Executive Session

The managing partner of the Patrick Communications station brokerage and appraisal firm says broadcasting is just beginning to feel the full impact of the tight credit markets and sharp advertising downturn. Expect more stations to go bust, further belt tightening and a dearth of station deals as owners await better times and better prices.

The general manager of the New Age CW-MNT duopoply in Portland, Maine, says the big issue with receiving digital signals is getting the right antenna in the right place. He knows from experience. Both his stations took an early plunge into digital-only broadcasting, pulling the plugs on analog over the past few weeks.

With its growing domestic news gathering capabilities, says the head of broadcast news operations for the 162-year-old wire service, the Associated Press hopes to become a reliable and immediate source of video news for all the platforms that TV stations should be exploiting—Web, mobile and broadcast.

But it's not a growth business anymore and it's not the medium of choice for some audiences, says the new media maven for Publicis Groupe Media. To expand, television stations need to fully embrace the Web and other new media and further increase their local presence.

The Gray Television President is upset about NBC's plan to charge affiliates for carrying the network's programming and he says he's going to fight that "arrogance" hard. He's especially upset because he feels his stations are actually being hurt "because NBC's primetime schedule is so poor." He hopes other groups will join his fight so they can nip this in the bud before the other nets decide to follow suit.

Hearst-Argyle Television's SVP of news says that TV news is undergoing fundamental changes. The Web is not only providing another outlet for stations, but changing the way it is being produced and the urgency with which it is distributed. And the day of the star-driven newscast is coming to an end, he says.

Despite the loss of hundreds of millions in billings over the past six months, the rep company and its two well-known operating firms, Petry Television and Blair Television, are here to stay, says the newly installed CEO. And there is an evolving strategy to grow by going beyond traditonal spot business.

The senior fixed income analyst for Wachovia Capital says that the tough economic times are hammering old media like television broadcasting as they have in the past. But when the rebound comes (who knows when?), television stations should prosper from having embraced digital technology.

The head of KSCI and parent AsianMedia Group thinks he may have found a way to serve the many diverse Asian communities in Los Angeles while improving his bottom line: lease the digital spectrum to third-party programmers and create a "suite" of targeted channels for Chinese, Koreans, Filipinos, Armenians and others.

It's not easy changing public television, but the former president of NBC News is giving it a try as the new CEO of New York City's Thirteen. He is seeking to expand the station's aging audience by revitalizing the schedule and providing programming that is quicker to move from conception to air.