Someone once told me, "you can't cut enough expenses to get back to profitability, you have to have a revenue plan too."  I believe this thinking is lost on most broadcast groups in these difficult times. 

I hear from frustrated general managers every day that their company is only focused on cutting expenses, with no planning on how to protect their core business while at the same time pursuing new revenue streams.  In fact, the GM's complain it is just the opposite - any new revenue ideas are routinely rejected immediately because all the corporate folks want to hear is where are you going to cut more expenses.   Yes, that new revenue plan may take a small investment - but how about looking at the projected ROI?

There is no doubt that broadcasting is undergoing a huge sea change, and we will never return to the "good old days."  But my observation is that an industry filled with smart people simply has gone into panic mode - and is relentlessly spinning in that environment every day.

Yes, when times are tough you must cut expenses.  But, at AR&D we believe times like these also offer tremendous opportunity.   If your company has clear thinking, and astute planning you will smartly step ahead of the competition while they are caught in the "cut expenses only" vortex.

So, instead of focusing on cutting expenses, you must also focus on how to re-engineer the business of broadcasting.  How do you make the fewer people on staff more productive by taking advantage of new technologies and new thinking?  How do you tap into creative new revenue streams instead of simply returning to the old revenue streams which are shallow and rapidly drying up?

I remember back in the early 90's when TV broadcasting was mired in a deep recession, we had a phrase at AR&D - "we choose not to participate."   Now those slow business days don't compare to the much more difficult situation facing broadcasters today, but the message is the same.  You can either slop around in the same muck as your competitors, or choose to move to a different place.  A place that uses clear thinking to create the next generation of television.   What are you going to do?

Jim