by Jenni Powell on March 7th, 2010
Last Thursday, founder of theStream.tv Brian Gramo went live and told the online community that he had a very important announcement to make considering the interactive web television network. Viewers in chat knew Gramo was serious when almost every host of every show on the network joined them in the room. This was either going to be very good news…or very bad news.
In the aftermath of the Twitter storm that followed, it would prove to be a little of both. Bad in the fact that Gramo announced the departure of theStream’s longtime (and only) sponsor, Evo energy drink (it was a friendly departure, due to finances on Evo’s part), as well as having to layoff his two full-time employees. Good in the fact that it forced Gramo to begin seriously considering the future of the station and begin formulating a possible business model that will lead to the longevity of the station and the community it has fostered.
“I know everyone wants to do a Streamathon and raise a lot of money to keep theStream going,” said Gramo, who I had a chance to sit down and talk to at length about the future goals of theStream. “But that’s just a bandaid, that would keep us going perhaps another couple weeks, another month or two. I’m much more interested in coming up with something that is much more sustainable.”
by Jenni Powell on November 13th, 2009
It’s a flurry of activity in the studio as guests from the Live! From the Future With Stuart Papp show linger and the crew of the RadNerd Show rush about, trying to organize media with the operations manager, preparing for sound check, going over their outline of segments with their special guest Sara Fletcher from My Secret Girlfriend. There is an electricity and excitement in the air and at the center of it all is Brian Gramo, Overlord of theStream.tv (I had to make up a title because as the space under his picture on the website states: “I don’t really have a title, but if i did… I’d put it here!”), orchestrating the transitions with the stature of someone with a combination of natural talent and years of experience.
It’s Tuesday, November 10th and it’s the premiere (or as the network calls it, the pilot presentation) of the RadNerd Show on the interactive entertainment network and the hosts of the show, Beau Ryan and Leo Camacho don’t want to leave anything to chance and are armed with extensive notes. Ryan and Camacho aren’t new to the station, having done six months of the post-show for one of the most popular shows on the network, Coin-Op TV Live. The show’s producer, Jared Greenhouse, comments on the fact that he’s never seen a show with so much media in the 10 o’clock slot, which is deemed “After Hours” and has a tendency to have a more laid-back feel.
Before the show goes live, I take a few minutes to chase Gramo around with my digital voice recorder and talk to him about TheStream.tv. “It’s TV you can yell at,” he begins. “Doing it live I don’t think is unique … we do do it live more often than most people. There’s live big budget productions and then there is all of the other stuff. There is American Idol, there is So You Think You Can Dance … I think we’re creating a quality product for our budget level, which is pretty low.”
There is also a great sense of community attached to the network as well as tons of ways for those watching to directly influence the shows. “If enough people are in the chat room yelling the same thing, we can see that and that will effect the show immediately,” Gramo explains. “It’s still at a point where it’s a really tight community, it’s not so big that we can’t give a little TLC to everyone.”
