Executive Session with Rick Feldman

NATPE Smaller, But No Less Vital To TV

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You come from the ranks of TV broadcasters who have had a couple of rough years. What do you think they need to get back on track?

If you had a shoe store and you had the same shoes in the window for three or four or 25 years, would that necessarily be the best way to market your shoe store?

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You don't want to throw the baby out with the bath water, but there's been too much product in the exact same time periods on too many stations. There have been too many stations over the years that found it a lot easier to extend to the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh hour of news rather than put on fresh programming. They have not freshened up their inventory.

I have also felt for a long time that if broadcasters don't figure out ways to get some sort of retransmission money that ultimately they were fighting a losing battle because ESPN, with its $4 and $5 in subscription fees, was going to be able to get everything.

Well, it sounds like they're getting those fees now.

Yes. They are. The way the cable business is structured right now is essentially a false economy with cable networks that are doing relatively minimal ratings but still getting maybe pennies and nickels and dimes [per subscriber per month from cable operators]. It's just about enough to keep them alive.

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Comments (3) -

RustbeltAlumnus2 Nickname posted over 2 years ago
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I was a NATPE member for ten years in the mid 1970s to mid 1980s, so I'm qualified to comment. The key benefit of attending the conference was getting to see the shows, but that went away with the U-matic 3/4 inch cassette. Syndicators can show "program executives" (i.e., GMs, GSMs, no PDs anymore) their wares online. Most of the deals take place without much need for face-to-face. Another benefit was learning from people, which is just as easy to do with coveritlive.com or dimdim.com (minus the schmoozing). I fondly remember the gargantuan displays of shrimp, star-studded IRIS shows, and hookers in the suites. But that vanished with the largess of the license-to-print-money power of producers-distributors-exhibitors. NATPE is every bit as relevant in 2010 as is "broadcasting" -- which ain't saying much. Maybe the place to be now is NCTA (The Cable Show).
PSIPthing Nickname posted over 2 years ago
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so, we can find hookers in the hospitality suites at NCTA?
MediaLifer Nickname posted over 2 years ago
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In the 'good ole days' GM's and PD's knew their markets, their station audiences and bought programming to fit their audience flow and appeal. Now in the world of 'dumb down America' it's one size fits all. You see in reinforced in news. Sets look the same, spot news dominance, pre-packaged promotion, and worse - no personality. So broadcasting slides in share of viewing with affiliates hoping for the networks to save them; and the networks know they have all the clout to grab retrans, inventory, and ask for compensation. What a business!

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