A Meeting of the Minds
By Allison Romano -- Broadcasting & Cable, 4/17/2006
Television Bureau of Advertising (TVB) President Chris Rohrs has a clear message for the 1,100 or so station executives who will be attending the 2006 TVB Annual Marketing Conference on April 20: Stations that want to stay strong are going to have climb aboard the new tech platforms where viewers and advertisers are migrating.
Indeed, the theme for the confab at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York is Television Goes Multi-Platform, a declaration that the local spot-TV market is changing with the times and the technology.
Rohrs recognizes that advertisers are mixing their ad buys like never before. This year's conference will push the importance of station Web sites not just as afterthoughts, but as an important part of a station's overall advertising strategy.
Also at this year's conference, TVB and B&C will honor one of broadcasting's true giants: Belo's Jack Sander. He's Broadcasting & Cable's Broadcaster of the Year, recognized for a distinguished career that will end with his retirement at the end of the year. He has had a heck of a ride. Belo's WWL New Orleans was the only station to stay on the air throughout Hurricane Katrina, a feat that will be one of Sander's proudest achievements.
On the pages that follow, read about Sander, WWL, and the new mode of local broadcasting that is reshaping broadcast television from top to bottom.
