• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, April 1, 2009

It's the recession and April 1 -- so start spending money on TV shows. This is no fool's joke.

Martin Sorrell, chief executive of WPP Group, said as much -- emphatically. "All our numbers show this, that the companies that invest in content in times of recession do better. But no matter how often you say that, no one ever does it," he told TV and media executives at  MIPTV, the international television conference in Cannes.

All this -- in theory -- makes sense. When the marketplace turns around, content owners will then be on the easy -- printing money -- street.

The $99,000 question: Where and how does one invest in this recession? Odds are that much new stuff -- be it mostly network TV programming -- will need to tread water until the marketplace comes back. Maybe this involves more deals like the one Omnicom Media Group's Full Circle Entertainment recently made with RDF Media. That is, find a way to get ongoing financial support, from national advertisers, for example, for a long-term slate of TV shows -- in this case, reality shows.

And also, content owners should do whatever they can to support and extend content with any and all new digital media services.

This is all well and good -- but what does one do to sell CBS a show these days?  If you are outside the network-TV-production internal system, where $3 million an episode in production costs for a typical TV drama only gives you back  $1.3 million to $1.8 million an episode in license fees from a network, you have a problem.

Maybe TV advertisers have to do more than just tap into branded entertainment deals. Maybe networks programming deals will have to incorporate some new models of advertiser funding efforts - that is, if advertisers still believe TV works. Maybe Full Circle/RDF Media have the answer.

I doubt this will ever truly happen on a wide scale. Advertisers still don't like the odds - not when 90% of all new TV shows fail to survive, or, of those that remain, fail to hit their initial viewership goals.

In good economic times, you need to be passionate, regardless of financial formulas. In trying economic times, you need to be delirious, Zen-like, cult-focused on your content -- irrespective of TV financial formulas.

Sure, invest now. But have some foolish, crazy ideas that go along with it. You'll have a great story to tell if, and when, you complete the ride. If you fail? So what!  Join the club.