A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words
Monday, October 15, 2007 5:13 PM
METRO Transit Television (MTTV) debuted on our Web site this past February.
Using video clips to communicate with the public is not unique to METRO. Other agencies are using the same medium to get the message across.
Take, for example, Los Angeles. The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority features TV spots on its Web site that promote reasons why commuters ride Metro. "The goal of these commercials is to build ridership by highlighting the many benefits of taking Metro," states its Web site.
Using a more serious strategy, the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART) offers BART TV News on its Web site with clips that range from 28 seconds to 1.5 minutes under "news" and longer documentary-style videos under "features."
The shorter news clips seem more like a public service announcement while the longer ones are similar to a news story you'd see on a local TV station. No surprise, since the head of media and public affairs is former Bay Area NBC weekend anchor/reporter Linton Johnson.
"I want to tell a story," says Johnson, BART's chief spokesperson. "We want to be engaging, and we don't want to bore people. We want it to be brief and informative - don't waste our viewers' time."
Previous news clips include news-of-the-day alerts about a temporary elevator outage to segments with a longer shelf life, such as a tour for the visually impaired, why bikes are not permitted on the first rail car, and the transit information center.
Produced in-house with Cheryl Stalter, an Emmy Award-winning former news photographer/editor, the on-air talent includes former news producer Jim Allison and Bay Area TV personality Malou Nubla, who will soon launch her own TV show. She works by contract on an as-needed basis for BART TV News, in exchange for advertising her show to BART riders. BART posts five videos a week on its Web site.
"Malou is there to help raise our profile," says Johnson. 
One of the most popular ones among bloggers is the one on BART's 35th anniversary. A nine-minute feature, the piece offers a history of BART and includes wrap-up comments by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Here at METRO, we have two videos on our Web site, along with a 45-second spot that aired at movie theaters this past summer. One is a parody featuring Elliott Roberts, an anchor who asks commuters why they ride METRO. The other is a video on security, showing how our buses and trains are safe.
We started doing this in response to a survey that indicated people had misconceptions about METRO.
"It's a new and creative way to get people to learn about METRO and possibly discover what they might not know," says Rob Fritsche, senior copywriter/producer, who created the MTTV videos.
Unlike the newsier format of BART TV News, METRO has tried to tell our story with a humorous twist. "People are inundated with countless pieces of information every day," explains Fritsche. "By adding humor to the mix, we can help make this information memorable."
Expect to see more transit agencies using video on their Web sites.
"There are so many different Web sites out there with video on them," says Johnson. "Video does things that words can't. It creates emotion and allows you to see what you can't describe."
Eventually, Johnson says he would like to deliver news and information to customers when and where they want it - whether it's an iPod, a Blackberry, e-mail or cell phone.
At METRO, you can watch MTTV on our Web site or you can download a podcast.