• by Lydia Loizides , Op-Ed Contributor, November 6, 2008

If you believe in the power of the crowds, if you believe in the power of hope, and if you believe in the power of change, then this week has been quite a ride. But what I want to do is to look at what happened on the political landscape -- change -- and apply it to our business.

One of the most common grievances that people in our industry (the general entertainment & advertising industry, that is) have is the industry's resistance to change. This resistance spans from how we develop and how we produce to how we deliver and monetize. Yes, yes, there have been fundamental shifts, even disintermediation in some cases, but overall, we still have television "seasons," upfronts, scatter markets, windows, A&R departments, etc. Why?

Granted, these institutions have served us well -- but in a world where the digitization of content, any content, arguably rewrites the valuation of that content, how can we hang on to the ways of yesteryear? Fear of change.

The New York Post ran an article yesterday with the headline, TV AD SALES EXECS SAY SCATTER MARKET SHOT. Uplifting. What we should be asking, rather than lamenting, is, how can we do this better? Where are the market efficiencies, the integrations, the opportunities? I am at Web 2.0 this week, where yesterday Mary Meeks from Morgan Stanley said something that makes a lot of sense to me: find the opportunities in low CPMs. Play the arbitrage. In that statement, I see hope.

Taking a page, or should I say a line, from the president-elect, I would offer the industry these words: "The true genius of America [is] that America can change." If American can change, so can we. Let's figure it out.