers performed
Park City TV is a licensed TV station founded

Park City TV
in 1987 that has developed a large and loyal audience. Park City TV broadcasts throughout Summit
County to Evanston/Cokeville WY, as well as along
the Wasatch Front in cities such as Payson, Provo,
Salt Lake City, Ogden, Logan, Tooele and Grantsville.
The total coverage for Park City TV gives the network
approximately one million viewers. The basis of this
network is a coverage of action sports, action snow
in particular. Its purpose is to aim for young people,
including the young at heart. Park City TV also has a
Facebook and a Twitter page to promote the station
and reach out to its viewers. Park City TV offers many
different services including the following:
Show hosts who live, work and play in the community
Show hosts tell people what theyve learned about
such as concerts, restaurants, and recreational
activities happening in Park City and along the
Wasatch Front

Entertainment news
Headlines of national news
Minute by minute schedule of events and what is happening on the show
Online streaming availability for all shows
Combining of LIVE local broadcasts that focus on local
news, local events, entertainment, LIVE music and interviews, weather, sports and a myriad of local features
Park Citys Emmy Award-winning TV station featuring
sports, US ski and snowboarding, music and more
On Twitter at Park City TV with 5,184 plus followers
Skyped athletes from Sochi during the Winter Olympic
Games of 2014
Live stream available 24 hours a day on any computer
or device with internet access
The station has an interactive map that shows where
they shoot or what the resort looks like
Short feature videos are available of PCTV that features
shoots in Park City as well as other locations around the
country

(Park City Television, n.d.)

Ideas for nightly dinner segments

Mountain Morning Show Target Audiences

Mountain Morning Show

In the Mountain Morning Show, the hosts go
to the community and then tell people about restaurants, recreational activities, and concerts happening
in Park City and along the Wasatch Front. They show
weather conditions every 10 minutes and guests from
the community come to the set to inform about events,
fundraisers, and activities in the area. They also feature
bands and on the weekends the hosts go to farmers
markets, museums and other places outside the studio.
Other key elements in the Mountain Morning Show:

10

Whats going on segment with up-to-date happenings for adults and kids
Interactive platform where viewers can email in/
call to pitch different story ideas and also to provide feedback about the content of the show

Focus on live local broadcasts that include local

news, events, entertainment, live music and interviews, weather, sports and other local features
Focus on encompassing the adventure that can be
experienced living in Utah
Focus on promoting an active lifestyle

Park City TV wants the Mountain Morning

Show to be the TV show watched in the morning
before people go to work, hit the slopes or do anything
else fun in Utah. Park City TV currently has sponsorship connections with the Sundance Institute, Outside
Television, Ski Utah, Kimball Art Center, Black Tie and
many more to aide them in their quest to be the best
morning show in Utah.

Park City Television wants to revamp the

Mountain Morning show in large part so it can reach
three key target audiences: Millennials, Park City/Utah
locals, and the national and international audience that
would watch Park City TV channels for various reasons. The following sections give a brief description of
each audience.
Millennials
Traditional broadcasting methods are becoming less effective as online streaming services are
becoming more and more common. The Millennial
generation in particular are watching less traditional broadcast media and turning more towards new,
modern forms of online media. A research project
performed by the New York Times revealed that of
the people surveyed 34% of Millennials (18-34) watch
mostly online video or no broadcast TV, compared
to 20% of Generation X (35-49) participants and 10%
of participants from the Baby-Boomer (50+) generation. The research clearly reveals a large difference in
the ways that different generations consume media.
Although online video streaming is becoming more
common each day, according to a Nielsen survey
traditional broadcast media is still the main source of

media consumption in the United States. The survey

revealed that in the last quarter of 2013 18-24-yearolds watched nearly 21-and-a-half hours of traditional
TV per week compared to two hours of video on the
Internet or a mobile phone. While more people are
turning to online streaming services traditional TV
consumption still isnt giving in to the advent of online
video (Recode, 2014).
Information for reaching Millennials:

Digital marketing is very important, but traditional

marketing and promotions are also effective
Digital content must be authentic and interesting,
shareable
Most likely age group to say they like to do unconventional things, but they also need others
approval
34 percent spend 10 or more hours a week on a
computer at home.
Most likely age group to use cellphones and laptops
to access the internet
27 percent watch TV online
18- to 24-year-olds are far less likely to use TV as
their main source of entertainment than any other
age group.

11

Local Park City/Utah Residents

Park City Television and the Mountain Morning Show appeal mainly to people living in the local Utah community, in particular to those who are
involved in outdoor recreational activities. There are
almost 3 million people living in Utah, the majority of
which are white, but there are is also a large Hispanic
demographic in Utah. One of Utahs biggest contributors to its economy is tourism. Utah has an abundance
of national parks, ski resorts, lakes, rivers and other
features that make it a prime location for outdoor recreation, and so people from all over the country come
to Utah to participate in these outdoors activities. But
that means there equally as many opportunities for
Utahns to take advantage of. Many people who live
in Utah participate in outdoor recreational activities.
And in particular because Utah is known for a place
where many families come or stay to raise their kids,
family activities and events that take place in Utah are
especially appealing to locals. The Mountain Morning
show is capable of taking better advantage of the many
outdoor activities and events that are family friendly, and this can be realized by having the Mountain
Morning show feature more of these family friendly
outdoor recreational activities (Utah, 2013).
National/International Audience
Currently, Park City Television is broadcast
mainly to people living in Utah and surrounding Park
City. It relays information that is relevant to the people
living in these areas, and it caters to the self interest of
these people. In order for Park City Television to reach
more of a broader scale in the United States, they need
to come up with information that is relevant to more
than just the people who are living in Utah. They need
to see some sort of value that they can connect with
and use in their daily lives. This could consist of ideas
such as reporting news that is more on a national scale
of impact as well as incorporating guests and segments
from all over the country. On an international scale,
many people tune in to keep up with their favorite
athletes or the live action that is involved with the
news coverage. By incorporating this action and the
famous athletes that these people love, it may be a
great opportunity to grow and connect more with an
international audience (Park City TV, 2014).

12

13

Secondary Research and Recommendations

Ideas for Segments/Content
Run time: 88 minutes of programming, 32 minutes
of commercials
All different types of sports news
How to segments
e.g. Show how to rock climb on set by bringing in
rock climbers with all their gear and with a rock
climbing wall
e.g. Demonstrate survival skills needed for being
stranded in the mountains
Features of Sports Repair places
Highlights of local businesses
Cooking and Food segments
Include bringing in a chef from local restaurants to
cook dishes
Weather updates:
Have ticker across the bottom or on the side that
features weather updates, in particular the snow
segments
Feature shorter segments that can be easily shared
on social media
Interviews with outdoors experts and athletes
Videos of Extreme/Crazy activities that are related
to the show
Sports and outdoor gear/product reviews
More segments on the outdoor set
Comedy Skits
E.g. Similar to skits featured on Saturday Night
Live
Capitalize on Big Events
Sundance
Olympics
World ski/snowboard championships
X games
More onsite interviews with famous celebrities
Every half hours switch settings
e.g. Good Morning America switches every half
hour
Segments that feature events and activities associated with different seasons of the year
Art Feature that goes once a week or every other
week
e.g. Have a local painter come in to feature and tell
about their art

14

Hosts:
Hosts make or break your show
Have more hosts on the show at once, so they can
interact and build more chemistry (similar to the
Good Morning America) more of an ensemble
Have more energetic, funny hosts
Have them wear more light colors, or brighter
shades of colors (colors that wake you up)
Set Design:
Bright colors and decorations
Have theme colors for the show that could change
depending on whats being featured that day on the
show
Create a more modern look
e.g. Have a sleek, reflective and cleaning-looking
metal for furniture material
e.g. Have furniture with more rich, vibrant colors
Have a change in sets during the show, move to
different rooms
If they want to keep the wood, do a much lighter
colored wood
Make it more modern looking
Bright lights, bright settings, get rid of panels on
the window
Get rid of the large name bar on screen or make it
skinnier and go across only half the screen
Have an area for cooking
Install much bigger windows
Possibly have changing artwork for different times
and seasons
Always have at least one segment of the show off
set at another location; usually will be pre-recorded
Commercials:
More frequent and shorter commercial breaks
Potential Commercials:
local hotels and lodges available
local places to eat
local shops
local outdoors equipment gear
Park City TV and things associated with it

15

Focus
Group
Overview

As we interviewed dozens of people about the shows they watched and how
they interact with the media they consume, we gained a lot of insight. The key public
we were interested in was the young at heart, those who enjoyed creative, fun, adventurous, or outdoors activities who would be inclined to watch a PCTV show. This
demographic covers a majority of Millennials, so by discovering what media they
consume and how they interact with it, we were able to put together a sketch of what
a perfect show might look like. We held two focus groups of 8 people ranging the ages
from 19 to 36. We also interviewed a sample of individuals on the streets of Park City.
The following are questions and answers that we received from our research.

16

17

Interview Results

biggest talk show host mentioned because of humor

was Ellen Degeneres. One female explained how every
show is different even though it was the same format.
During the focus group we discovered that Mil- It is also important to mention that while this public is
lennials usually chose to watch television on demand. watching television they are usually multitasking. They,
What they chose to watch were shows like Sherlock or Dont like to sit and just watch for hours, male, 22.
Big Bang Theory. They would sit down and watch the
entire episode. However, when it came to other shows, Why do you not watch morning
news, and morning shows, they predominately watched shows?
or streamed them online. They would prefer to watch The biggest reason why the focus group participants
important clips rather than watching an entire show. didnt sit down and watch morning shows is predomiAs one male, 31, explained, I dont watch much TV, nantly because of their schedules. By the time they wake
but if I watch anything, its going to be on my comput- up it is time to leave for work, school, or other appointer through download or streaming through YouTube. ments. They explained, Segments are great because
they summarize the important information and take out
the fluff. If they do sit down to watch television, it is in
Do you watch late night shows?
the evening or afternoon. Another big reason they didnt
Morning Shows?
watch morning shows was because friends and family
The biggest thing both focus group participants did not watch them. As one female explained, I watch
enjoyed about late night and morning shows was the stuff other people think is good; it goes through the
humor. This public wants to be entertained and humor grapevine. We watch more in clips than full episodes.
creates the fun in life, as one female explained. The

What type of TV shows do you

watch?

18

What time would you watch a

morning show?

Female, 21. All of the focus groups members agreed

that they preferred one or two hosts instead of a panel.

Most of our participants prefer night shows

but others the others said they prefer the range of When do you interact on a show?
8:00-10:00 am. Most like watching TV when (they Most of the focus group said they didnt really repost
are) eating breakfast or engaging in something. Many tweets but if there was a cool or amusing video that
others simply said, I only have time in the summer became available they would send it to their friends.
to watch TV. Others said Weekends for me if its on
TV. If it is a podcast or on the radio, during the week. Other Important suggestions

Take advantage of extreme sports. Millennials

want
to
see the pro snowboarders or a great ski docuWhat draws you into a show?
mentary.
What sells you?

This group also enjoyed top ten moments,

The biggest thing, mentioned as very import- whether it be wipeouts or runs
ant, in the focus group was the lineup and hosts. This
The set on a morning show should be light begroup considered Ellen to be funny and exciting, Jim- cause it needs to wake you up, You have to be funny...
my Fallon as up and coming and David Letterman to and wake people up! -Female, 19
be 90s style. Both of the groups mentioned the touch-
Let them know about upcoming events
ing stories that draw you in. One female, 19, explained, during the show. Mornings are for future
Its all about the lineup...when Oprah has big episodes...
Have lots of shots outside because Im already
or when Ellen has a touching story Ill watch the whole inside. Id rather at least have a few shots of outside,
episode because you have to to get the entire story. because if its just in a cabin I can be inside if I want to.
Most of the group agreed that when it came to shows, - Male, 23
The most exciting parts always happen in the last half.
One thing they did in my high school was
doing crazy locations for their high school news show...
One time they did it rock climbing just chilling on the
Commercials? How long is it ok for side of a wall. If you did that in Park City...in a hot tub
or on top of the outlets, just bizarre locations would be
them?
The overwhelming response for commer- cool. - Male, 24
Most people in the group didnt like the scrollcials was the shorter the better. However, when asked
ing
subscript
running across the bottom of their
whether they would prefer fewer long commercial breaks or lots of short 30 second bursts they said screens. It annoyed them because they would come
they prefer long commercials because I can get up in the middle of a sentence and wouldnt be able to
and do things. Both groups also suggested, Com- understand it.
mercials need to be evenly spaced instead of more at
the end. I start to lose interest when that happens.

Hosts

When asked about the hosts on talk shows, most

said that the hosts were very important and the way
they engaged the audience was essential. Many people watch morning shows for the host. This participant
continued with his reasoning, saying, Magic shows are
watched for the performance. Some of the group disagreed and said a morning show was heavily based on,
How well the material is presented, not necessarily who
is presenting. If you have a host you dont like, you
change the channel when they come back [on screen],

Conclusion

After reviewing the information, we learned that

Millennials responded well to humor, short segments,
streaming and sharing video, and cheerful studios in
their morning shows. The most mentioned show that
was enjoyed by almost all our participants was Ellen,
a show that exemplified a bright studio, funny clips,
important stories, with a host that was enjoyable to
watch. While most did not watch early morning shows,
their insight into what makes a show appealing makes
it easier to fabricate a show that would be enjoyed by
the young at heart.

19

Survey
Findings
Overview
We surveyed 312 individuals
who live in the Park City, Salt Lake and
Provo areas. The survey was initially
distributed on Main Street in downtown
Park City and was then posted on the
Park City TV website and was also distributed on social media through Facebook.
Four percent of those surveyed
said they live in Park City proper. Work
status varies with 25 percent who said
they work full-time while 58 percent
said they work part-time. We found that
40 percent of these people are married
and that 68 percent of these people are
between the ages of 18 to 24 years old. A
reported 14 percent have children living
with them at home.

We asked respondents to note the

elements that would exist in their ideal
morning show in an open-response format. After an analysis of all 312 responses, we identified six recurring themes
throughout. The identified themes are as
follows, with supporting quotes:

1. Humor
2. Soft News
3. Social Media
4. Main Street Events & Nightlife
5. Cooking/recipes/diets
6. Feel of Morning Show

20

21

Humor

Soft News

Respondents reported that in the morning they

are looking for entertaining material that helps them
wake up and start their day right. Many said they are
looking for a television program that is light-hearted
and gets them excited to take on the world. In multiple responses, people mentioned they want a morning
show with a similar feel to The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
They are looking for entertainment in the morning
that is not too intense or heavy with news and material but rather filled with stories and TV hosts that are
able to create an entertaining environment that makes
people laugh Many indicated that clean humor was
important to them.

Soft News

Suggestions:

Park City TV should consider the important

role that humor plays in the retention of its viewers.
Some respondents did note that they feel the show is
bland and would prefer hosts who are funny and who
can create an upbeat atmosphere with witty quips. We
suggest reporting on news stories that are either funny
or bizarre that entertain and make people laugh. We
suggest a more succinct mix between reporting news
while also focusing on how to incorporate humor into
the show. One step in this direction could be to bring
fun guests on the show who help liven PCTV.

Quotes:

I want to see funny, clean humor that is

clever and energizing.
A morning show should not focus on world
events and the sad things going on--pop culture is better for the morning. I want to see
something light-hearted that eases me into
the day.
I want a morning show filled filled with
stuff that would make me laugh and smile,
or just something really uplifting in general.
In the morning I dont want something
really complicated or intense. I just want to
watch something thats easy to follow, but
witty.
I want a morning show with humor, news,
strange news, commentary and fun guests
on the show.
I want to watch something like Ellen. It
should be semi-informative, but entertaining and funny--but not offensive.

One recurring theme we found was the fact

that people want to be informed while watching
morning shows, however, they do not watch to watch
a morning show that is too intense or heavy and are
rather looking for local news stories that are uplifting,
inspirational and motivating. They want to watch news
that helps them feel connected to the community and
helps them feel like they can go out and make a difference in the world. Some people mentioned that they
feel the news is filled with so much pain and tragedy
and they want to be informed about the positive things
that are happening in the world and about people who
are making a difference. They want to be filled with
hope in the world today.

Suggestions:

Many individuals who responded to what

elements would make up their perfect TV show included the fact that they are looking for news stories
and current events but really want those news stories
to be mostly uplifting and motivational content. These
viewers want to see material that is going to uplift and
inspire them including new recipes, healthy dieting
tips, gardening tips, good exercising routines, people
who are making a positive impact in the world, good
things happening in the community as well as other
motivational material. We suggest that Park City TV
uses the base mentality is this content uplifting and
inspiring to our viewers? as a base for building the
core content of this morning show.

Quotes:

I want to watch something that is educational, inspirational and occasionally funny.

I like humor and upbeat commentators.
I would like to watch something that gives
me a general briefing of world, national,
and even local news. Im extremely tired of
mainstream media outlets with a liberal

22

agenda approach to the news. I would like

to see more uplifting stories about families,
etc. Things that the majority, the true mainstream America, have in common. Not just
all of the divisive issues, or the issues that
truly belong to the minority.
I want to watch something that talks about
optimistic goals and how to achieve them.
I would also love to watch something with
workout programs that would inspire me.
I would love it if they would share uplifting
news stories, teach recipes, excercises, gardening tips - basically wholesome, uplifting
and educational - something that inspires
hope.
I want to see something that is uplifting
and energizing.
I want to see some positive news from the
world. Something to motivate you and get
you ready for the day!
I want a morning variety show: uplifting
news about good things people are doing
mixed with important news of the world
and around the country. I also want to
see weather reports as well as high-energy
breakfast and lunch recipes.
My perfect morning show would include
motivational content to get me excited to
take on the world.

23

Morning Show
Of the 300 individuals survey only 13 percent
watch morning shows. While the type of morning
show varied, the main morning shows that surveyors
watched were Good Morning America, The Today
Show and KSL 5. Thirty-three percent of surveyors
eat breakfast while watching morning shows and 25
percent watch while getting ready for the day. When
asked what surveyors found to be most important
when watching a morning show, 48 percent responded
wanting national and local news, 28 percent wanted
entertainment while 18 percent just wanting weather
updates.

Suggestions:

We recommend that information made available on Park City TV be made available on mobile devices. Many people who took the survey reported that
they want to access information from Park City TV on
their mobile devices including nightlife activity events,
special events information happening in Park City and
local news. Most people reported they do not want to
receive notifications through social media from Park

Main Street Events & Nightlife

City TV but prefer to seek out information on their
own.
Participants in the survey reported their favorite aspects of morning shows and what they enjoyed
seeing on Park City TV was local news. They are looking for uplifting and inspiring stories of people in the
community and want to enjoy clean humor and soft
news in the morning. They are especially interested
in receiving information about local night life of art
events and said their interest in Park City TV would
grow if there were less re-runs.

Some common themes:

The type of show they want (funny, soft

news, uplifting stories)
When they want to hear from PCTV (only
in mornings (if that), dont want social
media sites blown up, night events & events
occurring downtown)

Social Media
The world has shifted to an online platform
where people turn for news, entertainment, and social
connectedness. We asked individuals how they would
feel about following PCTV on social media accounts,
how often they would like to see posts, what kind of
posts they would like to see, and what platforms of
social media they would use to connect with PCTV on.

Quotes/Statistics

Recommendations:

The most important posting topics to our sample group were:

-Gear and product updates
-Memes/quotes
-Do it yourself projects
-Profiles of Olympic Athletes

We feel like the morning show needs to use

social media to gain recognition and attract attention
with the younger generations. Weekly posts could
be helpful to inform viewers of the nightlife, events,
athletes, and other subjects that viewers want to see.
(Described in earlier section) Posting should not be
excessive, but there needs to be a presence.

24

24% said they would never like to see posts

from PCTV
41% said they would prefer to see monthly
posts from PCTV

79% of those surveyed do not currently follow

PCTV on social media platforms

Park Citys Main Street is so popular because

of the hometown feel and amazing businesses. We
asked respondents what they wanted to hear about on
PCTVs morning show and many said they wanted the
show to be more connected to the happenings of the
city. Giving information about events on Main Street
and the nightlife in the surrounding area would make
the show informative and fun.

Recommendations:

People want to see whats going on close by

them. We suggest that PCTV focus on the nightlife
and local events of Park City to give the show a more
unified view. Local businesses would also respond well.
Blending entertainment and information about local
events would be a great addition to the show.

Quotes/Statistics:

Festival street interviews, meet people sur-

rounding night life or arts

A quick recap on news so that I can feel

connected to the world as I go off to work,
but always ending with something positive
so that I dont go to work depressed.
61 percent of the respondents ranked reporting on nightlife as very important
when asked, How important would it be to
see each of the following topics in Park City
T.V. social media posts?

Cooking/Recipes/Diets
Cooking shows are incredibly popular in the
US, because people love DIY activities, especially when
they involve food. Most morning shows involve some
sort of cooking segment to help wake people up in the
morning and get them on their feet. Many millennials
care about health and cooking shows can help people experiment and try healthy recipes and start their
morning right.

Quotes/Statistics:

Recommendations:

5 percent of respondents put other when responding to the question, Which of the following is the most important thing for you to find
in a morning show? Cooking was listed in the
other comments.

People want to see cooking segments while

watching a morning show. They want to see segments that involve cooking with in-season fruits and
vegetables or items that most people already have in
their fridge. For this segment it may be fun to have
kid-friendly dishes or guest cooks. It will be important
to have an overhead camera for this segment but it
would really be worth it.

Cooking, or comedic entertainment like

Ellen.
It would be funny, talk about make up, talk
about being a mom, and talk about fashion,
and talk about cooking.

Cooking more was emphasized in the question, What additional elements, if any, would
you like to see on Park City T.V.?
When asked, What are your favorite segments
of Park City T.V.? a few respondents said
cooking and sports segments.
25

Feel of Morning Show

The reason people do anything, like watch a
morning show, is by the way that activity makes them
feel. So we wanted to know what kind of morning
show feel respondents would want. We asked questions
about what they would like to see in a morning show
and which morning shows they already watch to give
us a better idea of the direction PCTVs morning show
should take.

Recommendations:

Like mentioned in our previous sections,

humor and soft news is what the people want to see.
What they dont want to see are the dry hosts that are
currently on PCTVs morning show. To get new or
revamp the current hosts would greatly help the PCTV
morning show. Also we would recommend some additional outdoor footage and modern sets and graphics.
People are more likely to watch a morning show if
they feel that the morning show is keeping up with the
times and current trends.

26

Quotes/Statistics

26% said they did not enjoy the hosts on Park

City T.V.
56% said they watch other morning shows instead of Park City T.V.
47% said they would watch Park City T.V. if
there were more outdoors footage.
When asked what additional elements respondents would like to see on Park City T.V. one
respondent said, Slicker Production ElementsBetter graphics for weather, lighting, and sets.

27

Survey
Findings
Visual Results

28

29

30

31

32

33

34

35

The Web and

Social media
Overview

36

The way we communicate is evolving every day. As communications evolves, the way
organizations and companies communicate with their consumers changes as well. Social media
is one of the newest ways that organizations communicate with consumers. Social media allows
organizations to hold a continual conversation with consumers through the sharing of information, photos, videos, and other media. As organizations utilize social media, they will be able to
stay in touch with their consumers and better understand how to satisfy their needs.
Park City Television already has social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. These accounts are used fairly frequently. There is an average of two or three posts on
each of these accounts every day. The content of these posts ranges from information about

37

events to pictures of everyday life in Park City. For the

most part, the posts are effective in communicating information to followers and allow Park City Television
to keep followers informed. The Twitter account is especially useful in getting direct feedback from followers and effective in giving them individual feedback.
Park City Television is effectively using its social media
accounts to stay connected to followers, but there are a
few recommendations that we feel would help improve
social media use in terms of the Mountain Morning
Show.
Park City Televisions social media strategy is

an effective means of keeping viewers engaged while

providing an online forum where anyone can interact
with the station. The majority of individuals visiting
PCTVs social media are interested in the local area
around Park City, UT, and want to stay informed about
the latest conditions and news in the area. Keeping
social media updated and current is essential to the
public perception of Park City Television. Visitors who
are able to find information quickly and easily will be
more likely to return to the site more than one time.
This traffic increases the stations visibility and is an
important part of individuals perceptions.

Social Media Optimization

PCTVs current social media posting frequency
is adequate, although survey respondents indicated
that they would ideally only like to see one post per
day on Facebook. Currently, PCTVs Facebook page
features multiple posts per day, which some viewers
consider excessive. If viewers do not find all of the
content posted as relevant to them, then they will be
inclined to unfollow, block or hide future posts from
PCTV. Content posted on Facebook needs to be
engaging and interesting, while not exceeding a reasonable limit for the number of posts each day. Most
viewers responded that they would like to see photos
and videos of relevant events, celebrities and local content from PCTV. Followers utilize PCTV as an entertainment outlet and not typically a means of obtaining
news or other information. Because of this, content
should be focused on entertaining and providing
unique content for viewers to share with their friends
online. Many respondents requested more information
about local events in Park City, which is not available
in the larger media outlets. They also would like to see
interviews and pictures of athletes sponsored by PCTV.
Although much of this content is currently available on
Park City Television, there needs to be a more narrow
focus on local events.
Social media management tools would help to
ensure the consistency of messaging across all of Park
City Televisions social media channels. Hootsuite allows pre-timed messages to be posted during the peak
traffic times for each viewer demographic. Utilizing a
social media management would help to increase the
effectiveness of social media messaging and could help
to monitor the traffic based upon the type of post and

38

their morning show program, possibly featuring photo

submission contests or including live updates of road
and weather conditions in the Park City Area. If
viewers have opportunities to submit content that is
aired on the show, then they will be engaged in each

program and invite their friends to also tune in. This

creates a viral marketing effect that over time should
increase the number of viewers watching Park City
Television.

Website Performance
One of the primary areas Park City Television
needs to address is the performance of their website.
Currently, the web page takes too long to load and
performs sluggishly when compared to other similar
station websites. Visitors to the site do not want to
wait for long buffering periods and low quality performance. Increasing the server performance would help
to retain more visitors from the site who initially visited the web page. With this higher performance, PCTV
could also feature high-quality videos and high-resolution images, which are more likely to be shared and
reposted by viewers on their personal social media
networks. This improvement in server capability
would result in word-of-mouth advertising and ultimately would be much more effective than investing in
traditional advertising channels.
The following information provides recommendations for optimizing PCTVs website performance:

the kind of content.

Many of the individuals who responded to an
online survey indicated that they felt Park City Television had a strong social media presence. Many were
satisfied with the current content posted online, and
were generally aware of the Mountain Morning Show.
Viewer interaction during the morning show is important to increase viewership and allow live content
to be shared. However, because the morning show
is immediately after the live taping, this interaction
would be limited to the first taping. Several responses
requested on-screen weather information as well as
current news events and sports. On-screen giveaways
and opportunities to interact with the cast members
would increase the viewer interest during the PCTV
Morning Show. Dedicating five minutes or a portion
of the show to live viewer feedback would drive viewership as well as increase the engagement level of of
viewers watching at home or on mobile devices.
PCTV also needs to integrate Instagram into

Speed: Poor

Site speed is important for two main reasons.

First, your end-user experience--end-users are more
likely to return to website with snappy performance.
Second, SEO, site performance affects your ranking
with Google!
Issue:
No browser caching
Solution:
Install caching plugin
Issue:
Image dimensions not specified
Solution:
Specify dimensions in HTML or install plugin to do so
Issue:
Media heavy!
Solution:
Consider use of higher CPU, or VPS hosting

39

SEO: Reasonable

SEO stands for search engine optimization.

SEO is vital to obtaining a high enough ranking for applicable search terms to generating organic web traffic.
Right now, parkcity.tv has low traffic.
Issue:
Keyword consistency
Solution:
Make sure each indexed keyword is represented in
prevalent places in the site like the titles, <H1>, and
descriptions. See Graphic for keywords

Mobile Optimization: Poor

It is projected that by 2016, more than half of

all internet use will be done on handheld devices such
as tablets and smartphones. It is vital for your site to
perform well, and be easy to navigate on mobile devices.
Issue:
There is no mobile version of this site
Solution:
Create a mobile version!

40

Summary of Findings

Based upon the data collected from online

surveys and focus groups, weve determined that Park
City Television has a strong social media presence, but
needs to integrate these platforms more effectively to
engage viewers of the morning show program. Allowing viewers with opportunities to submit photos and
videos to be aired live during the show would increase
viewership and allow viewers and their friends to feel
a personal connection to the morning show program.
Viewer data also indicated that PCTV should limit
their Facebook messaging to one or two posts daily,
only providing interesting and sharable content that
is relevant to viewer demographics. Prize giveaways
and promotional offers would attract more followers
and allow Park City Television to increase their online
presence. Providing these opportunities would also
create brand loyalty and attract individuals to the
website on a more consistent basis. Finally, improving
the online server performance would help to increase
web site traffic and improve the online user experience.
Currently, visitors to PCTVs website experience slow
loading pages and excessive buffering, which deters
them from accessing and sharing content on their own
social media networks. Web performance needs to be
improved to allow streaming of high-definition content and a faster browsing experience. These changes,
if implemented, will make the most effective morning
show for Park City Television.

41

The Perfect
Morning Show

44 minutes total (x2 for second run)

15:00-18:00
18:00-20:00
20:00-24:00
24:00-25:30
25:30-26:00
26:00-30:00

Welcome back / lead with Fun section (e.g., cooking, pop culture, products)
Local weather & ski reports (Winter)
Interview with visitor (cooking segment, product overview, how-to, athlete, etc.)
Local activities and events coming up in Park City
Lead into content following commercial break
Commercial Break 2

Hosts:

30:00-30:30
30:30-35:00
35:00-37:00
37:00-40:30
40:30-41:00
41:00-45:00

Welcome back / lead in to next section, off-site (or simply outside)

Off-site feature with footage that gets out of the studio
Local weather & ski reports (Winter)
Pop culture / Highlight online or local videos of outdoor sports/stunts
Lead into content following commercial break
Commercial Break 3

45:00-45:30
45:30-47:00
47:00-49:00
49:00-50:00
50:00-54:00
54:00-55:00
55:00-56:00
56:00-60:00

Welcome back / lead in to next section

Submitted content to the show (photos, videos, etc.)
Local weather & ski reports (Winter)
Park City activities for later that day
Product/gear overview
Invitation for individuals to submit content to the show through social media
Signing off and preview of next show.
Commercial Break 4

Energetic, Funny
Wear bright colors
Interaction with social media (by sharing posts, videos, etc. on the air)

Atmosphere/Set:

Bright colors and decorations

Include outdoor segments (even pre-recorded) interspersed with studio content
Possibly change sets during show, for variety

Commercials:

16 minutes total (x2 for second run)

More frequent, shorter commercial breaks

42
Layout:

0:00-1:30
1:30-3:00
3:00-6:00
6:00-9:00
9:00-10:30
10:30-11:00
11:00-15:00

Introduction to show / Overview of days content

Local weather & ski reports (Winter)
Hosts interacting with viewers, popular events & pop culture (YouTube/Social feature)
Local Spotlight (Businesses, Destinations, Shopping, etc.)
Uplifting local/national news with a Park City Spin
Lead into content following commercial break
Commercial Break 1

43

Works Cited
About TODAY. (n.d.) The Today Show. Retrieved from http://www.today.com/id/29055142/ns/today/t/about-to
day/#.U1iVROZdWEw.
De Moras, L. (2014, March 12). Live And Well: Morning Shows Gain Ratings Ground Thanks To Stiff Competi
tion & Focus On Interactive Programming. Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved from http://www.deadline.
com/2014/03/morning-show-ratings-gains-today-good-morning-america-rivals/.
Guskin, E. (2010). Network: By The Numbers. The State of the News Media: An Annual Report on American
Journalism. Retrieved from http://stateofthemedia.org/2011/network-essay/data-page-5/.
Park City Television (About). (n.d.). Park City Television. Retrieved from http://parkcity.tv/about/. Stetler, B.
(2013, Sept 27). In Ratings War, G.M.A. Beats Today for Full Season. The New York Times. Retrieved
from http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/28/business/media/gma-beats-today-over-a-full-season.html.
Stetler, B. (2010, Aug 31). TV News for Early Risers (or Late-to-Bedders). The New YorkTimes. Retrieved from
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/01/business/media/01morning.html.
Stetler, B. (2013, April 18). Waking Up on the Wrong Side of the Ratings War. The New YorkTimes. Retrieved
from http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/21/magazine/who-can-save-the-today-show.html.
Taibi, C. (2014, Jan 28). More People Watching Local Morning Shows In 2013, Study Finds. Huffington Post.
Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/28/morning-shows-pew-research-center-view
ership-audience-local-tv_n_4680813.html.
Tennant, T. (n.d.) Talk Isnt Cheap: A Brief History of the Talk Show. About. Retrieved from
http://talkshows.about.com/od/morningshows/p/TalkIsntCheap.htm.
The Tonight Show With Jay Leno. (n.d.) TV.com. Retrieved from
http://www.tv.com/shows/the-tonight-show-with-jay-leno/.
Thomas, L. (2009, May 18). Top Five Outdoor TV Shows. Yahoo! Voices. Retrieved from
http://voices.yahoo.com/top-five-outdoor-tv-shows-3335682.html?cat=47.
Tucker, K. (2012, Jul 26). The Today Show, GMA, and CBS This Morning: Are these the
most complex dramas on network television? Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved from
http://watching-tv.ew.com/2012/07/26/the-today-show-good-morning-america-cbs-this-morning-robinroberts/
Utah. (2013). State of Utah Outdoor Recreation Vision. Utah. Retrieved April 22, 2014, from http://www.utah.
gov/governor/docs/OutdoorRecreationVision.pdf
Recode. (2014). Millennials Spend More Time Watching TV on Other Devices. Recode. Retrieved April 24,
2014, from http://recode.net/2014/03/26/teens-twentysomethings-spend-more-time-watching-tv-onother-screens/

44

45