PBS Interactive: Strategies for Growth

PBS Interactive: Strategies for Growth

Kristin Calhoun, Director, Station Products & Innovation, PBS

Sara DeWitt, VP PBS KIDS Interactive, PBS

Five Trends in Digital Media

1. Social Media
a. Facebook traffic has  surpassed Google
b. Growing source of traffic for pbs.org
c. Nearly half a million fans on Facebook

2. Video
a. 466 million YouTube users globally


b. 42 million Hulu users
c. Opportunities for sponsorship and underwriting
d. The primary reason people go to pbs.org is to watch video
e. Pbs.org is 19th most popular web site for video in November.
f. PBSKIDS.org is the #1 kids site – 9.8 million unique viewers per month


3. Mobile – is outpacing desktop internet usage
a. Users spend $6.9 billion in mobile apps in 2010


4. Mobile – iPad is causing dramatic change


5. Mobile – More than half of cell phone users go to the internet on their phones daily


Strategic Goals
 Grow the audience
 Drive TV tune-in
 Create revenue opportunities for stations and PBS

8 PBS KIDS iphone apps have been launched – 500,000 apps have been downloaded

iPhone app just released - #1 app last week

   31% improvement in vocab acquisition when the Martha Speaks app is used

   PBS New Media Strategy
COVE – 77% adoption by PBS stations
- 200% growth in traffic since last year
- 2000 hours of nationally produced content, 3000 hours of locally produced content
- Has been integrated into Facebook pages
- All stations can view analytics for their programming on COVE

New PBS.org
 - Merlin powered
 - Median age for pbs.org is 34.2 as compared to 62 for broadcast
 - 15% traffic increase from pbs.org to stations since the relaunch.
 - On-boarding stations to Merlin
 - Document and share best practices
 - At least 80 stations on-boarded on

E. Seton L. McIlroy

Manager, Online Communications, Education & Outreach | PBS

slmcilroy@pbs.org | 703-739-5199