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wow..
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well this is interesting
http://wreckedmagazine.com/blog/2008...-the-same-day/
An Industry Insider
OK, I have been hearing all kinds of rumors and now with seeing this on more than just Wrecked, and now hearing from employees that this is in fact true, I thought I would post.
For starters, the guys are good guys. The mean well. I know them all personally and do wish them the very best. Lets look at a few things. For starters it took Naderi way too long to come out with a product. When he decided to leave the then Primedia to go after something he has dreamed about a long time - it all sounded good and a great opportunity. Then another Primedia employee came over and another. All the guys there are good guys, but had no product to show for it. Call it production or what not, they should have just come out with something … V.1 just to get the market brewing about what they are going to be all about.
It took too long for the product to come out, which hurt them because it lost a lot of steam in the market. No one was interested except a select few here in California. Once the product came out, it was average at best. Everything that they bragged they would do, they did a little but not real great. The site was horrible to navigate and extremely difficult to find anything. In other words just over designed and too much thought. People want info and they want it fast and easy. When it starts to be painful in getting through a site, you lose fans and viewers. This is what happened to RB.
Advertising - without it, no media source is surviving. RBTV was setup for a disaster from the start. High overhead with payroll and then an office etc, with no money coming in. They had a washed up sales guy that no one liked when he was a sales guy at (Whatever it was called before Primedia) named Michael Robleto. This guy was a bad move. Why use a guy that has stupid people skills and in many ways lost the pulse of what companies need and was in la la land in regards to pricing. RBTV had ad rates that where more expensive than anything on the net and in many regards more expensive than print. They tried to say that it was because of all the traffic. People this site was very low on traffic. For months on months it was no where on any of the sites you can go to - to measure traffic. Then somehow - “kudos” to them, they figured out how to jump their traffic by some creative means. But too little too late.
Look at their advertisers:
DC Shoes - That was not a paid ad
AEM - They confirmed they never paid anything for the ad
BRS - Leigh is a good guy. But no money. This was a free ad as well.
Formula D - Trade - no payment there
Greddy - we doubt with their financial state they paid for anything.
KW - If I was a betting man, I would say no to this.
Extreme D - No
THMotorsports - Not sure about them but the track record above kind of speaks for itself.
So when you have all of this overhead and bring in no money, it’s only a matter of time. The stock market could be through the roof and it wouldn’t matter. They did not play this smart and in many ways came off cocky.
Then when companies showed thoughts of advertising - the idiot mentioned above would quote ridiculous numbers and didn’t make any sense. Whatever happened to grow with the me. We are new and we will help you and as we help you grow - help us grow..? That was never part of their plan. So as much as I like the guys - this was a bad move and was part of their demise.
The name: This was Naderi’s baby. He got flack for the name at the beginning from close friends. People told him that this would be confusing to people and event o advertisers, but he didn’t care. He was focused on an agenda and it failed him. Name - bad move. Never took off and more people thought it was dumb than cool. Only a select few here in California “liked” the name. So, that was part of the death.
Advertisers didn’t get it, and in many ways thought it was offensive. John knew best……. I guess.
Their Past - So they all left Primedia for the dream. John thought for sure that all of his close contacts and friends at companies would follow him. He had a hard time at the beginning because people wouldn’t return his call and no one left the books at Primedia to support him. It never got easier either. Then, bridges have been burned with primedia. Most of them cannot return. The only one that may be able to return would be Naderi. But to what? The books at Primedia are in ruin as well. Most of the editors have no idea what they are doing. There are some good guys, but they don’t have great support. So look at Super Street. John did a great job with the book back in the day, or did he. Was it just that the market was good and everyone was running ads and you could do no wrong. Naderi did some questionable calls for that mag back in the day as well, but a lot of people just looked past it. He has hurt relationships with Source Interlink and from the looks of it, would have a hard time coming back. Wong is now running SS and having a hard time. The book is lacking great future direction. The ad sales teams know it, and are worried like everyone else that their day could come and all of them would be gone.
Before John N left, he had a conversation with Howard Lim at Source. It was left off that he can come back if he wants. That however has changed internally. Naderi does not have many friends left inside those offices. Think about it, John N going back to Source I… He would have to eat a lot of humble pie for that.
This is going to be an interesting year. The strong will survive. The ones that can work hard and produce a good product - they will stay around. The ones that keep their word and keep innovating and bringing the world along with them - they will be very successful down the road. Make no mistake. The Automotive Market is still strong. People still love cars and will always customize them. People want smart media. They want good parts and no BS. This is the way of the future and the ones that can figure out how to give it - will win!
I wish them all well. This is the worst timing the week before SEMA. It is going to be really interesting to see if they are in fact there. If they are, my thinking is they will be there to try and sell their butts off to see if they can pull enough revenue to keep it alive. I can tell you this - it’s not going to happen. People are not making deals at SEMA any longer. Ads are not being signed, and people are looking for added benefits. Support from people they are running ads with. Like I said, interesting times ahead.
It’s funny to see this leaked here on Wrecked. This is a site that the RB guys watched a lot. They also become vocal about how Wrecked was not up to par and how they had a superior product. Well…. Wrecked is still here. They must have something going for them. They are humble, smart and aggressive. Something tells me they will be around for a long long time.
Folks.. enjoy your weekend. RBTV RIP. I do hope however the guys can bounce back. This is never easy. Next time guys, heed to just some of the criticism above. It may do you well.
Over and out!Comment
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That really sucks...Comment
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The RiceboyTV website is still up with no news about closing. I'll wait until I hear it from the horse's mouth.Comment
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i have news from someone who works with riceboy. they are indeed closed downOriginally posted by Justin Banner View PostComment
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if you wana do it for free then dont put ads in but thats right ads make things keep going... I run a Driftzine called Dinted.. We are going on line and its easy few guys write for it and we slap it togeather.. doing it from the hart. Its run of the http://www.projectaspec.com Team site and few us print the issues up when we can off copiers but on line is way to go.. low cost and every one can see it.
Any one in west cost is very lucky since there is so much industrey and most of them are supporting cool ideas that come out. its good team work. East and Mid is left in the cold. So gotta go out punkrock style and do it lowkey.
I liked were R.B tv was going it was interesting. Wrecked is awesome.Comment
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Huh, wonder why the website hasn't commented on it, think they are waiting on SEMA or do they have some sort of contractual obligation to fulfill?Originally posted by deadpirate View PostComment
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