Griffin Media is a leading local media organization serving audiences throughout Oklahoma, including the state’s biggest markets in Tulsa and Oklahoma City. Home to trusted TV broadcasters like News 9 and News On 6, Griffin Media delivers essential local journalism to communities where timely information is critical.
Operating in the heart of the Midwest’s tornado corridor, Griffin Media’s digital platforms are relied upon for real-time weather reporting, live video and breaking news coverage. At the same time, local audiences turn to Griffin Media for passionate coverage of the Oklahoma City Thunder and college athletics, making video performance and engagement central to the business.
To support these demands and prepare for future growth, Griffin Media partnered with Brightspot to modernize its digital experience.
The flexibility has been huge — especially during severe weather. We can make changes quickly without everything grinding to a halt.
The challenge: Supporting high-stakes local journalism at scale
For years, Griffin Media operated on a custom, in-house content management system (CMS) that had proven reliable and stable.
“I was very proud of what we had built,” says Richard Cox, who leads digital initiatives at Griffin Media. “It ran almost flawlessly for years, so I wasn’t the person initially advocating for change.”
But as digital consumption accelerated, the organization began to feel the limits of a system that was difficult to evolve.
Rising expectations, growing complexity
Griffin Media’s editorial teams must respond instantly to:
- Tornado outbreaks and severe weather events
- Breaking local news
- Live sports moments that drive spikes in video consumption
Behind the scenes, however, workflows were increasingly constrained:
- Publishing enhancements often required technical intervention
- Editorial teams relied on a small group of CMS experts
- Modern capabilities like visual previews, flexible layouts and scalable integrations were difficult to support
Griffin Media’s leadership recognized the need for a CMS that could match the urgency and scale of Griffin’’s journalism — without slowing teams down.
The Brightspot solution for Griffin Media
Following a competitive RFP process, Brightspot stood out for its clear understanding of Griffin Media’s operational realities.
“What really impressed us was that Brightspot actually got it,” Cox explains. “They understood the gravity and complexity of migrating our content, our weather data and our integrations. Their approach matched the reality of what we were dealing with.”
Built for real-time weather and video
Brightspot delivered a flexible, scalable CMS that enabled Griffin Media to modernize key experiences without disrupting daily publishing.
Weather coverage — one of Griffin Media’s most critical responsibilities — benefited immediately:
- Cleaner, more modern forecast layouts
- Greater flexibility to update pages during severe weather
- Multimedia-rich weather pages that combine data, video and editorial context
Video workflows also improved, creating a stronger foundation for Griffin Media’s primary monetization channel.
“The flexibility has been huge,” Cox says. “If we need to make changes quickly — especially during severe weather — we can do that without everything grinding to a halt.”
Empowering editorial teams
A central goal of the Brightspot implementation was expanding content creation across the newsroom.
Once people saw what they could do on their own, the excitement really took off.
With Brightspot:
- Anchors, reporters and editors can publish directly
- Visual previews make it easy to understand how stories will appear before going live
- Modular components allow teams to enhance stories without technical bottlenecks
“The workflows felt familiar, which made adoption much easier,” Cox notes. “Once people saw what they could do on their own, the excitement really took off.”
Rather than changing team structures, Brightspot removed friction, allowing staff to focus on higher-value editorial work and increasing overall output.
The result: Stronger engagement and measurable business impact
Since launching on Brightspot, Griffin Media has seen clear gains in performance and engagement.
Audience trust maintained
Just as important, the launch did not generate negative audience backlash.
“That was frankly shocking to me,” Cox says. “Any time we’ve made changes in the past, we’d hear about it immediately. This time, we didn’t — and that told us we’d done something right.”
A platform for what’s next
Beyond immediate results, Brightspot has given Griffin Media confidence to continue evolving. Editorial teams now experiment more freely with layouts, storytelling formats and homepage treatments — without fear of breaking core systems.
“I wasn’t the primary advocate going into this,” Cox reflects. “But I’ve been completely sold by the end of the process. The professionalism, the partnership and how close we came to an aggressive timeline exceeded my expectations.”
Looking ahead
With Brightspot as its digital foundation, Griffin Media is today well positioned to:
- Scale video monetization
- Expand across emerging channels, including FAST platforms (FAST = Free Ad Supported Television)
- Continue innovating in weather and sports coverage
- Explore AI-assisted workflows responsibly, with humans firmly in control
For Griffin Media, Brightspot isn’t just a CMS. It’s a platform that supports local journalism where accuracy, speed and trust truly matter.
