5 Ways To Produce Social Streaming Like A TV BAWSE
How Understanding The BackChannel Can Help You Produce Content & Commerce Today
Text me and let me know how you like this issue 415-843-8100
In the mid 2008-20012 while living in Atlanta, I used to appear regularly on CNN after meeting Don Lemon while living in Atlanta who back then was a rising star on the network and I was one of the first entrepreneurs to build a purely “social media only” agency. Using my persuasion skills honed over many years of getting radio dj’s to play records and artists to do what I needed them to do (smile) I hustled Don to put me on the air monthly to cover the intersection of social media and culture / major news. This was a a complete win for me as I had just started my second company, a small boutique agency (originally called EVERYWHERE, later Social People) and was highly focused on helping clients understand social media. (sidenote my first client was Jane Fonda but that had nothing to do with me being on CNN)
Getting the opportunity to be on-air discussing major news stories, I covered Arab Spring, Michael Jackson’s death, Haitian Earthquake from the perspective of how social / digital / community had played a significant role. Don’s production team would call me and I would dive in and research and be ready to be on air to do both the 7pm and 10pm EST “hits.” When I first started doing these segments CNN and Don’s team would bring me in via Skype camera from my house (I finally made my way into the studio, this was their “hazing” of me I assume! LOL). The problem was that CNN calls would come in at around 4pm to be available for a 7pm hit and on a Saturday I have to admit following international news stories was not something I was doing.
Always an innovator, I found a solution which was utilizing streaming video platform Ustream and I created a “pre-show.” Before each CNN “hit” I would fire up my live stream from home and talk to my fans on Twitter / Facebook through web cam in my house which was across the room from the camera setup to take my CNN feed to Skype. On the 7pm hour I at least sounded like I was up on the stories and somewhat intelligent. In between 7pm and 10pm “hits” I spent three hours diving in super deep on the stories with my community and by 10pm I wasn’t just up on the story, I was an expert. Also using social I was able to engage my fans and sometimes celebrities into the story which I brought on air.
I effectively created what I called back then a “Back Channel” which was my idea of Community and Content coming together to converge on air. I was inventing in what many called the first wave of Social TV. As my social media agency grew from 2010-2014 we were deeply involved in the early days of Social TV and CNN went on to become one of our first clients, I subsequently launched The Grammy Awards social media command center for 3 seasons and ultimately took all that knowledge into mainstream tv where my Social People helped utilize social, influencers, working with the cast to launch “Blackish” for ABC. Understanding TV, Communities and Culture has been a cornerstone for me.
Throwback Clips
2012 on Fox Business (CNN stopped calling me for a min so Fox started calling)
2013, On w/ Suzanne Malveaux (she was one of my favorites on CNN)
CNN w/ Fredericka Whitfield Discussing Reebok / Rick Ross
What’s The Current Problem In Streaming?
Flash forward to today. The most effective users of this “Back Channel” thesis today are the gaming community who stream countless hours on Twitch, talk about what’s going on in culture, bring on guests to their “streams”, partner with brands, take tips, sell products and digital assets all under one stream on one night.
As we watch what will inevitably turn into market fatigue from watching DJ’s spin records on IG Live which has limited capabilities for more advanced production quality and integration of commerce I predict a “culture move” to platforms like Twitch which to me are ripe for some “hood innovation." Not to mention the “Verzuz Presents” that Timbaland and Swizz Beats are doing and the DJ D-Nice Streams on Instagram have created zero opportunities for monetisation primarily because IG offers no tools. I love what @thisisneer proposes in his Twitter thread as a way IG should be thinking about this Content + Culture + Commerce opportunity.
Mock Example of what the experience should look like
TheBackChannel.TV Coming Soon
To that end, I am standing up a new company (or an old business I had been thinking about) called TheBackChannel.TV which is a solely dedicated media / production / brand builder platform and service that will be producing original content utilizing live stream, community and commerce in a beautifully seamless experience. I’m recruiting production talent now starting with my alma mater UCLA and looking for talent. Two years ago I started a Seminar Series called “The Business of E-Sports & Streaming” in partnership the UCLA eSports club sports team. Every few months I would call my homies that knew way more than I did in eSports and had them come to UCLA as guest lecturers. We created a great pathway for students to meet executives, executives to see what was happening at UCLA and for me to get much more strategic about what I wanted to invest in in the eSports / streaming space.
That group was the first call I made as we began to work from home during the Coronavirus lockdown. Super excited to share more about this business as we roll out but obviously I’m in full acceleration mode. We are currently in talks with several celebrities, athletes, companies, and brands within The Authenticated network and believe we will see a new engagement model that combines platforms, commerce, content and culture. Just look at the recent launch of Quibi, which as you dive in and play around is creating an entirely new category utilizing the power of mobile experience.
We are going to be entering a world of JOB TITLES THAT DON’T EXIST YET AND I WANT TO CREATE THEM at TheBackchannel.TV. I’m looking for the diverse misfits, the young people no one understood, the outliers, the disrupters—basically I’m looking for who I was when I was in my teens, 20’s, 30’s, hell I’m still that person. I have reinvented myself every decade and can remember all of my pivots into careers nobody understood. I want to see the next generation do even greater things with the tools available.
If you are interested in what we are doing, know someone interested, have access to talent please text “BackChannel” to 415-843-8100
GET INVOLVED IN A GLOBAL HACKATHON APRIL 9-APRIL 12
The Authenticated is a supporting partner of an initiative coming out of Estonia that I am really obsessed with. Marko Russiver who I’m in another network with has created a Global HackAThon to fight the global epidemic we are all experiencing. By the time you receive this newsletter they will be up and running. Please spread the word.
13th of March, in less than 6 hours, the teams behind AccelerateEstonia, Garage48, and Guaana put together an online hackathon in Estonia – Hack the Crisis. It resulted in the participation of 1300+ people across 15 time zones, 30+ ideas (8 of which are now fully functional). Two weeks later 47+ regional hacks are happening all around the globe, from India to Georgia to Brazil, involving over 150 000 participants. It has been a massive ripple effect, and we escalating this movement right now by launching www.theglobalhack.com.
The Global Hack has already drawn great attention across the globe - covered by Forbes, TheNew Yorker, Silicon Republic among others – and brought on board a fleet of world-class partners, like European Commission, United Nations missions UNDP, UN SDG Action group and Unicef, World Bank, World Food Programme, European Space Agency, New America, Universal Music, ADC*Europe, and INDAIS. We have also involved inspirational leaders such as Silicon Valley’s tech superstars Sam Altman and Reid Hoffman, chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov,peace prize winner Princess Khaliya, futurist Thomas Ermacora, and the former President of Estonia Toomas Hendrik Ilves to name a few.
How To Stream Like A BAWSE
Here are several new tools I’m currently reviewing for projects, partners and clients. Do me a favor let me know what’s missing? I would love to hear from you on how you are using these tools or other tools. I’m sure I’m missing some so you won’t offend me.
Text “StreamingTools” to 415-843-8100
Best Places For Us To Build True Community (Members / Activity / Conversations)
Mighty Networks
Slack
Facebook
Linkedin
Twitter Hashtag
Instagram
Best Places For Us To Stream Content
Zoom
Twitch
Youtube
Twitter / Periscope
Streaming Platforms/Services
Bonus Material
My Cheat Codes Are Free But Implementation Will Cost.
You have seen the implementation of my text number in this issue. Come get some game on my new text line! I have been saying for a couple of months how I think that Community has built an incredible product that allows personalities, brands, celebrities, authors to build a real HUMAN connection through text. I just launched my number and join the small group of personalities and public figures currently using the platform and now that I’m using I can attest this is super powerful. The opportunities for me to talk to my community by group, age, area of the country and even sections within this newsletter are going to allow me to really deliver the right content, see real analytics and cut through the noise of social media in a way that we have not had before and need now more than ever.
So text me. Trust me I see all of them. Hit me up and let me know how I can help you. Get invited to my private “dinners” and “gatherings” I’m doing in live stream.
415-843-8100
Full transparency, I’m doing some advisory at the company and talking to celebrities, authors, artists, and creatives in The Authenticated network about not just joining the platform but building incredible new extensions to their brands.
Hey Mr. Andrews! Always innovating and inventing. Check out StreamLabs (streamlabs.com) as a streaming platform. This is all so relevant now as we try and stay connected to our communities and the things that bring us joy. Be well.