Local TV, Want Better 2025 Results? Incentivize And Measure

Early in my career, I worked for a local manager who would not allow the purchase of any supplies for the first eight to 10 months of the year. If the storeroom was running low on copy paper, it was time to start conserving (and hoarding). If you wanted a pen, you’d either grab one at the bank or buy your own. I didn’t dare think about age of the pre-measured coffee packets in the breakroom; I made my coffee at home. Once he was comfortable that we were going to make our annual budget, and he’d receive his bonus, he’d authorize what I think of as “drunken sailor” spending. The other consideration, after his bonus was secure, was that if we spent less than budgeted, the supplies line item would be cut for the following year.

He was a difficult leader at the best of times — autocratic, paranoid and secretive. It’s no wonder he had a hard time keeping staff, I was his fourth marketing manager in five years and I only lasted 14 months. The bright side is that, in the little over a year I worked for him, I learned a whole lot about how to (and how not to) motivate people.

A few weeks ago, TVNewsCheck contributor Hank Price wrote about the disconcerting outlook for local TV in 2025. In a time when networks are cutting back on original content for affiliates, consumers are cutting their cable cord and there will be no advertising bump from high profile elections, the local outlook is gray at best. Price also offered ideas about things GMs can do to weather the storm. His suggestions include remaining upbeat, keeping perspective and using adversity “to create a competitive advantage.” While these all make sense, I’d argue that they don’t go far enough.

One of the things I learned from that long-ago boss was the importance of setting goals and measuring progress. It wasn’t a new idea even then. Business management consultant Peter Drucker has often been quoted as saying, “If you can’t measure it, you can’t change it.” Tom Peters, another management expert pronounced, “What gets measured gets done.”

In his column, Price suggests that local stations need to “develop more local products.” Any station expecting to do that needs a plan. Moreover, that plan needs to be prepared now and in detail as part of the 2025 budget process. What, exactly, is the final product? When will implementation begin? When will it be put into service? What are the milestones along the way? And, of course, what will it cost and what is the anticipated return on investment?

Fiscal 2025 corporate budget instructions for stations are sure to include sales targets, guidelines and admonitions to cut anticipated expenses. But as Price points out, local station managers know their communities and their viewers. Station leadership must work together to devise ways to serve their community in the coming years and then prepare a comprehensive plan (or plans) to do just that.

The second step is just as important as the planning. That’s the measurement, which must include positive reinforcement of progress.

As a local marketing manager, I was entitled to an additional percentage of my salary as an annual bonus. The trouble was I really had no idea how my bonus was to be calculated. Fortunately for the manager, I had a good idea of what I needed to do in my role and worked hard to achieve what I saw as the best results possible. At the same time, it might have been better for the business if I knew that X% of my bonus was based on achieving Goal A because of its importance to the overall plan.

Management ideologies come and go. In the 1980s, enlightened leaders embraced MBO — management by objectives — in which the objectives needed to be measurable and include a time frame. The early 2000s brought us SMART — specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-bound — goals. What matters is that written goals define success and how it will be measured.  

This is where customized bonus plans can help. Ideally, every employee who contributes to the business (which I believe is every employee) should be entitled to a bonus and have a plan that includes specific performance benchmarks. The conventional wisdom around goals, which I embrace, is to limit them to between three and five things at any one time. Any more than this can be overwhelming and counterproductive.

Let’s assume, for example, that a local station has decided to create a custom local news product for a specific segment of its viewing area. Clearly, such a project will affect the entire station by shifting or increasing responsibilities. Successful bonus plans will be tailored to each department and each individual’s contribution to the project’s success. A salesperson may receive Y% of bonus allocation if total ad revenue for the new product achieves goal. Actually, I’d structure it so that the person receives a small percentage of the bonus allocation if revenue is within 80%-100% of goal and add additional bonus if total revenue is greater than the goal.

Someone from the marketing department, on the other hand, could be bonused on viewership, readership or some measure of audience engagement. People working in operations or administrative roles would receive bonuses when the new product achieves specific milestones. Each plan would include three or four other goals including one — more qualitative — intended to reward overall contributions to the team. Such plans will take some time to prepare; managers need to think through unintended consequences and make sure that the components encourage teamwork, not rivalry. The key here is to have everyone vested in the station’s success.

Another thing I like about goals and related bonuses is that they encourage productive communication. In the case of management and subordinates, both know the expectations so conversations can be around results and problem solving. When they are constructed thoughtfully, everyone will be incentivized to work together to achieve the overall goals rather than to engage in unproductive competition.

Additionally, for stations that are concerned about the potential end of noncompete agreements, bonus plans with longer time horizons for payout can provide a carrot to keep valued employees on the team.

I understand that what I am recommending will mean a lot of extra work at a time when station leadership is already overwhelmed. Further, I know that someone will be able to cite research that says bonus plans don’t change behavior. My response comes in the form of two questions. The first is, if bonuses don’t affect actions, why did my former boss ban spending on supplies until he’d earned his? Or using a more current example, if incentive compensation doesn’t make a difference, why is it a part of every senior media executive’s package?

There’s no question that local TV stations are facing significant challenges in 2025 and beyond. It will be the managers who make time to engage their entire team to find and implement solutions, while keeping track of progress, that will be successful. Rationing copy paper and skimping on breakroom coffee is not going to make the difference. A team invested in a plan that includes milestones and rewards will.