The Market For Bad TV is Huge
All too often I hear ideas for businesses that are absolutely great but are targeting a market that is too small. If I’ve learned anything from working for startups, classes at business school, and talking with entrepreneurs, it’s that you’ve got to target a sizable market. Without a big market, your chances of success are much slimmer.
I think about markets as my wife watches “Exiled” while I type this post. It’s a new show on MTV where spoiled teenagers are taken to the middle-of-nowhere to perform manual labor for the first time in their lives and hopefully grow from the experience. MTV produces a lot of bad shows but this one is truly horrible. It’s as if MTV skipped the whole creative process and jumped straight into the focus group stage. They asked a bunch of perky high school girls what they wanted to see and followed every word. To watch this is…well…it’s mentally painful. It’s like I’m de-evolving.
I have to remember. The market for this type of crap is huge. And as bad as it is, it makes sense for MTV to keep on pumping out this junk. I’m just hoping that the teenage world learns quickly how bad these shows actually are. It took them a couple years to realize how bad the boy-bands music was. Hopefully they’ll quickly grow out of this as well.
When it goes away, it’ll just make room for another stinker. I don’t think there’s much hope for good TV any time soon.
The idea itself is interesting. Spoiled twits who are put out of their element, forced to do something completely foreign in hopes of huge personal growth. It’s something that the Travel Channel has perfected. But the issue is that the growth and realization isn’t happening. It’s a weak attempt. No one can learn and grow in 7 days of shuffling around in the mud. Had these people been sent away for several weeks or months it would make sense. But going to Africa for a week? I call that a vacation.
Justin,
You’re right. The basic premise is something we’ve seen a million times and has been done successfully. In this case, however, it doesn’t seem like MTV cares whether the show is quality or not. It just needs to put a rich kid being bratty on TV and they’ll get viewers. It’s like buying a knock-off iPhone on the street. It doesn’t have to work. It just has to have the exterior of an iPhone and a few suckers will buy it thinking they’re getting a great deal.
I’m a teenager, I stereotypically love music and follow fads, but MTV mystifies me. It mystifies my friends. The few times I ever hear of kids watching MTV is when there is a foursome being aired or large quantities of drugs being done. I can’t imagine where this huge audience of MTV fans is coming from, other than the fact that people love watching something being destroyed. Watching MTV is just the interactive joy of dimming your mind and knowing every one else watching [and staring] is doing the same.
Also- Viacom. Evil, evil Viacom.
Ely – I gave up on watching MTV when they stopped playing music videos. Does anyone else remember that? You know, music on Music TV??
Fuse doesn’t even play whole videos anymore! I only got cable within the last 5 years and I would venture to say I have NEVER seen a whole video on MTV.
I think MTV is used to throwing a lot of crap and the wall and miraculously having some of it stick. The Hills (sorry, Ru), Laguna Beach…. They’ve gotten lucky and it’s spoiled them. Look at their lineup on their website. It’s all pitiful.
I think the VMAs are a great example- it was the 25th anniversary of this huge institution and it was SO poorly made. Everything from the venue to to the writing. They are employing some lazy
“creative” teams over there.