With last week’s annual conference for the Broadcast Cable Financial Management Association and Broadcast Cable Credit Association still fresh on my mind, I wanted to pass along some more lessons and tips from our outstanding lineup of presenters.

Thanks to their participation, it was one of the finest conferences in the associations’ long history and their wisdom is just too good to stay in Vegas.

This column is the second of two about the conference. Last week, I reported some of the earlier highlights.

Now, let's get to it.

Decision 2008
You can add attendees to the list of 2008 presidential hopefuls. They were hopeful that they would gain some insights on the presidential campaigns during a session with CNN correspondent John King and Republican political consultant Alex Castellanos.

The exit polls show they were not disappointed.

Alex Castellanos, a principal member of the National Media Inc., said the Internet continues to grow in importance in elective politics.

It energized the 2004 campaign of Vermont Governor Howard Dean and it destroyed the 2006 Senate campaign of George Allen when his “mucaca” remark made its way to YouTube.

Castellanos, who was recently retained by Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, said the Web is already having on impact on the 2008 campaigning.

Barack Obama is using it to raise money and attract volunteers; Hillary Clinton, to officially announce her candidacy, he said.

Rather than sending out new TV spots to the media, he said, the candidates are now posting them on their Web sites where reporters (and prospective voters) can access them.

During the 2008 campaign, more ad money will be spent online, especially by Republicans, he said. And, he said, most of it will go to ad giants like Google rather than to local sites.

TV is still the “blunderbuss" for getting a message out to the most people, but the Internet is more effective in reaching opinion leaders, he said.

King, who has covered the last six Presidential campaigns, said the earlier primaries will push a lot of political advertising into the fourth quarter of 2007.

He also said that people on the coasts often forget that the presidential elections are decided by the people in the middle of America, where he expects to see lots of campaign activity.  

The 20-year veteran of print and television news also described the challenges faced by reporters today.

Where journalists once could wait until they had triple-checked their facts before filing a story, they are now under intense pressure to be first with the news, which leads to reporting rumors and innuendos.

King cited the Scooter Libby case, saying that reporters must be willing to go to jail to protect their sources. Losing the trust of sources means losing your career as a journalist, he said.

Asked about the tendency to trivialize the news, King said that spicing up the news was part of competing for viewers.

You could tell by the audience’s attentiveness to King’s remarks that they felt a bond with King’s job.

Our members have dedicated their financial skills to providing the world with news organizations like CNN and journalists like John King.

Making a Business Out of TV Web Sites

Web consultant Steve Safran said research shows that newspapers are doing more online business than TV stations. Newspapers have been selling video classifieds and supplying their reporters with video cameras, he said.

While TV stations try for broadcast quality Web video, local newspapers are uploading unpolished and conversational videos that are resonating with local audiences, he said.

He urged stations to take advantage of their newsroom talent and re-take their the lead in video reporting.

Safran cited Boston.TV as an example of a site that has had success with new advertising methods.

Rather than trying to apply the CPM model, the site is selling targeted online ad sponsorships at $2,500 apiece.

NAB’s Rehr Sets the Broadcast Agenda

NAB President David Rehr said the trade group’s top three issues are ensuring that analog households aren’t left behind by the digital transition, blocking TV violence regulations and preserving broadcasters’ retransmission consent rights.

The NAB and the National Cable & Telecommunications Association are aligned on the first two of these issues, but not on the third, Rehr said.

Broadcasters have so far allowed cable to define the terms of the retransmission debate, he said.

But it’s not a matter of “market parity” as cable claims, but one of “fair compensation” for broadcasters, he said.

Broadcasters deserve payments from cable for carriage of their signals, Rehr said, noting that broadcasting still accounts for most TV viewing.

Another priority at NAB is letting people know where it stands, Rehr said.

NAB is developing an issues book that will tell Congress and the American public what the NAB’s position is on 76 key issues.

Not having a book that states what you want is like having sales reps that doesn’t ask for the order, Rehr said.

Retrans and other executive matters

Our View From the Top session featured top executives from across the BCFM spectrum—broadcast TV, cable operations, cable networks and radio.

Moderated by industry analyst Tom Wolzien, the panel included Don Perry, CEO of Clear Channel Television; Henry Schleiff, president and CEO of Crown Media Holdings, which operates the Hallmark Channel; Bill Stakelin, CEO of Regent Communications; and Jim Fellhauer, EVP for Time Warner Cable, who filled in for CEO Glenn Britt. 

Citing the troubles of Don Imus and Opie and Anthony, Wolzien asked what impact they might on others in the media and on the FCC’s policing of broadcast indecency.

Hallmark’s Schleiff replied that “you can do well by doing good.” Hallmark’s ratings, which he says rank on par with more established networks with wider carriage, demonstrate the demand for TV that reflects good values.

It’s a supply and demand issue, he said. Fewer networks are catering to Middle America’s desire for wholesome programming, he said.

Asked by Wolzien if the industry should bring back the NAB seal of good programming, Don Perry agreed that there is a place for voluntary standards. 

But Bill Stakelin warned that the industry needs to remain vigilant about protecting its First Amendment rights.  “Do we want the government having the last say on our content?” he asked.

Fellhauer agreed, noting that the desire in Washington to curb TV violence could lead to mandatory a la carte marketing of cable channels.

Arguing that a la carte marketing could stifle independent programmers, Fellhauer said cable has taken steps to empower and educate parents about the ways they can control what their kids watch.

On the topic of retransmission consent, Perry said that stations need to be fairly compensated for the value they bring to cable channel lineups.

Fellhauer, who noted that Time Warner Cable has successfully reached retransmission agreements with hundreds of stations across the country, pointed out that the value can be realized in something other than cash.

For instance, TV stations can strike deals to offer programming on a video-on-demand basis via cable systems.

Schleiff said that TV groups like Fox that own both broadcast stations and cable networks can obtain substantially higher license fees for their networks as part of the retransmission consent negotiation.

Independent networks like Hallmark that don’t have the leverage that comes with retransmission consent may be forced to seek a broadcast partner in order to obtain the license fees that put them on a par with competitors. 

Perry added that Clear Channel can be economically agnostic when it comes to accepting cash or another form of fair value.

Fellhauer agreed with the importance of collaborating on non-cash values and controlling license fees.

In a 300-channel universe, it’s important to think about the consumer, he said, adding that  companies can’t be passing along $1 license fees for every channel.

On the topic of station values, Perry said groups owned by private equity funds are more likely to support an aggressive schedule for upgrading the stations to HDTV and investing in multicasting and other new media distribution methods.

Clear Channel itself is in the process of being sold to a private equity fund, Providence Equity.

The Oxenford Blog

David Oxenford, with Davis Wright & Tremaine, provided attendees with an update on music licensing, which is affecting Internet broadcasts, podcasting and the use of protected music in online ads. 

The landscape seems to be changing daily, and David is providing updates on the law firm’s own blog,  www.broadcastlawblog.com. 

I hope that you find a few of these insights from the conference helpful to your company.

We’ll provide additional details and findings in the July August issue of our bimonthly magazine, The Financial Manager.

Mary Collins is the president of the Broadcast Cable Financial Management Association, a professional society for financial, MIS and HR executives in the electronic media. Her column appears here every other Friday. She can be contacted at mcollins@bcfm.com or 847-716-7000.