Broadcasting
Regional News Network

Paid Programming / Direct Response Advertising Sales,

New York, NY - USA, based search
FMS OIC reporting to CFO, New York, NY USA

Client: A regional broadcaster with cable television, RF and satellite distribution.

The broadcaster recently received “must carry” and with increased inventory and an expanded penetration into DMA 1 they desired increased revenue from paid programming and Direct Response by attracting the proper sales professional.

Search: Paid Programming Advertising Sales Executive

Client Situation: The CFO identified Filcro Media Staffing to conduct the search and subsequently introduced the OIC to the President of the Network.

The President and CFO required a person with sales and operational experience to hone the Network’s tactical functionality while formalizing sales operations to interface more effectively with advertising agencies and clients.

Universe Compilation - Industry and Sector inclusion:

• National Cable TV Networks
• Regional Cable Networks
• Broadcast Networks

FMS was retained.

FMS proceeded to determine the needs of the network form a budget perspective. It became clear in a brief period of time the ideal environments that the firm would draw from to meet the tactical sales requirements of the position.  From an operational perspective with regard to traffic, planning and inventory there were a number of firms that offered clear benefits to the client. Properly mixing the sales and operational acumen was key to this search.

The client opted to have their original universe compilation include operational skill sets for back-office functions. This “option” greatly increased the the pool of candidates but we were quickly able to discern the viable prospects by their capacity to meet or exceed budget.

Some of the biggest challenges facing the new (DNS) were:

• Expansion of New Markets
• Developing Brand Awareness
• New Business Development
• Client Relationship Building
• Educating Clients About the Network’s Audience
• Change Management
• Ability to Work Independently with fewer Resources then in Previous Environment.

Solution: FMS proceeded to identify "happily engaged" paid programming and direct response sales executives with a proven record of success within the client company’s demographic.  Subsequently we recruited those identified and qualified them based on the Network’s schedule.

Our top three candidates were all capable of working autonomously and focusing on generating income while building the firm’s sales infrastructure.  It was apparent however that the professional ecology of one candidate more closely resembled the ecology of the client company and they were ultimately hired.

We were fortunate that the the CFO had exceptional mentoring skills and he was clear from the onset as to the weighting of strategic and tactical skills that were most desired so he could mold this person to fit into the firm’s long term plans.

Successful candidate identified: A media planner who also functioned as an account executive for one of the largest regional broadcasters in the United States.

She was responsible for paid programming sales and maximizing revenue for a highly regarded group of broadcast properties that were closely related to our client company’s current and future programming objectives. Her capacity to sell inventory, create proposals and service accounts by interacting with outside agencies and internal traffic departments to ensure all schedules were booked correctly and run accordingly while researching and resolving invoice discrepancies with accounting was ideal. From rates cards to media kits to programming information to developing and maintaining strong client relationships and managing a $20 million budget, the executive we identified had the tactical and operational skills desired.

She clearly was able to manage the day-to-day operation of the traffic department. This included overseeing the production of the program logs, supervising order entry for two networks and internally maintaining paid programming and direct response commercial inventory, balancing revenue in both Paradigm and Dealmaker and generating monthly billing batches for both Networks.

It is our opinion that this executive’s strength came from learning the business from the ground up. Our capacity to attract her was based partly on the fact that she was not identified by her company as the asset that she was.  Here was a clear case of under utilized talent that was not allowed to grow in her current environment.

The cultural fit was proper from the beginning and the President & CEO liked her soft as well as her hard skills.

The executive’s transition over to the new Network went very well and the CFO played a key role in acclimating this paid programming executive in the proper manner.  She has proven to be highly productive in every area desired by the client company.

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