Real-Life Communication
Television programmers must be good communicators. They may have
to work with producers and filmmakers who want to sell their productions to
them. They have to tell them what's working and what's not, says Michele Paris.
She is the program coordinator for a public television station.
"Also,
once you [have] got a schedule together, you have to be able to communicate
it very effectively to the rest of the organization [that] is going to package
and promote and market your shows. So you have to be able to discuss it with
other people in a way that is clear, but also gets them excited about that
kind of programming, gets them motivated."
You are the program coordinator
for a television station. The station has to decide whether to air a new reality-based
television program called Outcasts. As the program coordinator, you want the
station to air it.
But the decision is not entirely up to you. Some
members of the advertising department have reservations about airing the new
show because it would replace the popular sitcom Buddies that has been running
for several years.
In fact, your station has aired the show since it
started seven years ago. Over those years, it has developed a loyal base of
fans and advertisers. Supporters of Buddies say that the station might lose
viewers and advertisers if it is replaced by the new show. The station manager
has set up a meeting to discuss this question.
To build support for
your position before the meeting, you decide to write a letter in favor of
airing the new show. Below are points to support your argument. When you write
the letter, try to address the concerns of those who are against airing the
new show.
- The new show is next in the Outcasts series. It would air at 8 p.m. on
Thursdays. It generated large ratings last year. Viewers talked about it all
the time.
- A competing television station will air the new show.
- The early buzz surrounding this new show is encouraging.
- The station might be able to move Buddies to an earlier time-slot if there
is support for it.
- The station did not air Outcasts last year. That was a mistake because
the show made a lot of money for the stations that aired it.