I love the way Google Finance can output a chronology of a company’s major press stories against its stock price over time. Examining some of the major conglomerate television / media stocks I became curious to know what it would look like if I charted a company’s share price against its ratings performance over time. While CABLEU.tv analysts monitor ratings performance every month, I’ve yet to see anything that endeavors to visually illustrate the relationship between viewership and stock value.

The above chart is the result of my effort for Discovery Communications (NASDAQ: “DISCA”) and I have affectionately titled this work of art, “Statistical Masochism.”

My analysis: To put this graph in perspective, Discovery Communications has gone from $14 / share in April 2006 to its closing price today of $41.69. That’s 300% growth over the past five years!!! Meanwhile, Discovery’s ratings haven’t seen anywhere near that sort of upward trajectory, with the last few months down 10-25% from April 2006.

Sure, we’re comparing two different things impacted by a huge number of variable and to really work towards some more satisfactory conclusion about the correlation between ratings and share price I’d have to chart out the ratings for all of Discovery Communication’s channels (maybe I will in a future post) but at the very least I can say comfortably, from this effort, that if the stock price accurately reflects the actual growth in the strength of the company that Discovery’s acquisitions, channel swaps and rebranding efforts have been effective in creating shareholder value.

Granted, I’m no W. Buffet, and I realize Science and I.D. are way up, but I’d probably be more comfortable as an investor if I started to see the thick blue of the flagship channel pushing up above the red line in pace with share price! All things considered, I’d want viewer-interest in my flagship product to be in line with investor interest in my company.

To actually read about what’s going on at Discovery Channel, click here to read our latest analysis.

Note on scale: I’ve scaled the ratings percentage change to match the percentage change in share price by setting the y-axis extreme to 300% which, as mentioned, is the approximate share price percentage change over the past five year. So, while we’re not comparing the same units we’re seeing a pretty accurate view of their percentage-based relationship. The y-axis for the shaded area is price per share and the y-axis for the solid line is ratings percentage change relative to April 2006, which is our baseline — depicted in red in the graph. The performance is measured over the exact same period so the x-axis is consistent.

Chronology:
———————————–
April 2006 – ID – The New York Times sells stake in Discovery Times back to Discovery Communications, ending its ownership in the channel.

August 1, 2007 – TREE HUGGER – TreeHugger acquired by Discovery Communications

September 1, 2007 – ANIMAL PLANET – Animal Planet HD simulcast launched.

September 1, 2007 – SCIENCE CHANNEL – Science HD simulcast launched

September 1, 2007 – TLC – HD simulcast of TLC launched.

October 15, 2007 – HOW STUFF WORKS – Discovery Communications announces it bought HowStuffWorks.com for US$250 million.

December 2007 – SCIENCE CHANNEL – Science Channel debuts brand new on-air look and altered logo

January 27, 2008 – ID – Discovery Times renamed to “Investigation Discovery”

February 3, 2008 – ANIMAL PLANET – Animal Planet “relaunched” under new image that “sheds its soft and furry side” … endeavors to add “programming with more bite.”

June 4, 2008 – PLANET GREEN – Discovery Home replaced by “Planet Green”

April 30, 2009 – DISCOVERY KIDS – Hasbro acquires a 50% stake in Discovery Kids, the resulting joint-venture alters the channel’s name to The Hub.

January 1, 2011 – OWN – Debuts in approximately 80 million homes, replacing the former Discovery Health Channel.

February 1, 2011 – FitTV – Merges with Discovery Health Channel to become Discovery Fit & Health.

June 8, 2011 – SCIENCE CHANNEL – Drops “Channel” from its name and launches a new logo.

Fourth Quarter of 2011 – HD THEATRE – To be rebranded as Velocity, a new network for men.

What are you working on right now?

Well right now I am surrounded by lots of wild animals while shooting a show for Animal Plant. It follows the Venom One team – Part of the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue team– as they fight to capture dangerous animals that come out of the Everglades and into suburbia. It’s a pretty fascinating show in that these guys are really the only unit in the country that is funded by a city county that specializes in this type of thing. So we’re busy and we’re unique because in addition to original television programs we do a lot of high end television promos and graphic design for a lot of the major networks and we put a ton of effort into promoting shows even if they compete against our own programs. But I think because we know a lot about promotion we use a lot of this expertise when it comes to  the pitching and promotion of our own show ideas.

Talk to us about how you started and what your original mission was for the company and whether that has changed?

It’s interesting, I started on the other side, overseeing production at TLC and reality at USA and from this experience I knew how frustrating it could be as a buyer when you hear the same idea 12 or 13 times … but then again imitation is a serious form of television. And it’s no secret that when something works there are 10 variants of that. But what I thought was that we would be a little different; we would be curators, instead of doing massive amounts of projects we would be more focused on ideas we really believe in. And the idea has always been that from this buyers will see we are bringing them unique and interesting ideas. So, when it comes to our development, we try to stay focused.

We feel that in order to get buyers really passionate and excited about a project we also need to be really excited and passionate about it so that’s why we put a lot of energy into everything we do … but we try to make sure their is a marketplace for it as well and we try to make sure it’s not “Ohh we keep hearing the same idea over and over again.” Basically, we try to create a complete brand and idea so buyers look forward to us coming in. We don’t want to waste their time. We try to come in and really solve a problem for them.

Can you talk a little about the type of research you do for your programs and how you come up with new program ideas?

Many networks are clients and because of the promo work we do, we already have a really good sense for what a good number of the network’s current brand is all about. And we use resources like CABLEU. CABLEU is invaluable on both sides of the business actually … before I go to New York or LA I stripmine CABLEU and really try to understand what my clients are looking for; What’s their ratings progress? What’s working and what’s not? I’m all about trying to figure out what the network is looking for.

We want to make sure we’re going in the right direction and CABLEU is very useful for that in terms of timely info on what’s trending upward, or to answer questions about whether they are making adjustments to their brand. When we step into a meeting we always want to make sure we’re speaking their language.

I don’t think there is a science to great idea development but I do think being in Miami works to our advantage. Because we’re outside NY and LA we’re not always surrounded by the business … we’re not just talking to TV people all the time. None of our outside friends or family are really “in the biz” so we are interacting with a lot of different people. We feel like we have an outsider point of view because of this. Plus, we’re also all very curious. I think this is important. We try to find things that are different than what you normally hear. We read everything, but a lot of it is that over time you build a lot of relationships and the most interesting things that we’ve worked on have actually come from these relationships we’ve formed.

What is on your development slate? What are you working on right now that you are excited about?

We’re aggressively looking for acquisitions that will work for our demo. From an acquisitions perspective, we’re looking for travel, food and health. Ideally, the hosts would be over 50 … I wouldn’t say it’s a prerequisite for us though. We have a number of shows where the hosts are in their 40’s but the concept is still appropriate for the demo. As a producer, however, it’s important to follow what we are doing. We are 50+, that’s our demo, which means that we are looking for shows that deal with issues that are informative to the 50+ audience. We’re also focusing on health or general lifestyle programming. We have a number of talk shows, but aren’t looking for any new ones at this point … also really anything that has a financial depth to it — again with an emphasis on the financial topics that are relevant for our demographic.

We’re also interested in relationship shows about dating over 50. We currently have a show called ANOTHER CHANCE FOR ROMANCE, which is a similar format to BLIND DATE. We’d like something to complement that. We acquired a show called SUNSET DAYS which takes place in a retirement community in Arizona.

Is it tough to find content because of your focus on the 50+ audience?

From an acquisitions perspective, it’s certainly challenging. There are a number of newer channels that have launched in the last couple of years that are 45+. As the demand grow, the supply will grow, but as of now it’s very challenging.

We actually produce 75 percent of our own content. I’d like to see that number go down. I would like to be able to commission more and I certainly would like to be able to acquire more over the next 18 months.

Do you have any specific advice for producer’s who want to pitch you?

There are certain things that we expect. We expect them to spend some time on our website, to have an understanding of our programming so that they’re not pitching shows that we already have. There are about 26 shows represented on our website. It should give a producer a good sense of the general directions we have been going in. I can’t expect a producer to know what our strategic programming initiative shifts are moving toward but in terms of who we are targeting, that’s a no brainer. The issue is that more often than not, producers have never heard of us when they sit down to pitch to us. So I think research is a reasonable request which pays off.

We also get a good number of pitchers where there’s a lack of respect for the demo. I think it’s a prerequisite to be able to formulate a show that understands the audience.

In terms of our pitch policy, we send out release forms. We are open to receiving material in different formats and there’s no standard for it in terms of one sheets. We look at everything. How far it gets depends on the idea.

What are you paying for a half an hour of programming, what’s the range?

It really depends on a number of factors, like how attractive we believe it’s going to be to advertisers. The range can be $7000/30 min. to $120 000/30 min. There’s a lot that comes into play. Having said all of that we are competitive with other networks in terms of pricing.

We had a big year in 2010. Going from 2010 to 2011, we have a few shows that we are really excited about. We’re really the only ones who own landscaping. There’s nobody that’s doing what we do 24/7 …. especially in the landscaping and outdoor living space. We have a ton of our returning favorites. We’re excited about MILLION DOLLAR CONTRACTOR, about a guy who renovates million dollar apartments and homes. It’s a mix of renovation — both indoor and outdoor — sort of a doc-reality. We have everything lined up very early on, we may shift and go in another direction, but for the most part we are all about home improvement. That’s what we do. We try to experiment with the different things, but we know who we are and where we need to be from a production stand point.

What is your philosophy on new producers, and how that pitching process works? What do you look for in a pitch?

We all take pitches. We talk to all kinds of producers from large companies to small to mid-sized companies; some companies with representation and some companies without representation. Typically we’ll see either a treatment or something online … these days it’s very common to see tapes. We’re also always looking for new talent. Sometimes we see a fully born concept in sizzle reel or a demo or we’ll see the talent without a real concept attached. We see it both ways and if we believe in something we really spend a lot of time developing with the producers.

What is your take on how the current economic situation has altered DIY’s programming sensibility?

We focus on homeowners with projects. Its relevant no matter what the economy is. A lot of our programming focuses on people who are very budget conscious. People turn to us for great ideas and information. We really haven’t altered our course and we haven’t really changed our development because of the economy, nor do I feel like we have been impacted by it from a viewership standpoint.

Do you have any advice for new producers who want to get a show on DIY?

Watch the network. Take a look of the shows that are on to get a sense of what different formats are, and what different types of shows we have. I think the biggest mistakes new producers make is to pitch us something that has nothing to do with the network. A pitch about weddings is nothing we will ever be interested in. I encourage producers to think outside the box as well. We always look for new talent, people with a certain amount of expertise and also people who have great personalities.

What are you working on at TV Guide right now that’s coming up and you’re excited about?
TV Guide Network is ramping up its original programming. Currently, we have seven pilots we’re working on with a broad of producers. We are also in production on a new original docu-reality series “Nail Files,” which is being produced by SallyAnn Salsano and the team that created “Jersey Shore.”

Our distribution remains strong and we are excited to be taking TV Guide Network to full-screen and HD in markets around the country. Currently, TV Guide Network is distributed in 80 million homes across the U.S. and 55% of these homes now carry our network in full-screen. By the end of 2011, we anticipate that 80% of our distribution will be full-screen.

What is the key element that makes a program right for your network?
Our programming generally has a combination of elements that make it work for our audience. In addition to being entertaining, our shows celebrate television, celebrity and pop culture. Also, the TV Guide brand is celebratory, so our programming is never mean-spirited.

What programs and/or genres are you looking for in the next year?
We’re looking for programming that falls into one of these three areas: Entertainment news and specials, docu-dramas about celebrities, and shows that have celebrity adjacency such as “Nail Files.” We think of celebrity adjacency as shows that although the star of the show is not an already established star, his or her life involves celebrities on a regular basis.

What do you look for in a first-time producer besides a great idea?
Great storytelling and the ability to communicate that story in a compelling way is important.

What mistakes do producers make when pitching you?
I’d rather focus on the positive and what producers have done right that has impressed me. I always think it is a good idea for a producer to come in with a one-sheet that summarizes their pitch. It’s also much more impactful if a producer walks in the door with a sizzle or presentation reel that showcases the idea. If I’m interested in the show, I’ll want to share the reel and one-sheet with others at my network, so these materials really help “sell” it in after the meeting is over. Also, it is critical that producers know who my audience is before walking in the door to pitch a show. Doing your homework is critical.

What’s the best way for a producer to pitch to TV Guide Channel?
See above.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever given?
As a female executive in television, I’ve mentored a lot of other women in my field over the years. I’ve always told them the importance of asking for what they deserve and negotiating for themselves. I think women sometimes hold-back when it comes negotiating for themselves.

How important are other platforms like broadband and mobile applications in the initial pitch?
We are always looking for other platform extensions as a way to extend our marketing reach and promotion for the linear show. For example, we are working on a project right now where the producer has an alliance with Yahoo TV, which will cross-promote the show we are doing. Another example is a show that will feature a celebrity who has over a million Twitter followers. Since TV Guide is an evolving independent network, we are always looking ways to increase our marketing exposure.

What can global programmers learn from the U.S. cable network market and from your network in particular?
American television audiences have so many choices because cable offers a breadth and depth of general and niche programming. Identifying a niche and super-serving the audience are things that U.S. cable programmers do well, which I think could be replicated in other global markets.

In all of television, which classic program should be revived?
One of my favorite shows of the late 70s was “Charlie’s Angels.” I would love to see how that show would be interpreted with today’s sensibilities.

Should NEVER be revived?
Shows like “I Love Lucy,” “Dick Van Dyke” and “Seinfeld” are great classics that should never be touched. They are television masterpieces that should be preserved in our memories in their original forms.

OK, so of course, it’s HARD. But actually, as long as you are fit enough (not superfit, just fit enough), take regular rest days during training (to avoid injury), eat sensibly (carbohydrates for energy, and protein for muscle repair), and drink enough fluids, you are capable of running a marathon. All you have to do is get to the start line uninjured, and then put one foot in front of the other until you reach the finish line. It’s more about turning up and having the determination to keep going than having any superhuman power. The two octogenarian finishers proved that (as did I, in 5hrs 17 minutes since you ask).

Writing is a hard slog too. Although it only involves putting one word in front of another, and keeping going until you get to the end, sometimes sitting down to a blank sheet of paper can feel just as daunting as running a marathon. And feeling daunted and overwhelmed more likely to send you back to bed than get you to the end of the page. Every producer who has ever sat down to write a one-sheet for an all-important pitch has probably felt that dread of starting, the fear of taking a misstep, the risk of failing.

I’ve spent years wrestling TV program ideas into commission winning written proposals but it never gets easier. However, just as in the marathon, I have developed various strategies that will get me going, keep me going and get me to the end.

When running, I put on my music and daydream or mull over ideas; before I know it, I’m approaching the end of my 6-mile run. By slipping into the ‘zone’ I’m completely absorbed, time flies and the answer to a tricky creative problem often pops unbidden into my head. Professor Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, a world leading researcher into positive psychology, defines this creative ‘flow’ as “an almost automatic, effortless, yet highly focused state of consciousness” Creativity coach Mark McGuinness says, “When we are in flow, we are fully absorbed in whatever we are doing and find it easy to achieve peak performance. The experience is accompanied by intense feelings of pleasure and satisfaction.”

So how about if we could get into the zone and actually make writing TV pitches pleasurable? According to Csikszentmihalyi’s book Creativity, you need nine things to achieve a state of flow, and here I’ve applied them to writing TV treatments:

Clear goals – Your main goal is to get your program greenlit, but right now, in THIS moment, you need to write a concise, compelling one-sided proposal containing all the necessary information a buyer needs to make a decision. That’s the goal to focus on.

Immediate feedback – Working in a vacuum is difficult, so ask for feedback on your draft. Is the document logically structured, with the most important information at the top? Is the way you’ll film the show clear? The content interesting? The tone appropriate and consistent? Is the spelling and grammar correct? Is the most interesting information buried at the bottom?

Balance between skill and difficulty – Every new show concept brings new challenges, but writing a string of proposals can get boring and that’s when things get sloppy. If you are feeling a little stale, challenge yourself polish up an aspect of your writing. Perhaps your grammar is weak? Make this the pitch that has perfectly constructed sentences and elegantly placed semicolons.

Action and awareness become one – This happens when you are working completely ‘in the moment’ free from a wandering mind. Doing some creative limbering up, such as reading web sites or magazines related to your topic, finding a clever quote, or evocative photograph can help to focus your mind on what you are about to write. I usually find that in doing this something suddenly ‘clicks’ and suddenly I’m in the zone.

Distractions disappear – When you are in creative flow, your distractions automatically disappear as you become deaf to your surroundings and might even forget to eat. But you might need to fabricate a lack of distractions when you first sit down to write. Go to the bathroom, put your phone on silent and turn off your email (or lock yourself out of the internet with a downloadable application such as Freedom or Leechblock). Allocate a solid block of three to five hours – don’t interrupt your writing time with meetings, or you will waste valuable time trying to regain your flow.

No fear of failure – It’s a fact that your first draft will be terrible: full of mixed metaphors, tortured tenses and clichés that you need to edit. But it doesn’t matter. No one sees your first draft; it’s written entirely for your benefit, and the next version will be immeasurably better. This is the process you (and all creative professionals) have to endure. The only way you can fail is to be self-critical and self-censoring at an early stage and therefore fail to write anything at all.
Lack of self-consciousness – In thinking about hard about your program’s subject you are able to almost ‘become’ your idea, so that even if you hated science at school, for a short period you become as passionate as any scientist as you write your pitch about the wonders of the solar system.

Time distortion – With focussed concentration, five hours will fly by in a flash, and you will have achieved more much than you had hoped.

Activity as an end in itself – Giving yourself over to the actual process of drafting, editing and re-editing will bring creative satisfaction in itself – and as a bonus you’ll also manage to write that dreaded pitch.

Just as you must train for a marathon, try to train yourself to get into the flow each time you write. You might not always find it pleasurable, but at least you will start – and more importantly – get to the end.

To quote the Bing Crosby classic, “It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas”. Yep, there are toys in every store. Not to mention mail order catalogs, websites, and 70% of the mass emails in my inbox right now. There’s a tree in the Grand Hotel, although now it’s a Hilton or Marriott. As for looking in the Five & Ten, let’s just accept that times change and enjoy the nice thought during the holiday season.

Christmas is my favorite time of year. And a big part of that are the traditional rituals of the season. The family tree, the ornaments from years past, each with its own story, the many versions of Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol”, Christmas cookies, the mall Santa, endless carols, Midnight Mass, and, of course, television.

As far back as I can remember, watching Rudolph at Christmas was an absolute. The classic just never gets old, even if the rest of the world does. Rudolph, Hermey, the Abominable Snow Monster. Yukon Cornelius’ optimism when it comes to Silver and Gold is infectious and so is the song. “Bumbles bounce” is still a favorite quote to be used year round. Sure, graphics and animation have improved a million times over in the 40 plus years since Rudolph’s original debut, but who cares.

One of the basic tenets of enjoying Rudolph is that it must be watched when it airs live on television, ideally in December. A VHS or DVD, and now the DVR, just isn’t the same, even if they might be offering the original, unedited versions. It gave me great satisfaction to see that this year’s ratings were as strong as ever. If I was to have any disappointment, it’s that CBS keeps airing the program earlier every year. I’ve barely finished Thanksgiving leftovers and there it is.

Beyond Rudolph, the list of Christmas classics seems to grow every year. FROSTY is there, hurrying on his way. SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN is always fun. YEAR WITHOUT SANTA CLAUS is harder to find, but you gotta love Mr. Heat Miser’s theme song. If you want the treasure trove of classics, head over to ABC Family for their annual 25 Days of Christmas. You can’t beat it.

Christmas concerts and music specials abound. Pop, country, rock, classical, new artists, established stars, and longtime legends. A new entry on the Christmas calendar the last couple years, Gospel Music Channel bills itself as “America’s Christmas Channel for the season.

And then the movies. The aforementioned A Christmas Carol comes in so many shapes and sizes I’ve lost track. From Mr. Magoo to Bill Murray, it never tires out. The Gift of the Magi seems to have a new version under a different title every year or two. Theatricals, Made-for TV movies, and B&W classics are dotted across the television landscape. White Christmas, Bells of St. Mary’s, Miracle on 34th Street, and Holiday Inn (with the original“White Christmas”). Can’t miss ‘em.

But the granddaddy of them all is Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life. Once screened non-stop, it’s now limited to just a few airings each year on NBC. There have been reams and reams of paper devoted to the movie, all of it well deserved. My own favorite moments are too numerous to mention. However, the final scenes are one of the rare times I’ll get choked up watching a film. You watch every year and you know it’s coming, but when the entire town of Bedford Falls piles through the front door of the Bailey home and Janie launches into Hark the Herald Angels, it hits all over again.

To quote another seasonal classic, it really is the most wonderful time of the year. Here’s hoping we can all find a little bit of what George Bailey has.

Merry Christmas!

The answer is on this order: Cable networks, cable networks, cable networks, PBS or maybe a benefactor with little expectation of a quick return. The long-tail theory says that in the long run we will get our money back. But in the long run we are all dead too.

Cable network funding is limited by both budget considerations (ad dollars) and more importantly by the number “slots” available. A successful non fiction show is liable to be repeated to endlessly on cable until the programmer has to do something new or until the ratings just simply fall off. There just aren’t that may spaces. Of the 100 cable networks only the top third have significant budgets, even for lower cost non-fiction programming. You have no doubt run into this in pitching your projects.

Ultimately the funding of many of the highly worthy program ideas need new funding sources and maybe a new business models.

We need only look at the recent Comcast-NBC merger to know that “pay tv” operators will continue to control more programming. This prospect of vertical integration is what much of the current fighting is about. I would guess that more integration may be on the way. This is unlikely to provide many new opportunities for the average producer.

There is, however, a possibility of a new funding source. As content under control of the pay tv operators becomes more expensive and is possibly restricted from use on the internet. (We see Time Warner, for example, is currently not for wide distribution on the web).There will be an incentive for the Internet platforms to do some of their own programming.

Google, Netflix and even Facebook will see the value of content ownership. While Google has sponsored grants to aspiring artists through Youtube, this is not what I am talking about. I am taking about the funding of professional projects. While there may be a regulatory challenge to this, these are powerful companies able to make powerful cases for whatever they want to do.

Distribution and advertising is not as exciting as the creation of programming. These companies have a great advantage of having an enormous amount of consumer data upon which to make programming investment decisions. They know what people want and they can market it like crazy. In truth, better than TV can.

For them, investing in old media is too expensive and will not be a real alternative.

It may be that the internet powers may at some point offer producers a better funding opportunity for their wares than exists currently. 2011 may not be the year but soon.

Every company is out there trying to save money, and often times, the best way to save a lot is eliminate a job that pays a lot. That’s what had to have happened, because every one of these four have contributed hugely over the years … many years! Dan and Steve were part of the original team that launched Discovery. Cheskin returned less than two years ago after pushing WEtv to its next level. None of them were told it was a work or performance issue; money saving, all the way.

Hey, we get it. We’re all adults, we know how it works. This is not a “they shouldn’t have done that” comment. It’s a “too bad they felt they had to.” Each and everyone of these guys were accessible and passionate about their jobs, helped grow the company, and were good ambassadors for Discovery. But economic reasons, in and outside of any company or sector, can trigger layoffs/job drops, even when a company is doing well.

It’s a shame. And it tells me a couple things: The smart money is saying the recession is not over and, because of that, no one’s job is ever totally safe.

Sleep well … but if you know Dan, Steve, Jeff, Doug and the other unfolding names, give ‘em a shout or post a comment here that tells everyone you’re thinking of them.

Work is more fun when the skills you hone on the job are transferable. That is, you develop skills on the job that can help you with another job or even, another non-professional part of your life. Over the past few years I’ve learned that the skill of “sales” is one of the most important, useful and transferable — and, thankfully, I’m learning that this skill is more technique than art.

Advice on how to be a better sales person follows me wherever I go. I am not actively seeking advice on this topic, it just finds me.  Example from radio: I was listening to the program This American Life on my iPod while running last weekend and I learn of a competition hosted at MIT for engineers pitching their ideas and inventions to potential investors and learn of the ingredients that make for what they end up calling a “sexy pitch.” Funny capstone: David Guetta’s current hit song reworded to, “Damn That’s A Sexy Pitch.”  Example from the Web: I was checking to see if Billy Joel is actually playing some dates in NYC soon and I stumble on a video of him giving advice twenty-five years ago on how to pitch yourself as a new musician (see video for New School, 1985).

There seems to be sound advice on “pitching” coming from both of these sources; add this advice to the umpteen articles on pitching in trades and blog posts from CABLEU, and beyond, and it becomes clear that many people wish to exchange ideas on “pitching.” This must mean people think it’s an important thing to be able to do and seek guidance on it. Having thought about this makes me realize two important things about pitching as it pertains to my life: 1) Pitching is selling, and regardless of the field or position you are in, you stand a better chance of improving your life if you can effectively sell yourself, and your ideas, every day; 2) selling is more learned than innate.

But what about what is said about a person being, “a natural sales person?” I think this is somewhat … bogus. Maybe some have habituated traits that make them affable, which can make sales easier, but just because something appears easy doesn’t mean it doesn’t actually require lots of work and the development, over time, of a technique. This reminds me of a musician or dancer who makes his or her difficult task seem effortless. One might remark, “they’re a natural.” But actually, these are artists who are great because of their technical mastery, which came from long years of study and practice. The same thing applies with sales. There is no set formula, so it has to be part art, but you only get to be the best “sales artist” with years of study, experience and a willingness to be open-minded and develop effective technique.

I recently asked a new colleague of mine what he thinks makes a producer he is working with so successful. He replied with two words: “Charismatic leadership.” I thought this was a great response. Then I thought: “well how do you become a charismatic leader?” I’d argue it probably took this producer some time, discipline and experience to develop this “charisma” which has proven so useful on his road to success.

For me, knowing that sales is more technique than art is exciting. When you embrace the idea that very little comes naturally, you realize that with enough effort to master technique, you can improve — and get more accomplished!

Reid Hoffman, founder of LinkedIn, spoke last year on Charlie Rose about the way the workforce is different now than it was 30 years ago. Either by choice or force, people are changing jobs a lot more often (this seems especially true in television). His point was that it’s more important than ever for people to be entrepreneurial — it’s more important that people are comfortable with, and good at, selling themselves.

Glad it’s a learned skill.

Have any advice or links you want share on the topic of sales? Leave a comment. And feel free to write me at reess [at] cableu.tv.

Note: In addition to all the insider, subscriber-only analysis and network needs we publish to help producers make better pitches at CABLEU, I’ll continue sharing information I find useful on the sales process and publishing it on the CABLEU blog.