Original video on kcci.com.

Matt Singer is CEO of Videolicious, a Knight Foundation investment through its venture capital initiative, the Knight Enterprise Fund. This is part two of five in a series exploring ways journalists are using Videolicious to enhance storytelling. Videolicious is available for iOS. READ THE COMPLETE SERIES

“Atlanta Journal-Constitution engages readers with Videolicious reports” by Matt Singer on Knight Blog, 12/22/14

“St. Louis Post-Dispatch uses Videolicious to help increase audience” by Matt Singer on Knight Blog, 12/15/14

“Videolicious expands storytelling at the Los Angeles Times” by Matt Singer on Knight Blog, 12/08/14

“KCCI reporter uses Videolicious to hep promote stories” by Matt Singer on Knight Blog, 12/01/14

“Videolicious helps add depth to local reports at the San Francisco Chronicle” by Matt Singer on Knight Blog, 11/25/14

In the fast-paced world of TV news, any number of technical challenges can arise as reporters produce video in the field and broadcast it from there. KCCI Digital Media Manager Jeremy Moser described a recent scenario in which, during coverage of a house fire, the station’s TV production truck developed technical issues. The reporter thought fast, and saved the day with video from his iPhone. Such challenges and solutions have led KCCI, based in Des Moines, Iowa, to embrace new ways to share breaking news stories—and to promote those stories to new audiences.

One example of a nimble approach to story promotion: For a report exploring why so many iconic bridges in downtown Des Moines have burned-out lighting systems, making them difficult to see at night, KCCI anchor-reporter Todd Magel created a quick teaser video on his iPhone. He then turned it into a fully edited story promotion, a “totally new” development that he’s since used on dozens of stories.

When creating videos, Magel advises journalists to “keep it simple,” but also to plan ahead. If he collects five supporting photographs for a 30-second promotional piece, he’ll visualize their progression in the final video to help him write the narration efficiently. And when shooting the bridge story, Magel made sure to film his introduction with him facing the sun to optimize lighting, and at an angle where one of the featured bridges would be highlighted.

KCCI staffers are excited about how much video they can produce with the new digital tools. Video enables the station’s audience to “get the news any time of the day,” says Moser.

“The sales department loves it,” too, says News Director David Busiek, as do advertisers. Busiek explains that video ads gets higher advertising rates, and that advertisers appreciate that video ads are often more likely to be viewed vs. display ads.  The station uses Videolicious on reporters’ iPhones to quickly create news packages and promotions. Increasingly sophisticated mobile device cameras make it possible to use iPhone-shot news video on TV, with no discernible drop in quality. Busiek praised a piece that KCCI anchor-reporter Cynthia Fodor created for the noon news using her iPhone and Videolicious:

“I defy anybody to tell the difference in video quality between the Videolicious video package and something shot on our high-end cameras and edited on Adobe,” Busiek says.

In the last year, the new technology has yielded “a lot more video views,” says Moser. “There’s an appetite out there for video content.”

The station has made a concerted effort to foster a culture of increased video creation, holding internal contests for the best mobile video report and for the team member who creates the most videos. With the growth of video so important, Moser tries “to give reporters as much positive feedback” as he can, and to feature videos prominently on KCCI.com, including on the station’s home page.