KBTV

KBTV::The Proposal

There are moments, say at 4 a.m. and the KBTV episode du jour is uploading to YouTube at a 14 kbps dribble, I half close my eyes and I dig deep in what always feels like a last-ditch attempt to feel the passion I felt on that gloomy Sunday after reading the fateful e-mail in italics below. The elation! The glee! The hunger for a new adventure! I search for the passion but usually end up eeking out a little whimper. I look at the clock and wonder: How did this all happen? I mean, really happen? Why in God's name did I pursue it after that initial high faded, which it inevitably does?

The Proposal. That's right...I had decided to write a proposal.

Six days later, I e-mailed what turned out to be a four-page outline of what I -- at the time -- imagined would be "The KBTV Concept."

Hence ...

The Proposal

"People worry that newspapers are going out of business. So what? It's the content that's important. No one gives a s**t about the delivery mechanism. Think about mail. You had the pony express, truck delivery, airmail, email. You don't care how it gets to you. I read more now than I ever did, but I get it off my PC. I don't need to go down to the end of the driveway and pick up the newspaper. It's the content that's most important." – Bill Watkins, Chief Executive, Seagate Technology, for CNN.com.

This mercurial, salty mouthed Texan CEO nailed it. The cliché “content is king” has never been more spot on than today. No one needs statistics to know that more and more people are looking to the ‘net when it comes to getting their news, listening to music, watching movies, and networking with friends and family. We live in a world where people download Avril Lavigne’s “Keeping Hold On” song and video off iTunes while checking in on their old college roommate on MySpace before snagging the day’s headlines off the Drudge Report.

The days of the sluggish, bureaucratic media outfits serving up stale information and redundant analysis are giving way to the nimble and quick, constantly evolving blogosphere. In a world where information is organized and available at your fingertips, the thought of sifting through a newspaper or waiting for the 11 o’clock news seems ludicrous. Today independently produced and distributed blogs like Daily Kos and Gawker have a viewership that rivals traditional papers such as The Boston Globe and The New York Post.

Concept:

“Kate’s Take” on KBTV is a three-minute daily videoblog based and shot in South Florida’s Gold Coast. Beginning January 15, 2007, we will cover a wide range of information from top news stories to quirky pop culture, finance and style. We will release each new clip at 1 pm ET, Monday through Friday.

“Kate’s Take” will differ from a regular TV program dramatically. Instead of costing millions of dollars to produce, KBTV is created with a video camera, laptop, one light and a stick mike. And because KBTV is distributed online, all around the world and on demand, it has a much larger potential audience than any TV broadcast. We spend $0 on promotion, relying entirely on word-of-mouth and close to nothing on distribution because bandwidth costs and space are so inexpensive. Consumers today want selection on their own terms. We live in a world of instant messaging and iPods, a world where TIVO has become a verb. With network news, a random producer sits in the control room of some studio deciding what does and does not air. But on the Internet, viewers choose what he or she wishes to watch, and therein lies the power shift. On the Web, we watch what we want to watch!

Distribution:

KBTV will utilize YouTube! as its primary means of distributing content. YouTube! has taken the ‘net by storm over the past year, accounting for 60 percent of all videos watched online. According to Nielsen NetRatings, YouTube! has roughly 20 million unique users per month.

Premium content will be available via KBTVOnline.com, free of charge. At KBTVOnline.com, users will be able to access the complete KBTV archive in addition to scripts, written articles, links, and merchandise.

We also hope to distribute KBTV video content via iTunes podcast service. Users will be able to automatically download our content daily and store copies of it along with their favorite music, television shows, and movies.

The 1 PM Hit Rationale:

“Kate’s Take” on KBTV will launch each weekday at 1 PM to avoid the morning “information bottleneck” and take advantage of the midday lull.

People typically tap into their PCs at home in the morning where they’re hit with the ton of emails that came in overnight:

Spam, horoscopes, weather, (any fluff stuff you sign up for)
Trading Information (research reports, market updates, news alerts)
Personal emails (from night-owl friends, picture attachments, etc.).
They delete the unwanteds, mark ones to be read later, and fire back only what is necessary.

Some folks read the newspaper, watch the Today Show or CNBC while rushing against the clock to get out the door.

Where ever they end up they spend the next few hours digging out, dousing fires and plotting strategies for the day. Then they eat lunch – either out or at their desks.

“Kate’s Take” will hit at 1PM to entertain and inform people during that all-to-familiar lull between 1PM and 3PM. And as the afternoon creeps by, KBTV will capture the word-of-mouth buzz from friends and colleagues making plans for the evening.

Competitive Analysis:

Old-time media bastions are crumbling and giving way to a new construction of consumer-driven content. Technology like YouTube! not only allows but encourages individuals to “broadcast yourself” for the first time. The content that is being independently produced and distributed is as diverse as the people who access it. On any given day, anyone can pull up YouTube! and catch the latest installment of “Chad Vader,” or check in on the latest update from the aspiring actress/staff accountant featured in “Lucy in the City.”

Case in point: Rocketboom attracts an audience of 300,000 every day. CNBC’s highly touted “Kudlow & Company,” on the other hand, draws an average of just 265,000 daily viewers.

As people trend away from the rigid structure of the old media establishments and begin to gravitate toward user-produced content, the issues of quality and reliability become more apparent. For the trend we’ve witnessed over the past two years to continue to grow with staying power, a new class of “independent professional content providers” has to emerge, hence “Kate’s Take” on KBTV.

Talent: Kate Bohner

In 1988, after graduating from the University of Pennsylvania, where she co-captained the women’s lacrosse team, Ms. Bohner took an analyst position at the international investment bank Lazard Frères & Co. in the Mergers and Acquisitions Group. For the next two years, she worked as a Junior Associate in both the New York and the London office.

Leaving banking in 1992 to pursue a writing career, Ms. Bohner was awarded the Reader’s Digest Literary Foundation Fellowship to study journalism at Columbia University. Upon graduation in 1993, she joined Forbes Magazine as a fact checker. After writing for the Small Business, Investigative, Healthcare and other sections, Ms. Bohner was promoted and asked to reinvent the column “The Informer,” rising to Associate Editor. She has also written for other various publications including Harper’s Bazaar, Marie Claire, and George Magazine.

In 1996, Ms. Bohner was contracted to co-author Trump: The Art of The Comeback, with Donald J. Trump. In 1997, the book hit #3 on the New York Times Bestseller List and #1 on the Wall Street Journal Best Seller List. The first run sold more than 500,000 copies.

In 1997, Ms. Bohner became a correspondent for CNBC, launching “Business Center” with Maria Bartiromo and Tyler Mathison. She went on to write, produce and broadcast “Kate Bohner’s Power File” on CNBC’s “Power Lunch.” In 1998, Jack Reilly, the former executive producer at CNBC, joined Ms. Bohner and other NBC veterans in founding a startup, Internet news service, JAGfn, providing online content similar to that found on CNBC.

In 2000, Ms. Bohner joined E*TRADE as the Managing Editor of Digital Financial Media, anchoring the radio show E*TRADE on Air, WNEW 102.7 FM, as well as serving as the “face” of the brand change to E*TRADE Financial.

In 2002, Ms. Bohner returned to her roots in banking and joined, as partner, The Fort Hill Group, a New York-based investment banking, capital advisory and venture capital firm. While at Fort Hill, Ms. Bohner and her partner John R. Lakian formed and funded a medical device company, Living Independently Group, Inc. (www.livingindependently.com). Currently Ms. Bohner she continues her responsibilities as a non-operating, tri-founder.

Today Ms. Bohner is the President of Kate Bohner Productions, LLC (www.katebohnerproductions.com), a multi-media consulting firm based in Boca Raton, Florida.

I hit send and went out for a 6-mile run.

To be continued …

posted by katebohner @ 5:58 PM