After describing some of the challenges we’ll be facing with our changing workforce in my last column, I thought it would be good to follow up with some news about a resource that will become invaluable in explaining our business to new recruits.

Today, BCFM’s long-awaited second edition of Understanding Broadcast & Cable Finance: A Primer for the Nonfinancial Manager becomes available from your favorite book retailer.

In addition to covering the basics of our business, such as talent contracts and syndicated programming amortization, this updated edition covers new media practices and provides an industry-specific perspective for the latest accounting regulations and standards.

Leading the team of 20 BCFM members and experts who worked on the handbook was Leslie Hartmann, currently a regional director of business analysis at Entercomm and a former chair of BCFM’s board of directors.

As Leslie revealed in an article appearing in the January-February issue of The Financial Manager, she has found what we call the Handbook an invaluable educational tool and was personally dedicated to ensuring its continued relevance by donating countless hours to persuading industry experts to write sections of the book and editing it into shape.

Here are a few of the examples of the Handbook’s usefulness that Leslie shared with TFM readers:

Helping Managers Become Experts—The Handbook is a great tool for educating the talented financial experts that we recruit from outside the industry or for providing some financial training to industry veterans who are moving into financial management positions.

Educating Outside Auditors—As your internal accounting and legal teams can attest, they can spend a lot of time explaining the business to external auditors and others who aren’t familiar with the basics of our business. This is also one of the reasons that our publisher will be promoting the Handbook to business schools and communications departments at colleges and universities around the country.

Getting Everyone on the Same Line Item—Accountants and other finance professionals can sometimes find the way they’re reporting something at odds with how their manager thinks it should be done. By referring to a reputable source like the Handbook, they can turn a potentially confrontational situation into an educational opportunity.

Blending Old and New Media Practices—In addition to taking into account the FCC, SEC and FASB changes that have occurred, the extension of our businesses into online, mobile and other new media platforms also requires us to update our accounting practices to reflect our current business activities. The new edition of the Handbook literally brings financial managers into the new millennium for broadcasting and cable.

Empowering Multitasked Managers—Consolidation continues to occur in virtually every aspect of our industry. As a result, many of our managers have added accounting and financial management responsibilities. Educational resources like the Handbook can help to empower them with the knowledge they need for managing a growing number of financial assets in an increasingly complicated and competitive operating environment.

Navigating Information Management—Another example of consolidation is what has been happening with the management systems that are fundamental to our advertising and subscription revenue streams. In addition to consolidation within the vendor community, a growing number of companies are relying upon shared services—consolidating information management through company-wide solutions. The new Handbook guides manager through the important role these systems play in inventory management and providing pricing tools.

As Hartmann noted, the new Handbook required a tremendous amount of time and effort from our pool of talented and busy financial and legal experts. We couldn’t have created such a great compendium without their time and expertise. 

Thanks to these contributors, and many hours of editing by Leslie and the BCFM staff, the revised edition of Understanding Broadcast & Cable Finance is now in print and available through retailers such as Amazon.com.

If you would like to learn more about the Handbook, or the association’s industry guidelines on financial practices, visit our online bookstore at www.bcfm.com

2008 Award Winners

Several of the contributors to the Handbook will stand among our 2008 Award Honorees.

The following award winners were nominated and selected by their peers as our honorees for 2008.

Please join me in congratulating them on their much-deserved recognition. Their outstanding contributions to our organization truly benefit the entire industry.

BCFM Working Capital Awards

• Dawn Sciarrino, managing member, Sciarrino & Shubert PLLC
  
  
• Calvin Lyles, radio division controller, Greater Media
  
  
• Hope Etheridge, vice president, finance & administration, TVB
  
  
• Evan Maltese, partner, Ernst & Young

These four very active BCFM members have given extensively of their time to help us produce educational sessions and materials including developing and leading sessions at our annual conference and distance learning seminars, writing articles for BCFM’s The Financial Manager magazine, updating chapters in Understanding Broadcast & Cable Finance and writing or rewriting BCFM guidelines.

BCFM Rainmaker Awards

• Deborah Cowan, senior vice president, Finance, Radio One
  
  
• Bill Rinchik, vice president & CFO, Freedom Communications
  
  
• Stephen Gibson, senior vice president & CFO, Allbritton Communications
  
  
• John Gordon, vice president & controller, finance, BET

All four of these members have made contributions to help BCFM grow. They’ve sponsored events, recruited new members and found ways to help increase annual conference attendance. Without their support, we would not be able to provide the breadth and depth of programs we offer our members.

Jack Zwaska Career Achievement Award

Christopher Baldwin, vice president, taxes for Gannett Broadcasting, will be recognized for his contributions to the growth of BCFM and the industries we serve.

BCCA Member Contributor Award

Michael Denson, director, credit and collections, Petry Media Corp., will be recognized for his contributions to BCCA and to broadcast and cable’s credit and collections profession.

Peter F. Szabo Career Achievement Award

Dee Vickers, credit & collections manager for WDIV Detroit/Post Newsweek Stations, will receive the award for her contributions to the growth of BCCA and the industries we serve.

We will be recognizing all of our winners at the 2008 Annual BCFM/BCCA Conference, Your World. Your Connection, which will be held at the Fairmont Hotel in Dallas, May 13-15.

This year marks the 48^th annual conference for our organization and, like our Handbook, it serves as a premiere educational resource for anyone who would benefit from a better understanding of our business.

We hope to see you there.

Mary Collins is the president and CEO of the Broadcast Cable Financial Management Association, a professional society for addressing the diverse needs of financial and business professionals in the broadcast, cable, and electronic media industries. Her column appears here every other Friday.