Why so many hunting shows, and so few shooting shows?

[MikeBjerum]

Heck, I was happy if I could catch Norm Abrams on the "Yankee Workshop".

And they have axed that as well    My father, before he abandoned us, and my uncles taught me I could do anything I set my mind to.  I progressed to being able to build a complete house, including furnishings and cabinets, through what I learned in Sunset publications and shows like New Yankee Workshop.  Our son has become quite handy and a good craftsman, and he credits these shows he grew up enduring as I watched.

Now, when does Dancing come on ... hope it doesn't interfere with wheel this week.

[Scout66619]

 Not sure that I agree with the assessment. I am watching a "shooting" show nearly five nights a week. My argument; you have on the Pursuit Channel (DISH 240) Guns and Gear TV, Guntalk TV, Doug's Koenig's Championship Season, Conceal and Carry school, American Trigger Sports, What if, and Trigger Time... On the Outdoor Channel (DISH 396) American Rifleman Television, Babes with Bullets, MidwayUSA’s The Best Defense, Choose Your Weapon, Elite Tactical Unit: S.W.A.T, Gun Stories, DownRange.TV, Rapid Fire!, Shooting Gallery, and Shooting USA.....On the Sportman's Channel (DISH 395) there is; Guns & Ammo, TAC TV, Student of the Gun, Shoot Straight with Chad Schearer, and Personal Defense TV. Guys and Gals, as much as I would like to see more Shooting Shows and I know that I missed some but, there is only so much time I can spend watching TV. If you look between the three channels that I watch, just about every aspect of personal shooting is covered. not sure about you all I'm good.

Chuck

[Tyler Durden]

a friend of mine used to have his own hunting footage internet forum.  He sold that and was looking to put on his own shooting cable TV show.  This was probably close to ten years ago. My buddy went on to say that the network was going to charge $35,000 for a half hour block of airtime.  So he said that whoever produces the show it is up to them to get businesses to buy advertising on the show.

I think a half hour show actually lasts like 22 minutes.  so you have 8 minutes of airtime that is commercials. 

How long is a commercial now?  30 seconds?  20 seconds?  10 seconds?

So that 8 minutes of commercials has to pay north of $35,000, probably closer to $50,000 to pay for the cameras, the cameramen, video editing, the host, the producer, gas, lodging, etc.

I think the wave of the future is going to be YouTube.  There are like three guys that do the PowerFactorShow channel on YouTube.

There are a few advantages to YouTube:

1.  It is free.  No buying a block of airtime for a season.

2.  No commercials right in the middle of your show.

3.  Easily searchable and archived

4.  Can watch anytime at your leisure

5.  Can share the video with others

6.  Can comment/interact directly with the "producers"

7.  Youtube actually has a partnering program where you get paid each time your video is watched.

[Michael Bane]

This is a question for the Ages, and since I'm on a 6 hour layover at Tokyo/Narita, I might as well take a shot at it:

Hunters follow the dictum of "Steel Magnolia" -- the difference between man and the lower animals is the ability to accessorize.

Hunters buy a staggering amount of accessories. So do shooters, but it is far more Balkanized (zillions of different holster rather than that grueling choice between Mossy Oak and REALTREE). The hunting side of the industry has better PR than we do, much more aggressively telling their story. The industry until recently was far more comfortable with hunters than shooters...that Old School Tom Bogan is talking about. There are some weird intangibles out there ... the willingness of the audience to watch an interminable number of whacking Bambi shows, for instance. There's also the financial structuring of cable shows - - most are time buys, where the show producers buy a block of time from the network, then sell pieces of that time to advertisers to finance the show . They can sell to Joe Bob's Radiator Shop if they want. My shows as network originals are handled differently, and the result is often a smaller pool of big advertisers.

I'd do a dozen more shooting shows if I could, and I think both the audience and the sponsors are already there. Hopefully, the outdoor media will catch up...

...Back to Japanese game shows...

Michael B

[GeorgeCook]

This is a question for the Ages, and since I'm on a 6 hour layover at Tokyo/Narita, I might as well take a shot at it:

Hunters follow the dictum of "Steel Magnolia" -- the difference between man and the lower animals is the ability to accessorize.

Hunters buy a staggering amount of accessories. So do shooters, but it is far more Balkanized (zillions of different holster rather than that grueling choice between Mossy Oak and REALTREE). The hunting side of the industry has better PR than we do, much more aggressively telling their story. The industry until recently was far more comfortable with hunters than shooters...that Old School Tom Bogan is talking about. There are some weird intangibles out there ... the willingness of the audience to watch an interminable number of whacking Bambi shows, for instance. There's also the financial structuring of cable shows - - most are time buys, where the show producers buy a block of time from the network, then sell pieces of that time to advertisers to finance the show . They can sell to Joe Bob's Radiator Shop if they want. My shows as network originals are handled differently, and the result is often a smaller pool of big advertisers.

I'd do a dozen more shooting shows if I could, and I think both the audience and the sponsors are already there. Hopefully, the outdoor media will catch up...

...Back to Japanese game shows...

Michael B

Michael,
I think you need to become like the artists in the music industry and form your own production company (if you haven't already) and market your products direct to the consumer. I am just one data point, but I do not have cable and have no plans to acquire it anytime soon. I watch just about everything online and I find the quality of the information presented is increasing every day. Heck even the production quality from some of these programs rivals what is on broadcast/cable TV.

The paradigm has shifted and I think you need to become the "Pioneer" as Joel Barker would say and embark on delivering your own content direct.

[Sponsor]

[Timothy]

Heck, I was happy if I could catch Norm Abrams on the "Yankee Workshop".

PBS is now working at least five stations with varied programming out of Boston Tom!  NYW and TOH and Ask TOH are on every week on several!  You just need to be in the right place at the right time.  It's still WGBH but with several variants.

[tombogan03884]

For the last 12 years "right place at the right time" involves somewhere with a TV. 
"This Old House" has sucked since Norm left it to the guys from Salem.
My only gripe about NYW is that Norm always had "the tool".
Lets see him do that stuff with a chainsaw and a hammer. 

[Timothy]

For the last 12 years "right place at the right time" involves somewhere with a TV. 
"This Old House" has sucked since Norm left it to the guys from Salem.
My only gripe about NYW is that Norm always had "the tool".
Lets see him do that stuff with a chainsaw and a hammer. 

I was watching NYW some years back when the host of TOH came into the shop to borrow a miter saw!  The last host, not this new guy...anyway, he was gazing at Norms wide array of expensive saws patiently waiting in their little racks hoping to be picked for the next segment!

Norm handed him a maple miter box and a back saw and bid him goodday!   

BTW, the NYW and the Victory Garden are located in the back yard of one of the producers of the shows!  It's not Norms shop at all...

Norms been making more appearances in the last few years on TOH.

[MikeBjerum]

For the last 12 years "right place at the right time" involves somewhere with a TV. 
"This Old House" has sucked since Norm left it to the guys from Salem.
My only gripe about NYW is that Norm always had "the tool".
Lets see him do that stuff with a chainsaw and a hammer. 

He started it that way, evolved to the specialty items, and at the end he was showing both.  I found the final shows a good balance of here is what is available, and here is how you do it with a pocket knife - the old way.

[Timothy]

The drift continues....

I was watching last week and Tom Silva outfit a window with a new stool, side and head casing with nothing but a good cross cut saw, rip saw and a decent hand plane.  You couldn't tell the difference between that new work and the other window that was done 150 years ago! 

He really is pretty good at what does...