Let me begin by reiterating how grateful that I am that the National Association of Television Program Executives offers a fellowship program for university professors who wish to learn firsthand what is "really" happening in terms of programming decisions in the electronic media. I appreciate being chosen for the fellowship this year and have been amply rewarded by the experience. And the students who enroll in my Broadcast/Cable Programming class will benefit from the insights I gained during my four-week internship at KENS-TV in San Antonio.

     Everyone I encountered at KENS-TV was courteous and helpful, especially Jack Forehand, the station's vice president and station manager, who makes the programming decisions in consultation with the station's president and general manager, Mike Conley.

     Mr. Forehand arranged for me to circulate in all of the departments at the station to find out how they all related their work to programming. This arrangement allowed me to ask questions and observe the interaction of management and staff in the departments of programming, promotions, sales, radio, accounting, administration, news, production, engineering and graphics. At any time, though, I was allowed to return to programming so I could observe meetings involving the station manager/program director and other department heads or syndicators.

     In the programming department I was assigned a desk next to the station manager's to allow me ready access to him and his activities. The most interesting exchanges, in my opinion, occurred when representatives from the News Travel Network, Eyemark Entertainment and MultiMedia visited the station to pitch their products. I admired the efforts of these individuals to make a sale. They knew their products and tried several different angles to convince the station manager/program director that KENS-TV needed one or more of their shows. However, the station essentially had no available time slots for replacement programming, so none of the personal pitches was successful.

     An exception was made, though, for "The Rosie O'Donnell Show," a Warner Brothers product. Jack Forehand engaged in several phone conversations with a Warner Brothers representative regarding possible pricing and placement, prior to the show's debut in mid-June. Warner Brothers also arranged a special satellite preview of the show for Mr. Forehand and others, including me, to evaluate the program. Those present at the preview had a generally favorable reaction to the show, which supported Mr. Forehand's inclination to add it to KENS' morning line-up. However, the station's general manager who previewed the program separately had less confidence in the show and rejected it -- only to change his mind a couple of weeks later, after the show debuted nationally. The about-face occurred after "The Rosie O'Donnell Show" received rave reviews from television critics and provided ratings increases for stations that aired the show during its debut week.

     Another interesting experience was watching the sales department put a positive spin on the latest ratings book. During the time I spent with the sales department, the May Nielsens were released, which prompted the sales manager to order the account executives to do a "ratings breakout." The account executives put in some long hours -- two or three nights 'til 10 or 11 o'clock at night -- crunching numbers and analyzing the results. Having never worked in sales during my own broadcasting career, I found the efforts of the account executives to be interesting as they looked for positives in all dayparts. Where they failed to clearly articulate a point in the station's favor, the sales manager would offer alternatives to improve their pitch.

     The NATPE fellowship experience reinforced some of my assumptions regarding local television programming. Based on information derived from textbooks and trade magazines, I assumed that (1) program directors now have less decision-making authority, and (2) sales managers have more authority in determining station programming.

     At KENS-TV, I found support for both of these assumptions. When Mr. Forehand leaves the station -- whether he chooses to or otherwise -- he will not likely be replaced, because his function within the station has diminished greatly the past year or so. And a look across town at other stations in the market suggests the same; program directors are a dying breed. Taking over the program director's responsibilities are general managers and sales managers, whose programming decisions are more often aimed at increasing revenues rather than providing the public what it wants to watch. This observation of KENS-TV perhaps explains why there has been a proliferation of "paid programming" or infomercials. Too much of KENS-TV's schedule, in my opinion, consists of this type of programming, and Mr. Forehand agrees, but he seems powerless to do anything about it. Having said that, I know that KENS-TV is not an anamoly in this respect. Many, many stations are more bottom-line oriented than they were in the past, and their programming has suffered because of it.

     When offered this opportunity, I debated whether to approach it as a generalist or as a specialist, deciding ultimately to be a generalist. In other words, I chose to seek a general overview of KENS-TV to see how all of the departments relate to programming. Because my prior work experience was primarily in radio, this seemed to be this best way for me to learn more about television programming -- to look at it from the broad perspective. However, let me add that I recognize the merits of accepting this challenge as a specialist. I would like to suggest that others who seek this fellowship to offer stations their specialized knowledge. Some professors might find the fellowship experience more rewarding if they have specific assignments to accomplish, or special roles to fill. Perhaps some stations need research to be conducted that a lot of professors are qualified to do. Having a mission might be better than the generalized approach, because, at least in my case, I did find some days to be slower and less fascinating than others, primarily because I didn't have a lot to do. But, taken as a whole, I do believe that the experience was enlightening and definitely worth the effort.

     Thanks again for the opportunity. Use my comments above as you wish. Confidentiality, in this case, is not an issue with me. Feel free to share my observations, if they can be helpful. And, yes, I plan to attend the NATPE Program Conference in New Orleans in January. How could I possibly pass up an opportunity like that? I look forward to it.