Week of May 11, 2009

There are things you really believe in -- sales issues, programming issues, hardware or software you really need, programming that you are sure will make your stations successful, and on and on and on. As you are going through these beliefs, keep in mind an old Texas saying, "Is this a hill you want to die on?" The lesson I'd like you to remember is that there really are "hills you want to die on" because those are the hills that propel you beyond average.

I've been around the business a long time and it is easy to lapse into the "what could have been" instead of "what can be." If you spend all your time thinking about the mistakes we have made in the business, you lose "brain time" that could be spent thinking about what can now be. Only look back to learn the lessons of history. I know you've probably heard the quote, "Those who forget the lessons of history; are condemned to repeat them." Shakespeare was more succinct ..."What's past is prologue." Here is the full quote from The Tempest: "Whereof what's past is prologue and what's to come is yours and my discharge." Let me put it in today's language: "Look fool, you can't change what has happened, but what's going to happen is in our control." Don't dwell in the past and what "might have been," but rather keep looking forward at what can be with what we have.

Let's face it, life is difficult now. We are in a situation where all the things we did for years are just not working; in many ways, our world is chaos. Some of you have been out of formal education for decades and some of you have been out for a short period of time. But didn't you learn that out of chaos comes order? The theory is Nietzsche's, but has been quoted by such brilliant people as Maxwell Smart. Good ol' Maxwell aside, intelligent people realize that chaos is an opening to success. Take life's current difficulties and use them to create success. Realize that your job is to create compelling programming, deliver it to an audience and monetize it. The most difficult thing is to clear your mind of pre-conceived notions.

Here's an idea ... hire more sales people. To pay for them, cut the expenses you were going to use to make the product the sales people are selling. Smart. We've been doing it for several years and are perfecting the process now. Soon there will be no product to sell, but we'll have plenty of sales people. As they say in the Guinness ads, "Brilliant!"

It's interesting to look at how other media are trying to attract younger audiences. The Food Network has done a great job creating stars and a solid niche among adults. Now they have started "Food 2" on the Internet, targeted at 20 and early 30-somethings with relatively little expense. Here are some descriptions of the episodes: "Next Food Network Star fan fave Kelsey Nixon squares off against Top Chef loose cannon Spike Mendelsohn," "Patrick and Elliot vie for a date with sushi-loving Caitlin," "2 Love-Hungry Cooks. 1 Hot Date. 1 Ticking Clock and $12. Oh, and the City is their only kitchen."

Time will tell if it works, but it is a good study in attempting to reach the young, elusive audience. Just when you think you have them figured out, they are off to the next latest thing and you have to reinvent. It has been no different for hundreds of years; the circumstances only change. Remember how your parents could never figure out where you were coming from?

The thing that will make this experiment work is that it is both entertaining and useful. Entertaining is fun. Useful makes it work. What are you doing to reinvent your product and make it USEFUL? Here's a tip ... It's not "The most hits with fewer commercials."