How The Travel Channel Could Save Itself

That’s gratitude for you…

There is an old expression that says ‘never bite the hand that feeds you’.

There is also an old expression that says, ‘when your friend is drowing, throw them a life preserver’.

I am torn between two old expression, but I am going with the latter.

For many years The Travel Channel was a very good partner and friend. Very good.

We not only produce many many programs for them, we also partnered on The Travel Channel Academy or TCA. Through TCA we trained thousands of people who wanted to contribute and participate in The Travel Channel’s content.  We hit on something very interesting.

When Travel Channel was sold to Scrips, they killed the TCA.

Fair enough.

Nothing lasts forever.

In the ensuing two years, The Travel Channel has been scrambling, trying to find that ‘one hit show’ that makes any cable network a success – like Mad Men did for AMC or Real Housewives did for Bravo.

For years they have been running the extremely popular and successful Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations, but like I said, nothing lasts forever.

Alas, all of Travel Channel’s efforts have come to naught.  One show after another is tried and then suddenly vanishes from the schedule.

Looking for the next ‘hit show’ is like throwing something at the wall in the hopes something will stick.

So far, nothing is sticking.

But the weird thing is there is another way to do this.

Networks like The Travel Channel (and I hardly mean to single them out) spend millions on ‘research’, that is, trying to read the tea leaves to figure out what it is the audience wants to see.  They spend millions more on ‘focus groups’ to fine tune their research.

They have been working this way for nearly 50 years, since Jed Clampett first struck oil.  It’s part of the old model of broadcast television – we make it, you watch it.

Networks understand that there is something called ‘social media’ out there somewhere…  They know they should be doing something ‘with’ it; they just can’t figure out what to do.  Most of the time they ‘tweet’ things like ‘Be sure to tune in tonight at 8’.  Again – we make it, you watch it.

The thing about the TCA was that it was a magnet for people who wanted to create content for The Travel Channel.  There are lots and lots of people who want ot make content.

One of those grads was Rachelle Lucas, who produces a travel/food blog called Inn The Kitchen.

As you can see from her blogs she is a font of travel content and ideas.  And its free.

She’s not alone.

Take a look at Traveldudes.org

Traveldudes has 56,000 followers on Twitter.

The Travel Channel has 266,000 followers on Twitter

Now, bear in mind that Travel Channel has a theoretical valuation of $1.2 billion and spends hundreds of millions a year on promotion.

Rachel Lucas has 30,000 followers on her tweet @travelblggr.

Now, these numbers are important.

After our conversation about how poor the programming on Travel Channel had become, Rachel sent out a tweet to her followers asking for ideas for new Travel Channel show.

In 24 hours, we got a remarkable (ready?) 1,000 tweets that generated 7,006,795 impressions, reaching a audience of 1,852,488 followers in 24 hours.

We also got tons of ideas

Tons!

Here is a small sampling:

Michael Hodson commented on your post in Travel Bloggers.

Michael Hodson     10:56am Jul 22
Travel Channel is only doing shows that cost about nothing to make, ergo Man vs. Food, Ghost Hunter and Dinner Dives or whatever the name of that one is. They have one hit show, Bourdain, which is all they need as a cable network. They aren’t going to be doing any programing that costs money, including basically any international travel. If you want to do something to get them off their ass — get everyone to stop watching Bourdain. That is the only possible way they are going to get motivated to find good, new programming. They are pathetic right now.
Comment History

Stephanie Yoder    9:56am Jul 22
Totally with Amanda Williams. More female travelers please! Someone besides Samantha Brown.

Don Faust    1:51pm Jul 21
Man vs Food is the equivalent of other channels’ reality shows. They are overplayed because they are cheap to produce – I’ve never seen this guy outside of the states.

I DO like Bourdain though – he has the best job.

Normally though, if I want to see exotic adventures, I turn the channel to NatGeo or Discovery.

Akila McConnell    1:31pm Jul 21
I am totally with you Amanda. And, I’d like to see more couples on Travel Channel, too. I may have been one of the few that actually liked the show 1000 Places to See Before You Die but I liked it because it was from the perspective of an ordinary couple who was in love with the wonders of the world.

I do really like Anthony Bourdain but, occasionally, I feel that he’s so jaded that he misses the enjoyment of travel. I remember a Vegas episode where he said, “Bobby Flay’s restaurant is amazing. Yes, the food is incredible, but it’s not real food.” And, I could only think to myself that it was so arrogant — it’s the same sort of traveler versus tourist phenomenon you see in the blogs that bugs the heck out of me.

It’s one of the reasons I like Samantha Brown – she really seems to LOVE traveling and even though her observations are sometimes completely inane, at least she’s happy about it.

Annie Bettis    1:29pm Jul 21
I like Man v. Food but I agree that it has always been strange to me to find it on the travel channel (although I suppose it fits there better than Food Network). I like Anthony Bourdain as well but I agree I’d love to see more people traveling, hanging out with locals (if they’d be filmed) and doing things that we do like riding trains and hiking! 🙂

Amanda Williams    1:20pm Jul 21
I would like to see more WOMEN on the Travel Channel! We travel (and eat and drink and do crazy things), too!
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Original Post

Rachelle Lucas    12:49pm Jul 21
Noticing that the Travel Channel is now Man v Food all the time … I think they need a few ideas from people “in” the industry. What kind of travel shows would YOU like to watch?

Does this tell you something?

It does to me.

As Melvin from Traveldudes.org tweeted to me “Twitter is really amazing”.

Hello Travel Channel – there is a massive free focus group going on out there 24.7 and they are more than happy to tell you exactly what it is they want to see.  All you have to do is listen/

And beyond that (WAY BEYOND), they have TONS Of content they want to share.

Compare your website to theirs.

Many years ago, when we started the TCA, Pat Younge, who was then President and GM of The Travel Channel used to say that one day a few smart kids with a few web sites were going to eat up the channel.

That day would seem to be coming.

So here’s my advice to The Travel Channel – and others like it – this is from the ‘throwing your friends a life preserver’, as opposed to biting the hand that feeds you:

Your future is right in front of you.

Stop talking to a few production companies in NY and LA.

Talk to your viewers and more importantly, your potential viewers.

They are right here.

Telling you exactly what they want.

…. and showing you what they can make for each other.

Maybe for you, if you’re smart.