To Evolve... Or Not
These below were some key points addressed nine+ years ago to a large TV group, Tribune Broadcasting, where I was Chief Innovation Officer (like being Director of Aerospace at Pony Express)…and little has changed…and it’s not likely it will….it was Deer in the headlights from traditional media folks---rousing “DAMN RIGHT” from modern thinkers….and a 'can't be bothered with this stuff' from the arrogant ones who continually remind you of their track record and how their Ten O Clock news is cutting edge. As this company was an old newspaper company, the arrogant and the traditionalists had power in numbers. Newspapers and TV looked backwards, and those are the people populating the big media companies. Sure, they embrace digital, but digital is distribution—the problem is in the content, image and vibe to the public. The denial is wonderful…for US. That is where the opportunity is---breaking down the old boys club in content and powering into the 21st century mindset. The ONLY way to do this is by starting a new company that drinks the kool aid, and delivers. Hiring wise—we will bring in ONLY those who have drank it OR have the Aptitude. We are not the place for the arrogant, the traditionalists or as discussed a few weeks ago—the sheep. That's why we're here :
NOW: THE MOST DRAMATIC INTERSECTION OF MEDIA CHANGE IN HISTORY
You can stay on the old road which WILL end in irrelevance at some point, or take a new road. It's your choice to be a PART of the media revolution that is happening right NOW , or stay on the old path. Whether it's online , or powered by any of the emerging technologies in the viewers and advertisers mind. This is serious stuff. I know I get "eye rolls" from some , as in ..."Oh, heard this before" or there’s nothing .
wrong with the business other than a slow economy. But---it's as real and serious as a terminal illness.
Don't think there aren't others ready to kick your ass on every level, simply by having no traditional baggage and a LOT of ideas and the leadership skills to execute.
ATTACKING DENIAL: THIS AIN'T 1980 ANYMORE
It's NOT only about the economy. It's also about being mired in this denial about how it'll all get better when the economy improves. It's a two way street. adjust for the economic times AND adjust for the cultural times. The line "Boy, we really re-invented our_________" is living in denial. NO-one has yet noticeably changed ANYthing....or at least noticeable beyond the conference room. Gimmicks, giveaways, Nielsen tricks, promotions and tweaks can;'t even remotely create enough magic and change to compete. There are tech changes, Demographic shifts and radical cultural swings happening in our new Global culture.
CHANGING OUR THINKING/RE-EDUCATION
This is DIFFICULT: Emotionally, managerially, physically and executionally. We're rooted in the 70’s and 80's...this is a new century. Have we re-tooled and re-educated our people to deal with today? I doubt it.
Can we? Hell yes! But it starts with accepting the challenges of our era And generating the thinking that’ll elevate not regress. Personally, for all of us----step back-----lose the BS about how great you or your station is--and engage the new emerging world. THAT is infinitely more productive and satisfying
THE TV STYLE
There is No FCC Regulation that limits you to this standard cadence, style and look. As long as the message is clear, we need to get off creative autopilot (aka the standard TV style) and think beyond that. The problem: EVERYone subscribes to the same style...and most of us agree, it's not really anything that cuts through. It's out of sync with 21st century America. It's a walled in "TV World" where yuppiedom and circa 1988 happy TV still lives. Wrong. Just like "Google" and "Bluetooth" are part of the new vocabulary, there's a whole new vibe
to what engages people--`and more often than not, it ain't what we're doing in areas we control (original content, marketing, attitude, look, feel, smell)
CLICHÉS IN NEWS, MORNING SHOWS ANDORIGINAL CONTENT
You KNOW it's true. Sometimes we say "credible news" and then present it like a game show. OK--If you're #1 doing that and/or that's the goal and style you feel works in your city ...cool. If you're NOT---wake up to the cliché ridden environment that is local television. ...and do something about it. No ideas? Fine---Ask. Doing nothing is not a real strong option. Having anchors stand up and getting new furniture and a snappy slogan ain't going to do it. WE can be the ones that really, truly, noticeably and positively create the next generation of information presentation.
THE "TV STYLE": SMALL THINKING IN THE AGE OF BIG IDEAS
Are we SO arrogant to think that TV defines the American POV on sound & vision? We don't. Yet, we continue to deliver small screen, hyped up clutter in an age where screens are better, sound is bigger and the
quality standard is far beyond what we generally deliver . We pay attention to Sales, Technology and other CRITICAL areas, but we miss on "Art"---Why can car designers, celebrity chefs, cellphone makers, film maker and others put a premium on art, but in TV, it's rarely part of the discussion. It needs to be IN the mix. It's not a hippie thing--it's a powerful tool to compete with. It's painting pictures with words...stimulating the eye and ear--taking people places. It's VERY powerful.
CASTING OUR STATIONS: LIBERATING THE THINKERS
There's a reason I don't talk to bankers--No aptitude for it. Then why are creative people with good ideas held back often by those with no aptitude for it?. Maybe that's not true--but there's an industry wide perception that people with new ideas have trouble getting them through the tradition ridden system. AND that there's miscasting going on. Shouldn't we have BRILLIANT people with focused expertise allowed to focus on their area? Seems sensible...but especially on the creative side, doesn't always happen. I like to use Apple as an
example: Would they hold back a brilliant engineer? Hire a guy from Dell and NOT integrate them into the Apple culture? Sit back and rest on their old designs at a time of rapid change? Probably not--but we do. If we are to become n experience...a show...something that screams above the noise, we have to have the RIGHT CAST..and the RIGHT SCRIPT to deliver.
THE INTELLECTUAL SCALE
If 1 is Perez Hilton and 10 is PBS. WHAT are you? Some stations have anchor people doing pushups and goofing around...then a minute later "..In Afghanistan today...." The World is crumbling and we're doing pushups on a News show. That's FINE "if" you are a 2. But IF you are about credible news, that's a train wreck. Can you image Mike Wallace having done push up and joking around before a story? What's s this infatuation with shallowness? It's fine IF (in all seriousness) you are positioned that way. But CHOOSE your intellectual turf and deliver on those terms. Newspeople in fountains dancing around? OK--If that's where you want to be---good! Revolutionizing serious news? OK--if thats where you want to be? Good. PICK YOUR TURF...but once you do--LIVE IT--24/7/365 with incredible quality and undeniable, complete and noticeability. Terrorism isn’t killing America, Dumbness is. Addiction to a dated playbook at a time of radical transition. Raw demographics are valuable to Madison avenue but we need to think on a higher Plane in defining and powerfully engaging the NEW MAINSTREAM as FANS not users.
THE COMPLETE TV EXPERIENCE
WHY do we compete only for News, Weather, Sport and Mornings? Those are no brainers. There are opportunity to own other trademarks of content. Think EXPERIENCE rather than one dimensional. Hell--we're in the ENTERTAINMENT/INFORMATION business, but sometimes we behave like General Motors in terms of brash bigness--at a time when others are re-inventing.
THE CULTURE
Create an internal culture that is all about 21st Century multi media. Oasis's of innovation that create oasis's of sales opportunity. Nothing will change if the vibe of our buildings is tired, tedious and restrictive. Maybe we can't be Google/Yahoo campuses(those are pretty big)...but we can try.