WTCI PBS Establishes Successful New Strategy Directives & a Vision for the Future
Industry: Non-profit Broadcasting Service
Location: Chattanooga, TN
Tactic: Strategic Planning
Results:
Established strategic directives with investment from the entire staff and strong support from the Board.
Created an action plan across the organization to meet operational goals.
Instituted clear KPIs and goals for the fiscal year.
About WTCI PBS
The Greater Chattanooga Public Television Corporation (WTCI) is a Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) affiliate. Since 1970, the station has provided local and national programming to a 60-mile radius covering sections of Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, and North Carolina. WTCI seeks to enrich the lives of its viewers through quality programs and services that educate, engage, and inspire a lifetime of learning and exploration. Through its unique programs, services, and emerging technology, WTCI public broadcasting works to be a trusted source for educational content, local stories, and balanced news, providing the region with opportunities to discover their world, broaden their horizons, and become active participants in shaping the future.
The Challenge
Historically, WTCI has been seen as the primary trusted source for educational content and access to news in the Tennessee Valley. However, their more traditional service model has struggled to retain relevance due to the pervasive use of streaming services. Audience numbers were dropping, and the strategies WTCI has used for years weren’t garnering the same results they used to.
The WTCI leadership team recognized that they needed to address this disruption to succeed amid change. Although they were aligned on their broader mission and values, the team wanted to uncover areas for more significant development and sustainability across the organization. How might they increase the capacity and potential of their team? How can they increase donor support for the station? Where can they become more technologically and digitally innovative? How can they engage their community in their efforts?
With these many questions, WTCI’s leaders approached Bridge Innovate for help to refresh their vision and strategic directives to determine their distinctive value in the marketplace.
The Solution
The greatest hurdle to overcome when implementing strategic change is getting people in the organization out of their existing patterns. “In order to get your organization to accept change, individuals have to first see what might be different,” shares Bridge Innovate CEO Jenny Whitener. “You must see why change is important and then form a vision for what could be different.”
To address this common hurdle, Bridge Innovate engaged the entire staff and leadership of WTCI in the first step of the project — a research and envisioning process. The team members — from the staff up to the board — divided into groups to gather research and envision possible solutions for four primary areas of WTCI’s future strategy: Community and Partnerships, Digital Transformation, PBS Synergy, and Development and Sustainability.
The Bridge Innovate team guided WTCI through the process, helping them to focus on internal and external industry trends with check-ins along the way. Research teams had a month to conduct research and summarize key findings. The research effort resulted in over 20 submissions across the team, leading to valuable insights that shaped the project's direction. For example, the “Digital Transformation” group brought up the following key ideas:
WTCI could upgrade its digital back-end through 5G Broadcast technology
WTCI should leverage AI without sacrificing transparency
WTCI should follow their audience across multiple platforms and channels for a more omnichannel customer experience
The daunting task of gaining buy-in from staff and the board became quickly exciting, and the entire team creatively envisioned a fresh future for WTCI.
Once WTCI gathered information, Bridge Innovate pulled from IDEO® Designing Strategy to guide the WTCI Leadership Team through creating a “Vision Story.” Using the insights identified through research, Bridge pushed the leadership team back to the drawing board multiple times to develop and align on a truly distinct vision. Then, Bridge Innovate followed the process with design thinking, helping WTCI define specific tactics for the organization to deliver upon its values and new vision. The process culminated with a final session at the Bridge Innovate Studio, wherein the WTCI Leadership Team anchored their strategic directives and produced a guided, responsible action plan moving forward.
“In order to get your organization to accept change, individuals have to first see what might be different. You must see why change is important and then form a vision for what could be different.”
The Results
With the help of Bridge, WTCI established a clear vision and strategy for the next 3-5 years, along with a list of initiatives to implement change within the organization. They came away with a strong understanding of their goals for the upcoming fiscal year—and a complete action plan with specific guidance on exactly what, why, and when they need to achieve them. The vision born from WTCI’s sessions with Bridge was based on their particular mission, helping the leadership see how they could maintain distinction in the marketplace and note why they existed in the community.
“The staff of Bridge Innovate propelled the WTCI ship through the water and into the port,” shared Bob Culkeen, president and CEO of WTCI. Because the executive director invited the board members into the research and strategic vision sessions, WTCI found alignment from the most senior roles to the staff. With board engagement throughout the strategy design process, the steps of buy-in and alignment were accomplished as part of the process. Today, with the help of Bridge Innovate, WTCI can confidently enter the new era of public broadcasting with a distinct and clear purpose, continuing to serve its community with innovative, reliable programming.
“The staff of Bridge Innovate propelled the WTCI ship through the water and into the port.”
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