Channel surfers won't find DoverNH.tv on any cable or dish service. They'll have to surf the Web to tune into this hyper-local station. DoverNH.tv, which provides Web-based television programming focused on Dover, is the brainchild of David Flood, president of EnSky Corporation, a full-service advertising firm in Dover.
There are not enough resources for local businesses to market locally. The concept was to provide local content to people in our geographical area, says Flood, who bills DoverNH.tv as NH's first live and on-demand online TV channel.
Flood launched DoverNH.tv in August and posts new content a couple of times a week. Programs include business spotlights, chamber happenings, economic reports, a home and garden show, and a health and beauty show. He recently added a show profiling NH musicians and is developing a real estate show focused on high-end homes for sale.
The goal is we create a show and feature a local business. What the consumer watches is a local business in action and not necessarily an ad, Flood says. When Fiddlehead Farms Marketplace sponsored a segment of Seacoast Living Well, the host went through its store picking out ingredients for a salad being featured for that segment. I approach content as if it were going to be viewed on HGTV or the Travel Channel. It's a lot of hard work, Flood says of making it high quality.
When it comes to advertorials, or sponsored segments like Fiddlehead's, he aims to make them meaningful. Clients can license the edited footage to use on television or on their Web sites. Flood also promotes businesses participating in local business events, including the Fat Tuesday promotion that involved several downtown Dover restaurants, and filming 14 companies at the Seacoast Home Show that paid to be featured on DoverNH.tv. The segments are presented as shows, often with Flood as the host. It's important that businesses be able to tell people what they do. We want to make it entertaining. We want it to be engaging and fun, he says.
The sales model for Flood's new endeavor is a work in progress. We're still figuring out what people will pay for, Flood says. The shows can be viewed for free. Right now we're averaging 1,000 unique visitors a month. It goes up and down during the month depending on when we release videos, Flood says. We rely heavily on social media to get the word out. We're on Twitter and Facebook.
Flood is considering creating a similar Web channel for Portsmouth called, yes, PortsmouthNH.tv that would cover businesses and events from Hampton to Portsmouth. He hopes to launch PortsmouthNH.tv by the end of the year. We want to build our audience and business clients and see what's next, he says.
Current Issue - May 2024