Bourdain Is Back
“I’ll make fun of the French, thank you very much.” – Anthony Bourdain
My TV watching schedule is picking up fast. I try to limit the number of shows I watch and keep most on the DVR for a while before watching several at once. However, this week, there are two shows starting that I always have to watch the same night they are on. Entourage and Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations.
Last season after writing a blog post about how much I love Bourdain’s show, I was contacted by the PR firm for The Travel Channel and asked to post weekly promos that they sent out regarding the upcoming episodes. I agreed to do it for several reasons. One reason was that I already loved the show and didn’t mind posting the promos for it. Another reason was that I thought it was pretty cool that they contacted little old me to help promote their show. Finally, I was pretty new to the blogging world and naive about how things worked.
I was pretty harshly criticized by some other bloggers for agreeing to this. I was accused of shilling for The Travel Channel, not writing original content and even of claiming that the promo posts were my own original material. For the record, I never received any compensation for this or claimed that any of the promos were my own original material. I did receive an autographed picture as a thank you. I disclosed all of this on my blog.
I’m not so naive anymore. I still have no problem promoting this great show on my blog. However, I now know that bloggers are regularly paid for ad space on their blogs. I no longer “shill” for free. Especially when dealing with an organization as large as The Travel Channel, they can certainly afford to pay for ad space.
I’m not sure why they choose to ask bloggers to advertise the show. Obviously, the way they are going about it now is cost effective, since no one is getting paid. What I don’t understand is why they need to promote this show in this manner. I believe the show is already pretty well known and know that they run traditional advertising campaigns. You wouldn’t think that the promos bloggers agree to post would make a big difference in the ratings, but as long as it isn’t costing them anything I guess it can’t hurt.
Am I watching the show this season? Of course! Will I blog about the show again? Maybe, if I feel like discussing a particular episode for some reason. Will I be more than happy to receive compensation from The Travel Channel for being a sponsor on my blog? Absolutely.
Thanks for stopping by!
I didn’t know you were contacted to do that! I don’t think there’s any problem in your doing it blogger-wise, but Travel Channel can def. afford to give you SOME compensation!
People actually got on your case about doing those promos? Why would they CARE? (Although they definitely could afford to pay for advertising, but then again you can’t blame anyone, rich or poor, for trying to find a bargain!)
I have no idea why any other bloggers would give a crap about this. They did. Maybe just like in life some people need to put others down to feel better. Or maybe they just had writer’s block that day.
Hey Cindy,
But its been a while now.
I used to watch it regulary too
Well, as for ad space on blog.Do they really pay? I never knew that!
BTW, Thank You dear for including “lil old me” in your blogroll. I feel like i have got a grammy
Made my day!
LOL – I love your poems! And thanks for putting me in your blogroll too.