I was offered a TV spot, but it will cost me...

Hello group,

I am a newbie to your neck of the woods, but I think this is the best
place for this post.

I have been approached a second time by a television producer to be on
their show .... if ..... I pay the production costs. The first time
was a year ago, and I was able to locate a previous guest on the show
who told me it was a complete scam. The show took took the money and
ran.

This time it appears to be a legit show..... "a taste of NY" Time
Warner Cable Channel 35.

They want $2,800 for the production costs of a three minute segment
that they will air four times. I also get the use of the segment for
business promotion.

Is anyone familiar a interaction like this? I am inclined to say no. I
have attached the email they sent.

Thanks! Tor


[Moderators Note: I deleted the private correspondence, referenced above to
avoid copyright issues. I tried to contact the poster, first, but was not able
to do so. I feel that the explanation within the body of the post sufficiently
explains the issue. -- Mike]

"torlissa" <torlissa@olywa.net> wrote in message
news:c8p0ka09vv@enews3.newsguy.com...
>
>
> I have been approached a second time by a television producer to be on
> their show .... if ..... I pay the production costs. The first time
> was a year ago, and I was able to locate a previous guest on the show
> who told me it was a complete scam. The show took took the money and
> ran.
>
> This time it appears to be a legit show..... "a taste of NY" Time
> Warner Cable Channel 35.
>
> They want $2,800 for the production costs of a three minute segment
> that they will air four times. I also get the use of the segment for
> business promotion.
>

If the video they produce would be of use to you in the future it might be
worth it. A lot depends on the veiwership of the program. Contact some of
the other advertisers and see what their results are.

--
McWebber
No email replies read
If someone tells you to forward an email to all your friends
please forget that I'm your friend.

"torlissa" <torlissa@olywa.net> wrote in message
news:c8p0ka09vv@enews3.newsguy.com...
>
> Hello group,
>
> I am a newbie to your neck of the woods, but I think this is the best
> place for this post.
>
> I have been approached a second time by a television producer to be on
> their show .... if ..... I pay the production costs. The first time
> was a year ago, and I was able to locate a previous guest on the show
> who told me it was a complete scam. The show took took the money and
> ran.

Tor,

I've been contacted by the same place -- or maybe a similar place -- year
after year. They want me to put thousands into producing a show that
highlights my business and airs on cable TV. The salesperson tries to play
on my ego. When I asked to see one of their existing shows on cable TV,
guess what, they were not able to provide me with a time slot or channel!

Does TV advertising, of this nature, make sense for your business? How much
did you plan to spend on advertising this year, and how does this fit within
your expenditures. I suspect this offer of which you speak is either bogus
or worthless, but I can't say for sure. It does sound highly suspect. I'm
guessing that you hadn't planned to advertise on TV before these folks
called you, that the cost of this show is beyond your existing budget, and
that even if you did cough up the money and do the show it wouldn't bring in
enough new business to make all of the time, effort and expense worthwhile.

Mike

In article <c8p0ka09vv@enews3.newsguy.com>,
torlissa@olywa.net (torlissa) wrote:

> Hello group,
>
> I am a newbie to your neck of the woods, but I think this is the best
> place for this post.
>
> I have been approached a second time by a television producer to be on
> their show .... if ..... I pay the production costs. The first time
> was a year ago, and I was able to locate a previous guest on the show
> who told me it was a complete scam. The show took took the money and
> ran.
>
> This time it appears to be a legit show..... "a taste of NY" Time
> Warner Cable Channel 35.
>
> They want $2,800 for the production costs of a three minute segment
> that they will air four times. I also get the use of the segment for
> business promotion.
>
> Is anyone familiar a interaction like this? I am inclined to say no. I
> have attached the email they sent.
>
> Thanks! Tor
>
>
> [Moderators Note: I deleted the private correspondence, referenced above to
> avoid copyright issues. I tried to contact the poster, first, but was not
> able
> to do so. I feel that the explanation within the body of the post
> sufficiently
> explains the issue. -- Mike]

Hello:

I once received a similar series of pitches. The thing that made me
very suspicious was that they refused to answer many questions about the
program once I began asking them and then they stopped calling me. I
don't know for sure but these practices sound like some form of scam to
me.

Doug Kneeland
douglas.kneeland@snet.net

Thanks all'yall for the input. While this attempt was far more legit
appearing than some of what I have seen and heard, it was still over
my head fiscally.

Mike, sorry I was unable to be reached, an email change mid-post was
to blame.

Tor

In the 1980's I worked as a cameraman/producer for several local public
access TV shows, as all comminity college students with a Super VHS
camera and some lights, accessories, etc. would do if they had taken a
few courses in video production.
One show had a segment about a local merchant every week. While we'd try
to keep everything "above board", many would offer money or favors for
being shown in a favorable light. If you were getting on the show, it
was favorable... If you were shown too often, this would bring our
integrity into question. Ultimately, the host of one show took advantage
once too often of these offers. Got us cancelled. Got me kicked off of
the other show I was filming/producing.