Programming vs. Randomania

[Editor’s Note: The following guest post was written by Rob Barnett, Founder/CEO of My Damn Channel. You can follow him on Twitter at @damnrob.]

Evan Shapiro runs IFC, a consistent, smart television favorite delivering killer original comedy n’ more. He recently wrote a piece in Huffington Post called The Death of Television.

Evan’s article created a good amount of dialogue online. TV’s death is a premature pronouncement. But the angst and passion that led so many of us online has created a mass sea of choice.

The tech magic beneath our fingertips continues to give the audience awesome tools to become smarter and more in charge than ever before about finding what they want. But there’s a Babel-effect in play now creating a deafening din. Imagine walking into an ice cream store that featured 31 million flavors and trying to honor the choice you’re about to make.

If Gil Scott-Heron were still here, I’d ask if he believed “the revolution” must now be programmed.

Audiences need more effective ways to make viewing choices a few notches easier than the current randommania which pushes some of the best content too far away from finding the audience it deserves.

In early 2012, My Damn Channel will launch our new partnership with YouTube to create, produce and distribute more of the best original comedy we can bring from talent we love. Many of our artists are looking for a safe haven from the constraints put on their art in the old system. We’re going to use some of the old TV rules to help their new work get the best launch pad online. Daily and weekly LIVE hosted programming will bring the topical relevance and audience interaction that TV always provided, but passive online viewing sometimes lacks.

The best storytellers in original online entertainment know that the content which breaks through more than most has to speak with a new voice and present itself with a whole new face that looks like the audience looks now. The scrutiny judging every one of us who create entertainment for the pleasure of the masses has never been greater. We deserve to be challenged to deliver the best work possible.

We had a great run in the late 90s when I worked for Jeff Gaspin at VH1. I’ll twist one of his best TVisms and re-apply it to the next great leap forward online: THE BEST VIDEOS WIN.

My Damn Channel is the brainchild of its Founder/CEO, Rob Barnett. My Damn Channel is an entertainment studio and distributor of premium original programming by established and emerging talent from film, TV, and the Internet. Since 2007, Rob and his team have built My Damn Channel into a successful brand and business where top talent, loyal fans, and major advertisers come together to create the TV network of the future. Rob has produced radio, television, film, and new media with hundreds of diverse communicators including President Bill Clinton, Oprah Winfrey, The Rolling Stones, Bono, Jimmy Kimmel, Adam Carolla, Johnny Rotten and more. He was the President of Programming for CBS Radio from 2004-2006, where he oversaw content development for more than 179 stations, and launched new formats in 30 markets. Rob was a production and a programming executive at MTV and VH1 for more than 11 years, where he produced news, specials, and series for both outlets and oversaw all network programming. At VH1, he was VP of Program Planning during the network’s surge in the late 90s with iconic hit shows including Behind the Music. Rob worked as an independent producer for projects including Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues, a multi-part, PBS film series; Staffers, a reality TV series on politics; and Inside the Bubble, a documentary feature film on the 2004 presidential campaign.