I'm not here to convince you of morals or change your attitudes; however, you may benefit from my experience in both the "profit" as well as the "not for profits" also. I had to become so proficient with business model even to learning many things about the equipment they used, the costs, etc. To ease your minds, I felt comfortable in any environment and any organization I found myself. I've even effectively declared dividends, taxwise, from incorporated pocketbooks to well-known personalities which agreed with me in the final analysis.
I've dealt with all type of media that found themselves in situations where they had to adapt to audiance acceptance which they monitored very closely at substantial costs. You may be so attentive to note that some media types may broadcast certain accompanying items as not being viewed as necessarily in agreement with the opinions of owners, management, and/or its employees.
Two of the conglomerate life insurance companies which I examined which caused my untimely promotion each owned television as well as AM\FM radio broadcast facilities with FCC license which were very profitable. During the license renewal processes, one lost their televesion broadcast license due to discrimination allegations as not serving the general public. Profitability during this period of alleged discrimination dis not cause the broadcaster to change it programming significantlly which resulted in the loss of its broadcast priviliges.
This license was awarded to an exempt organization dedicated to civic improvement and owned by a national church organization and some local civic minded individuals. Eventually, the call letters and equipment of the old broadcaster was sold to the exempt organization which esentially carried on as an affiliate of the former network while it adapted to the local audience with programming changes. Neilsen and other rating bureau ratings were not a real concern for me under the circumstances as there was no tax consequence.
While a religious organization was part and parcel of the new ownership, religious discrimination was not part of the original complaint. The complaint as I best remember was along some discriminatory practices in political advertising along with a lesser amount in programming.
Religious broadcasters relying on cash flow from gifts and donations for survival are responsible to their audience's confidence in the programming which can be a reflection of the audience's perception of the integrity of its board of directors, management, and/or employees. I have had insurance companies that were owned and service their membership organizations who filed exempt organization tax return yet filed regular corporate tax returns on their life, A&H, casualty, and inland marine insurance only available to their membership orginazions chartered on a state by state basis. Over the years, some of the state memberships elected to form their own insurance corporations for various reasons indicating confidence in integrity of business model.
My broad experience with brodasters, internet providers including analog, microwave and digital, communications including analog and microwave gave me a little interesting insight to broad field of electronics as an investor as well as an auditor. Working with my older brother as an electronics engineer, you could see the effect of rf energy which would cause an ordinary bulb to glow as you passed it only near a mobile radio antannae. I also learned that ittakes near 4 hours for rf of an ordinary power television broadcast antannae to bleed down to safe levels before ascending the tower for service. rf power is known to cause the emission of some metal fasteners to disappear into the atmosphere.
As an investor, my due dilligence gave me the necessary knowledge to be a better investor in some of the telephone technology using fiber optics and light transmission. One of the large banks advised me about one of their most successful stock investments came about by a loan to a motel operator who entered the business of long distance where messages were tranmitted in packets much faster, directed, and connected by the use of computers. The use of glass fibers to transmit signals by light transmission required more accuracy than some of us may apply in Sabbath observance. A scheme to weld a glass fiber the size of a hair was devised using lazers so that the light would be reflected accurately for miles over miles. I also learned that light is impeded when the fiber changes angles of direction. I have been reasonably advised that a discovery was made which transmits light at 186,000 miles per second even through 90 degree angled connections in hardware.
A further discovery came with the rainbow effect in fiber optics where they split the light spectrum to transmit the packets on the 7 seperate colors, violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange, and red.
This professional's understanding of business models for 50 years speaks to me even in starting a religious radio\television business. Don't hitch your business model to even an organized entity saddled with the Ten Commandments, as some may see, and who are subject to independent decisions on their business model which they feel with a need for fine tuning. Tell me if I am wrong if the GC lets the tail wag the dog if they find a possible problem with funding vehicles of independent ministries through the regular organized church? Do you look to the GC for financial decency and order? It appears to me that the BOD should have taken the GC to task rather than the audience\supporters where the total net worth of the defendants wouldn't cover the legal fees. I call that spending good money for bad. But, who am I?
My advice to constituiencies is to call sin by its right name and vote with your feet if your position in the regularly organized church is not effective. Keep your own skirt clean to be effective with what you do in you own little corner of the vineyard. If you are a defendant, proper names can get you out on a limb where the plaintiff is either right or wrong. Keep your posterior toward the tree before any limb sawing. The GC may be composed of office occupants like the local conference president who was voted out of office three time by the nominating committee; however, they continue to warm a swivel chair some three years into a quinquinnum. But, who am I?