History of WCCO-TV

WCCO-TV's Awards and Acknowledgements

History of Channel 4000

Channel 4000 Content

Compare and Contrast

Conclusion

History of WCCO-TV
WCCO was previously known as WRHM. In 1935, the station began and was co-owned by the Minnesota Tribune Company and the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Within a year, WRHM changed to WTCN. In 1949, WTCN obtained their broadcast license. At this time, WTCN was one of two television stations in the Twin Cities area. It wasn't until 1952 that WTCN was changed to WCCO-TV, as it is still known today. During the first week of operation, channel 4 presented about 35 hours of programming. Today, viewers have the opportunity to enjoy over 160 hours of programming. Because WCCO-TV is a CBS affiliate, 60-75% of their programming is produced and provided by CBS. The remaining airtime is filled with syndicated shows such as Oprah, Wheel of Fortune, and Touched by an Angel. (Jeanelle Welter, personal communication, January 30, 2002).

WCCO-TV's Awards and Acknowledgement
A lot of hard work has gone into WCCO in the past 65 years. Because of all of this hard work, WCCO has proved themselves to be a great television station. They have also won plenty of awards, which show off the hard work and dedication. Among others, WCCO has won the coveted du-Pont Columbia award, the Edward R. Murrow award, an Emmy, and the George Foster Peabody award. These awards can be attributed to the hard work of the Hometown Team and their investigative units. The I-Team, WCCO-TV's investigative team was created in 1980. It's first story won a National Emmy. As a result of the I-Team stories, new laws have been created, systems have been changed, and people's lives have been altered. Another creation of investigative journalism was Dimension. Dimension started in the fall of 1987 and distinguished WCCO from other local stations. It tackles a variety of issues and is constantly being redefined to bring the viewer the best possible information. (Jeanelle Welter, personal communication, January 30, 2002).

History of Channel 4000
In 1996, WCCO added another component to its already rapidly changing company. WCCO-TV launched its first official Web site on March 17, 1996. It was named Channel 4000. The goal of Channel 4000 was to "provide the most in depth and updated local news and info on the Internet for the Twin Cities." More than 200,000 people log on to Channel 4000 each month to receive the latest news, weather, sports, and more. Channel 4000 has also won some awards for its excellence in on-line news coverage. Some of these include awards from the National Press Club and the Society of Professional Journalists. In addition to news coverage, users can also find plenty of information on all of WCCO-TV's programming, on-air talent, and special events. (Jeanelle Welter personal communication, January 30, 2002).

Channel 4000 Content
The interesting thing about Channel 4000 is that this website has almost everything you could want in a website. The content includes so much more than news. It appears that the creators are looking for their audience to make channel4000.com their home page. In fact, at the bottom of the home screen, there is a button to click on to make channel4000.com your home page.
At the top of the page, there is everything you would find in a newspaper, and more. You have the ability to look for a job, buy or sell a car, check out travel options, go shopping, get tips for your home, and look up telephone numbers in the yellow pages. Along the left hand side of the screen, you have your basic broadcast information such as news, weather, sports, money, technology, entertainment, traffic, and health. However, you are also able to check out a live TV camera, get information of education around the area, or even look for a date!
The content down the center of the page includes the top stories, the latest headlines, sports, hotlines, towntalk, and buylines. One thing I noticed is that all of the stories that make the television broadcast are included on the website. However, there are additional stories included that didn't make the broadcast. Channel 4000 also has a stock quote section along the side of the page. The Dow, Nasdaq, and NYSE are updated very frequently but are delayed a minimum of 20 minutes. Channel4000.com seems to appeal to a wide variety of people because of the wide variety of content.
Channel 4000 doesn't seem to support any audio or video streaming. However, it does allow searches, contains a site map, and includes advertising. Compared to a lot of other TV station websites, I thought there was a minimal amount of advertising. Most of the advertisements were for WCCO. This actually could be something WCCO has done on purpose. Often times when I log on to a website, especially news, I feel bombarded with all types of advertisements. It is sometimes hard to distinguish what is an advertisement and what is a news- related link.

Compare and Contrast
Overall, the content in the Channel 4000 website compared very well to that of similar organizations locally. Channel 4000 seems to concentrate a lot on the actual news content. They don't seem to concentrate too much on the design and layout of the website. There isn't a lot of color and there are some sporadic placements of links. However, the news content of the website was very in-depth and thorough. Channel 4000 is updated frequently in order to keep their audience on top of what is going on.
Channel4000.com tends to focus quite a bit on local stories. Their main goal is to provide the people of the Twin Cities the latest information. They don't seem to be real concerned about appealing to a larger audience. A website such as msnbc.com has more information and up-to-the-minute news on the war on terror. Although channel4000.com did have a link to more national news, it is obviously not their main focus.
I was really surprised that Channel 4000 did not provide its audience with the opportunity to tune into WCCO Radio or a live Internet broadcast. A lot of stations these days have updated their websites with this new Web technology. Providing this technology would allow viewers to listen or watch a broadcast when a TV or radio was not on hand. It seems like it would be a smart thing for WCCO to consider.

Conclusion
Reviewing a company and website like WCCO allows me to realize that although most of these technologies were around when I was born, something had to be done to create them. WCCO and CBS have undergone many changes since they were brought about. Because of years of hard work and dedication, WCCO has become one of the most prestigious television stations in the area. It just goes to show how a little hard work can go a long way! Actually, a lot of hard work!

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