SYRACUSE -- For the better part of the past decade, 9WSYR.com has been NewsChannel 9's home on the web. But as of today, the ABC affiliate has a new address -- LocalSYR.com. Any attempts to reach the old site automatically redirect to the new site. We've heard through anonymous sources that the changes were handed down by channel 9's parent company, Nexstar Broadcasting. Anchor Dan Cummings offered a "video tour" of the site on-air today, and a separate page gives a written comparison between the new site and the old.
I'm surprised it took Nexstar this long. They do a lot of things well, but website branding isn't one of them. Here in Rochester, the web presence of WROC-TV is the ungainly rochesterhomepage.net, and you won't see very much WROC branding on it. On the web, Nexstar still seems to live in about 2002, when digital was going to be something completely different from the broadcast station, rather than being another arm of the same organism.
Could have been worse; you could have ended up with centralnewyorksbestwebsite.net or somesuch.
I did my best to bite my tongue in the story, but now I'll bite. I agree that Nexstar seems to miss the target when it comes to website design. When I first heard (quite awhile ago) that Nexstar was going to force channel 9 to change the website, I was afraid we'd see 9wsyr.com downgraded to a Syracuse version of RochesterHomepage.net or Utica's CNYHomepage.net. I'm glad that LocalSYR.com isn't quite as "ungainly," as you put it, but I still think it feels like something of a downgrade from 9wsyr.com. With the Times New Roman headlines, it almost feels like the site is still under construction, or maybe it's just a placeholder while my browser waits for a webfont that never quite finishes downloading. In addition to the new domain name falling within Nexstar's weird preference for eliminating channel numbers or call signs, I also have to question why they'd want a domain that's longer. Wouldn't you think a shorter domain name would be easier, especially for users on mobile devices? (On that note, I can confirm that the old, old domain, wixt.com, still redirects to the current site.)
At least Nexstar allowed WSYR to sneak in the little "Powered by NC9" logo next to the main LocalSYR logo -- considering the Rochester and Utica sites are devoid of any mention of a television station, not just in the logo, but anywhere on either site's homepage.
You can tell that WSYR has been working on this changeover for a while - it is the most complete Nexstar site I've seen.
I agree with Peter, the Times New Roman title text really detracts from the site, Arial worked(s) much better. Hopefully they can sneak that change back in.
Finally, why does Syracuse need another portal? We have syracuse.com and cnycentral.com. Barrington brought a portal to WSTM years ago and 9WSYR.com has still been the dominate website. I don't understand Nexstar's messing with success...