7/11/2014 Capital
CNN has now launched a half dozen original unscripted series in primetime. Most of them (with the exception of “The Sixties” and “Death Row Stories”) have had a recognizable face fronting the show.
Anthony Bourdain started the push with “Parts Unknown,” and Morgan Spurlock followed with “Inside Man.” John Walsh, Lisa Ling and Mike Rowe are joining them this year.
“That was a pretty concerted effort to use some folks who were established and who had a following, they are easier to market, easier to generate some attention for,” CNN Worldwide president Jeff Zucker told Capital earlier this week.
The strategy made sense for CNN as it sought to launch its unscripted lineup. The channel needed buzz for the new formats, and it wanted to lure loyal fans that each of the “names” had.
Still, as any regular viewer of CNN’s new unscripted competitors like Discovery, A&E and Travel Channel know, the biggest hits often come from talent that is developed, not bought. To that end, CNN intends to try and develop talent of its own to complement its roster of known names.
“I think going forward we would like to create some of our own [talent], and that is something you will probably see us try over the next year or two,” Zucker told Capital.
Often times the names most often associated with a channel, like Adam Richman from Travel Channel, or Guy Fieri from Food Network, were essentially created by the channel. Yes, they may have been known in certain areas or fields, but it is the TV show that made them household names.
The benefit to a network in creating its own talent is that the channel can become more closely associated with the brand of the personalities, and strictly from a budgetary standpoint, untested or newly-famous names are much cheaper than high-profile poaches.
CNN knows this, and regularly applies this principle to its on-air news talent, the only difference is that now it is applying that philosophy to its unscripted programming.
Before hosting a TV show, Bourdain was a chef who gained a following after he wrote a book, Kitchen Confidential, that spelled out the surprisingly seedy underbelly of the restaurant business. The book deal led to a Food Network show, “A Cook’s Tour.” That show didn’t last long, but Travel Channel added him to their roster, renaming the show “No Reservations.”
Rowe was a journeyman TV host, with various gigs for QVC, Military Channel and PBS, but it was “Dirty Jobs” on Discovery that made him a household name.
Speaking at the Television Critics Association Summer press tour on Thursday, Rowe said that his new CNN show, “Somebody’s Gotta Do It,” will be less about people with unique jobs than it is about people with unique sensibilities or passions.
“‘Somebody’s Gotta Do It’ is about people who simply do what they do because of a weird mix of love, compulsion, obsession, dedication — whatever it is,” Rowe told Critics, according to TheWrap. “We’re looking for people who wake up everyday a little afflicted because the world is not exactly what they want it to be. They’re on a mission”
One job Rowe will not be profiling is that of the TV critic, of which there were many in the Beverly Hilton Thursday morning.
“Some jobs are just too hideous to contemplate,” Rowe said when asked about the allure of writing about TV.
http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/media/2014/07/8548740/zucker-wants-grow-his-own