A Q&A with the Poconos about its TV network: Pocono Television Network

At Simpleview Summit 2024, we were joined by experts from the Pocono Mountains Visitors Bureau for a discussion about the Pocono Television Network (PTN) — a 365/24/7 television network now streaming on Roku, Amazon Fire TV, iOS, Apple TV, Android OS, Android TV, Tizen, Xbox and YouTube. 

Attendees learned how the convention and visitors bureau (CVB) started the network in 2017, how the team creates and utilizes content for the channel, and the plan for exciting additions in the near future.

If you missed it — this blog is for you. 

We sat down with Brian Bossuyt, Executive Vice President and CMO of Pocono Mountains Visitors Bureau, to review the Q&A from the session. 

Brian Bossuyt
Executive Vice President and CMO
Pocono Mountains Visitors Bureau

Q: Is your station a segment of the CVB or has the entire CVB shifted toward the TV station while utilizing its assets?

The station is a segment of our CVB and falls under PR and marketing.

Q: Are you using your digital viewership to target digital advertising?

Yes we are using digital viewership to target. We do this through a number of ways — digital IDs, location data collection, and analytics on the different platforms.

Q: Do you have a policy/process in place for dealing with something that might go wrong on your live segments?

We have someone monitoring the live broadcasts in our (control room) backend and they can cut the feed and go to regular programming if we need to switch for any reason.  

Q: How much did it cost to get started?

Our budget ranges from $500,000-$800,000 depending on staff, production, software, and partnerships.  

Q: How do you measure return on investment (ROI)?

ROI is measured through website traffic to PoconoTelevision.com, app downloads/watch time per month, Nielsen data for our over the air channel in Philly DMA, web traffic to our Vimeo home page, and YouTube channel growth per monthly show and segments.

Q: How much video content were you producing before starting the channel? Are you producing most of the content in-house?

We were producing about five to 10 hours of content on average a month prior to the channel. Now, we’re currently producing about 30-50 hours of content a month, and yes, 90% of our content is done in-house. We don’t work with any agencies; we are our own in-house marketing agency.

Q: Are you tracking partner benefits in CRM for the exposure you provide partners when they are highlighted on a segment?

Yes we are tracking partner benefits in Simpleview CRM. When doing any video, broadcast commercial, or broadcast integration — we track that in the CRM by member, date, and when the segments aired. This is added to the member benefit tab in the Extranet and an email is sent to the member letting them know when their segment will air. We also share the segment and any B-roll with the members for them to use.