More than one third of visitors to the Houston Chronicle''s Web site are from out of state, according to new data from Hitwise. As historically print-based news organizations embrace the Internet, it is becoming clear that customer acquisition and churn is heavily intertwined with other news and content sites, search engines and e-mail.
Texas public relations pros with exceptionally thick skin and the ability to put up with a boss who is his own worst enemy have a new job opening to consider. Dan Allen, communications director for House Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Sugar Land, announced this week that he will resign at the end of the month. Who can blame him?
Houston''s top retailers have agreed to participate in Arbitron’s upcoming trial of the portable people meter ratings service in the market. The four retailers include Best Buy, Gap, Gallery Furniture and Old Navy, which operate more than 50 store locations in Houston reaching 63 percent of the Adult Houston population in a year. They will encode the audio that plays in their stores using the unique PPM identification codes supplied by Arbitron.
Arbitron will soon be testing its "portable people meters" in Houston, hoping to prove that the new electronic devices do a better job of accurately recording media impressions than traditional diaries. The announcement comes as Clear Channel turns up the heat for better measurement of audience trends.
The premier professional interest section of the Public Relations Society of America is asking members to pay in order to hear Ketchum once again apologize to the industry for its ethical lapses in the Armstrong Williams affair. Oh, and they''ll also explain the policies that are necessary for other firms to avoid stumbling into the same mess. It''s like the Certified Public Accountants hosting a session with Jeff Skilling to explain how to comply with Sarbanes-Oxley.
Comments from the 58th World Newspaper Congress in Seoul, Korea are shining the light on how newspapers will survive in a world in which ever-increasing numbers of people are consuming their news online.
A new study of Texas small businesses bodes well for the state''s public relations pros. The Texas Small-Business ConditionsSM report from the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB)/Texas found that the outlook for Texas’ small-business economy is positive, with two thirds saying the business outlook is good in the next three months. Public relations spending typically correlates closely to business sentiment.
Cumulus Media''s Houston FM on 97.5 is going to be FM talk, perhaps with a news/talk skew. The group''s Lori Kendrick confirmed the format choice for 97.5, adding that “a majority” of the lineup will be local-market personalities. The only talk or news/talk stations in the market (with ratings) are on the AM band. Billboard Radio Monitor expects radio vet A.W. Pantoja to be part of the new station''s midday lineup. The Chicago Sun-Times reported recently that Pantoja had resigned after 10 months
Organizations are budgeting more and expecting more from their public relations personnel and agencies. According to the third annual Public Relations Generally Accepted Practices Study, 2004 was a “Bounce Back” year nationwideand I can report the same is true for the Houston and Dallas - Fort Worth public relations markets.
PR Opinions has released its 2005 PR Opinions Survey. The sample of 122 respondents offers a good glimpse into the attitudes and beliefs of the Web-savvy blog reading contintingent of the public relations community. The fact that he generated 100 percent more respondents this year than last is an illustration of the growing power of blogs.