This could be of interst to any station interested in making a little extra money this coming ski season. Mountain News Corporation is getting ready to "make tracks" on another record-breaking number of AM, FM, and new-media affiliates again this ski and snow season. Last year, the Mountain News Radio Network list nearly tripled in size from 2009; providing service for over 900 outlets, including ESPN, Yahoo, ABC News, and hundreds of radio affiliates nationwide in all market sizes. According to Mountain News's Global Director of Broadcast Operations, Mike Vincent (pictured) the secret ingredient to this massive growth has not necessarily been what's inside the report; rather, what ISN'T.
Vincent says "Unlike some other ski report providers, we don't put a sponsor or hidden commercial plug inside our reports, we let the stations sell the reports with THEIR sponsor and we include THAT sponsor inside the report. We'll customize the report with the station's call letters, their local ski areas, and their sponsor to make the reports something that a station or cluster can completely call their own. What's more, we don't charge for the reports, and there's no trade, barter, or rev-share either. This is something that we give away entirely FREE to any terrestrial radio station. Since we monetize from the ski industry and resorts, there's no reason to get anything from the stations-it's a totally free product".
Another widely used "secret weapon" in the Mountain News arsenal is the free ski web widget. Mountain News gives this widget free to any station or media outlet requiring an "on demand" source for ski information, and it easily attaches to any website. According to Vincent, "the widget is free, easy to use, and takes only a few minutes of programming time. This is a great solution to maximize traffic, and increase the opportunity to sell content to a sponsor".
For more information, contact Mike Vincent at Mountain News. (925) 895-1460, or email mvincent@mountainnews.com
