Programmers’ Pet Peeves About Operators
Thank you for your tremendous response to my last post about operator pet peeves about programmers. As promised, this is the other side of that story–featuring the programmers’ pet peeves about cable operators! Please note that these “peeves” will not directly focus on the many issues associated with license fees and other contractual rights.
My Margin - The late Tony Cox, of HBO and Showtime fame, used to kid his operator friends about how they intensely focused on their margin. He used to refer to this as “M’margin,” intentionally merging the words. Programmers often cite that operators will do almost anything to protect their margins, and that they are often loathe to spend money.
Send Premiums and Tickets - Everybody loves a good premium. Programmers note that some operators focus way too heavily on getting the premiums, often at the price of getting other business with programmers accomplished. And operators are sometimes criticized for seeking large amounts of premium items to be given away at company gatherings, fairs and festivals, sporting and other events; as well as to customer service people.
Similarly, programmers point to the fact that they are often asked to secure expensive tickets to sporting events, concerts and plays–even when securing such tickets requires the programmers to pay hefty fees to ticket brokers to secure them!
Switcheroo – Every programmer can tell you about the times in which they invited cable operators to an event–only to have the operator pull a “switcheroo” and send a more junior person (such as the lead installer) in their place. Also, programmers are always peeved when operators RSVP that they will attend, and simply fail to show up. I know one programmer who intentionally “overbooks” operators at events, knowing that as many as half won’t actually attend. He has a future in airline reservations!
No Return - Some operators are known for not returning phone calls or emails from programmers. You can’t be a programming rep if this type of thing gets to you, but it’s high on their pet peeve lists.
No Results - Programmers often entice cable operators to engage in promotional efforts. These efforts sometimes include rewards ( such as merchandise) for participation and submission of results. Programmers are thus counting on participation are often dismayed when operators fail to deliver the results. Programmers are left to wonder if the operators actually participated or if they simply are failing to gather and send their results. It makes good analysis impossible.
So there you have it! There are pet peeves on both sides, but it’s a great business nonetheless!
