KTVZ has gotten themselves a new contenet management system and video serving system powered by the WorldNow folks, and has gotten themselves a new design.
It’s obviously got some kinks to work out, as it just went public this weekend, but feel free to share positive and negative comments here (as I do know that the folks there are going to be reading comments — or at least Barney will).
Comments
Ugh. Sorry Barney, but I hate it. I do not want to be forced to utilize video. I do not want a zillion video choices. I want news, weather and that’s it. If I wanted video, I’d click on it.
Oh well. 🙁
Um, I don’t like it. It’s long loading and kinda “messy” near the bottom with all the ads to the right (dual ad’s????? not enough revenue?)
I’m not sure yet if I like it or not. I don’t need all the video either. I’d rather read the stories. The site was also taking a really long time to load. I do like the drop down menus across the top.
Too much video, takes too long to load and looks like every other wanna-be news site… I’ll stick with Yahoo and Google news…
I guess they couldn’t have gone with one of the local shops to get there website fixed-up? I guess NY has better people for that huh? It really just proved to me that they really don’t care about Central Oregon…
I went there to post something on the community calendar, and can’t find how to do that. Very frustrating. I never watch the videos~~ more than my old computer & dsl can handle efficiently. Not crazy about the new format, but I’ll adapt, just as I must to everything in this foolish world that thinks new, flashier and bigger means better.
I agree with Yoleen… and besides, at work sometimes I just want to catch the latest headlines without scrolling thru a bunch of stuff.
Maybe they’ll have a non-techno-page for the rest of us. Though I doubt it. 🙂
Folks, I’ll try not to be too defensive and just answer questions.
The top of the page is text of local news, there are as many text stories of local news out front as there were before. The video is more prominent because folks couldn’t find it where it was hiding before. It doesn’t auto-start, it’s optional but it’s a lot easier to find/use.
Yoleen, click “21 and You” in the navigation link, the community calendar drop-down is there, organized by month, better than before (when it was one huge list.)
And for the bandwidth-challenged among us, try http://www.ktvz2go.com – it’s the other extreme, just the text, weather forecasts, etc., optimized for cell phones, etc.
It takes TWO F%$#ING CLICKS to read a story from the breaking news list. It’s also ugly, but that’s of secondary importance. The video setup seems to be improved, but that’s why I watch teevee.
It’s ONE click if it’s the top story showing in the “slide show” at present. One click on the right-side thumbnail-headline brings up the story on left side, with larger pic and summary, for you to decide whether you want to read more.
In other words, to quote a time-honored old tech joke: “It’s not a bug – it’s a feature!”
I agree with the “clutter” comment regarding the extra ads from Google. I wrote a post about the upgrade here: http://ikeeneye.wordpress.com/2007/05/21/bend-oregon-media-websites/
Thanks Barney… the ktvz2go works perfectly for me. If something sparks my interest, then I can go to the regular site to see pictures.
You just kept my readership! Appreciate it.
Glad to hear it, (no longer former) reader. We’ve still got a lot of work to do on the site, but if I can learn more about how this thing works and get even 1/3 of my loooong wish list to World Now dealt with, I’ll be a happy camper (and we’ll get more folks to visit;-)
I love the new design Barney! It’s refreshing to see that KTVZ is staying on the cutting edge. Despite the reviews, I think the work is phenomenal!
Thanks, Nathan. Gotta admit, some of the national ad slots are a bit big and busy for my liking (you can just imagine how many hours I get to spend a day seeing them;-) – but there’s a lot of fun content from World Now to stroll thru, for those interested in such things.
I’ve got to admit that I don’t like the design at all. It looks too fragmented and busy. I’m also disappointed that a local business wasn’t used for the re-design.
Maybe I’m old fashioned but for a clean, easy to use news website, the deign of the BBS site is hard to improve upon;
http://news.bbc.co.uk
We are not a locally owned station. That is no secret. (Try to find many in this country.) We’re part of a group of stations, and while the owners have enabled us to cover local news well, on-air and online, they also saw the business sense of having everyone on the same (World Now) content management platform.
Is it perfect? No. Are there tradeoffs? You betcha. Am I hoping and working hard make it the best site possible? Of course.
Thanks for the honest input.
I think the new site is ugly, dysfunctional and bloated. I
used to go to your site for news because the Bend
Bulletin’s site is so heinous and now because I don’t own a
TV, I am afraid I will never get to any local news at all.
“The top of the page is text of local news”
(Then why does it look like video?)
Not only does it look like video the whole thing screams
unprofessional. The color block of the video, errr, I mean
text box really makes me want to click away, right away.
Please drop the video looking screen (which isn’t even
video) on the left side of your site. Just put the plain
text news leads there please and let people READ the news.
Your design elements are poorly laid out. The whole site
is a mess.
This site makes no sense to me and I am highly disappointed.
I filled out your online survey, but there was no place
for comments, so I am glad you are reading posts here.
The old design was better.
Kate, I’m sorry you find oure site so dysfunctional. Our old site had a big headline, bigger photo and summary on the top story, with the headline of two others, rotating in a Flash “slide show.” The new one just realigns the setup, putting the four top stories to the right, with headline and a thumbnail. Clearly, the reverse white-on-blue setup bugs you. I just don’t see how it “screams unprofessional,” but you’re surely entitled to your opinion.
There are 14 (at last count) links to local text stories out front, all but one with a thumbnail. We SHOULD have more visuals – we’re television!
The site is not cast in stone. We’ll adjust it based on input, but we’re not going to change its fundamentals after just a week.
You don’t own a TV? Ow, that hurts. It’s your right. But this has just as much content as before, if not more. Have you tried http://www.ktvz2go.com or is that too stripped-down for your tastes?
No Website can be all things to all people. We’ll keep trying, and thanks for your honest, unvarnished comments.
Of course it is “my right” not to have a television in my house. It’s the best thing I could have done for my daughter. We now enjoy other things, like reading, art, playing outside and talking to one another and she is not bombarded with bad news and bad commercials anymore.
But that nonsense aside, I have to say that you are confusing your website visitors with that silly video-looking above-the-fold blue box on the left side of your site.
1. it still looks like video
2. it takes too long to load (why does a non-video news story have to load at all?)
3. if you see a news story you like on one of the 4 featured stories boxes and click on it, it doesn’t take you to the story itself, it just brings that story to the main box on the left and you have to click…again. And you have to click quickly before it changes. That is, if you know what to expect in the first place. It is my guess that many people will think that the link is broken to that story and move on.
I am not sure why you want to confuse your visitors and have them work so hard to get the news they are looking for.
Remember, while you are a television station, this is a website.
But hey, I see you are running analytics on your site, so you should be able to see for yourself if your bloated site is appealing to your vistors or not.
Best of luck.
I am working on the very issues of which you speak, and I appreciate your input and please, wish me luck in some tweaks I’m seeking to improve usability.
KTVZ.com is my main source for local news online
and I appreciate you taking comments on your
site.
Good luck!
OK folks, one-click headline-to-story functionality is restored for KTVZ.COM’s top stories. We’ll keep workin at it;-)