WCPO is a pioneer in another way: branching out to multiple platforms.
9Online: Website Version 1.0
WCPO's first site went online in August 1996 and was the first Cincinnati entity to have updated news over the Internet.
It was quite sophisticated for its day. Features included an image of Doppler radar, updated every five minutes and Skycam9, a webcam that also appeared on TV.
The news producers were responsible for updloading scripts to the website after each show. They used custom software, written for only for WCPO, so they didn't have to know the ins and outs of HTML.
The scripts were all in upper case, and included a host of mistakes, but it was one of only two local online news sources for awhile, the Cincinnati Enquirer being the other online news source.
The website also featured advertising! Small flashing banner ads were created by the station's then-public affairs director. This was a big deal because back then, most people at the station were just getting their first work e-mail accounts!
CinciNow: Website Version 2.0
In 1998, WCPO relaunched the website and renamed it CinciNow.com.
CinciNow was one of the first fully-staffed local TV sites in the country with a whopping 11 staffers on the sales and content end. Liz Foreman, CinciNow's original site director, is the only original web staffer who remains to this day.
CinciNow's staff broke ground in many ways, including becoming the first (and still the only) Cincinnati station to streams and archive all of its newscasts online.
The site was the place for several industry firsts, including becoming the first local TV site in the country to offer daily web-only newscasts, hosted by 9News anchors.
The site also became a local hub, launching an extensive community site, which featured news and resources by neighborhood, and hosting partner content, including streaming audio of high school sporting events.
WCPO.com: Website Version 3.0
In 2002, WCPO changed its online brand back to WCPO.com, and scaled back site staffing to two full-timers and one part-timer.
Responsibility for ad sales shifted to WCPO's existing TV sales department.
The site also joined the Cincinnati.com at this time, as the sole TV station partner. Other media partners in Cincinnati.com include The Enquirer, The Post and CinWeekly.
Despite a smaller staff, the site continued to evolve, most notably, with extensive local breaking news coverage.
Some of the innovations that have taken place recently include providing information for mobile phones and iPods (mp3 players) and adding more 24-hour live streams, like the Weather Tracker channel online.
The next chapter of WCPO's online history will probably be about even more platforms, for wherever our users are, we want to be as well!
Last updated: 1/27/2006 12:05:05 PM by Liz Foreman
