In moments of urgency, local broadcast doesn’t just report the news—it becomes the connective tissue of a community. We were reminded of that in a powerful way following recent wildfires in Oklahoma, where KOTV Channel 6 played a critical role in informing and protecting residents.
Alexandria Miller, a local listener, shared her experience in a testimonial that says it all:
“Last Friday, I was traveling from Tulsa to Stillwater and just turned on my radio… you were doing live broadcasts about a fire in Manford and had storm chasers throughout the area reporting. I was so thankful… I would have not known about the fire in Stillwater if you had not been on the radio.”
That’s the kind of connection that only local broadcast delivers: real-time information, available anywhere, woven into people’s daily lives. KOTV didn’t just update the community—they activated it.
And that activation wasn’t limited to viewers and listeners. According to Lt. Governor Matt Pinnell, the news coverage on Channel 6 helped drive real-time response and coordination:
“It was wall-to-wall coverage… that really told a whole lot of folks in the Tulsa area, this is the real deal. A lot of firefighters came over from the Tulsa area, probably because of what they were watching on Channel Six.”
Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt reinforced this sentiment, highlighting how local broadcasters work in tandem with emergency systems to protect public safety:
“When the locals say, ‘Hey, we’re seeing smoke,’ and when our meteorologists are predicting things, we’re sending that directly out to people’s phones. But also, just to brag on Channel Six—one of the families I stopped and talked to said, ‘Channel Six said we’re watching that.’”
This is the power of local broadcast: fast, reliable, deeply trusted.
And that trust doesn’t stop at public safety. The 2024 Local Broadcast TV News Study by TVB and Dynata found that local broadcast TV news is the most trusted source of news across all platforms. For advertisers, that trust is contagious—brands that advertise in local environments see a 4X lift in brand trust and a 4X lift in purchase intent, as shown in Locality’s Local Lift report.
At Locality, we champion local because we see its value every single day. It’s not just news—it’s a public service, a lifeline, and yes, a uniquely powerful platform for brands.
So if you’re a marketer looking to reach people in the moments that matter, the path is clear: go where trust lives. Go local.
Watch the full KOTV testimonial here >> KOTV Video
