Friday, August 8, 2008

What you can learn from Brett Favre (or, how to avoid anchoring at the broadcast equivalent of the New York Jets)

I ran into an anchor a few years ago who had been a household name in a big market. The anchor had been there for more than a decade, liked the station, the city and was happy. Even got along with the ND. Then the contract came up for renewal and an agent got greedy. Then the nice relationship deteriorated to the point where the ND simply withdrew the offer. The anchor was left scrambling and had to take a job in an undesirable market.

Yes, even though you work in broadcasting, you too can be like Brett Favre.

As a huge NFL fan, it pained me to see Favre undo such a wonderful image he'd spent 15 years cultivating. All because of what was probably a misunderstanding, the man went from hero to diva in the eyes of many fans. Playing poker against management is one thing, but doing so in the media is a huge mistake. Favre may never repair the damage to his image, especially among Packer fans. And while he may smile and think he's gotten his way, all he's done is end up with a team that played its only Super Bowl during the Nixon administration. Favre will soon find out what all New Yorkers know; there are no Jets fans, the people in the stands are Giants fans who can't get tickets to Giants games. He will also learn how incredibly tolerant New York fans are when he has one of his four interception games.

Which brings us back to negotiating. Unless you've been living under a rock, you have to know that the broadcast industry is enduring the hardest financial times in its history. So playing hardball isn't the smartest thing to do right now. And unless you are the top rated anchor in a market and have held that position for many years, any requests for more money ought to be reasonable and polite. In many cases, people are being signed for small raises, and in the cases of anchors who are already pulling down huge salaries, some are being offered pay cuts. And if you're a "one-market" anchor (someone who honestly couldn't get hired anywhere else) you should count your blessings.

And never, ever, play out any negotiations in the media. It's bush league and will end up costing you your reputation.

If you're determined to put the squeeze on your employer, you'd better be prepared to anchor for the Jets.

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