“Project Runway” has announced that Season Six of the show will air on Lifetime, instead of their home network Bravo. This move has caused quite a stir among bloggers, fans, and especially NBC Universal who is now suing, according to Adage.com. “Project Runway” was Bravo’s highest-rated show, attracting both devoted viewers and publicity. In fact New York Daily News states “the buzz generated by ‘Runway,’ which appeals to the metropolitan fashion elite, is far greater than the show’s actual viewership.”
From a public relations perspective, the buzz and devoted viewers should have been taken into consideration when “Project Runway” owners, The Weinstein Co., decided to make such a significant move.
This decision was clearly based on one factor alone: money.
The Lifetime deal is reportedly paying one million dollars per episode, a big jump from Bravo’s $600,000.
While the network will clearly be paying more, will the advertisers? Will the sponsor relationships like Elle, Tresemme, and Saturn, that developed with “Project Runway” on the Bravo network continue to Lifetime?
Will the fans follow?
The Lifetime network does not appear to be a likely fit for “Project Runway” because their image is currently the Housewife Channel, while “Project Runway” appeals to the metropolitan fashion forward.
I feel that The Weinstein Co. did not take all concerned publics into consideration when they decided to make this move. I would have chosen a network based on the show, the fans, advertisers and sponsors, and then the paycheck in order to maintain positive public relations.
Bravo is Out. April 11, 2008
Privacy April 4, 2008
The explosion of the Internet has drastically changed public relations in entertainment forever. Credentials, reputation, and accolades are no longer needed to earn a widespread audience. Anyone can write a blog these days, in fact some are required to! In addition to the paparazzi, bloggers have added to the absolute demise of celebrity privacy. Yet another interesting development is that even unknown blog readers can now reveal celebrity secrets to the world. For example, when an ordinary person spotted Nick Carter dancing at a birthday party, they sent the photos to perezhilton.com and they show up under the heading “More Backstreet Deboozery!” It has become virtually impossible for celebrities to lead their lives without tarnishing their name. This places public relations in a bind. They can certainly brief their clients for a press conference, but how do they prepare their clients for every birthday party or beach outing? With control of the client’s image diminishing, perhaps public relations experts’ only hope is to have an excellent crisis communications plan for every occasion.
One of the few advantages may be that the public has grown accustomed to celebrity misconduct. If Vanessa Hudgens can bounce back from a nude photo scandal, anyone can! …With the right PR strategy, that is.
