Case study · Cast
One trivia question at the end of each newscast. One sponsor a week. With Cast, KQ2 created sponsorable inventory that didn't exist before. The pilot earned $600 in a week. Sold every week of the year, the same segment earns $31,200.
KQ2 wanted to monetize its broadcast audience and give local advertisers a tangible, measurable way to reach viewers. The challenge was simple: the nightly newscast was already produced and on the air, but it offered no sponsorship inventory beyond traditional commercial spots.
KQ2 partnered with Audience to run an on-air Question of the Day. A trivia question aired at the end of each newscast under a full-screen overlay carrying the sponsor's logo and a QR code. Viewers scanned to submit their answer and enter a branded sweepstakes. One sponsor owned the segment for the full week. KQ2 launched the format during National Tourism Week, sponsored by the St. Joseph Visitors and Convention Bureau, with five winners receiving sponsor-provided prizes.
The on-air results overlay. Sponsor-branded, shown during the newscast with live viewer results.
The sponsored sweepstakes entry page viewers reached by scanning the on-screen QR code.
The promotion ran for one week across five daily newscasts, with the trivia question airing in four broadcast windows each day at 5a, 6a, 5p, and 6p, and winners revealed at the 10p news. KQ2 sold the full week to a single sponsor for $600. The package was easy to pitch and easy to deliver: one concrete bundle for the seller, and a segment the newsroom ran inside a broadcast it was already producing.
What the sponsor received
The pilot sold for $600. But Question of the Day is not a one-week event. It is an evergreen format. The overlay, the QR mechanic, and the sweepstakes stay the same every week. The only variable is the sponsor.
$600 / week × 52 weeks = $31,200 / year
Sold to a new local sponsor each week, the same daily segment becomes a five-figure annual revenue line, with no added production, no new camera angles, and no extra workload for the newsroom.
This is net-new revenue from inventory that did not exist before Cast. KQ2 did not buy more airtime or add a single segment to its run of show. It turned thirty seconds of an existing newscast into a product it can sell every week of the year.
The KQ2 campaign is a proof of concept for something larger. Cast lets a station manufacture sponsorable inventory out of broadcast it already owns, and sell it on repeat.
KQ2 is a local TV station in St. Joseph, Missouri. The St. Joseph Visitors and Convention Bureau is a regional tourism organization promoting the city as a travel destination. From May 4 to 8, the two partnered on a National Tourism Week Question of the Day: five days, up to four broadcasts per day, one QR-powered engagement loop, and one repeatable revenue format powered by Audience Cast.
