So You Think You’re a Star?…..You Are!
Have you ever watched a television talk show and thought, “I can do that.” Whether it’s sports or fashion or gossip or politics or news, you know in your heart that you could do a better job than the trained professional trotted out for your entertainment. After all, who knows your community, your organization, your expertise better than you? In the past, your chances of being discovered were non-existent. For so long, television and other visual mediums were the exclusive domain of the beautiful people. In fact, there was a time when part of the prize package for a beauty pageant winner was a stint as the “weather girl” on the local news. Trained meteorologists be damned, we have someone here who can twirl the heck out of a baton!
In today’s media environment all you have to do is be able to deliver an audience or demographic to be considered successful. We have examples of people who are really talented and knowledgeable in their field and draw excellent numbers and would never win any beauty contest (Howard Stern and Rush Limbaugh come to mind). If you have a passion and an authenticity, there’s an audience for you. Add in a reasonably polished presentation style and you have got yourself the basis of a good show. How you deliver and execute your vision is up to you but it’s important that it is done well and that you have maximum flexibility. A show that originates from you basement is quirky, easy to do and it worked out great for Wayne and Garth in Wayne’s World. If you remember the movie though, even they had a makeshift satellite truck in their driveway in order to broadcast the show live.
Some enterprising people have done away with the basement and the satellite truck and television altogether. They have taken to the internet and made their own rules. They are not listening to some TV executive telling them they are not attractive enough or imploring them to lose weight. There is no ridiculously expensive equipment or access to equally expensive satellite time to consider. And they are reaching worldwide audiences everyday.
With today’s innovations, people don’t even need a fixed location. Imagine taking your weekly sports talk show to opening day and broadcasting LIVE from just outside of the stadium of your favorite team or actually covering the local sports scene on location. Imagine a travel show that you broadcast from the locations you travel to anywhere in the world. Imagine a morning talk show from the local diner or the local Starbucks with local politicians and everyday people alike as guests. Citizen journalists can create their own newscasts with hyper local content, complete with live remotes just like the big boys. Whether it is libraries and bookstores with authors doing readings and leading discussions or the corner pub showcasing the local indie music scene, LIVE on the web has never been more attainable, more necessary or more exciting.
As local television news begins to break down and online branded news sites begin ramping up, there will be some newly tilled soil that is fertile for unique programming with an established following. Get your laptop and your camera and go on location. With today’s software solutions there is no reason NOT to be streaming LIVE from anywhere you chose at anytime.
To all of you aspiring stars and personalities in waiting, get out of the basement, get into your communities, carve out you niche, build your audience and your brand. Online, on-location and LIVE is the new basement. Broadcast, broadcast, broadcast!
