TBD.com was a

hyperlocal Hyperlocal (also reckoned Hyper-local) is an adjective used to describe something as being "limited to a very small geographical area", and in particular, to anything " tremely or excessively local", in particular with regard to media (commu ...

news site An online newspaper (or electronic news or electronic news publication) is the online version of a newspaper, either as a stand-alone publication or as the online version of a printed periodical. Going online created more opportunities for newspa ...

focused on the

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

area. Launching on August 9, 2010, it was owned by the

Arlington Arlington most often refers to: *Arlington, Virginia **Arlington National Cemetery, a United States military cemetery *Arlington, Texas Arlington may also refer to: Places Australia *Arlington light rail station, on the Inner West Light Rail in S ...

-based

Allbritton Communications Allbritton Communications Company was an American media company based in Arlington, Virginia. It was the leading subsidiary of Perpetual Corporation, a private holding company owned by the family of company founder and former Riggs Bank presiden ...

as a locally focused companion to its other media properties in Washington, including

Politico ''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American political digital newspaper company founded by American banker and media executive Robert Allbritton in 2007. It covers politics and policy in the Unit ...

and

WJLA-TV WJLA-TV (channel 7) is a television station in Washington, D.C., affiliated with ABC. It is one of two flagship stations of Sinclair Broadcast Group (alongside dual Fox/MyNetworkTV affiliate WBFF hannel 45in Baltimore), and is also sister ...

. The site combined original reporting with that of independent blogs and contributions from WJLA's reporters and staff. Despite having growing readership, TBD suffered from poor profitability, which led to a series of staff cuts and a shift in focus after only 6 months in operation. TBD.com was shut down entirely in August 2012.

History

Plans for the site were first announced in October 2009. The site was intended to serve as the broadcaster's main news site for Washington D.C. area news, replacing the existing websites for

and its sister

cable channel Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with broa ...

NewsChannel 8. The official name of the new site, TBD.com, was unveiled on April 22, 2010. Site editor Erik Wemple had already used the name TBD in staff e-mails prior to the announcement, in this case alluding to the phrase "

To be determined To be announced (TBA) is a Placeholder name, placeholder term used very broadly in event planning to indicate that although something is scheduled or expected to happen, a particular aspect of it remains to be fixed or set. Other versions of the t ...

", but felt that the name would also fit the site's goal. TBD.com would use a non-traditional approach to local news inspired by its sister website

; Jim Brady stated that its format would "combine what makes the Web interesting and what makes TV such an effective medium." The site started with around 50 staff members, including about 20 reporters and seven members of a community engagement team, and would highlight major, area-wide news and micro, neighborhood-level information. It would feature real-time reporting on stories, featuring content curated from independent blogs, along with original reporting from the site's staff and contributions from WJLA-TV and NewsChannel 8 reporters. TBD.com officially launched on August 9, 2010, and replaced the websites for both WJLA-TV and NewsChannel 8. On the same day, NewsChannel 8 also re-launched itself as a television extension of the new site, known as TBD TV. TBD.com grew quickly, amassing 1.5 million unique viewers by January 2011. Major changes to the site's management were made as early as February 2011; WJLA's station manager Bill Lord took over control of TBD.com, and Saul Carlin was brought in to serve the new position of digital news director. Additionally, WJLA severed its ties to the website by bringing back its own website at WJLA.com, and TBD TV returned to its previous NewsChannel 8 branding. Erik Wemple stated that the changes were made to "more align the properties and to get more uniformity of management and direction," and to allow WJLA to return to having its own distinct online identity catered more to its television audience. No jobs were lost as part of the changes. While TBD.com's readership steadily increased after its launch, the site struggled to sell advertising; ad sales were handled by WJLA's sales staff, who were inexperienced in selling advertising on digital platforms. As a result, Allbritton announced on February 23, 2011, that it would be making major changes to TBD.com and eliminating all but 8 positions at the site. Existing TBD.com employees were required to re-apply for the 8 remaining positions at the site, while most of its former staff were reassigned to work on WJLA.com instead. Additionally, TBD would also change its scope to only cover arts and entertainment. TBD.com would eventually be discontinued in August 2012, with the TBD.com

domain name In the Internet, a domain name is a string that identifies a realm of administrative autonomy, authority, or control. Domain names are often used to identify services provided through the Internet, such as websites, email services, and more. ...

redirecting to the website of WJLA-TV. In 2014,

Sinclair Broadcast Group Sinclair, Inc., doing business as Sinclair Broadcast Group, is a publicly traded American telecommunications conglomerate that is controlled by the descendants of company founder Julian Sinclair Smith. Headquartered in the Baltimore suburb o ...

would acquire Allbritton's stations, including WJLA and News Channel 8; also part of the deal was the TBD.com domain, which Sinclair would apply in 2017 to the website of its

digital broadcast Digital broadcasting is the practice of using digital signals rather than analogue signals for broadcasting over radio frequency bands (radio broadcasting). Digital television broadcasting (especially satellite television) is widespread. Digital ...

network Network, networking and networked may refer to: Science and technology * Network theory, the study of graphs as a representation of relations between discrete objects * Network science, an academic field that studies complex networks Mathematics ...

TBD TBD may refer to: Arts and media * TBD (TV network), an American broadcast television network for millennials * TBD TV (now ''WJLA 24/7 News''), a local cable news channel for Washington, D.C. * TBD Records, an American record label * TBD.com ...

Staff

Jim Brady, a former executive editor of

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

's website, ran the site with editor Erik Wemple, former editor of the

Washington City Paper The ''Washington City Paper'' is a U.S. alternative weekly newspaper serving the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area since 1981. The ''City Paper'' is distributed on Thursdays; its average circulation in 2006 was 85,588. The paper's editorial ...

. Steve Buttry, named

Editor & Publisher ''Editor & Publisher'' (''E&P'') is an American monthly trade news magazine covering the news media industry. Published since 1901, ''Editor & Publisher'' is the self-described "bible of the newspaper industry," with offices in Hendersonville, ...

's 2010 Editor of the Year for his leadership in transforming a newsroom to adapt new technology and engage the community in deeper ways, was the site's director of community engagement. He led a team of community hosts and social media and mobile producers. Steve Chaggaris, formerly political director of CBS News, was the site's director of TV projects.

References

External links

TBD.com
(was redirecting t
WJLA.com
now redirects to a new TV network, TBD) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tbd TBD.com Publications established in 2010 Publications disestablished in 2012 Defunct websites 2010 establishments in Washington, D.C.