Stations Can Tackle Tough Times Head On

Okay let’s review. Bear Stearns collapsed and the U.S. government has essentially bought out Freddie Mae, Fannie Mae and insurance giant AIG. Now comes the news that the last big independent investment banks, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, will transform themselves into less risky bank holding companies.

Meanwhile the Dow dropped a thousand points last week before regaining most of those losses by Friday. Just watching the trajectory of most media stocks was enough to give investors a case of the bends.

Even a guy like me, who understands hardly a word spoken on CNBC, understands that when the conservative Bush administration starts nationalizing banks like some old school banana republic, then the economy — if I may use a technical term — sucks.

Worse, higher prices and unemployment, tighter credit, and all the rest are hitting stations already coping with sagging revenues in several ad categories, notably automotive and real estate — all in the midst of seismic shifts in how audiences access programming.

Still, it’s too soon to tell whether dire predictions about ad spending on broadcasting and even online will eclipse traditional marketing wisdom that dictates more advertising in the face of a downturn.

The trouble is, stations can’t afford to sit around waiting for the answer. In fact, you have to create your own solution. Here are five ways you can respond to grim financial forecasts, depending on their severity in your market:

1) Make your station the ultimate local source for financial news. It’s a no-brainer to refocus your consumer or business reporters on the local angle of national money stories, but there are dual pitfalls to avoid. You don’t want to sugar coat bad news but neither do you want to be depressing.

The smart course is context, context, context. Here’s a rare instance where ignorance is an opportunity. Relatively few reporters, let alone viewers, really understand the issues behind the current money mess. The only dumb questions are the ones your reporters fail to ask. Encourage them to ask (and answer) those basic questions on camera. Include remedial definitions and simple explanations in each report and don’t be afraid to repeat them. You’ll make your viewers “feel smarter” — one of the gold rings in news research.

2) Create as many opportunities as possible for your audience to ask you your station their money questions. Repackage your money reports as sponsored interstitials. Create a special section on your website. Aggregate your own stories along with original background articles or at least links to financial websites.

Create and promote live community events such as a town meeting where viewers can ask their financial questions of your money reporters — and experts from local colleges, banks or accounting firms. Each event is a sponsorship opportunity, but don’t let that overshadow the community service.

3) Speaking of revenue, meet proactively with your clients, especially those who are cutting back on advertising. Make sure you understand the specifics of their problems in your market and brainstorm ways in which you might help them improve the reach and return of their media buys. Look for creative ways to combine advertisers with non-traditional marketing projects. Examples include a series of seminars on qualifying for a car loan, sponsored by an auto dealer and a bank — or a workshop on maintaining your present car, sponsored by an auto repair chain and a used car emporium.

4) Use your station’s reach and influence to aggregate and promote your community’s ongoing efforts to improve the regional economy and relieve local hardships. Create an inclusive, friendly brand for this information (TV3 Together, United Milwaukee, Sacramento Cares…) Just remember, the underlying message is not about the station but the viewers. Remind them that yours is a community that takes care of its own. You’re just helping them to do it better.

Ambitious stations can go even further. Convene a conference of local government and nonprofit leaders to come up with a short list of new initiatives to help struggling consumers. Your role is to publicize their good efforts — again with the help of appropriate local sponsors.

5) If your region is especially hard hit, consider even more direct action. I’m reminded of how KDKA-TV responded to the demise of Pittsburgh’s steel industry — with a prime time Job-A-Thon and public service campaign called KD+You: On The Job.

The Job-A-Thon pre-empted an entire evening of prime time with original features on job application, retraining, back-to-school grants — all interspersed with viewer call-ins to employment and career experts who were staffing banks of telephones. A wide range of community services was also featured — church groups, food banks, day care, etc.

Here too the goal is not to provide social services, but to serve as both motivator and megaphone for those organizations that are equipped to help.

And again, the tone of your news, programming and even client services must walk the line between candor and optimism. If you do, you’ll emerge on the other side of this recession with an enhanced reputation for news credibility, community involvement, and even customer service.