Flexible by design, CorporateXpress (CX) is deployed differently by the different television groups that use our SIMS software, depending on management philosophy or strategic directions. Some of our clients use CX to "push down" information from corporate to each of their station operations, while other "roll up" information from the station level, and still others employ a combination of these operations.

The best way to illustrate the potential of the software is to discuss its application in a case study format:

A Case Study

One large television group has integrated CX into their financial and programming workflows to increase labor efficiencies and reduce duplication at both levels of their organization, corporate and the station level. Their integration has provided real, measurable return on investment, so it is helpful to outline each of their applications:

1. They use CX to enter any contracts that have associated cash – Cash contracts and Cash Barter Contracts. This is done by 2 staff personnel, one on the east coast and one on the west. "Barter only" contracts are entered by each station/market, and are not entered by corporate.
2. Payments are set to be made using the corporate database. The group minimizes labor in the finance department by cutting one check to a Distributor that covers all contracts across all stations and markets.
3. CX is configured so that even if the payment schedules are managed in the corporate database, the payment schedules are "cast down" to the branch station databases as read-only entries. When payments are made at corporate, the payments are "cast down"to the stations as read only entries as well. That way, local business managers can pull reports on what has been paid, what hasn't been paid, future cash flow reports, etc. At the corporate level, these same reports are pulled using the corporate database "roll up" reporting.
4. To further their labor savings at the station level, a single individual employs the CX software to provide network scheduling: A network affiliate schedule is entered in the corporate database and then "cast down" to the 5 owned and affiliated stations they have in a hub operation. This saves each of the stations time and labor.
5. At the corporate office, a number of daily, weekly and monthly reports are gathered from the corporate database. Some of these reports have been customized to provide a unique review of the data, and others are scheduled for automatic generation and publication.

By using SIMS, a media contract rights and program management system, the corporate level can benefit from the timely analysis and verification of station program asset valuation/amortization for pre-sale preparations. These reports can be very effective in establishing value during the acquisition process and protect the corporate investments.

The Big Picture

By employing tools like SIMS and CorporateXpress, corporate executives will benefit from:

• Centralized Contract entry and management
• Centralized Payment Management and Tracking
• Post one check to a distributor
• Pay for multiple programs and multiple stations
• Track payment history including check level detail
• Centralized Network Scheduling to populate station schedules
• Roll up Contract and Financial Reporting across all stations