Managing Media

One look at the schedule for the 2024 NAB Show and you might be convinced that artificial intelligence (AI) offers the solution for all that troubles today’s media businesses. Planned […]

The media industry, roiled by layoffs, coverage of a deeply contentious election and trust issues, is seeing morale plummet. Good managers can redirect that through refocused communication.

Recent research shows news outperforms all other categories in the FAST ecosystem, yet another reason for local broadcasters to leverage their content there and on as many CTV platforms as they can.

The Library of American Broadcasting Foundation is doing critical work to help media find and preserve the treasure in their vast archives.

Local stations need to question their assumptions about traditional revenue sources and set aside ample time for short- and long-range planning and developing multiple budget scenarios.

The Hollywood strike negotiations and the carriage dispute issues currently roiling the media industry are clearly intertwined. How the studios and networks negotiate through both will determine the future of news and entertainment.

Between one-third to one-half of new CEOs fail within the first 18 months, and CNN’s debacle with recently ousted chief Chris Licht is only media’s most recent dramatic example. Here’s a guide to the most common C-suite pitfalls and how to avoid them.

There’s a missed opportunity in local markets for TV stations to capitalize on: Super serve smaller communities within DMAs where competition is scant.

Free ad-supported television channels offer media companies a new potential source of revenue, a streaming destination for reclaimed library content and a relatively frictionless pathway to execution.

It’s becoming abundantly clear that conventional ways of reporting won’t hook younger viewers, who consume their news in dramatically different ways than their parents. Stations need younger, less tradition-bound journalists to help them connect.

ChatGPT may be grabbing attention and lots of experimental early use, but the technology’s limitations are already widely evident. Media ought to take stock of the caveats, especially as chatbots are destined to play a larger role in the business.

Prognostications for media businesses in 2023 look rough, but that doesn’t mean managers can’t control their teams’ performance. Here are some proactive tips to do so.

The rich digital and onsite resources of the Library of American Broadcasting are an indispensable repository of the industry’s history. Its upcoming Giants of Broadcasting and the Electronic Arts Award Luncheon on Nov. 15 is the most direct way to support its efforts.

Looking ahead to a downturn in 2023, TV stations have more to fret about than a standard-variety recession. Most ad categories are cutting spending; competition from all sides, including streaming, is fiercer than ever; and TV’s lack of reliable measurement is tying a hand behind its back.

In recently quarterly earnings, Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery revealed markedly different paths for executing on their commercial-free and ad-supported streaming tiers ahead. One of them signals trouble.

Regional sports networks are venturing into launching their first OTT channels to tap into the cord-cutting market. It’s an important move, but one that needs to be followed up with wider streaming distribution agreements to reach as broad an audience as possible.

Given consumers’ numerous viewing device options, Nielsen’s stumbles in keeping pace with the proliferation and numerous metrics competitors jumping into the vacuum, the stage is set for a metrics war that won’t make anything easier for account executives or video advertisers.

Media companies can survive and thrive in a fragmented marketplace only by making alliances and adding scale. Smart network leaders should follow the lesson and use stakeholder insights to plan strategies to defend and grow their businesses.

U.S. media businesses, already a prime target for cyber criminals, face heightened danger from Russian hackers and those sympathetic to their cause, especially as pressures from sanctions and the cost of the Ukraine invasion mount.

There’s nothing simple in adopting ATSC 3.0, where a reasonable, breakeven deployment remains cloudy. But failing to get an early seat on a lighthouse may also prove disastrous later.

Sports betting will continue its meteoric rise in spot TV, Nielsen’s measurement footing will remain shaky and NextGen TV may finally deliver on new revenue streams for broadcasters in another challenging year ahead.

Want to hold on to your people as the wave of resignations continues to wash over the employment landscape? Make sure you’re engaging them and giving them clear pathways to development.

There’s a surfeit of content in the TV ecosystem. Media companies now need to ensure it’s everywhere viewers want it, along with giving them all the help they need finding it.