Local TV stations are creating social networking sites about local gas prices, political news, weather, dining and entertainment, TVNewsday reports. The vertically integrated, localized sites allow broadcasters to break free from the old school of thought that the Web is only for news by targeting niches and creating their own unique brand online, the Web site says. The success of the online verticals is hard to measure because they’re so new, the Web site notes.
—Vlada Gelman