The reason the Jell-O keeps sliding off the boardroom walls is that stations are lacking a mission statement. Just as the convention is truly no longer dominated by station attendees, the confusing politics and technology noise are distractions from the basic ingredients for the industry's present and future. The bottom line is that business models and business plans are all the more elusive today, not because they are non-solvable equations, but because the most basic requirement for broadcasters, station by station, is to build a mission statement that also justifies their existence as businesses occupying spectrum space that others would love to snatch away. Delivering highly rated programming and consistent, quality signals is surely still part of a broadcaster's mission statement, but in today's reality, that's far short of what will lead to a business model and a business plan that turns a profit and staves off the spectrum competitors snapping at our heels. But without identifiable general trends in these areas, the industry is perceived as dragging its feet on DTV and as lacking direction, all while occupying spectrum space that other entrepreneurs with clear-cut business plans could use today for services the public could use today.
Survivors make things happen.
In early March, broadcasters were being taken to task in U.S. Senate hearings over why the DTV transition was moving so slowly. While many perceive the McCain hearings as grandstanding for campaign finance reform that would be partially funded by spectrum fees allocated to political advertising, at least the hearings are allowing critical issues to surface. The pro-broadcast sentiment was that carriage on cable should include all programs in a station's DTV multiplex schedule. However, not once in the hearings was there feedback from consumers with DTV sets. All Rights Reserved.