By Josh Sommers
Posted: March 19, 2010
Public relations geeks were tuned in, pardon the pun, to the recent conflict involving WABC-7 and Cablevision. The very public battle between the two companies temporarily led to dead air on Channel 7 for Cablevision subscribers.
Consumers usually don’t have a whole lot of patience when they get inconvenienced by spats between big corporations, especially when it creates doubt as to whether or not they can watch the Academy Awards. The programming interruption meant that WABC stood to upset longtime viewers and advertisers, while Cablevision could flat out lose subscribers to other options like satellite providers or Verizon. With a lot at stake, eachcompany deployed advertising campaigns to blame the other for the coming outage.
Cablevision cries ‘greed’
Cablevision ran full-page ads in newspapers defining WABC’s threats as motivated simply by “greed.” The company also ran informational blocks on Channel 7, minus WABC’s programming, explaining their side of the story. That included accusations that WABC’s demands could cost Americans more than $1 billion and that the network is trying to support its executive salaries and bonuses and struggling theme parks. Cablevision even called out the network’s CEO for millions of dollars in pay while the company conducts layoffs.
During the weeks leading up to ABC going off Cablevision, the network made the case that Cablevision already charges subscribers $18 per month for basic broadcast signals and they have not been included in sharing that revenue. ABC, in various external media, reminded the public of Cablevision’s history of money battles with content providers, most recently with HGTV and Food Network. A blip on WABC prior to the sign off said, “Cablevision has betrayed you again.” Viewers were encouraged to visit SaveABC7.com to switch their service away from Cablevision.
Message overload
Both companies recognized that their feud, which spilled into the living rooms of 3 million viewers in the Tri-state area, had no real winners. For the public relations professionals working on either side of this war, the challenge was to educate and energize a typically unengaged public. With both sides going nuclear, the campaigns created message overload for many. Oftentimes in these circumstances, the public ends up writing these situations off as simply greedy corporations putting them last.
This is where business strategy can conflict with maintaining a good corporate image. Either way, no side won, but ABC, while taking some temporary bruises, invested in an aggressive business strategy that would create long-term, predictable revenue. While Cablevision did a great job with message development and getting its side out, the company just didn’t need this type of negative attention in a very competitive industry.
The good news: As a Cablevision subscriber, I can say that the Academy Awards were great.
Josh Sommers is president and CEO of Focus Media, a leading Hudson Valley advertising and public relations agency. He can be reached at josh@advertisingandpr.com or 294-3342, ext. 303. Read his blog at www.advertisingandpr.com. His column appears Fridays.
