News? WPIX moving into street-level studio on Flatbush side of Barclays Center, forming "strategic partnership"
The Barclays Center--the 900-pound gorilla of Brooklyn--is growing in clout.
Now it's locking up a TV station. So, in a mix of news and promotion, PIX11, Barclays Center announce multi-year strategic partnership, reported--er, marketed--WPIX this morning:
(It looks like WPIX is taking some Flatbush Avenue space–likely that previously occupied by Let’s Yo!–but there’s still empty retail space on Atlantic Avenue.)
My point: WPIX gets into dangerous territory when it forms marketing partnerships with entities it also has to cover journalistically. But it went there.
As noted in the TV excerpt above and more fully in the one at bottom, Yormark and Graziano were fully on board. "This building is about Brooklyn," Yormark declared, citing the look and the flavor, though a news outlet might have pointed out that it's owned 45% by a Russian oligarch, and that it's for sale.
Graziano talked about reporting live from Barclays, clearly focused on the entertainment/news value, not pesky questions of construction violations.
"What's impressed me most," Graziano said, "these guys are so loyal to the folks in Brooklyn" that ordinary arenagoers get the same experience as the those at courtside VIP seats. (I can assure you that's not the case. I've been to the nosebleed seats.)
It's not about the economics, Yormark said, but "about aligning with the right brands... We share the same values, with respect to community engagement... This partnership is truly about serving the community."
WPIX will be the only broadcast station--as opposed to cable outlets--with a studio and a bureau in Brooklyn.
At the end of the segment, Yormark gave Graziano an official Nets jersey.
Not news, but entertainment.
The follow-up
WPIX interviewed Fred Mangione, Chief Operation Officer of Barclays Center and the Brooklyn Nets, "about what an event like this one means to the Brooklyn community."
Now it's locking up a TV station. So, in a mix of news and promotion, PIX11, Barclays Center announce multi-year strategic partnership, reported--er, marketed--WPIX this morning:
The alliance was announced today by Rich Graziano, PIX11 President and General Manager, and Brett Yormark, Chief Executive Officer of the Brooklyn Nets and Barclays Center.As I commented, will WPIX now report on the difficulty the Barclays Center has had in renting street-level retail space?
As part of the collaboration, PIX11 will create a street-level, in-arena studio at Barclays Center looking onto Flatbush Avenue, which will serve as a Brooklyn-based hub for broadcasts.
The studio will be used for daily live shots in PIX11’s signature newscasts, as well as for special presentations around big concerts and shows, civic and political events, discussions, debates and community activities.
PIX11 will also partner with Brooklyn Nets Assist, the community outreach arm of the Nets organization, to amplify awareness of the team’s community activities.
During every Brooklyn Nets and New York Islanders game, Barclays Center will display PIX11’s marketing assets in “Street to Suite” signage, beginning with the Barclays Center’s signature Oculus outside the arena.
PIX11 will also be the presenting partner of BCTV – a custom in-arena and online video network featuring original content about the arena’s events and the Brooklyn community. BCTV programming appears on the venue’s 700 HDTVs prior to and following events, as well as online at BarclaysCenter.com.
(It looks like WPIX is taking some Flatbush Avenue space–likely that previously occupied by Let’s Yo!–but there’s still empty retail space on Atlantic Avenue.)
My point: WPIX gets into dangerous territory when it forms marketing partnerships with entities it also has to cover journalistically. But it went there.
As noted in the TV excerpt above and more fully in the one at bottom, Yormark and Graziano were fully on board. "This building is about Brooklyn," Yormark declared, citing the look and the flavor, though a news outlet might have pointed out that it's owned 45% by a Russian oligarch, and that it's for sale.
Graziano talked about reporting live from Barclays, clearly focused on the entertainment/news value, not pesky questions of construction violations.
"What's impressed me most," Graziano said, "these guys are so loyal to the folks in Brooklyn" that ordinary arenagoers get the same experience as the those at courtside VIP seats. (I can assure you that's not the case. I've been to the nosebleed seats.)
It's not about the economics, Yormark said, but "about aligning with the right brands... We share the same values, with respect to community engagement... This partnership is truly about serving the community."
WPIX will be the only broadcast station--as opposed to cable outlets--with a studio and a bureau in Brooklyn.
At the end of the segment, Yormark gave Graziano an official Nets jersey.
Not news, but entertainment.
The follow-up
WPIX interviewed Fred Mangione, Chief Operation Officer of Barclays Center and the Brooklyn Nets, "about what an event like this one means to the Brooklyn community."
"As noted in the TV excerpt above and more fully in the one at bottom, Yormark and Graziano were fully on board. "This building is about Brooklyn," Yormark declared, citing the look and the flavor, though a news outlet might have pointed out that it's owned 45% by a Russian oligarch, and that it's for sale."
ReplyDeleteReally? The melting pot of the world must be 100% American owned? Isn't the beauty of Brooklyn the many faces (including Russian) that make up our ethnic neighborhoods? So the fact that it's partly owned by Russians makes this no longer a Brooklyn entity? I can see that logic if this was Birmingham, Alabama, but Brooklyn? A place with a huge Russian community in a city as diverse as any in the nation? Do you not realize how petty you sound in all your posts? Here we are years later, the arena has become a huge success and all you can do it whine about it each and every day and then have the nerve to say that because an entity is owned by someone outside of New York that it is no longer New York. That IS New York, my friend. You have a lot to learn about this city, about Brooklyn and about capitalism.
Brave anonymous... no, need not be 100% American owned, but if you watched the interview you'd see how that didn't fit with Yormark's shtick.
DeleteThe arena's a huge success? Not to Forest City Enterprises, actually.