Clear Blue Skies

This Tuesday marks my last day of adventure at CBS' Wireless division, with my decision to exit, or more my agreement with my boss that I would exit since we could not come to (logical) agreement over some key elements of the divisional structure.

The experience, while it hasn't been great, has certainly opened up other doors, and on top that has provided some excellent perspective on a few things about this brave new world of of alternative media.

One:
New (alternative) media executives, for the most part, do not have a firm grasp on the realities of what drives their business. By that, I mean that there is not a clear understanding of the things that make producing content a tricky, expensive, and time consuming endeavor.

While the strategic opportunities for some really innovative programming and divisional synergies are there, the groundwork, the foundations for doing so must lie on leadership that understands, really understands the business of the people whose product their business relies on. A global grasp of ALL the moving parts and their values is critical to turning drought-ridden land of digital media (inside of Old Media) into fertile soil.

Two:
Just like many other distributors, the sneak-around is alive and well. Some of the strategic and legal implications of what is going on in this business right now, is disturbing from a Producer's standpoint. A lot of it comes dangerously close to destroying some very important production company relationships if these things are not pro-actively handled.

But there's no rain in sight, and clear blue skies are not always a good thing. There's plenty of people basking in the sun, but the things required to support life (food and water) are nowhere to be seen.