The network has joined its competitors in seeking payment for its programming, which it sees as the most valuable factor leading to stations' retransmission consent revenue. But CBS Affiliates Relations President Diana Wilkin says that most, if not all, the CBS affils have accepted the fact that they they will have to pay. And she says, while CBS is also asking affils to pay a little more for the CBS Newspath news services, she promises that any if CBS renegotiates its March Madness deal with the NCAA, the stations will not get hit with a price increase.

Providing loyal opposition to broadcasting on many issues in Washington is Free Press. Executive Director Josh Silver says his group recognizes the trouble that broadcasting and newspaper publishing is in, but he doesn't see media consolidation as the way out. A better approach, he says, is direct government subsidies for noncommercial media and indirect subsidies for commercial media. And he says he believes some spectrum give-back is inevitable.

Derek Chang, DirecTV's EVP of content strategy and development, negotiates retransmission-consent agreements with broadcasters as well as carriage deals with cable programmers. He warns that if payments to cable networks and TV stations continue to rise, his satellite service may be forced to eliminate some of the less popular channels.

Evan Tracey, who tracks political advertising for Kantar Media, says that last week's Supreme Court decision loosening campaign financing restrictions will likely have a swift and profound impact on campaigns and political spending, pushing spending on TV stations to the high side of his previously forecast $2.6 billion-$2.8 billion range and turning campaigns into "three-dimensional games of chess" in which the candidates themselves may not be in full control.

The president of the Association for Maximum Serivce Television says that 35% of all TV households, including those subscribing to cable and satellite, have at least one TV set that relies on over-the-air reception. Approximately 50% of all cable systems rely on broadcast signals received at their headends to provide service to all their subscribers. In addition, consumers would lose access to free over-the-air HDTV, new multiple free channels and new mobile service.

As the annual programming showcase prepares for this year's gathering, the group's president says "there really isn't another place where ... people can come together to talk about the actual buying and selling and about the partnerships that need to be created to get more things produced." He's also hopeful that the rebounding economy, along with new programming opportunities such as mobile, will revitalize both the business and his convention.

In his exit interview, the head of the Television Bureau of Advertising warns broadcasters that if they are to survive and thrive, they must complete implementation of the Web-based ad buying system a top priority. And he also urges them to put aside old differences and begin working together with cable operators in selling local TV against their common enemy — networks and new media. "Certainly, we're still competitive," he says, "but I believe we're more complementary than competitive."

Gene Cameron, VP, auto marketing/media solutions at J.D. Power & Associates, has good news for TV stations: Auto sales will rebound 15% next year and television will continue to be a major component of auto marketing plans. The big change is that instead of driving consumers to showroom floors, he says, TV's job is to drive them to manufacturer and dealer Web sites.

As new top CBS local media managers, Peter Dunn (right) and Anton Guitano are crafting a strategy that's aimed at getting their TV and radio stations working together, especially online. Among other things, they want to merge local TV and radio Web sites. "We want to make [each site] hyperlocal, equivalent to the best local paper with all the local information" and links to CBS' national sites, says Guitano

Gabelli & Co.'s Barry Lucas is still bullish on broadcasting. But its recovery, he feels, will be driven far more by the return of auto advertising than by new sources of revenue — retransmission consent, mobile DTV and local online media.

Debmar-Mercury and its co-presidents Ira Bernstein (left) and Mort Marcus have their own model for broadcast syndication. They produce and test their shows in limited run on a small group of stations or a cable network. And only shows that pass the test by drawing an audience get the green light to go into full production.

After instituting tough budget and staffing cutbacks to survive the economic downturn, TV and newspaper owner Media General thinks it's reorganized for success. CEO Marshall Morton says the new strategy of focusing on geographic markets is the best way of leveraging old media and exploiting new media. He also says he is wary of the government's interest in broadcast spectrum and the networks' interest in retrans revenue.

When the Radio-Television News Directors Association recently changed its name to the Radio Television Digital News Association, it did a lot more than just transpose two letters. The group's chairman, Stacey Woelfel, says the goal is to reach out to "all electronic journalists, including the newest members of our newsrooms working on the digital platforms." He also talks about working to break down the traditional barriers that have separated broadcast and print journalism and efforts to stage a joint national convention with the Society of Professional Journalists in 2011.

That's just some of the advice from Steve Ridge of Frank N. Magid Associates. He says the key for television operators is to stop thinking like stations and focus on a combined model — broadcast, mobile, online. "You cannot write off one platform at the expense of another and just assume that you're going to get those dollars. If you become reactive and defensive instead of proactive, you're going to be chasing the other guys and you're never going to be a leader." And he offers a warning that if affiliates don't share retrans dollars with their networks, "I think you're going to continue to see the networks do a work-around and the affiliates become obsolete."

Horizon Media's Brad Adgate is an ad guru with over 30 years in the business. He's bullish on national spot because it allows advertisers to buy any market, cherry pick markets and easily do testing. And he says the way to halt the shrinking national spot dollars is to use second-by-second viewing data and coming up with addressable ads that can be targeted to individual homes and interactive ads where you could click on your remote and get more information on the product.

With 13 TV stations in small and medium markets, Quincy Newspapers Inc. is not sitting still as new economic and media realities charge forward. Dennis Kendall, director of broadcast news, is overseeing the group's broadcast news departments to find solutions for the various challenges new media and social networking bring to the daily news mix.

Rather than continue operating Cox Television, Cox Radio and Cox Newspapers as separate businesses, the family-owned multimedia company combined them under the Cox Media Group banner and put Sandy Schwartz, a former newspaperman and business development executive, in charge. He discusses the thinking behind the restructuring, his hope that cost cutting is in the past and his conservative revenue forecast for TV in 2010.

Diane Sutter is taking the road less travelled at her small WZMY, hoping to make it in a top-10 market with a focus on hyperlocal programming. And while she acknowledges that life would be easier if WZMY were part of a duopoly with a Big 4 network affiliate, she also makes clear her determination to press on by teaming with others in the market, staying as local as she can and taking advantage of the opportunities inherent in digital.

Tim Busch is chairman of the CBS affiliates group in addition to co-COO of Nexstar Broadcasting Group. And while there are always strains in network-affiliate relations, Busch remains positive. He downplays any conflict and instead stresses areas of cooperation — most notably online media — that could yield new businesses and new revenue for all.

The weak economy and audience fragmentation are flattening the salary structure for news talent at TV stations, says one of TV's top agents. While compensation for the "rank and file" is holding steady, the big-market anchor salaries are falling. And the perks are disappearing, too. If you still have a clothing allowance, he says, you're one of a dwindling few.