• by John Gaffney , July 16, 2002

Mogul Memo: Every year at about this time the media media hitters meet in Idaho for a look at where the media business is and isn't. I suggest to the Pittmans, Malones and Redstones that they stop worrying about their own personal fortunes and maintain their focus on developing three things. One is a renewed mission to provide the best programming for consumers and advertisers. Content is everything and I beleive a media company's stock price is only as good as a media company's content. The second is developing the best ad program possible to take advantage of big media synergies, not just for the sake of doing a big deal. Third, find ways for employees to become invested in the future of your company. Stock options are over for now. New ways to be vested in the success of a media company need to be considered. If these things are not brought to the fore, the media moguls will have an even tougher time at next year's event.

PBS Hassles: The press is taking a fair amount of shots at PBS lately for working sponsor messages too close to programming. I say back off. PBS is trying like everybody else to struggle by in a tough environment. They're not doing anything wrong by being more aggressive with sponsor involvement.

Bad Stock Days: The stock market is scary. But you know it strikes me as funny that companies that sell tangible things to people are doing well. Autos, packaged goods and pharmeceuticals will be OK. And they're already healthy in their ad spending so far this year.