Using Social Media Along with Traditional TV

Look how much information we get that starts with a social media tipping us off. The blog, TMZ is a great example. In fact the more accurate this information is, the more likely we are to "follow" that information provider, 'tweeter' or 'facebookie'.

Now celebrities tell us about their every bowel movement and we are able to use newsfeeds and IM to update each other instantly.

How do we apply this to the world of television programming? Well it seems obvious, but a little planning goes a long way.

Thinking about what information you will use your show or commercial to push is important. It has to be good to get an audience and keep it.

It has to offer more than your show or spot does-added value if you will- or it has to provide linkage to information in the show. If you provide good info, promoting your show has value, too.

You have to be ready to operate your social adjacent media. Will you update it weekly, daily...hourly...as it happens? Make sure you have someone who will manage the updates you have planned.

Social media is a great promotional tool. After all, what is better than personal ensorsement in a social scene?

Find out how we can plan your social media adjacent production.

www.theredfish.ca

Renaissance Man for a New Age

You may know Humble Howard as the consummate morning radio host. He redefined what a morning man does when he arrived in Toronto so many years ago to be teamed up with Fred Patterson to become the dynamic duo....HUMBLE & FRED. You may also know Howard from his many years on television in Toronto - Ed The Sock comes to mind right away. He is still pulling big numbers along with his morning show team including Colleen Rusholme, Kim Stockwood and Rick Hodge at EZ Rock in Toronto. All of this is quite well known about Howard.

But there is more. Much more. For the last two years Humble Howard (Howard Glassman) has been working with RedFish Studios as a lead hand in creating and devloping a number of TV shows that are picking up steam in Canada and other markets around the world.

We first contacted Howard to be the host of ManUP! It seemed like a long shot because the show was so...um.... ridiculous. It required a host with Lettermanesque people skills and the ability to keep the show moving. " If only we could get Humble Howard...", I recall saying. One email later to Howard and he was in. Not just to be the host, but to write it, and co-direct it. He has incredible vision for this show and three seasons later, it seems to be going strong. The show is a riot. You can see video and pics at manuptv.blogpot.com whenever you get a minute.

It did not stop with ManUP! Howard quickly began to dig in as one of the creative forces at RedFish behind shows like The Spirited Chef with Christopher Woods (who still appears on Howard's morning radio regularly), and now The Last Bride Standing.

You may think of Howard as a funny guy. He is. You may think of him as a performer. He certainly is. You may not, right away, realize that he is also a savvy broadcast businessman, a creative director and a dedicated producer behind the scenes.

He is driven like very few individuals I have met in this industry. He is an incredibly hard worker putting in as many as 15 hours a day between EZ Rock and RedFish Studios. Why? He has vision that is motivated by his desire to entertain the masses...even if he is not in front of the camera.

Howard is the Executive Producer who watches over the development of all of our new projects as well as delivering the shows we are in production with.

Humble Howard reminds me what we should tell every person entering the broadcast business: "You are going make enormous efforts or fail." He makes enormous efforts and the results are amazing. Sure is he a great radio personality, but that is just a glimpse of who Howard is. He is truly a renaissance man for our era of broadcast.

Planning for the future of TV

Contrary to popular alarmist belief, TV isn't going anywhere. It is evolving but not disappearing.

There was a time that we all envisioned TV being interactive in much the same way the internet is quickly becoming. Who wants to interact with their TV? I want to stare at it hoping that it doesn't want anything from me. It already has my attention. That is all I can offer my television. No. It did not take...interactive gaming is now console-specific and the idea that you would email, phone, and make microwave pizza with your TV is a notion that most of us have let go of.

So then what will become of TV in the future? Well, already there are tons networks with targeted programming objectives that make up the 10 zillion channel universe we all pay through the nose for each month with our cable bill. The TV audience pie has been divided so many times now that ad-revenues and cable subscription revenues are almost on-par in some cases, networks generate next to no advertising revenue. Ah-ha! There you go. Already there is a shift away from Ad Revenues to Consumer Revenues. There is the first big change we are seeing. This means that people are already paying for the content they want the most (in theory).

What else is on the horizon? With the advent of social media taking hold (watch for the tweet about this blog later...) television may just turn into a mass launch-pad for people who have similar interests. Once you have affinity with a group of other like-minded people and you can connect with them through social media, the content on TV then just becomes the launch pad for what viewers can do on their own, together. TV might just become the mass-communication voice of Social Media and our participation will become real, but not through our LCD TVs, but through each other and our interests merely covered on TV.

Sure, the more splintered the TV content universe becomes, the more likely we will become a community through targeted programming and the use of social media attached to the broadcast specifically.

Happy viewing.

Mike Wixson

Executive Producer

RedFish Studios