Henry Schleiff

Bigger Doesn’t Mean Better
January 16, 2007

There is little question that America has evolved into a "Supersized" country. I guess it was McDonald’s that coined the term, but “bigger” has been part of the American psyche at least as far back as our nation’s westward expansion.

And there’s nothing inherently wrong with “bigger,” in most cases. Bigger holiday bonuses and bigger football linemen are good things, for sure. When it comes to media ownership, though, I think we need to recognize that bigger is fine, but smaller is an important component of the mix, as well.

I’m not going to stand on my independent-network soapbox and rail against media conglomerates, because they do offer certain benefits. For advertisers, there’s no denying that big media companies offer some interesting cross-platform and multinetwork opportunities, and from a business standpoint, they can operate more efficiently through the elimination of redundancy.

But there still needs to be room in the media landscape for the independents. Let’s look at the case of cable-network ownership as an example. Back in the day, the cable industry consisted mostly of independent networks. As time went by, the most successful of these networks begat other new networks, and then those same programmers gobbled up many of the independent programmers. So there aren’t too many of us left these days and, believe me, it’s getting harder and harder to compete.

Independents can’t play the retransmission card; we have to sink or swim on our own merits. And that’s where our industry is in trouble. When an independent network like Hallmark Channel, a consistent top-10 ratings generator and family-friendly programmer, can only generate a small fraction of what bundled networks get in per-subscriber license fees, something is drastically wrong with our industry. If a network like Hallmark has to fight for survival, that is, a network with solid ratings and programming that fulfills what everyone acknowledges is a need for family-friendly content, you know we are on the precipice of seeing independent networks -- and the innovation and content diversity that they bring -- vanish forever.

In the world of media, bigger is fine, but it’s just one approach. The cable industry needs to support the independent programmers that fill important programming voids. Our industry was built on programming innovation and by the mavericks who so often put their necks on the line to bring their visions to life. It would be a shame -- and an irreparable loss -- for the cable business if this independent spirit were to be eradicated.

Posted by Henry Schleiff on January 16, 2007 | Comments (1)