Internet makes affiliate relations more efficient. (Focus).(Editorial)

Broadcasting & Cable, March, 2003 by Kerschbaumer, Ken

Affiliate relations for a cable network can drive both the network and the affiliate crazy. Keeping up-to-date on schedule changes and understanding what program offerings are best for an affiliate's advertising clients are hard enough, but that often involves via e-mail, fax or express-mail communications that can be complicated and unreliable.

When Turner Networks and Fox began looking for a better way to communicate with affiliates, they turned to the Internet--specifically, to The Content Project, a Los Angeles company that creates Web sites for cable networks. Business-to-business sites, says Managing Director Andrew Solmssen, offered a greater opportunity to drive revenues than consumer-related sites: "The affiliates make up 60% of a network's...