The enduringly popular CBS procedural series Blue Bloods is known for its family drama. Tom Selleck stars as New York City Police Commissioner Frank Reagan, who also heads the Sunday dinner table every episode. Frank often delivers clear-eyed wisdom in the face of long odds. “Doing the right thing may be hard,” he once said, “but it sure as hell isn’t complicated.”

That may be how Brandon Burgess felt when he offered up one of the most successful and prescient ideas in modern media. After moving to head up Paxson Communications in 2005 from his spot running business development and global strategy for NBCUniversal, Burgess looked through the numbers. With over 70 stations, the knee-jerk option for the company — renamed ION Media Networks — was to spend big and build a roster of originals programmed for a younger demo. But ION’s hobbling debt and a fervent study of ratings suggested a different plan: license off-network hits, particularly crime dramas, for a song and aim them at an underserved TV market: older adults, especially women.

The strategy was crazy, counter­intuitive, vastly unpopular and brilliant. In time, ION found a home for popular procedural fare (including Blue Bloods) and turned a red ledger black with a smooth efficiency that matched the company’s chairman/CEO.

Also: Welcome to the 30th Anniversary of the ‘B+C’ Hall of Fame

“A lot of people would have blown their brains out trying to program originals, but Brandon didn’t fall for it,” said Jeff Sagansky, former Paxson CEO and cofounder of media ventures company Flying Eagle Acquisition Corp. “He licensed the biggest shows when there was no other audience for them. It was really a visionary move.”

Added Guggenheim Partners executive chairman Alan Schwartz: “In media and in business, there are some people who are really good at seeing the big picture, and others who really drill down and work on all the details. Brandon’s one of the few I’ve come across in my career that did both.”

None of this was accidental for Burgess. He grew up in Germany “with a healthy work ethic” and, after coming to the U.S., graduating from Wharton and doing stints at PepsiCo and Goldman Sachs, he set his sights on New York and a job at NBC. “Over time, we all have to figure out what we’re good at,” Burgess said. “I wasn’t going to direct episodes of Friends. The question is looking for the angles where you can apply yourself in the environment you want to succeed, and for me, that’s always been analyzing things, and if need be, playing the long ball.”

Toward that end, he understood early the eventual reach of digital and, at NBC, worked to create nbcolympics.com; he was also part of the purchase of Telemundo and instrumental in NBC’s first entertainment network acquisition, Bravo, and of buying Universal Entertainment. 

“Universal was the big cherry on top,” he said now of the deal that led to NBCUniversal. “The industry was consolidating around us. [NBC was] left with a 90% advertising business and declining ratings; it was the early 2000s and all the shows were expiring, and the content creators had all the leverage. We needed to diversify … and needed, basically, a transforming deal.”

Playing ‘Moneyball’ in TV

The same need explains the much more organic licensing move Burgess implemented in fall 2008, after coming to ION in late 2005. Burgess, a fan of the book Moneyball, about the Oakland A’s statistics-based strategic rise to success starting in 2002, used a similar tactic to explain the move to his people, who were dumbfounded. “Boy, did we have boardroom arguments,” he said.

Burgess has never shied away from such challenges, and his enviable record of reading trends and producing results speaks for itself. Favoring national over-the-air networks in 2007 sparked ION’s multi-network portfolio, and the U.S. multicast category. And he’s long been a leader on topics such as broadcast spectrum and wireless. 

With ION’s $2.7 billion sale to E.W. Scripps in 2021, Burgess has pivoted away from the boardroom to enjoy family and leisure time — for now. “It’s hard not to be intrigued by all the technologies that are coming out,” he said, looking down the road. “I think there are organizing principles out there that would require a whole new learning curve.”

Perhaps, but one expects he’d join a company, crunch the numbers and, true to form, make visionary moves, leaving other execs shocked, even dismayed. One gets the sense that, for Brandon Burgess, it sure as hell isn’t complicated. ■

The Broadcasting+Cable Hall of Fame -- the premier industry event paying tribute to the pioneers, innovators and stars of the electronic arts -- returns with a full, in-person live gala celebrating the event’s 30th anniversary. The Hall of Fame celebration will take place at New York’s Ziegfeld Ballroom on Thursday, April 14, 2022.

The new B+C Hall of Fame inductees join the ranks of more than 400 honorees previously recognized by Broadcasting+Cable magazine. The new Hall of Fame inductees (alphabetically) are:

Emily Barr, president & CEO, Graham Media Group.

Nomi Bergman, president, Advance/Newhouse Investment Partnership.

Brandon Burgess, former president & CEO, ION Media. 

Susanne Daniels, global head of original content, YouTube.

Savannah Guthrie, co-anchor and chief legal correspondent, TODAY & NBC News.

Hoda Kotb, co-anchor and co-host, TODAY & TODAY with Hoda & Jenna.

Pearlena Igbokwe, chairman, Universal Studio Group.

Leo MacCourtney, president, Katz Television Group.

Dan Mason, chairman emeritus, The Broadcasters Foundation of America, and past president and CEO, CBS Radio.

Steve Miron, chief executive officer, Advance/Newhouse Partnership.

Steven R. Swartz, president and CEO, Hearst.

Curtis Symonds, president, HBCU GO TV/Allen Media Group.

ESPN, Iconic Network. 

While the Hall of Fame previously has inducted iconic shows, ESPN is the first network to be admitted into the fold. “It’s a tremendous honor for ESPN to receive the first Iconic Network Award from The Broadcasting+Cable Hall of Fame,” Jimmy Pitaro, chairman, ESPN and Sports Content, told B+C/Multichannel News. “When we launched in 1979, ESPN immediately created an indelible bond with sports fans by matching their passion. Thank you to the thousands of dedicated ESPN employees who, over four decades, have continued to create a non-stop immersive sports experience.”

“The Broadcasting+Cable Hall of Fame has always been one of the entertainment industry’s signature events,” said Bill McGorry, chairman of the Broadcasting+Cable Hall of Fame. “In a year like no other, we are beyond thrilled to be able to welcome back our community with a star studded live 30th Anniversary gala that will surely be a night to remember. With great anticipation, we look forward to celebrating together in April.”

“Each year we are completely awed by our Hall of Fame honorees and this class of 2021 raises the bar yet again,” B+C Editor-in-Chief Bill Gannon said. “This class is particularly noteworthy for the visionary and innovative leaders who have changed the industry both before and during the pandemic. The Hall of Fame is thrilled to add these exceptional individuals to the prestigious classes of honorees that have come before them.”

“Broadcasting+Cable’s Hall of Fame is one of the most important events in broadcasting,” Jim Thompson, president of Broadcasters Foundation of America, said. “Their generosity in donating a portion of the proceeds to support the mission of the Broadcasters Foundation of America is admirable, and we cannot thank them enough. Over the past 30 years, the Hall of Fame has contributed more than $700,000 to help our fellow broadcasters who have been hit by debilitating illness, accident, or disaster. We are grateful for the continued support of the Hall of Fame. With their help, we can continue to provide aid to our colleagues in desperate need.”

Since the event’s inception, a portion of the proceeds goes to the Broadcasters Foundation of America, a charitable organization that provides financial grants to those of our industry colleagues and their families who are in acute need due to critical illness or accident, advanced age, death of a spouse or other serious misfortune. In addition, the event benefits The Paley Center for Media, a non-profit organization leading the discussion on the social significance and advancement of television, radio and emerging platforms for the professional and media-interested public.

For sponsorship, table, ticket and advertising information, please contact Jessica Wolin at  jessica.wolin@futurenet.com or 212-685-4233.

For more information please visit the B+C Hall of Fame website.

Follow the Broadcasting+Cable Hall of Fame at #BCHOF2021. ■

It’s mission accomplished for Brandon Burgess, the CEO of Ion Media. Starting in 2006, Burgess took Paxson Communications, changed the company’s name to Ion Media, built up viewership and last month agreed to sell it to E.W. Scripps Co. for $2.65 billion. 

Burgess, 52, won’t be sticking around to help run Scripps’s newly enlarged national media unit and collect an earn-out. 

“My role in the company in the deal, if it happens, is very, very clear, at least in my mind,” Burgess said in an interview. “I’m not going to be a part of it. I’m very supportive of everything, but I’ve been doing this a long time. This is a good outcome for everyone and I’m going to work my butt off to make it all happen. And then, I need to go off and fi nd some new things.” 

It’s not unlike 15 years ago, Burgess said, when he was with NBC as it completed its acquisition of Universal and its cable channels. “I was on the 52nd floor saying, ‘Well, what do I want to do with my life?’ I said what I really want is to be a bigger fish in a smaller pond and have a lot more skin in the game.” 

Betting on Broadcasting 

Scanning the landscape at the time, before retransmission grew and cord-cutting emerged, he noticed that television was getting too expensive and decided to invest in free over-the-air broadcasting and turn it into a respectable value delivery platform. 

“I remember saying to [then-NBC chairman and CEO] Bob Wright that this thing’s going to surprise us one day,” Burgess said. 

NBC bought a 32% stake in Paxson and, amid a series of lawsuits, got an option on owner Bud Paxson’s shares. Paxson left and Burgess became CEO. 

Ion’s balance sheet needed to be restructured, which was accomplished in a private-equity deal with Citadel LLC in 2007. Its costs had to be right-sized and new programming deals had to be struck. Eventually, Ion grew into the fifth-most watched TV network in terms of primetime audience, per Nielsen. 

Come 2020, Burgess’s investors had been in Ion for a long time and were ready to get out, rather than put more money in. When the pandemic hit, it looked like they’d have to wait a bit longer before cashing out. 

“There were not a not a lot of people that had the stomach and the appetite to do this right in the middle of a lockdown,” he said. 

Burgess said he’d had a conversation with Scripps president and CEO Adam Symson at the 2019 NAB Show and the two companies’ strategies lined up perfectly. “The strength and quality of the Ion network is a testament to Brandon’s creativity and innovative approach to television,” Symson said. “While the rest of the broadcast industry looked only at the local marketplace, Brandon built a business of significant value by understanding early the importance of scale and going national.” 

When Scripps said it was ready to do a deal, COVID or no COVID, Scripps secured the financing and brought in Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, which invested $600 million in Scripps preferred shares. 

“We on our own had an appetite to get bigger, by buying or by selling ourselves into something bigger, whichever came first,” Burgess said. “This company was built for this type of transaction. It was built as an enabling platform for when people see the value of broadcast.” 

Streaming may be the bright, shiny object at this moment. But, Burgess noted, while having 1 million live viewers watching Blue Bloods may not be sexy, most streaming services are losing money while Ion enjoys a 60% profit margin.

And that’s without the retransmission consent revenue that sustains most broadcast companies. Ion chooses to get cable carriage via must-carry — which earns no fee. Burgess said that in order to get retrans, Ion would have had to acquire sports programming and big network-affiliated stations in order to have leverage in negotiations. Ion’s investors didn’t want to write that big a check. For now, Scripps said it will also follow that strategy. 

Scripps plans to use the Ion stations’ signals to carry its digital networks, which will mean a big reduction in distribution costs. Scripps-owned Katz Networks pays stations to broadcast Bounce, Laff, Grit and Court TV on secondary digital channels. 

“That’s a layup,” Burgess said, adding that Scripps is getting even more than it bargained for. “I hope Scripps will appreciate all this synergy I’m leaving on the table. They’re getting this thing perfectly set up.” 

For one thing, Ion doesn’t have original content, but it does have full ad-supported streaming rights to the content it licenses from ViacomCBS and others. 

And rolling up Scripps networks with Ion will create a package even more attractive to advertisers, Burgess believes. “We’ve positioned ourselves as a broadcast entity, but we’re offering ourselves to cable advertisers and they like that, because they’re getting broadcast eyeballs, which are much more expensive, and at cable prices,” he said. “That’s how we’ve grown our share every year and Scripps is going to find they can do the same thing supersized with multiple networks.” He compared Scripps’s collection of channels to a mini-Viacom. 

There will also be programming synergies as Ion and Jonathan Katz of Scripps’s Katz Networks go to market together, he said. “Collective purchasing across multiple networks is the name of the game these days. That’s also one of the reasons why we, as a standalone company, wanted to operate more networks,” Burgess said. “The fact that Scripps is stepping into that is a no-brainer from my perspective.” 

Once the Scripps deal closes, Burgess is planning to take a break. “I’ve been so deep into operations for so long. Now I kind of need to take a breather and look around and reassess a bit again,” he said. “I don’t have a business plan in my pocket.” 

But he notes that this TV market is being completely reshuffled by COVID, by technology and by the capital markets. “I think values are going to be all over the place. We’re going to take a breath and see where the interesting bets are, on not just operational disruption but financial disruption. People have been riding a successful wave for a long time using conventional corporate finance metrics on debt and leverage. I think a lot of people are going to get re-shuffled and revalued.” 

Instead of riding a wave, Burgess is looking forward to hitting the slopes. He started skiing as a child growing up. He likes extreme skiing, off helicopters and in back countries. Surprisingly, he doesn’t own a ski house. “You’re actually better off not owning a house in one place,” he said. His go-to location is Deer Valley in Park City, Utah, but after going there for a long time, it turned out that every other year, there was no snow. “So you just have to follow the snow around at this point,” he said. 

“I have a long list of hobbies that I’ve under-invested in for a long time,” he added. “I have young kids and I have some real estate projects that I have to finish.” 

And while he says he wants some time away from the grind of business, you never know when something will drag you back in.

“When I talk to friends of mine who get a divorce — and we all know divorce rates are 50/50, so every second one of your friends is getting a divorce, just mathematically — and when you say to them, what are you going to do? They say ‘Oh nothing. I'm just going to enjoy life.’ And then sure enough three months later, they have a girlfriend,” he said.

“I never fully understood that. That’s not where my head is at the moment. But it’s possible, right? You might go on a date and say, ‘Wow, you know, I really like this dating thing.’ But I only mean metaphorically speaking, obviously.” 

Taking a Break, for Now 

So unless there’s a project he falls in love with, Burgess said he wants to take a beat. “I want to take a moment and figure out what I am really good at and what I really like to do. Those things are not always the same thing, by the way. And I need to sort that out: What am I good at and do what I’m good at.” 

But he already sounds a bit itchy to make any hiatus a brief one. “I am not going to deny that I’m intrigued with being a little bit more of an investor mindset as opposed to the day-to-day grinding it out on the operating side, to be honest with you,” he said. “But at the end of the day, it depends a bit on what’s the situation you’re looking at and What does it need? Those are exactly the right questions.”