As society makes the transition from one form of entertainment delivery to a newer one, our standard thinking is constantly challenged. Our business models are destroyed. And yesterday suddenly becomes one of those good old days. Note how the motion picture studios battled against first the encroachment of television, then the ubiquitous VCR, and now the even more ubiquitous DVD player.

In June 1989, a speaker at the Detroit PROMAX Convention (then known as the Broadcast Promotion Marketing Executives, or BPME) predicted that this newly emerging technology of digital delivery would revolutionize the industry. He told the skeptical attendees that a full-length motion picture could be digitally delivered to their home in a matter of minutes and watched a finite number of times and then would disappear. He also told them about something called the Digital Versatile Disc, which could hold many hours of high-quality video and numerous stunning soundtracks. The presenter’s name is lost to history, but his predictions are not. Just ask Time Warner, Net Flicks, and George Lucas.

At the time, home video players cost in the neighborhood of $500 to $1,000. The motion picture industry was reluctantly releasing product on the format. Mom & Pop video rental stores were appearing in every strip mall. Viewers were discovering the joys and challenges of time shifting and VCRs with blinking 12:00 a.m. clocks.

Not many knew it at the time, but the old way of business was being reconsidered.

In the early days, these new-fangled PCs had as much as 10 MB of disk space and a whopping 128kb of memory. Some even had VGA (video graphics array) color cards and could, at various odd times, run Windows 1.1. If equipped with a bulky modem, they could actually use the phone lines to reach bulletin boards and exchange messages. Or something.

That was then.

This is now.

Now, as marketing executives, we must find ways not only to deal with things digital but also to innovate with them. Once this book is published, the ideas here are static, but the world will go on. Use, if you will, some of these suggestions to be a jumping-off point for your thinking. You and your team, after all, are on the bleeding edge of innovation. Make the most of it.

18.1          MULTICASTING—THE DIGITAL SLIPSTREAM

With your station’s digital slipstream of additional standard broadcast signals, you have the opportunity to narrowcast to specific audiences. The sales department has already come up with the Used Car Channel, the Apartment Finder Channel, the All Infomercial Channel, the Watching Paint Dry Channel, and other projects limited only by your equipment.

But what can you do to market yourself along this digital slipstream? And who’s watching? We’ll leave the second question to be wrestled with by the researchers, but the first question is a key to your marketing plans.

Many stations feed their weather radar over their slipstream. Does yours? Some stations have repeats of the last newscast playing over and over until the next news time period. Do you?

Ask yourself what product is available to be multicast within the emerging economics of the expanding number of available channels? What product will work within the station’s marketing objectives to drive audiences to the main channel? What messages can go on the multicast channels to effectively gather audiences?

Technology has given you another few canvases to paint. Can you fill them with great images?

18.2          THE UBIQUITOUS DVD

Until the next one comes along, it’s safe to say that no product has made such a tremendous impact on modern entertainment as has the DVD. Once Hollywood got over its trepidations, it became the entertainment format of choice after the films’ first run. (And, for some less-than-sterling films, it became the “video” in the direct-to-video consolation prize.) The virtual acres of space on the disc invite spectacular presentations. The cost of manufacturing the discs has plummeted, inviting more use of the format. Players’ prices have nose-dived along with the cost of the disks.

How can you, as a television station, use it? Why would you want to?

Taking the second question first: you must always look for another way into the hearts and minds of your viewers to keep them loyal to your station. The DVD allows you to do so.

There are a number of ways to use it, but the one that will pay off most handsomely in terms of ratings and sales is to cater to newcomers. For decades, newcomers were greeted by the Welcome Wagon. When that business model succumbed to the changing economy, other ways were explored, most involving direct mail.

A newcomers’ DVD will permit you to get your product(s) into the homes of people who may not have made their choices for local news and entertainment. It will permit you to showcase your on-air talent in a genial and helpful way as they explain your market’s appealing facets and give tips to the newbies.

Your sales department could have a field day with the sales possibilities. First, they would do well to tie in to your market’s largest realtor. Real estate agencies have a very active list of who is moving into the area. Make sure your DVD is included in the packages they send to out of town requests. Then work your way through the list of commercial establishments who want to be exposed to newcomers. But always–keep your on-air product tied in. The sales potential from this one project could be tremendous.

18.3          ONLINE

It’s hard to believe that in the 1990s, many stations were disinclined to have a presence on this new thing called the Internet. Webheads were clamoring to deaf ears about all the neat things that could go on a station’s Web page. Now, a station without a Web presence is literally living in the last century. It would be redundant to list what you can do on the Web in these pages, because the technology to do things is improving relentlessly. Your station’s computer guru will be happy to point you to some of the most innovative sites available. And give you her own ideas for improving them.