From Newspapers to Drones

For Hersam Acorn Newspapers chief executive officer Martin Hersam, it was time for a change. So for nine months, Hersam strategized and planned: how could he turn his traditional media company in Ridgefield, Conn. into a contemporary media powerhouse?

Martin V. Hersam, chief executive officer of HAN Network

“Our newspaper business was suffering like everyone else’s,” said Hersam. “So we wanted to plan out our future.” His newspapers include the Darien Times, New Canaan Advertiser and Trumbull Times.

When Hersam was planning the rebranding, he said they were looking for a differentiator. “Everyone’s got a website. What can we do to be different? Not just to be different, but different with a strategy.”

In August, his plan became a reality. Now called HAN Network, the newly rebranded company offers news and sports television and radio broadcasting, a native advertising arm, social media, mobile, newspapers, and their printing company Trumbull Printing.

After realizing many people involved with company had backgrounds or talent in TV broadcasting, the strategy was to focus on live sports broadcasting. It didn’t take long for the network to position itself into the broadcaster seat in tri-state area of Connecticut, Vermont and New York, something Hersam said “came at a pace (they) couldn’t imagine.”

HAN Network already has become the official broadcaster for The Fairfield County Interscholastic Athletic League for live local sports through 2018. While switching to a more broadcast based company can carry a hefty price tag, Hersam said the price for much of the technology is coming down.

However, Hersam said the most difficult part of rebranding for a company that once primarily offered newspapers and is now shooting videos with drones (ow.ly/S6IoN) and focusing on live broadcasting is “getting people to understand what you’re doing.”

“You have to tell the story,” he said. “It’s all hands on deck telling the news story.”

In order to do so, Hersam and his team spent 11 days in August on the road traveling to 17 local high schools interviewing nearly 400 student athletes and coaches. They produced 195 video interviews and garnered hours of view time and thousands of social media views.

Visiting the local high schools broadened the HAN Network’s demographics, bringing more awareness to the new broadcasters and showcased what the newly rebranded company’s can do.

“It was really exciting to see kids and families engaging with the brand,” Hersam said.

Moving forward, HAN Network plans to increase its daily live streaming video of news and lifestyle programming.

For more information, visit han.network.