What’s old is new again. In media, we’ve come full circle. I started in cable. Moved to broadcast. Now both are chasing what I saw coming: CTV.

Here’s what I’ve learned along the way:

Never lose sight of your core product.

Never lose sight of your client.

Markets shift Tech evolves Budgets tighten.

Don’t panic. Pause. Listen. Ask yourself: what do my clients actually need—right now? That’s where the opportunity lives. That’s where trust gets built. That’s where long-term wins begin.

I started in cable. Moved to broadcast. Now both are chasing what I saw coming: CTV.

In 1986, fresh out of college, I was selling CNN, ESPN, MTV, and TNT—when cable was still the underdog. We chased broadcast dollars hard. By 1989, I jumped to NBC. The “big leagues.”Cheers. Seinfeld. ER. Big ratings. Big budgets. Then came the forgettables—Suddenly Susan? Caroline in the City? Veronica's Closet? The Single Guy ? Exactly.

Cable surged. Programming matured. By the late '90s, we were chasing cable dollars.

I climbed the ladder: AE → GSM. Broadcast was great—until it wasn’t. The product stalled. Cost-cutting got reckless. Outside consultants tried to “fix” what they never understood. Talented people once thought to be great at their jobs were chased away. While they sliced away the audience took note, they took action, tuned out, cut the cord and moved to CTV | Streaming.

After 28 years, I walked away. Not because I was finished but because I wasn’t. I decided to start a CTV | Streaming company. I had the early experience from what we were doing at our station group. I loved the Idea behind CTV & Streaming. Customer-centric, targeting purchase intent in relevant zip codes, utilizing digital breadcrumbs to measure, optimize, and retarget the most interested viewers. I immediately saw how it could help advertisers, but despised my station group's execution (still do). The way my company and other large broadcast | cable companies handled streaming was not the reason why I left broadcast, but it certainly made the decision to leave easier.

Within weeks of leaving (not pre-determined before my departure) I launched my own CTV company—My blueprint- be 100% opposite from big broadcasters and others jumping in. The goal- Be everything my former world wasn’t:

Transparent.

Strategically hands-on keyboards.

Relationships first—clearly with clients but also with the entire streaming ecosystem. Publishers, SSPs, Ad Servers, Data partners...

There will be no black boxes, clients see everything we see, including all CPMs all fees. No central ad ops, we will co-creating proposals and audiences with clients for best outcomes, focus on making every dollar count, and not pocketing the delta between cost of media and budgets. Taking advantage of technology to cut the bloated middle.

Scary? Yep. Right move? Absolutely.

Now cable and broadcast are racing to catch up with what streaming already is:

Targeted. Optimized. Accountable.

We’ve come full circle—but this time, we’re doing it smarter.