Digital studio Next New Networks plans to introduce at
least 12 to 15 new online networks and Web series from now until the end of the
year, the company's co-founder Tim Shey told Beet.TV during an interview at
Next New Networks' New York offices.
Next New Networks planned to showcase some of its new
programming at the Digitas New Fronts event today in New York. Shey said the
programs include new shows in the areas of food and travel, as well as a new
variety talk show hosted by Internet star Amber Lee Ettinger, also known as "Obama Girl."
Mimicking the pilot process of the television business,
Next New Networks plans to present these programs to advertisers to gauge which
ones have the most appeal to sponsors, Shey said. Next New Networks also
develops shows that are brand-led and have advertisers on board from the
get-go. This new range of shows, however, is more of a programming development
slate. Some will make it and some won't, he said.
Update: Al Gore spoke at the Digitas event — here's a report by Caroline McCarthy at CNET.
Daisy Whitney, Senior Producer
Video Transcript
Daisy Whitney: Hey, I'm here at Next New Network's head quarters in New York City on 29th and Park Avenue and I'm joined by Tim Shey who is the co -founder of Next New Networks and today is the New Fronts as part of Internet week in New York and Next New Networks is going to making some programming announcements with new shows. So, give us the down and dirty, what are the new shows that you're going to be announcing today?
Tim Shey: Well, we're going to be announcing a lot of new shows that we have in development on our existing networks, as well as a couple networks that are coming down the road. So we've got new programming coming in on ThreadBanger. Or in the style category we've got a couple shows with our existing hosts, like Meg Allan Cole and Robin Caron, who are the hosts at ThreadBanger.
We've got a new show on Indy Mogul which is right now being called The Bobby Miller show, but we'll unveil the real name soon. We also have new programming on Barely Political; we have the Obama Girl show with Amber Lee Ettinger. So it's going to be a new weekly series featuring her talking to different people and she's actually out shooting some of the first segments at E3.
Daisy Whitney: And that's gonna talk variety show, you're saying?
Tim Shey: Absolutely, yeah. But sped up for the YouTube generation, you know, for her fans.
Daisy Whitney: Okay and now you also are launching some food and travel shows. Can you give us any specifics on that?
Tim Shey: We have a, we have a food network in development. We're going to be showing a little bit of that and that's slated to launch in July. Right now the sort of the code name for it is the Daily Meal, but that might change in the next month. And we're going to be showing little of the programing there. And we do have…we're going to give people some glimpses of the travel network that's in development as well as maybe the beauty and style network that's in development. You're really sort of see…one of the great things about the New Front's is that it's interactive and we're gonna really take the pulse of the advertisers that are coming in and what do they want to see and what do they want to talk about because we've got programming and entertainment, we've got it in politics, we've got it in comedy, we've got it in lifestyle, and we really can show them…there's so much stuff in development that we can show them what they want to see.
Daisy Whitney: Are these programs that were developed with the advertisers on board from the beginning or are these Next New Network-led initiatives that you will now see if there's advertiser interest in?
Tim Shey: No the stuff that…you know because the real focus at the New Front is stuff that's available for programming. We do have some other things that we're going to be launching where we already have sponsors attached and we're holding those back from the New Front and launching them with our with our sponsors on board. This is more the the programing that we've developed that we think there's a real audience opportunity for and we've got great talent lined up. We want to just get it out there and start previewing it to the community. Some of them we may launch and build the audience first so that by the time sponsors come in…a great example is $99 Music Videos. We have a great launch sponsor in Verizon for season one and it's just now building up to that point where it's got a really sizable monthly audience and that's that's a great way to do things too.
Daisy Whitney: So overall, how many new networks and shows do you think you'll launch in the second half of this year?
Tim Shey: Our goal is, believe it or not, our goal is to launch at least fifteen new shows and five new networks. But I think it's going to be a lot more in terms of the number of shows we'll launch. Now will they all make it, will we keep them all? We'll see, but we want to launch quite a few and we've got a new program where we're reaching out to a lot of producers where they can get on board faster, get a show launched faster, and get a chance to get it out there. And we'll be talking about that more in the weeks to come too.
Daisy Whitney: Well that's similar to the TV network model where you launch a lot of shows and they don't all get renewed, but hey that's the name of the game in show business, right? Thank you Tim for joining us and have a good day!
Tim Shey: Thank you.
