These days, every gym owner and manager is looking for ways to decrease operational costs while improving member experience. This is a thin line to walk. The necessary expenses of running your facility are seemingly endless…there’s rent, taxes, payroll, equipment maintenance, electricity, gas, phone, and the list goes on and on. Where can savings be found, and will going after those savings negatively affect members’ experience in your club?
If you stop paying electricity, the lights and machines go off. If you stop paying rent or property taxes, you’ll find your operation newly located on the sidewalk outside. So, a lot of clubs have turned their sights to areas where they can cut costs…and one of those areas in which they have managed to cut costs is by not paying for cable/satellite TV.
“Are you crazy?” you ask, “I can’t stop paying for cable! Many of my members wouldn’t workout if they couldn’t watch TV! Worse they’d quit and join another gym!”
However, hundreds of health clubs all over the U.S. – including clubs such as Lifestyle Family Fitness, Spectrum, Fitness Formula, Gold’s, and the YMCA – are not only getting free satellite TV service at this very moment, they are getting paid for it… $125 per month, or $1500 per year! Yes, believe it or not, there is a solution to your cable/satellite TV bill, and it is provided by a company named IdeaCast.
What is IdeaCast?
IdeaCast provides a solution to the problem of expensive cable and satellite TV bills by offering free satellite programming, equipment, and installation to health clubs all over the U.S. Moreover, IdeaCast will pay you cash, every month, toward your clubs’ existing cable bills. With IdeaCast’s National HealthClub Network, you can get the nation’s most popular programming – including CNN, MSNBC, and CNBC – in your health club today, free of charge!
IdeaCast has been named “the official cable/satellite TV service” of IHRSA, the International Health, Racquet, and Sportsclub Association, and they work closely with IHRSA to bring this great benefit to all member clubs. IdeaCast also has a working relationship with the YMCA, and is installing in Y’s every day.
The programming on IdeaCast is the same as the programming on your current cable or satellite television service, and the differences are designed to be indiscernible to your members.
What’s the catch?
There’s no catch, and there’s no cost for programming, equipment or installation. Once you sign-up with IdeaCast and get installed, they send you a check for $125 every month. This proposition is designed to be a cost-saving and risk-free solution for club owners. All they require are monthly traffic counts of members and guests in your club.
How does IdeaCast work?
The IdeaCast networks are transmitted via a private satellite distribution system directly to clubs all across North America, and are hosted on Galaxy 16, the newest and most powerful satellite currently in IntelSat’s fleet of over 50 satellites.
While the channels that IdeaCast provides are identical to the same channels on your current cable or satellite television service, their commercials are targeted to the needs and interests of your active and healthy membership instead of the general public.
Through legal agreements with their programmers, they are able to seamlessly “swap out” the existing commercials. Beyond the commercials they play, there is no way you or your members can notice a difference in programming from your existing cable/satellite provider.
Just like your existing provider, IdeaCast is held to strict quality and decency standards and guidelines, and they only air advertisements of national broadcast quality. Additionally, IdeaCast donates airtime for public service announcements and various worthy causes, like Augie’s Quest, a not-forprofit organization founded by club industry luminary Augie Nieto dedicated to finding a cure for ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s Disease.
What do I do about my existing cable/satellite service?
IdeaCast is designed to complement your current service, so no changes need to be made. Most clubs use the $125 monthly rebate to keep their existing cable or satellite TV service running in conjunction with IdeaCast. Beyond cable and satellite systems, IdeaCast can be installed alongside other entertainment or marketing services or equipment that your club may currently have.
How does the installation process work?
First, they schedule a site survey of the facilities and your current audio/video distribution system. Once the site survey is complete, an installation date is scheduled. Installation is quick, painless, and does not interfere with any of your existing systems.
Their dish is on a non-perforating roof mount, designed not to permanently affect the surface. Rain, snow, or hurricane, their equipment is designed to stay put and keep receiving signals long after other popular satellite services have stopped working.
All aspects of the survey and installation are closely coordinated with a representative from your club. They do not interfere with your operations. Since IdeaCast works in conjunction with your current cable or satellite system and audio/video equipment, they will work with you to determine a custom solution for your setup.
What if there’s a problem with my service?
IdeaCast only uses state-of-the-art equipment from vendors such as Motorola and Scientific Atlanta. This equipment is pre-inspected, and pre-customized by technicians at their headquarters before delivering to your club. However, life sometimes presents little problems, and that’s why IdeaCast member gyms are provided with an 800 number that can be used to reach a real, live IdeaCast representative – often the same individual who installed the service – any time of day or night. No endless phone trees here. IdeaCast always looks forward to making a personal relationship with representatives from their member clubs, so member clubs can always be assured to get the help required from somebody in the company that knows their setup, location, and first name. And, IdeaCast has over 1000 service technicians nationwide to dispatch to your location, if the need arises.
Who else is using IdeaCast?
This free television programming service provided by IdeaCast’s National HealthClub Network is currently operating flawlessly in many of the top health clubs in 40 U.S. states. Those clubs include the ones mentioned earlier and many others. IdeaCast would be pleased to provide you with references from their many happy customers. Don’t just take their word for it!
So, don’t cut expenses that negatively affect your members’ experience. Eliminate the expenses that negatively affect your bottom line, and positively affect your members. With IdeaCast, you too can help your club save money every month while making club manager’s jobs easier, and giving your members the continued, quality television experience they’ve come to expect and rely on.
For more information contact Fred Smith, the founder and CEO of IdeaCast, a Chicago-based company providing free satellite TV services and equipment to health clubs across North America. To learn more about getting IdeaCast for your club, call 888.203.3208, email info@ideacast.net, or visit www.ideacast.net.
