Tom Kane, chairman of the IRTS and president and CEO of CBS Television Stations, introduced the panel discussion.

(left to right) Tom Kane, CBS Television stations; Tom Wolzien, Wolzien LLC; Bill Cella, MAGNA Global Worldwide; Kathy Crawford, MindShare; Anita Newton, Sprint; John Muszynski, Starcom, USA; and Steve Grubbs, PHD USA

The panel, made up of industry leaders from media companies, all of whom are DDS clients, and the vice president of marketing from Sprint, a major advertiser, discussed the current media landscape. Panelists included Bill Cella, chairman and CEO, MAGNA Global Worldwide; Kathy Crawford, president of local broadcast, MindShare; Steve Grubbs, CEO, PHD USA; John Muszynski, CEO, Starcom, USA; and Anita Newton, VP, marketing, Sprint.

Tom Wolzien, media analyst and president of Wolzien LLC, emceed the event. He prompted the panel with questions about market trends, the future of the 30-second spot and the significance of the Web and interactive media.

Television Remains Strong
The panelists agreed that television and other traditional media will remain the mainstay of advertising for quite some time. Upfront will continue to be the main buying season; however, this will be supplemented by deals year-round. Advertisers will continue to search for innovative ways to interact with TV viewers, such as on station websites.

New Media Still Emerging
The panel was hard-pressed to define new media, as the industry is still in an exploratory stage. Panelists described their clients’ use of new media, but couldn’t predict which platforms will emerge with successful business models. Anita Newton, VP, marketing at Sprint, stated, “You’ll know it when you see it.” She informed the audience that Sprint has engaged in more than a dozen “new media” deals in the last two years. Each one has been different from the others. She urged everyone to do the same, so that the sustainable models start to percolate to the top. She also stated that most deals integrate several types of media.

Wanted: Partners
Newton stressed that what she really needs is not necessarily experts in new media, but smart businesspeople who will support her business and help her figure out what works and what doesn’t.

In fact, this was a theme repeated by many of the panelists. Their collective job is to help their clients get their messages to the right audiences. While this idea is simple to state, in a world where people are consuming more diverse forms of media every day, it becomes increasingly more complicated to execute successfully. “New media opportunities are being tested to see if advertisers get enough value and whether they are worth the premium we’re paying,” says John Muszynski of Starcom.

Commitment to the Industry
DDS is pleased to support IRTS events such as the Newsmaker Series, Gold Medal Award Dinner and Holiday Benefit, which help promote the IRTS’ goals of sharing insights and fostering dialog among industry players, and to create a shared body of knowledge about communication issues. DDS is also initiating discussions with its clients to develop systems that meet new media models as they emerge.

Visit the IRTS website at http://irts.org