It's clear from calls all over the country that many radio and television stations are struggling with the web. Staffing is likely to be determined by commitment and which one of three basic models stations choose to follow. It Deferring to the network was a quick and easy way for many stations to get into the Internet business. Critics argue the network web sites are better at drawing users to the network than sending people to local content and local web sites. For You Internet Broadcasting Systems in Minneapolis runs 42 station partnerships.
Stations supply the brand name, access to content and space in their building.
IBS hires and trains four or five content people and four to five salespeople, builds the site, sells it and maintains it. IBS also supplies content-even some to run on the air. The only thing that's different between our network and the old networks is that when we sell things nationally, all of the national revenue goes back to the sites. This means hiring a company to set it up or assist the station in the process, supplying software, tech support and maybe hosting the server. WorldNow in New York City is one of the biggest of the group, with 130 non-exclusive client stations.