FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Chuck Strinz
September 7, 2004
651-452-0122
Public
Television Program Breaks New Fundraising Ground
Innovative
production company auctions underwriting rights on eBay
(Eagan, MN) Underwriting funds for public broadcasting
shows are hard to find these days.
Back On The Mississippi, LLC, an independent production
company based in Minnesota, has come up with a new solution to the
problem. The company is auctioning
association with its television program to the highest bidder on eBay.
To see the auction, which ends around noon CDT on September
14, search for “underwriting credit” at www.ebay.com, or navigate directly to http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3838156979
Back On The Mississippi – Hidden Trails, Offbeat Tales will be made available to public
broadcasting affiliates across the country via satellite on 9/27/04
(1000-1100ET/511).
The program has played in two markets and achieved
impressive ratings. In the
Minneapolis/St. Paul Market alone, it was viewed in over 100,000
households. Conservatively estimated,
that means an underwriting fee of $25,000 in this single medium-sized market
would have resulted in a return of 1.2 cents per impression.
Interesting sites and people along the Upper Mississippi
River are portrayed in Back On The Mississippi. The show retraces the path of the Grand
Excursion of 1854, and was first broadcast during the sesquicentennial of that
historic but largely forgotten event.
The Grand Excursion opened the Great Northwest to settlers, and despite
its relative obscurity, it was tremendously influential in shaping the
character of America today.
For more on the Grand Excursion and the program Back
On The Mississippi, visit the Back On The Mississippi Web site at
www.backonthemississippi.com.
Chuck Strinz, the writer/producer and host of the program,
is extremely pleased with the support he has received from public television
affiliates. “The people at Twin Cities
Public Television have been great,” he said. “We really appreciate all their
help and support .”
Back On The Mississippi was a labor of love for
Strinz. Fortunately, the love was not
misplaced. Although the company set up
to administer the program’s business did not receive a dime of traditional
underwriting support before it was produced – despite a fiscal sponsor
relationship with the Minnesota Film & TV Board – it did enjoy free food and
lodging for its crew when they shot the show in August of 2003.
“We rewarded our trade-out underwriters in a creative way, by including links to them on our Web site,” Strinz said. “Now we’re getting even more creative by offering the underwriting rights on eBay.
“We’re looking for a business or other organization with
foresight,” Strinz continued, “one that
can see the value of associating itself with the greatest river in North
America, an icon that defines the nation to the rest of the world. The Mississippi is underappreciated in its
own country. Back On The
Mississippi does its part to change that.”
Strinz entered into the production of the show three years
ago with his eyes open. Although he
realized funding would be hard to come by, he was determined to make the best
program possible. Judging from the
ratings, it seems to have worked.
Here’s what Tom Holter, Twin Cities Public Television
Program Director, had to say:
“We were very surprised at the viewer
response to BACK ON THE MISSISSIPPI. We had a number of viewers ask if we would
be airing it again - always a good sign. Of course we had scheduled 4
broadcasts of the program to let people know about, so that part was good. Each
broadcast slot drew an audience that was almost double what we would normally
draw for the time period.
I expect
viewers enjoyed the fresh and off-beat approach to storytelling that you took.
We know our audience has an insatiable appetite for history, so thank you again
for making it available for TPT broadcast.”
The response is rewarding for Strinz. “One of the folks at TPT emailed me early in
the project to say that the funding climate had never been so bleak. I emailed back and said I had a level head
on my shoulders, and I would not get carried away, and … Wait, look, there on
the horizon! Is it …? It is!!!
Windmills!!! Sancho, saddle up
my steed!”
Creatively approaching the funding problem is in character
for Strinz. He pioneered online
communications, establishing his first pre-internet business in 1983. He went on to found the world’s first online
humor magazine in 1984, and created or developed the prototypes for a number of
now-prominent Internet services. For
more, visit www.strinz.com/creative.
Back On The Mississippi, LLC, is
an independent production company established in 2003 and based in Eagan,
MN. For more info, contact:
Chuck Strinz
Writer/Producer Back on the Mississippi Phone: 651-452-0122 Fax: 651-452-3588 cstrinz@backonthemississippi.com: www.backonthemississippi.com |
Paul Markland
Marketing Director Back on the Mississippi Phone: 651-488-8069 Fax: 651-452-3588 E-mail: pmarkland@backonthemississippi.com |