Cable hardball or satellite long jump?

by Roger Pynn

It may be poetic that Hearst Television chose Major League Baseball’s All-Star break as the week it would play hardball with Bright House Networks over its carriage agreement … not to mention the looming excitement of the Olympic Games in London.  But you have to wonder what message a broadcaster is really sending to its viewers and advertisers by pulling this plug in an age when most viewers get their signals via a third-party system.  Hearst owns WESH-TV here in Central Florida.

I found it interesting that Orlando Sentinel TV Guy Hal Boedeker pointed out that WESH fans were being forced to watch weathercasts from a stand-in station in Central Pennsylvania.  Stations like WESH make a big deal of their weather coverage.  In fact, they can drive you crazy with wall-to-wall coverage of a storm somewhere in the region that will never affect you.  Once these media giants kiss and make up, I wonder who viewers will turn to … Channel 2’s FIRST ALERT WEATHER or WFTV’s Severe Weather CENTER 9?

Meanwhile, the folks at DIRECTV and DISH Network must love the calls they’re no doubt getting after WESH warns that it may be time “in light of this impasse” to make alternate arrangements that might just include switching from cable to satellite.

Social Media

by Vianka McConville

I came across a list of five ways small businesses get social media wrong.  I come across similar lists frequently.  Social media is a great marketing and public relations tool that does not have a hard cost, but as the article mentions, time is valuable.  It is also a medium built for two-way communication (meaning it won’t be all positive, all the time) often times leading to a cry for help.  It is incredibly easy for anyone to get social media “wrong,” especially since there really are no rules and social media faux pas are created by enough followers that agree.

The article stresses creating good content that builds a community, quality over quantity.  Agreed.  Every social media platform has its nuances, such as Twitter with the best times to tweet and what to write for retweets.  It is good to have direction, however, I don’t always agree with advice from social media “gurus” or experts.

To me, social media is organic.  People try very hard to put social media into a box that it just will not fit into.  While tips are appreciated to navigate this ever-changing network, a discriminating eye is key.