Local Onliner

Rupert Murdoch’s Newscorp. would seem to be a great contender for driving the local Internet. The Fox TV stations , in particular, have local reach across the U.S., and could theoretically anchor all manner of online and offline promotional and directional advertising. They could sell it, too.

Riding the fringes of any Fox efforts would be Newscorp.’s opportunistic assemblage of Internet sites. MySpace, for instance, is being positioned as a teenage Craig’s List, with city-by-city ads focused on wheels, guitar amps, and housing. Scout.com has a different kind of potential, and is currently seeking to sell local online advertising for its network of high school sports sites.

The present reality, however, is that Newscorp. barely registers in local – and the problem starts with its inability to lasso the TV stations, including both its affiliates and owned- and-operateds. This was really brought home last week, when Newscorp. announced that it would quell affiliate concerns that their local TV audience would be undermined by Fox’s direct sale of programs over the Internet.

The Fox stations are getting a direct piece of the action from Fox’s national advertising, and download fees. But in my opinion, they should have sought a cooperative deal instead. If Newscorp. offered a local-themed, Yellow Pages/search engine solution, for instance, the stations would conceivably be the direct beneficiary.

I’m not being more naïve than usual. I know from working with the networks that the logistics of getting the stations on the same page are never easy. Some are committed to vendors such as WorldNow; others are committed to Broadcast Interactive. Other stations simply don’t want to tie their long-term fortunes to a specific network. And vice-versa. Still, it seems like the opportunity is passing.

Fox is hardly alone in being unable to corral its stations. NBC, CBS and ABC have each failed to do the same. But every time Rupert Murdoch gives a speech about the importance of the Internet, I’m disappointed to see that Newscorp. continues to veer off into new areas that aren’t likely to ever leverage as well as local.