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To our friends within public television
(especially stations sponsored by Verizon):
These are times that try
one's soul, yet good things can come out of difficult times and I believe this
is one of them.
A
long-standing friend of public television and SmallBusinessSchool has
had to pull back from soft advertising. They need a call to action (FCC does
not allow it on public television). Verizon's national marketing team needs to
be able to ask people for the order, "Call now."
However, hope is alive. We were told that
we could approach the Verizon Foundation (to build upon their Reading Literacy
work lifting up role models like Diversified Chemicals from our show)
and each of Verizon's state presidents (usually there is just one per state).
To get a return on their investment, we're asking each president to have one of
their staff interface with the station and SmallBusinessSchool to
facilitate that weekly collaboration event after each local
broadcast.
We're actively working on this now.
So we're asking each of the stations to bear with
us while we try to help each other create a value proposition for sponsors that
leverage the strengths of each station, the viewers, and
SmallBusinessSchool.
We are getting close with an emerging model for
New York and Syracuse (WCNY-TV) and for
Virginia and Norfolk (WHRO-TV). Once tested and textured, it
will be rolled out in every market throughout the country.
History: Verizon (and before that, Bell
Atlantic and Nynex) has sponsored SmallBusinessSchool since 1996. They
have been very generous to our local public television for many years. Today,
however, they are in a battle royal to define themselves and their own future.
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