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The government granted you a bunch of digital bandwidth. Pundits are saying that HD is the future, and you should think seriously about using most of your big pipe for HD. It’s sort of a Field of Dreams argument. “If you build it, they will come.” Perhaps. Some, less popular engineers, have been advocating the multiplexing of a few dozen digital SD channels instead … maybe they’re on to something?
Let’s do a thought experiment about brand and audience building. First, we’ll multiplex your new digital signal into a bunch of SD channels. (That will take some hardware, but not much.) Then we’ll need programming assets that are brand relevant. And last, but not least, we’ll need a value proposition for the viewers. Wrap it up in some clever marketing and you have powerful a new product: Virtual VOD.
Sadly, there are a few “real world” obstacles to this plan. Not the least of which are retransmission rules, guild payments, music royalties … the list is practically endless. Or is it?
What if you already owned programming assets that viewers wanted and needed in a time sensitive way. What if those assets were already responsible for a huge portion of your revenue stream? What if you could program those assets, let’s say, every half hour overlapping on different virtual SD channels until you were ready to broadcast the next live show, and then started the cycle over again?
Obvious, isn’t it!
Local News is the asset you can use right now to take advantage of this new technology and, in the process, drive viewership, build brand equity and actually serve your local community better. Re-running local news programming every half hour on a different virtual channel will enable viewers to see a complete newscast whenever they get home without TiVo or a cable box.
Want a great promotion? Get some local advertisers to subsidize a simple batwing (indoor digital) antenna – they don’t cost that much to begin with. Imagine the value of your station logo or one of your clients’ logos on a hi-tech indoor digital antenna. The value proposition for the consumer is extraordinary. They’ll get access to hundreds of digital broadcast channels in the marketplace “for free.” But, the process will be branded by you!
Let’s continue our thought experiment. At some point, the industry will solve its “real world” problems. You will be able to re-run programming on virtual channels in an economic way. No matter how far off in the future that may be, you will still have created a strong bond with your viewers and helped them get in the habit of using free over-the-air digital instead of (or as a competitive, valuable adjunct to) TiVo, PVR’s or Cable VOD.
When most people think of Advanced Media, they make the mistake of thinking about the distant future. Technology is not in the distant future – technology is here now. Business rules and market forces are the only true obstacles to technological progress. So, if you have something of value that people want, like local news. Why not use your technology to help you build your special niche in television’s digital future.
-- Shelly Palmer is president of Palmer Advanced Media, a deep-knowledge consulting practice specializing in transition advisement for brand management and media companies.
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