[BC] Starguides: Going Away

[Rich Wood]

------ At 02:27 PM 4/26/2007, KKTY wrote: -------

>Jones called yesterday to see if I'd installed my new US Country 
>reciever yet... it requires either hi-speed or dial-up access. She 
>also said that for now, they weren't requiring stations to hook up 
>an off-air reciever to the box, as it was originally designed for. I 
>thought that was a bit Big-Brother-ish.

Talk to your Traffic Director. Ask him or her what the worst part of 
the job is. They'll probably tell you all the affidavits they have to 
fill out for program suppliers. The networks need the affidavits to 
ensure they get paid. The Internet connections are attempts to 
automate the process. I would suspect the reason for the off air 
receiver is to ensure the spots were actually broadcast rather than 
just being fired by the receiver.

Ad agencies often require "posts" or post audits of selected weeks of 
affidavits. If the station hasn't returned them the program supplier 
can't prove they delivered the audience promised. At ABC I cancelled 
a few stations that refused to return affidavits. Without them the 
network doesn't need the station as an affiliate. Picture a network 
not being able to claim the numbers of a highly rated major market 
station because the ad agency won't accept their ratings because 
there's no affidavit to back them up.

It's not being Big Brother. It's trying to keep your affiliate lists 
and ratings claims accurate and ease the burden on traffic 
departments, especially for Talk stations that take many shows from 
many networks. One of the reasons stations don't return them is that 
they didn't run the spots as promised in their contracts. Since an 
affidavit is a legal document, some stations are reluctant to swear 
to a Notary that they're true.

Rich