AfterBuzz TV

AfterBuzz TV
Presentation
Genre TV/Talk show
Language English
Updates Daily
Length Approx. 1 Hour
Production
Production
  • Phil Svitek – Executive Producer
  • Marisa Serafini – Producer
  • Stephen Lemieux - Producer
  • John Comerford – Producer
  • Ian Keiser – Talent Relations
Publication
Debut Created by Keven Undergaro & Maria Menounos

AfterBuzz TV is an online broadcast network that specializes in after-show podcasts for a wide range of television series such as American Horror Story, Mad Men, American Idol, Boardwalk Empire, and The Vampire Diaries.[1]

With over 20 million weekly downloads from over 150 countries, AfterBuzz TV is an online broadcast network created by E! host Maria Menounos and producer Keven Undergaro. Nicknamed the 'after-show' network, when viewers finish watching episodes of their favorite shows, they can go to afterbuzztv.com to watch or listen to a post-game 'after-show' for that series. On each AfterBuzz TV after-show, an eclectic and knowledgeable mix of celebrities, personalities, and industry professionals break down that night’s episode, take calls from fans, and interview guests. The network produces over 100 hours of content per week. The network also produces "Spotlight On", an in depth, long-form interview series with stars and show runners.

Concept

As for the concept, when the fans finish viewing the selected shows, they can tune into ABTV where hosts will analyze and discuss the episode. Hosts will also interview guests and take calls from fans. ABTV is talking to the post-game break down of sporting events. Hosts quickly prepare and go on-air roughly 10–15 minutes after the episode concludes. ABTV produces over 100 hours of original programming per week. The network has produced over 300 different series.

Fans consume AfterBuzz TV content live by watching on AfterBuzzTV.com and participating in the discussion via chat or by calling in or popular platforms such as YouTube, iTunes, Stitcher, etc.

Inception

Producer Keven Undergaro and E! host Maria Menounos created the AfterBuzz TV network for the purpose of discussing their favorite show, AMC's Breaking Bad. Another inspiration stemmed from the creators seeing countless discussions on the web regarding the infamous Lost finale, with no place for fans to congregate, discuss, and interact in an intimate way. Menounos states, "We were really fascinated by what happened when Lost went off air in the series finale when people were flooding message boards, and the internet actually crashed because of all the volume."[2]

Undergaro states, "For decades, sports fans have been treated to 'post-game' wrap up shows after watching their games. There was a void out there for TV fans and AfterBuzz TV filled that gap." AfterBuzz TV notable young hosts include VH1's Jackie Miranne, Clevver TV's Deidre Behar, Black Hollywood Live's Derrial Christon, Fox Movie Channel's Stephanie Bauer, AMC Movie News' Krisily Kennedy, Fox Sports' Adrienne Vairo, PopStop TV's Gabrielle Loren, and many more.[3]

Menounos also enjoys providing aspiring hosts a platform. In an interview with Fox News Channel, Menounos states, "You can't get a job unless you have a reel. You can't get a reel unless you have a job. What we're doing is we're really starting off this young talent. They're cutting their teeth here. We're training them and teaching them. They gather reel on themselves and getting jobs."

History

AfterBuzz TV started off as a passion project for Maria Menounos and Keven Undergaro that quickly grew at an exponential rate. During the first three months, the network grew from four shows (Jersey Shore, Glee, Mad Men, and Desperate Housewives) to producing over 15 shows a week. Initially, the content was strictly audio, with no cameras in place, to conserve the upstart costs. However, five months into the venture cameras were added. "We made a decision early on to create both video and audio content despite the fact that producing audio only would have been far more practical and cost effective," says Menounos. "We did it to challenge our hosts and to better serve our fans, as well as to be ahead of the curve. To be a fully functioning digital broadcast network with a roster of shows that are available on multiple platforms and devices, as AfterBuzz is, will soon be the norm. Today, AfterBuzz TV is proud to be not only the first network of its kind but also the largest."

In the summer of 2011, the amount of downloads the network received kept crashing their web servers. To accommodate the influx of bandwidth needs, AfterBuzz TV partnered with Akamai Technologies as their content deliver network.

The fall of that year, AfterBuzz TV also partnered with the search engine Bing.

Early fans of the network began commenting about AfterBuzz to other TV fans and AfterBuzz TV's audience continued to grow further.

Celebrities began to frequent the network more regularly, attributing it to the fact that all the hosts are "superfans" first and foremost of the TV shows they host, making it for a friendly atmosphere.

At the end of 2011, AfterBuzz TV added a second studio to be able to accommodate more programming, now handling an average of 55 shows a week.

In 2012, AfterBuzz TV broadcast more frequently at live events and venues for fans. Notable shows include Breaking Bad's season finale cast Q&A from the Jon Lovitz Comedy Club, a WrestleMania viewing party, and a Dancing with the Stars after-show from Planet Dailies after every Monday night during season 14. In 2013, they also did live broadcasts from the Jon Lovitz Comedy Club for the season finales of Mad Men, Game of Thrones, and The Voice.

In 2013, the network added a third studio due to fan demand for more programming.

In November 2013, AfterBuzzTV celebrated their 5,000th episode milestone. Joining them was actor Seth Green.[4]

AfterBuzzTV was featured in the January 6, 2014 issue of Variety, which further chronicled Menounos and Undergaro as trailblazers of digital broadcasting.[5]

The success of Afterbuzz TV has naturally in turn translated to success for a growing number of hosts. Some examples include Stephanie Bauer (Access Hollywood), AJ Gibson (Good Day L.A.), Eboni K. Williams (CBS), Derrial Christon (event coverage for BET), Jackie Miranne (VH1's Morning Buzz), Chloe West (Moviefone), Alex Wehrley (E! News), Adrienne Vairo (Fox Sports), Suri Serano (ESPN), Katherine Bailess (VH1's Hit the Floor), Cathy Kelley (Celebified), and Matt Lieberman (SourceFed).

Afterbuzz TV is one of the first adopters to have their content available directly through SoundCloud.[6]

Programming

AfterBuzz TV produces live and on-demand content in both audio and video forms. Fans can watch immediately following their favorite TV show live by visiting AfterBuzzTV.com and participate in the chat roll or by calling into the show. On-demand users can either watch the YouTube videos of the shows or download or stream the audio on popular podcast platforms such as iTunes or Stitcher. AfterBuzz is currently developing an app.

The network prides itself on covering all genres of television, from dramas to reality to comedy, etc. As of the summer of 2014, AfterBuzz TV has produced over 9,000 episodes for over 300 TV series. "As long as TV fans want to discuss a show, AfterBuzz will strive to deliver it," says Undergaro. He also cites that as the reason why the network decided to add a third studio in the summer of 2013, in order to accommodate all the programming.

Reception

AfterBuzzTV receives nearly 20 million downloads per week and is seen and heard in over 150 countries around the globe. Among other accolades, their Big Brother podcast was the No. 1 rated podcast on iTunes for that series.[7]

Staff infrastructure

There are over 400 hosts that make up the ABTV Network, and there are an insightful mix of celebrities, industry professionals, and insiders. Each has their own area of expertise.

The hosts are an eclectic and knowledgeable mix of celebrities, personalities, and industry professionals. The roster of hosts includes over 200 and can be viewed on their website.[8] Notable hosts include WWE ring announcer Lilian Garcia, Dancing with the Stars professional dancer Anna Trebunskaya, Access Hollywood's Scott "Movie" Mantz, WWE Divas Torrie Wilson, Candice Michelle, and Maria Kanellis, actress Kat Bailess, Extra's Ben Lyons, Big Brother winner and runner-up Rachel Reilly and Porsche Briggs, Survivor's Jerri Manthey, Real World's Mark Long, The Huffington Post's Eboni Williams, Zap2it's Jenna Busch, Fanhattan's Roth Cornet, Black Hollywood Live's Derrial Christon, The Bachelor's Krisily Kennedy, wrestling coach Ric Drasin, Expedition Impossible's Ryan Allen Carrillo and AJ Gibson, Capture's James Wallington, GameStop's Simone Boyce, FX Movie Channel's Stephanie Bauer, and Celebified's Cathy Kelley.

The core staff of AfterBuzz TV comprises co-creators Maria Menounos and Keven Undergaro, executive producer Phil Svitek, producers Marisa Serafini and John Comerford, and a staff of 20 or so others.

Special guests

AfterBuzzTV has had, as guests in studio, cast members from such shows as Mad Men, Breaking Bad, Dexter, The Newsroom, The Walking Dead, Homeland, Big Brother, Survivor, Hemlock Grove, The Fosters, The Bachelor, Teen Wolf, Awkward, Once Upon a Time, Orange Is the New Black, Game of Thrones, Defiance, Dancing with the Stars, So You Think You Can Dance, Pretty Little Liars, and more.

Notable guests on the network include: Emmy-winners Aaron Paul and Michelle Stafford; Emmy-nominated Alan Cumming; hosts Ali Landry, Sherri Shepherd, and Mario Lopez; Dancing with the Stars's Chelsie Hightower, Derek Hough, Karina Smirnoff, Kym Johnson, Lindsay Arnold, Maks and Val Chmerkovskiy; So You Think You Can Dance Canada contestant Tara Jean Popowich; model Melania Trump; WWE Divas Melina Perez and Trish Stratus; actors Michael Jai White, Sam Witwer, Sarah Carter, Sarah Drew, Tim Matheson, Malin Ackerman, Beth Behrs, Charlene Tilton, Clark Duke, Janel Parrish, Jason Ritter, Colin Ferguson, Constance Zimmer, Famke Janssen, Grant Bowler, Jay Ellis, Lea Thompson, and Leslie David Baker; voice actor John Kassir; former NBA superstar John Salley; wrestlers Mick Foley, Chris Jericho, Diamond Dallas Page, Stone Cold Steve Austin, and Kevin Nash; boxer Victor Ortiz; three-time Survivor contestant Russell Hantz; Bar Rescue’s bar consultant Jon Taffer; The Real Housewives of Atlanta’s Phaedra Parks; The Real Housewives of New York City’s Aviva Drescher; The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills’s Camille Grammar and Dana Wilkey; Teen Mom’s Farrah Abraham; The Celebrity Apprentice contestant and singer Aubrey O'Day; The Pussycat Dolls’s Robin Antin; Mark Ballas; and Heather Thomson.

Connectivity

AfterBuzzTV is accessible through their home website, as well as Youtube, and iTunes. In other areas of social media, ABTV also reaches to Facebook and Twitter, collectively reaching over 2,000,000 followers.

References

  1. ↑ Wallenstein, Andrew (March 5, 2012). "'Extra' host launches social TV venture". Variety. Retrieved December 29, 2014.
  2. ↑ Busch, Jenna (March 6, 2012). "Maria Menounos on 'Dancing With the Stars,' AfterBuzz TV". Zap2it. Retrieved March 6, 2012.
  3. ↑ Friel, Courtney. "Menounos Talks After Buzz". YouTube. Retrieved January 30, 2013.
  4. ↑ "Video! AfterBuzz TV Celebrates 5,000th Episode, with Seth Green". ExtraTV. Retrieved November 15, 2013.
  5. ↑ Graser, Marc. "'Extra' Host Maria Menounos' YouTube Channel Gives TV Fans an Online Forum". Variety. Retrieved January 6, 2014.
  6. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-06-27. Retrieved 2015-03-02.
  7. ↑ Svitek, Phil. "CBS's Big Brother's Season 13 Winner & Runner Up Host AfterBuzz TV's Big Brother AfterShow". PRWeb. Retrieved August 14, 2012.
  8. ↑ "The AfterShow Network : Hosts". AfterBuzz TV. 2014. Retrieved December 29, 2014.

Sources

External links

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