A few weeks ago I decided to add something onto my plate – a live web show on UStream. I’m quite familiar with live web TV – I’ve practically been hosting live online red carpets since the technology was available…but I’ve never done my own show.
Make no mistake – this isn’t a studio set show with three cameras, 4 guests, and a live performance – it’s just me and my laptop, often getting off track, nervously getting back “on” track, talking about what’s on my mind, and interacting with people who are watching. It’s not exactly professional, but….if I’m trying to become even more entrenched in this whole web entertainment world, it does help to understand how live web TV works.
So I launched my show on UStream a few weeks ago – The Taryn Ten at 10pm EST - not without a few (okay, a lot!) of technical glitches, of course. Toad Saulnier from All American Rejects was my first guest, and Bart, my hamster, was my one live audience member.
I’m now getting ready for my fourth “show” tonight and already I’m seeing what works…and what doesn’t. I don’t think the Top Ten list works. It’s hard to spend 30 minutes moving through a top ten list – it almost needs to just be a “bit” up front and then done with.
I LOVE having guests and taking questions from viewers. That’s my favorite part – so I’m going to try to focus on that from here on out. I want the talk to be entertainment/ web geek centric — so my guests will be anyone from web celebs to comic book loving actors.
This week, actress/supermodel Jaime King (Sin City/My Bloody Valentine) is stopping by. I have a goal - by Feb 1, I want to be producing my show in a professional studio with three cameras. I want to be able to cut to cool web clips and have a cute little jingle intro play in the beginning. I want it to feel…like a real show.
But I need your help. If you guys have seen a lot of live web tv, tell me what you’d like to see more of, and what you DON’T like. Let me know if you agree that I should ditch the Top Ten theme and just maybe do a little Top Ten bit at the very beginning of the show each week. Let me know what you think of doing a weekly giveaway, your thoughts on the title, and if you have ideas for an animated sequence at the beginning. If you or your friends know how to create animated sequences, let me know, as I will need to find someone to do that!
Thanks so much for your suggestions, and here’s a stream of the show if you want to check out previous ‘episodes’ (I’m warning you, it’s rough):
Posted By: taryn | 5 Comments »
Tags: jaime king live show taryn southern taryn ten ustream
Hey Taryn- my first thought reading about your intentions for the show were apart from the fact that it’s you hosting and a geek centric topic niche, what makes it different than any other talk show? I think even though last week’s show started out as Taryn’s Top 10 once it became interactive with the viewers it became “our” top ten. I definitely feel content on the web should take advantage of the medium and the way to do that here is with interactivity.
I think you should partner up with a web site, http://geektyrant.com/ for example. Maybe they could even sponsor. Maybe even it could be a different site each week. And what you could do is make a thread here each Wed. for viewers to leave topics from articles/posts they find on the site that they would like discuss on the next week’s show. So not only does this give viewers a forum to weigh in with their thoughts but a chance to choose what to talk about.
I really, really like the top 10 lists, but I agree that they don’t necessarily have to take up the whole show. I like the guests you’ve proposed so far, and am totally excited for Jaime King tonight :)
I also like the idea of making a forum for people to give ideas. It will allow the viewers to discuss ideas together, so you can see what the majority think would be interesting to talk about, and would probably just be a better alternative to DMing you (some viewers may not have Twitter, 140char limit, easily lost among other DMs, etc.)
Personally the thing I like best about web shows vs non-web stuff is how much more accessible they are to the people who aren’t there, the people in the chat. The interactivity of it all, really. And, seeing as how I was keeping a very close eye on the chat last week lol, it would seem most of your current viewers at least feel the same way. You seem to be more interested in making it more professional, which is fine of course because it’s your show, but I think you may get a shift in viewers if it goes too far from personal to professional. I could be wrong, and it also may not matter, depending on what you want to get out of making this show. But just my thoughts on it right now!
It is often a good idea to have a “chat host” who can make sure there is an effective connection between chat and the on screen host.
Otherwise just keep being you.
Ive worked in production and also am looking to move to the net. Leo Laporte is the 1st real success at this. Twit.tv will show you everything u need to know. Top 10 is fine as a loose format, gives a bit of structure, feel free to tangent often. The key is interaction, the Q’s you referred to, thats what keeps people around and builds you audience. Interaction is what TV / Film doesnt offer. Give aways work ok. This week in tech on Twit.tv is the best show out there Sundays 6pm EST. People are amazed when they post something in chat and you reply on camera. Again, interaction is the key (Leo Laporte’s idea.) Im quite convinced that if all you did was spend an hour on camera saying hi to the people in chat, you would have a successful show and a huge audience. anything else, people can get from TV. Great show.
Taryn -
While I have not watched much live web tv, I think for it to be successful you have to decide what you want to get from it. Then you can tweak it to reach that goal. Do you want to use this medium as vehicle to network with the guests, promote yourself to a targeted audience, demonstrate what you can do or just to have fun? From what I read above I think a little of all.
While I have watched only two episodes, I enjoyed both as each was very different in style and content. The one where you had guy from AAR was great because you seemed very comfortable. Obviously you enjoy interviewing people as one you have a lot of experience at it and it just shows in your mannerisms. The episode from last week was good because your fans got to interact with you, which was great but you appeared to be stressed as evident from the numerous times you wished your friend OlgaKay was there with you. With that I strongly suggest that you always have a guest or a sidekick handy for your future shows as things just seem to go more smoothly. As far as the Top Ten, I thought it was a smart way to give your show a topic but it at times detracted from the show. Especially when you would go off on an interesting topic and then feel you still have to get back to finishing the list when it may not have mattered anymore or seemed less interesting.
Like I mention earlier, I do not watch much live web tv but I do download and listen to a lot of audio podcasts (e.g. The Adam Carolla Podcast, Stuff You Should Know Podcast). These podcasts are great as they keep me well entertained on long flights and drives in the care…even without video. My point is that if you just aim to make your show interesting and entertaining without video image how great it will be WITH the video.
I think stellar!