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In headline after headline last week, we saw the publicly traded companies share their quarterly earnings reports, and there was a consistent pattern. Take out last year’s summer Olympics and core revenue is basically flat across the industry, maybe up just a tad.

That’s in a GREAT economy, with nearly full employment, a booming stock market, and so far not much disruption from an auto slowdown that we think is on the way. Could it be that these will be the good old days?

If a flat business doesn’t bother you, you should probably go back to paying attention to Sunday Night Football. But I know a lot of the leaders in our industry, and flat revenue bothers the hell out of them. It bothers me, as well.

In the simplest terms, we’re in a time of change. Actually, it’s been going on for a little while now. We used to be a business where demand exceeded supply. Like many of you, I grew up in that TV business. It was easy to be brilliant. Now, I realize that I wasn’t as smart as I thought – I just had great timing.

Today, it’s the opposite. We have way too much supply and not enough demand, especially in a year with no political or Olympics. If you look at the significant drop in national and the ongoing slippage of our auto revenue, 2017 is the year where the reduction of demand is becoming especially obvious.

Lower demand is scary because an entire market starts to scramble for the available business. When I share with a group of managers that the TV business “manages to take a 5% reduction in demand and successfully negotiate it into a 15% reduction in our business,” I hear a laughter of identification.

So, at all levels of our business—sales managers, general managers, and corporate—our focus needs to be on how we can increase demand.

The Demand Factors:

1. Ratings. As sales leaders, we have little control over this one. But, like many of you, I’ve worked for dominant stations and those that are “ratings-challenged.” There’s no question there’s more demand for the dominant station. Great ratings create demand for sure.

2. Owning KEY accounts. These are the station’s largest accounts. If you have truly built partnerships with the actual decision makers here, that has impact.

3. The size of your sales staff. Many reading this remember when Mel Karmazin took over the CBS TV stations in the late 90’s and forced them to double the size of their sales staffs. I thought there were lots of flaws in how they did that, mostly because it became a “survival of the fittest” with little training, but Mel was inherently right. Ten people will produce more demand for your inventory than five. Having a bigger sales staff is a huge demand factor. What’s your plan?

4. Structural sales staff changes, with a goal of increasing sales call numbers. I applaud the groups that are looking for ways to do this. One major company is adding back sales assistants to help AE’s get out more. Many have moved the non-DMA local business away from local AE’s to free them up for more development time.

5. Superior AE selling skills. If your people can’t sell, then adding more AE’s and restructuring to increase call counts is like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. I think this is a real biggie. Because the last 20 years in our business have been so focused on demand management, rather than demand creation, most of the AE’s in our business today simply aren’t anywhere near strong enough at the basics of selling. Some companies are already focused on this and my sense is we’ll all need to ramp up this effort even more. It should be a priority for everyone.

6. Management relationships with clients. Ever compete with a station where the management is deeply connected to a lot of clients? It’s a real demand factor and one on which we can work. Regular readers of my commentary know I strongly believe in GM’s and sales managers spending more time out of the office interacting with clients. This is why. It can help you increase your demand.

7. Quality production. Not pretty production, but having a team with the ability to produce ads that work and therefore renew. Here’s one of the saddest things I see. A client new to TV doesn’t get the results they deserve because production produces pretty ads that don’t sell. This is a fixable problem.

8. Customer-focused digital sellers. A decade ago, our digital people were usually brought into a client by that client’s current TV rep. Today, I see more and more situations where it’s the opposite. Let’s face it. Digital services is becoming more and more a commodity business. That makes smart digital sellers, who truly understand how to solve client marketing problems and are also great communicators, critical. We have massive churn in our digital products (a subject for another article), but when a station has a great digital sales team, they create client loyalty. And loyalty is a demand factor for sure.

9. Promotional selling. We have to create revenue with great ideas. I know of stations that create ideas for big industrial accounts. Another has experimented with someone who knows how to access grant money. Another station encourages their AE’s to get creative with a cause they personally feel strongly about. Promotional selling today is way more than creating a Holiday retail package or selling your one-hour special 4x a year. Every station will need to have a budget for this kind of selling as we go forward.

10. A new business program that’s on steroids. Do you think you’re good at new business now? How would you double that? It’s not just about increasing the number of calls. It’s also about working to get higher closing percentages and to increase opening order size, and making sure that a big piece of the compensation for everyone in management is tied to success in this area.

11. Creating an UPGRADE mentality. Our Jim Doyle & Associates training program is called UPGRADE Selling®. We believe that the easiest way to grow revenue is from existing clients. We’re fanatics about new business and we teach AE’s how to ask for bigger dollars in new business than they’re comfortable with. But if you asked me for the quickest way to grow revenue, it’s from existing clients who already believe in TV and your stations, and have a relationship with your people. But that will not happen without a plan.

That’s my list. I’m sure you might put other things on it, but the real question is what should you do as a result of moving towards managing the demand factors you can control?

A simple exercise might be to work with your sales management team on a “Demand Creation SWOT” exercise – Strengths… Weaknesses… Opportunities… Threats.

Some of the things on this list (and anything you might add)…
  -What are we doing well?
  -What do we need to improve?
  -What should make us nervous?
  -What of the Demand factors would give us the biggest lift in sales?

The business growth guru, Dan Kennedy, always says, “Little action=Little results. Massive action=Massive results. That was his advice to the entrepreneurs he coached in the recession and it’s my advice to my TV colleagues today. Kennedy believes we have more control over our destiny than we think. You can call me an optimist, but I agree with him.

We can continue to take relatively incremental steps to solve the demand creation problem, but this week’s earning reports suggest we might want to step it up. We’ve got 14 months before we hit 2019. Most of us will have a great 2018, so that gives us a window to get a whole lot better at creating the demand we’ll need to help grow our revenue in the future.


Jim Doyle and the JDA team are passionate about helping sales managers get better. One of the ways they do that is the Sales Manager’s High Performance Boot Camp. This program gets rave reviews with a combination of real-world ideas and inspirational outside speakers. Our next Boot Camp is in Tampa, January 2018. More info: Boot Camp 2018 

There may be no better investment you can make in your future than to help your sales manager to get better.

About Ken Marks

Ken Marks is a Senior Marketing Consultant for JDA.media

Ken has spent the last 30+ years working closely with hundreds of small and mid-sized business owners and ad agencies, helping them navigate and leverage the ever-changing media landscape of television, streaming TV, digital, and radio.

Marks began his career in radio advertising in Central Florida. He spent 15 years at Gross Communications where he became the VP/GM of the company’s radio, print, and digital divisions. He went on to manage several more stations at Cox Media Group where he hired, managed, and trained the first digital-only sales team.

Ken then spent nearly 10 years as a marketing consultant with the Hearst Corporation at WESH 2 NBC and Hearst Digital in Central Florida. He earned the company’s prestigious Eagle award three times, given to the most valuable marketing consultant in each market that achieves all goals and consistently demonstrates an expertise in digital and television marketing.

In 2013, Ken launched Marks Media Group, Inc., a marketing agency specializing in web design, SEO, SEM, traditional and digital advertising. His expertise in digital is quickly extending to the world of AI. With a working knowledge of tools like n8n, Bubble, and Zapier, his goal is to build automated workflows that make businesses and marketers more productive.

For several years, Ken and his wife Jennifer owned a successful retail franchise called “Once Upon a Child.” They also own and manage several short and long-term rental properties. Ken has a unique ability to relate to business owners and knows exactly what it is like to invest money in advertising.

Marks grew up in St. Louis, Missouri and graduated from Missouri State University. He and Jennifer reside in Orlando, Florida and have two boys and a girl (a Marine pilot in-training, a Sophomore at the University of Florida, and a beautiful 13-year-old daughter and MVP volleyball player).

When not working Ken loves to spend time with his family, boat, and fish on Lake Conway, play guitar, piano, and attempt to build just about anything.

About Brittany Tomjanovich

Brittany Tomjanovich is the Director of Client Services & Operations at JDA.media.

 Since entering the media industry in 2011, Brittany has built her career around operational excellence, strategic thinking, and a relentless focus on making systems work smarter. She thrives behind the scenes—connecting dots, refining processes, and strengthening the systems that power broadcast success.

 Her career began at WKOW, Madison’s ABC affiliate, where she quickly advanced from sales assistant to a key member of the station’s sales and programming operations. She later served as Broadcast Group Sales Coordinator at Quincy Media Inc., training support staff across 16 markets and acting as a vital liaison to executive leadership.

 Today, Brittany plays a critical role in shaping both the client experience and operational infrastructure at JDA.media. Whether optimizing internal systems or contributing to client-facing strategy, she’s valued for her creative problem-solving, sharp attention to detail, and ability to turn complex challenges into smooth, scalable solutions.

 A proud graduate of the University of Wisconsin–Madison (On Wisconsin!), Brittany lives in Blue Mounds, WI, with her husband, Tyler, and their two children, Hailey and Mason.

 A quirky, outdoorsy introvert with a creative streak and a soft spot for sasquatch, she brings a calm, curious energy to everything she takes on. Whether she’s balancing a busy family schedule, exploring the outdoors, or diving into her latest craft or home project, she’s forever in motion—finding joy in the little things along the way.

 

About Margie Chilson

Margie Chilson is a Senior Marketing Consultant for JDA.media.

Her vast experience includes over three decades in broadcast television and digital sales marketing, working in and with multiple markets and affiliations including Dallas-Fort Worth at WFAA, Denver at KUSA-KTVD, KMGH, KWGN, and as a team manager at Millennium Television Sales in Dallas.

Margie’s years as a local seller were award-winning and inspiration for her jump to JDA.media. She exceeded new business and digital goals on a consistent basis at Belo Corp, Scripps, Tribune, and TEGNA Inc. stations.

A true innovator, Margie pioneered job-sharing positions in Dallas and Denver, balancing hectic work schedules and family, paving the way for working parents with careers in media sales.

Margie is well known and respected for her diligence, drive, and new business results utilizing both linear and digital video. She embraces the changing media environment and implements ChatGPT into the creative process.

Due to her years in the business as an account executive and sales leader, she knows the station environment well and can easily relate to local sellers as well as the most senior managers.

An alum of Oklahoma State University who graduated with Honors in Journalism Advertising, Margie boasts an outstanding track record of helping business owners strategically grow their revenue through broadcast, streaming and digital solutions.

Margie and her husband Tim have been married since 1998. The couple live in Morrison, CO, a suburb of Denver. Their son, Ryan, recently graduated from the University of Colorado Boulder, and their daughter, Mary, is attending Boise State University. 

In her spare time, Margie enjoys travel, hiking the picturesque Rocky Mountains, cooking, watching movies, and seeing concerts at Red Rocks Amphitheater.

 

 

 

 

 

About Jim Stoos

Jim Stoos is SVP, Revenue Drives at JDA.media.

For over 25 years, Jim has crafted successful marketing programs for thousands of local businesses.

Jim’s expansive media experience has been filled with delivering significant advertising results utilizing broadcast, digital, cable, and radio.

His specialty is helping small-to-medium-sized businesses address sales and marketing challenges while developing game-changing strategies with real-world creative solutions.

Prior to joining JDA.media, Jim held strategic media leaderships positions such as Local Sales manager, General Manager, and Regional Vice President at broadcast television and cable companies in the Midwest.

As a RVP Jim helped launch a successful suite of digital marketing solutions for his sales division. It was here he developed a deep knowledge of how to best leverage various digital platforms and solutions.

Since joining JDA, he has used his experience, marketing knowledge, and JDA.media’s foundational marketing principles, to help sellers and media marketers develop growth campaigns. Each one having positively impacted local business owners’ success. 

Jim lives in Bettendorf, Iowa, with his sweetheart Stacy, and his two sons.

For years he has worked as a dedicated member of Iowa’s Big Brothers Big Sisters program. Jim was a multi-sport college athlete and today enjoys running in competitive track meets for “old guys”.

In his spare time Jim enjoys working out with his boys (both scholarship track athletes at St. Ambrose University in Davenport), fishing, camping, and riding horses with Stacy.

 

 

 

 

holly allenAbout Holly Allen

Holly Allen is a JDA.media Senior Marketing Consultant.

With over 30-years in the media industry, including five plus years as President & General Manager of FOX23 and MY41 in Tulsa, OK, Holly has developed a deep expertise in many facets of media. However, her true passion is working directly with local businesses.

Her “no box” thinking and creative mind allow her to design effective marketing strategies that drive significant results.

Holly believes the first step to helping a local business grow is to “peel back the layers”, uncovering their unique needs, goals, and opportunities. Next, she formulates and executes a thorough, well-rounded marketing plan that exceeds their expectations.

She enjoys the brainstorming process and seeing clients get enthusiastic when her strategies bring their business to unprecedented levels of success.

In addition, Holly embraces all technology, including AI, and leverages well various digital marketing extensions for her clients.

Experts say the greatest predictor of success is past success, which rings especially true with Holly’s career. She started in media at an advertising agency, moved into local broadcast sales and marketing and quickly rose through the ranks into leadership roles.

Most recently Holly founded All-en Media, LLC, where she works with local business clients in various categories, including auto, banking, and retail.

A proud graduate of Oklahoma State University, she lives in Tulsa, OK. Her daughter, Lila, attends the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and her son, Henry, a Michigan grad lives in NYC, New York.

Holly enjoys long outdoor walks and hikes, visiting with family and friends, and volunteering her time to local causes.

 

About John Hillary

John Hillary is Senior Vice President at JDA.media, where he leads national sales and strategy initiatives focused on helping media partners grow revenue through fully integrated, results-driven marketing solutions — including broadcast television, CTV/OTT, and targeted digital campaigns.

Since 2006, John has worked directly with thousands of small-to-medium-sized businesses, developing high-performing advertising strategies that consistently deliver measurable results.

His expertise spans a wide range of platforms, with a strong focus in recent years on streaming television, paid digital media, and data-driven audience targeting.

John began his media career with New Revenue Solutions (NRS) in Atlanta, GA, consulting for 25 different media outlets across the U.S. and Canada. As one of NRS Media’s lead consultants, he guided television, radio, cable, print, and digital partners in building innovative marketing programs that helped hundreds of local advertisers grow their businesses.

His success in revenue development led him to WCIU-TV in Chicago, where he served as an Account Executive, collaborating with local, regional, and national advertisers to create competitive, effective campaigns in one of the country’s largest media markets.

John joined JDA.media in 2017 as a Senior Marketing Consultant and was promoted to Senior Vice President in 2023. In his current role, he works closely with media companies, sales teams, and local business owners nationwide to generate new business opportunities through smart, modern marketing strategies that blend traditional and emerging platforms.

A native of Grand Rapids, Michigan, John is a graduate of the University of Michigan and a lifelong Wolverines fan.

He lives in Roswell, Georgia, with his wife Katie and their three children, Nora, Henry and Jules.

 

 

About Billie Adkins

Billie Adkins is a Senior Marketing Consultant for JDA.media.

She is known for her sharp strategic insight and creative horsepower, creating strategies that get dramatic results for advertisers.

Decision-makers and owners value Billie’s candor, curiosity, and ability to ask the kind of provocative questions that lead to the development of distinct and effective media campaigns. Campaigns that demand attention and drive consumer action.

With over 30 years in the media industry, Billie Sue Adkins has cultivated a comprehensive professional background, holding a range of leadership and management positions in sales. Her career began in news and sports broadcasting, later expanding into key roles in station promotion and market research.

This broad foundation equipped Billie with a deep understanding of both content creation and audience engagement, as well as the operational and strategic aspects of media management.

Billie’s leadership style reflects the JDA.media philosophy: every business is unique – and so are the pathways to success.

She leverages all media platforms to drive results for local businesses. Billie ensures each campaign is optimized for format, placement, and performance. Her expertise in digital strategy allows her to fine-tune messaging, targeting, and delivery for precision results, helping businesses maximize reach, relevance, and revenue.

Billie resides in Ohio with her husband Mark and two children, Kara and Seth.  She spends her free time watching her kids play sports or traveling with her family.