• by October 20, 2004

WHAT, WE WORRY? - Here we were sitting around, fretting about the precarious state of the world, the economy, and especially the media business, and about things as micro as clutter, ad effectiveness, and just what the heck "ROI" actually means. We were worrying about issues as macro as the geo-political climate, terrorism, and whether the price of oil will hit $50 a barrel, all of these things, when the reassuring investment banking team at The Jordan Edmiston Group (JEGI) came along and gave a reason to stop.

Well, sort of. Actually, what JEGI chief Wilma Jordan told us was, "I'm not going to stay awake worrying. Neither should you."

Thank goodness, because we have so many other things keeping us up late at night. They're called MediaPost copy deadlines. But we've always liked Jordan ever since we first got to know her when she was running the show at Esquire magazine. She's personable, clearly smart, and imbues a strong sense of confidence in everything she says. Plus she's a powerful dealmaker, so she must know what she's talking about. When she tells us to stop worrying, we will.

But what we really wanted to know was why Jordan's not worrying and how she manages to get all that beauty sleep when she's brokering billions in media industry M&A deals. Well, she didn't' exactly answer our second question, but she had a very logical response to the first one.

"We've dubbed the current business environment the 'New Normal,'" she explained, adding, "At its core is the uncertainty brought on by the social-political unrest that has entwined all of the world's markets. As a result of this global interdependence, there are more risk factors beyond our control than most of us have ever faced."

Gosh, the "new normal" kind of reminds us of the "old snafu."

But worry not, says Jordan, because uncertain times are actually good for the media business. Which makes us think that it's been some time since Jordan has had to ask a media buyer to commit to a schedule of ads in a monthly magazine.

Of course, she says, they're only good for media people who are willing to "adapt," "retool," and "drive a new stake in the ground." To help media folk figure out exactly which stakes to drive, and which ones not to, the team at JEGI polled some key stakeholders: the CEOs of independent media companies.

"Our good friend Bruce Boyd summed it up very well," said Jordan, paraphrasing the Amos Press Inc. president: "Do I stay awake worrying at night? Heck no - it's my job to adapt and change."

However, at least one media stakeholder still fears a stake in their heart. "The things that worry me most are the things that are out of our control, such as another terrorist attack or a bad economy," acknowledged Joel Davis, president and CEO of JD Events.

Thanks, Joel. That's what we were thinking. And we still haven't figured out how to retool those things.

WHAT KEEPS THE FOLKS AT BLOCKBUSTER VIDEO UP LATE AT NIGHT? HINT, IT'S NOT COUNTING THE LATE FEE RECEIPTS - If there were any doubts that the video rental marketplace is coming to an end, cable giant Comcast and the children's programming impresarios at PBS and Sesame Workshop have put it to rest in a deal announced early this morning.

The deal, which also includes London-based HIT Entertainment, will form - as previously announced - a 24- hour digital cable TV channel for preschool children. While that should give everyone from Disney to Discovery Networks to Nickelodeon fits, it is not what will have the marketing team at Blockbuster staying up late at night making copies of their resumes at Kinkos.

That will be caused by the second part of the venture's announcement: to form a companion video-on-demand (VOD) service aimed at preschoolers.

The VOD service, which launches in early 2005, will be available to any cable operator in the United States and will offer more than 50 hours of programming for preschoolers. The reason this represents a threat to the Blockbusters of the world is that kids - especially the kind of wee little tikes that watch PBS Kids and Sesame Workshop's programming - are the same ones that drag parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and babysitters to the local video chain.

If they can get the same immediate gratification of accessing digital quality videos right on their TV sets, well then they may just skip the trip to the video store, where parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and babysitters might also pick up some grown-up entertainment, not to mention some Junior Mints, Cracker Jacks, and one of those microwaveable tubs of Blockbuster popcorn. Okay, so they still have the helium balloons. Pop!