Web TV content producers are at least considering the idea of emulating the longtime broadcast network model of a fall TV season launch, complete with new shows and all the buzz that goes around them.
"There is so much going on when it comes to Web TV series that it would be good to know when the major shows are coming out," Mike Rotman, CEO of Streamin' Garage and head of production for premium YouTube channel Bammo told StreamingMedia.com. "Having a fall launch would do this."
That doesn't mean that Rotman, whose company produces Stupid for Movies, Stripped Down Live with Curt Smith and Super Scary Horror Theater, is wed to the idea.
"If everybody comes out with announcements for the same time period—given how many OTT providers there are—the best shows could get swamped," he added.
That's a problem the Big 5 networks--OK, Big 4 and the CW--have had for years and it's the reason some pretty good shows have been canceled ahead of their time. Still, the launch model has worked to get buzz around new shows and, in an increasingly cluttered space, that's not a bad thing.
Of course that cluttered space also includes a plethora of summer shows on some of the cable networks. Today there's an increasingly blurry line between the end of the so-called TV season in May and the start of the new season in September. A push of the remote these days can find something new somewhere on the lineup.
Same's true--even more so--of online video, Rotman told StreamingMedia, noting "With fresh content going up on YouTube every day, waiting for September isn't really a good idea."
Stealing some buzz from the networks, though, isn't a bad idea.
"We can see the value of riding on network TV's coattails," he added. "This is why we will be re-launching Super Scary Horror Theater in the fall, to take advantage of the new season hype.
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