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Post by The Ultimate Nullifier on Jun 11, 2014 7:02:32 GMT -6
www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/paula-deen-launching-digital-network-711058The former Food Network star is creating a subscription-based, interactive digital experience. Paula Deen is creating her own online network. The former Food Network star has announced plans to create the Paula Deen Network, a subscription-based, interactive digital experience that’s expected to launch in September. More to come...
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Post by The Ultimate Nullifier on Jun 11, 2014 15:19:09 GMT -6
variety.com/2014/digital/news/paula-deen-to-launch-digital-network-video-1201218184/Paula Deen, the Southern-cooking maven who lost her Food Network show last year amid controversy over her use of racial slurs, plans to launch an Internet-only network this fall. The Paula Deen Network, slated to launched in September 2014, is backed by $100 million in funding from Phoenix-based investor Jahm Najafi. “Guess who’s gone digital, y’all?” Deen drawls in the teaser video for the network. “You can throw out your TV now, because this is where you can find me,” she says, indicating an iPad. The subscription fee for the Paula Deen Network has not been determined yet, but her company says it plans to offer a free 14-day trial. Deen has 1.25 million followers on Twitter, but it’s not clear how much of her fanbase will pay to watch her on the Internet. Content on her website is to include cooking segments shot in a new studio near her Savannah, Ga., home, in front of an audience. Other TV personalities that have made the leap to the web include Glenn Beck, formerly with Fox News, and ex-CNN host Larry King, who now has an online talkshow produced with Ora.tv. Meanwhile, ABC talkshow host Katie Couric is now global anchor for Yahoo, for which she has conducted several interviews with newsmakers. Another Internet-video project launched by former TV execs is Tapp, a network of subscription channels that will be built around celebrities, formed by former NBCUniversal TV Entertainment chairman Jeff Gaspin and Jon Klein, previously president of CNN. Deen, known for her down-home comfort-food dishes, had appeared on Scripps Networks Interactive’s Food Network since 1999, most recently starring in “Paula’s Best Dishes.” Food Network declined to renew Deen’s contract after a videotaped deposition she gave in connection with a discrimination lawsuit filed against her came to light, in which she used the “N” word and reportedly suggested that black staffers at her restaurant dress up as slaves for a wedding her company was catering.
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Post by The Ultimate Nullifier on Jun 18, 2014 6:13:49 GMT -6
www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/paula-deens-comeback-can-her-712596Paula Deen's Comeback: Can Her Digital Network Succeed? Experts are split over whether The Paula Deen Network will be a hit after its September launch. This story first appeared in the June 27 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Paula Deen's planned comeback will be a key test of how celebrity brands can transition online. After losing her Food Network job last year when she admitted to using racial slurs decades earlier, the chef said June 11 that she's creating a digital network backed by $100 million from Najafi Cos., a private-equity firm specializing in industries that are going through technological transformation. While that criterion certainly applies to television, experts are mixed on whether The Paula Deen Network will succeed after its September launch. Those who say yes point to former Fox News host Glenn Beck's 3-year-old TheBlaze TV, which boasts 300,000 subscribers who pay $9.95 a month and accounts for more than 45 percent of revenue generated by parent Mercury Radio Arts. On the flip side is the WWE Network, whose high costs have analysts predicting heavy losses despite about 700,000 subscribers paying $9.99 monthly since its February debut. Paula Deen Ventures CEO Steven Nanula says Deen had "a number of offers" to return to traditional TV but went the digital route in part to maintain "full creative control over the shows, recipes and dishes." Deen, 67, boasts the strong brand name and marketing platform needed to pull off a digital network — she has 4.25 million "likes" on her Facebook page and 1.25 million Twitter followers, more than she had before last year's controversy. "Consumers are willing to pay for content," says Grand View University media professor Stephen Winzenburg. Less optimistic is Northlake Capital Management analyst Steven Birenberg, who notes that ad rates are much lower online than on television and that digital networks do not benefit from cable TV bundles: "You got your broadband bill, then you add a bunch of [online] nets and guess what? You are paying over $100 again and have given up a lot of choice and quality programming." Nanula says the subscription model (he won't reveal what it will cost each month) means the network won't be dependent on ads. That said, Deen is expected to work her partners' products into shows, and she's open to creating sponsored programming. "I'm not a huge bull on this business model," says SNL Kagan's Derek Baine. "Most digital networks will be started because they can't get carriage deals on linear TV." But Winzenburg says if Deen finds success, other top personalities will follow. Potential TV stars that could transition online include Jay Leno (whose Jay's Garage site performed well for NBC), Martha Stewart and Rosie O'Donnell. And once a digital network succeeds, it can transition to traditional TV, as TheBlaze has done through Dish Network and other distributors. "Online television's rise is inevitable," says Newsmax Media CEO Christopher Ruddy, whose digital network also crossed over, to DirecTV and Dish. "Critical mass is not yet there for advertising, but it will be."
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Post by The Ultimate Nullifier on Sept 22, 2014 18:35:27 GMT -6
variety.com/2014/digital/news/paula-deen-buys-online-rights-to-her-shows-from-food-network-which-wasnt-using-them-anyway-1201310935/ Paula Deen, self-styled queen of Southern cooking who lost her contract with Food Network last year after racially charged comments she made became public, has bought digital-distribution rights to her shows from the network for her Internet video-subscription service set to launch this week. The Scripps Networks Interactive-owned cabler confirmed the deal with Paula Deen Ventures for about 440 episodes “Paula’s Party,” “Paula’s Home Cooking” and “Paula’s Best Dishes,” including the never-aired 2013-14 season of her last show, along with other footage. The deal was first reported by the Wall Street Journal. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Food Network has not used any programming featuring Deen — either on TV or digital platforms — since she parted ways with Scripps in June 2013, apart from short-form clips. “(W)e reached an agreement and everyone here wishes her the best as she embarks on her new venture,” a Food Network rep said in a statement. The Paula Deen Network is backed by $100 million in funding from Phoenix-based investor Jahm Najafi. Slated to launch Sept. 24, the subscription service promises access to her recipes; the series acquired from Food Network; new cooking and lifestyle shows; and segments with Deen with her sons, Jamie and Bobby, and celebrity guests. Paula Deen Ventures is based in Savannah, Ga., with offices in New York. Initially, the service is available only in the U.S., Canada and the U.K. The Internet-video service costs $95.88 for a one-year subscription ($7.99 per month) or $9.99 for monthly access. The service, available with a free 14-day trial, will not carry any advertising. Deen, 67, had worked with Food Network since 1999. The cable channel declined to renew her contract last year after a videotaped deposition she gave in connection with a discrimination lawsuit filed against her came to light, in which she used the “N” word and reportedly suggested that black staffers at her restaurant dress up as slaves for a wedding her company was catering. Deen joins other TV personalities who have made the jump to the Internet. Those include Sarah Palin, who teamed on the Sarah Palin Channel with Tapp, the online-video venture formed by Jeff Gaspin, former chairman of NBCUniversal Television, and Jon Klein, former president of CNN U.S.; ex-Fox News host Glenn Beck, who launched conservative online network TheBlaze in 2011; former CNN host Larry King, who now has an online talk show produced with Ora.tv; and Katie Couric, who joined Yahoo as global news anchor.
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