The successful strategies applied
and lessons learned in Bay Consulting Group’s first-ever case in 1984
still remain relevant today. The client was Craig Broadcasting, then
the operator of a small CBC-TV affiliate in Brandon, Man. Craig was at
a crossroads, facing paralysis as it looked to the future, unable to
grow because of its small market and stymied in its attempts to secure
CRTC approval for new stations.
For Bay Consulting’s Hans Jansen,
the Craig situation is a classic case of the need for transformational
consulting. “A company could be in trouble, or simply stuck in its
development and growth,” says Hans. “Either way, they often need an
outsider to help transform the situation, even if they understand the
problem.”
Craig’s president had heard Hans
speak at an industry forum in Montreal on the need for strategic
planning in the broadcasting industry. Impressed, he called Hans and
asked for assistance.
“It was clear to me,” recalls
Hans, “that the local Brandon TV audience was too small, so Craig
needed a licence for another city.” They decided on Portage la Prairie,
also a small market, but close enough to Winnipeg to tap into that
growing area.
In preparing Craig’s pitch to the
CRTC, Hans developed a proposal that was broader than the regulator had
encountered before. “The opposition to Craig’s licence bid had come
from existing stations who were trying to protect their own turf,” he
says. “They claimed that the market was not big enough for another
competitor. We proved them wrong.”
Hans developed a sophisticated and
unique economic model that was uncannily accurate. Relying on a broad
spectrum of indicators such as housing starts and retail demand, he
projected that cumulative revenues for the proposed new station over
five years would be $25.4 million. As it turned out, the real number
was $25.5 million.
As for the competitive argument,
Hans pointed out to the CRTC that Manitoba’s broadcast industry was the
most profitable in the country with a 31.5 per cent return on
investment. It was the first time those figures had been made public.
At the end of the day, says Hans,
“our argument was inescapable.”
Indeed, Bay Consulting’s success
at the CRTC at the expense of Craig’s competitors led to those other
broadcasters hiring Hans and his Bay Consulting team when they, in
turn, went looking for approvals for their own expansion plans.
