Memo to Programming Execs

Programmers and MSOs need to do a better job coordinating marketing efforts, said MSO marketing execs presenting at an afternoon tutorial session at CTAM Summit in Boston. "We’re all trying to figure out how to make this work for everybody," said Vicki Lins, vp, mktg and comm at Comcast Spotlight. But she said "the partnership is a 2-way street" that requires both sides to treat each other fairly when organizing marketing and ad campaigns. Jerry McKenna, CableONE’s strategic mktg vp, urged nets to accept higher CPMs because MSOs "have less and less pricing flexibility" in light of competition and must increase ad rev. But at the same time, he called for universal license fees rather than preferential rates for higher-sub MSOs. "We believe there’s no cost justification for that," he said. Meanwhile, he requested more content that goes beyond typically youth- oriented demos ("24 percent of our households are retired. They need programming.") and simpler carriage requirements that are consistent across regions. Meanwhile, Nancy Heffernan, Cox dir, video mktg mgmt, urged nets not to risk long-term MSO relationships (Ex: Pitching campaigns to GMs directly rather than going through proper mktg channels). Heffernan’s other advice: Venture into the field to find out what’s happening at the system level and regularly solicit feedback from MSOs on how to improve mktg relationships.