Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/34797
Rebranding a local affiliate with sound When the ABC-TV affiliate in Chat- tanooga decided to rebrand its sound, they had to navigate the very common waters that most local TV affiliates do when changing their look and/or sound. They needed to retain their audience who had become used to a package used for the prior 13 years (a loooong time in TV music years) and attract new viewers as well. It was acknowledged that music in and of itself could not achieve this, however it plays an inte- gral part of their overall branding. Granted, many music packages are reminiscent of the era they By RANDY HART Creative Services Director Aircast Custom Music www.aircast.com were created in and for, with telltale sounds and instrumentation that frequently ring of “another time”. In this case, the package that was being replaced did indeed have that characteristic.Also, the station had the marketing slogan,“NewsChannel 9 Depend On Us,” which was to be incorporated into the new audio logo with an eight-note melody to emulate that slogan.Their music needs had drastically changed over the time they had aired their older package, so this was delivered to them with the logo and trail music in a modular fashion so they could easily adapt this to a variety of uses and medi- ums.This station continues as number one in their market — a tes- tament to the station management’s realization of the importance of sonic branding on a local level, and the production values employed by Aircast to achieve the goal of not alarming the veteran viewers but creating a new sound that would be appealing and interesting to a younger audience, too. I think it’s worth mentioning that in the case of a branding project like this, sonic branding is as much about the melody and treatment as it is about the sound. Different from say the original Intel logo, or the NBC chimes, I believe a good news music package has to have both a memorable audio logo, but also be able to adapt to different personalities and times of day. Generally, the morning theme will be upbeat and a little lighter in character than the afternoon or evening broadcasts. Sports themes are usually aggressive, but all still need to reflect a certain sanctity of a news broadcast. In the case of a package we’re currently working on for a Midwest affiliate, their weather theme is a very significant el- ement of their broadcast value and we went through a few different versions until it had the tempo and voicing they wanted it to have. In the case of the NewsChannel 9 package, instrumentation ran the gamut of a traditional rhythm section (guitar, keys, bass and drums) coupled with orchestral elements of strings and some brass; all with underlying sequencing to help move things along.The direc- tion from the station came in the initial discussions regarding their demographics; who they wanted to go after in their rebrand. www.postmagazine.com June 2011 • Post 25