Inside Source: Palin's Show Is "a New All Time Low for Discovery-Show Is Going To Tank Big Time"

[kpete]

Insider: Palin's Show Is "a New All Time Low for Discovery"
by Cenk Uygur

Wed Apr 14, 2010 at 09:20:22 AM PDT

Last night on The Young Turks we broke the story of reaction to Sarah Palin's new show inside Discovery. We have an inside source at Discovery Communications and we've been leaked information on Sarah Palin's show for The Learning Channel.


Our source says "the whole thing was comical." Apparently the ad buyers were not impressed. This Discovery insider said, "When the promo was over, people (employees and buyers) were rolling their eyes, snickering, and even laughing. People were laughing and it's not even a comedy. No one took it seriously."

This person was concerned that given the lack of interest from ad buyers that Discovery would have to dump the show to "a crappy time slot" to cut its losses. They added, "Bottom line everyone thought it was a new all time low for Discovery. My guess is the show is going to tank big time."

Remember Discovery is paying Sarah Palin $250,000 an episode for this series. There are eight episodes, so she will be clearing $2 million for this possible disaster (TLC will be spending between $800,000 to $1.2 million per episode for the whole production). The ratings for her new show on Fox News Channel were already low (she couldn't even hold on to Greta Van Susteren's audience). Imagine how much worse she'll do on The Learning Channel where the audience presumably wants to learn something, i.e. the exact opposite of what Sarah Palin is known for. What's next for The Learning Channel, George Bush's Ranch?

MORE:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/4/14/857223/-Insider:-Palins-Show-Is-a-New-All-Time-Low-for-Discovery

[old mark]

1. She could have a great career she could learn how to be funny on purpose.

"People were laughing and it's not even a comedy."

That's how I felt when she ran for VP.

I guess we should sent TLC another round or two of emails telling them we will boycott their programming totally when Palin's program airs. They didn't seem to get the message the first time.


mark

[EFerrari]

9. She and Dan Quayle should do a show together.

"America's Funniest Politicians"

[frylock]

19. produced and directed by tommy wiseau

[Dr.Phool]

61. A ventriloquist show.

Which one would be the dummy?

[Old Codger]

69. Probably

Not, I doubt Quayle would lower himself that far.

[KonaKane]

83. "Dumb And Dumber" It's been done.

Jeff Daniels and Jim Carrie are much funnier, and better actors.

[Whisp]

29. she'd do better impersonating Tina Fey

can't figure out why TLC could be so way off, not that they're that great but not horrible like most of tv.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

33. or we could send them THIS for a second round of emails!!

:D

[Moonwalk]

45. Learned to be funny on purpose? Tina Fey beat her to it, and does her being funny better!

[dbmk]

47. Pretty sure she gave up on learning a long time ago

Everything she does is on instinct.

[mwb970]

58. The very idea of $arah on the "Learning" channel is ironic and absurd.

"Learning" is one thing $arah does not "do" - along with nuance, proper grammar, historical accuracy, and having a pleasant, well-modulated voice.

$arah was better off as a beauty pageant contestant and decorative sportscaster. At this point, she is so far beyond her level of incompetence she's practically invisible.

[Mira]

68. Minnie Pearl knew how to do it. And she had a teabag hanging

from her hat.
OH NO that was a price tag.
OH YES that's what Palin needs......

[Echo In Light]

2. Will we ever reach the point when we stop discussing this silly woman?

[icee]

64. Although I made the exception here, whenever I see a post

mentioning Sarah Palin's name, I do not open it, or if within the body, not continue reading it. This board, as have other boards, has helped to keep Sarah Palin in the limelight. If boards said nothing about her, she would disappear.

[stubtoe]

74. Amen.

[louis-t]

3. Does she care? No, because the suckers paid her again.

13 minutes and counting.

[Bullet1987]

4. Who the hell likes this woman?

Who...but the dumbest of the dumb...would even watch her show to take what she says seriously?

[AlbertCat]

49. Who the hell likes this woman?

Much much fewer than you'd ever expect from watching the news.... just like the TeaBaggers.

[Turbineguy]

5. Sounds like a poor business decision

Maybe they can get some wingnut organization to make good on their losses.

And fire the genius who cooked up this deal.

[ihavenobias]

6. Here's a link to the Huffington Post version if anyone is interested.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cenk-uygur/discovery-insider-sarah-p_b_537178.html

[havocmom]

11. Thanks for the link. There is gold there!

Like the last paragraph:

Many people would argue that Palin did great ecological damage to Alaska and would like to do more by drilling all over it. So, getting her to host a show about the natural beauty of Alaska is a bit like getting Jeffrey Dahmer to host a cooking show for the Food Network. Yes, there's a big name attached, but is that the name you really want associated with your brand?

[tanyev]

37. Twitter comment FTW!

The only straw poll Sarah Palin's won is the bendy kind.

:rofl:

[ihavenobias]

38. Ha.

Not bad.

[AlbertCat]

55. "It's Alaska-tastic!"

A like to the show's page.... YIKES!

http://tlc.discovery.com/tv/sarah-palin-alaska/sarah-palin-alaska.html

[starroute]

7. Stories like this make me wonder if it's a front

There used to be a hot dog place in our town that never seemed to have any customers, and my kids would say, "Well, of course. That's where the Philadelphia Mafia launders their drug profits."

So when I see stories like this one about some right-wing enterprise losing money, my first inclination is to suspect that it was never expected to be a money-maker. That Palin's show is just a way for a wealthy donor to launder a couple of million in donations to her via the Discovery Channel without their name appearing on the transaction.

If that's the case, however -- and I'm not saying for sure it is, just speculating -- it would suggest that some large portion of Palin's $12 million in income since she quit as half-term governor of Alaska is not the result of her natural charm and audience appeal but of certain very rich people who see her as a future asset worth the investment.

But at that point, the whole scenario goes tinfoil -- and I really don't want to think about the implications.

[havocmom]

10. makes a lot of sense! The big boy KNOW her followers are a small, firnge group

No way in hell their numbers would transfer to enough viewers to make her show a viable business.

[Golden Raisin]

54. I tend to agree. She's

not functioning or making all this money in a vacuum. I'm also one who definitely does not find her "funny", "amusing" or "a joke". She scares the s#@^ out of me as do her followers and those who are backing/bankrolling her. That she got as far as being a candidate for Vice President blows my mind.

[UTUSN]

8. K&R #17 n/t

[librechik]

12. to be fair, the $250,000 includes production and crewing costs. Palin will get

only what's left after she pays salaries and other costs. But still. A show like that can probably get done for $100k per episode, if you're good at budgeting, and she gets at least half. if she's capable.

[tammywammy]

13. No, it doesn't, the $250k is her cut

"Despite the rough concept, sources involved or familiar with the project say TLC is paying between $800,000 and $1.2 million per episode for the show."

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-03-25/palins-alaska-pay-day/?cid=hp:vertical:l

[old mark]

16. Her personal take is $2 Million for the 8 episodes of this program - costs are

on the producers.

She has already made $12 Million this year.
Someone really knows how to market her and she is smart enough to listen to them.

mark

[AlbertCat]

51. She has already made $12 Million this year.

Let's hope her tax returns will be in order!


:yoiks:

[ihavenobias]

80. How said is that.

Crime may not pay, but idiocy sure does.

[hobbit709]

88. Nobody's ever gone broke underestimating the stupidity of the American public.

[ihavenobias]

90. Ironic considering I wrote "said" instead of "sad".

But maybe I did it on purpose...or maybe not.

;)

[Cha]

14. What a fooking mediawhore tragedy.

Shame on all these barkers trying to make money off the queen of quit, the 1/2 term governor with ethical challenges.

I read yesterday there's problems with her going to speak at Cal State University? AG Jerry Brown has to look into it?! Flyin' her lyin' ass in 1st claas..are they?

[Cass]

15. And the geniuses at the Discovery channel are surprised by this?

This is not rocket science. She is a very polarizing figure who appeals to a pretty small segment of the general population and, to top it off, her environmental background is abhorrent. Why anyone thought she would be an appropriate choice for a nature program on that channel is a mystery. The executives at Discovery who thought this was a great idea have rocks in their head; idiots really.

[AlbertCat]

52. This is not rocket science.

Well, it is the DISCOVERY channel... so they're discovering something...




They had to learn it for themselves....

[KittyWampus]

17. The Learning Channel should have Sarah Palin do a show on Grifters or maybe even

how to succeed in politics by being a vindictive backstabber.

[livetohike]

18. She's so over-exposed. She has no ability in anything, so it's

not surprising that this show is doomed. Whatever happened to her job as a sportscaster? Was she fired for her inability to do that too?

[randr]

20. The Peter Principle at work

Sarah must have risen to the height of her incompetence.

[patrice]

42. Boy howdy, ain't that THE truth! . . .

just about everywhere.

[libodem]

21. Bwhaaaaahhhhhaaaa

:nopity:

[xultar]

22. I want to see the view of Russia from her porch. Are they doing a segment

on that shit?

[tammywammy]

23. Sarah, "And look there's Putin!"

[Bluebear]

41. :)

[Ezlivin]

24. I'm waiting for her on "Celebrity Rehab"

Dr. Drew might straighten out her ass.

[mwooldri]

75. Or "I'm a Celebrity... get me out of here!!!"

The former Alaskan Governor is no longer a bona fide politician in my eyes. With her paid speaking requirements being just as crazy as some Hollywood celebrities requests when shooting a movie, or popstars performing a live show... she is no longer a politician. She is a D list celebrity.

[MilesColtrane]

25. Birds gotta fly, fish gotta swim, and grifters have to steal someone's money.

It is the natural order of things.

[Turborama]

26. Apparently 3 million Is the highest viewing figure Faux can achieve

That's less than 1% of the population. If http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/02/sarah-palins-fox-news-spe_n_524026.html">her new show on Faux is tanking, surely that should be raising multiple flags for Discovery?

[ihavenobias]

30. Well, the other thing to consider when they talk about being the highest rated news source...

It directly contradicts their "liberal media" meme. They can't have it both ways.

[City Lights]

27. Good.

I'm ticked off at Discovery for even considering an offer to that lying sack of shit.

[AlbertCat]

53. I'm ticked off at Discovery

You weren't surprised, were you? What with all that Ghost Lab crap....

(Actually.... they do some good shows....but ghosts??? Crab fishing? ZZZZZZZZZZZZ)

[Wetzelbill]

28. K and R

[TheBigotBasher]

31. Good

the Palin fan sites saw this as a great way for the half baked Alaskan to position herself for a Presidential run. I'm so amused that it is flopping.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

32. the Palin/Dahmer comparison

"getting her to host a show about the natural beauty of Alaska is a bit like getting Jeffrey Dahmer to host a cooking show for the Food Network"

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[ecstatic]

34. The baggers don't really like her do they?

I mean, the media makes her seem like the princess of the Teabagger movement, but at the end of the day:

- She doesn't win their straw polls
- They barely show up to her rallies (I mean, they turn out in higher numbers than for other repugs, but the number is still low)
- They aren't watching her lame shows

So why is Palin relevant if normal people don't like her, and the teabaggers don't even really like her?

[pleah]

35. Who owns Discovery Communications and the Learning Channel?

K&R

spelling :eyes:

[muriel_volestrangler]

36. It's quoted on Nasdaq

http://www.google.com/search?client=opera&rls=en&q=%22discovery+communications%22

Top story about the company at the moment: "Petition drive calls for Discovery Communications to drop Sarah Palin show
Los Angeles Times - 1 hour ago"

[Capitalocracy]

39. K&R... I thought this story would take off nt

[ihavenobias]

85. 2709 comments | 241,787 views at Huffington Post

I'm surprised no one on TV covered it.

[Capitalocracy]

86. Maybe they're afraid to

I wouldn't be surprised if the Discovery people come snooping around your site looking for evidence of who the mole is

plus, maybe they don't want the Palin gravy train to end and they're currently looking for better ways to profit off of it

all signs point to Palin being a hot, potentially very profitable asset, but impossible to work with, or else Fox News wouldn't be doing some fake interview show where they pretend she's asking questions for interviews they've already done. I mean, even Spaceghost did better than that.

[Bluebear]

40. 'People were laughing and it's not even a comedy.'

:rofl:

[patrice]

43. $2 million for this mental turnip in a tight skirt! It's enough to make a Communist out of you!!

[Lifelong Protester]

44. I give this a K & R because I wrote already several times

to TLC and Discovery Communications after this broke on the NYTimes. She is pathetic, and I will be so happy if this thing tanks or never even sees the light of day on the TV.

[DeSwiss]

46. Hmmm... quite a problem, quite a problem.

Okay, so here's the plan to fix this:

1. Each week they need to have Sarah standing in front of that turkey de-featherer machine thingy giving another insightful interview. Ohhh.... maybe regaling us with another quaint story about her days as governor (which should last at least 1 or 2 shows). Or maybe talk about when she was a teevee news reader, or something. But here's the catch, instead of turkeys every week, we can have them get a different Alaska animal to chop up in there! Huh? Huh? Huh?

2. Okay, okay. Then at some point we can have a show with her flying over mountains chasing the wolves again (who by now know the very sound of her voice), and would be running for dear life! BUT, here's the clincher: Instead of shooting them, we can have her throwing the meat that was chopped-up from the previous show!!! See? Ecology!!!!

3. And if that doesn't fill-in all the time they need, they can always follow Todd around to see what he's up to. And with any luck, they'll have shots of him a Greta Van Whatshername making out!!!! It'll be pure teevee GOLD, I tells ya!!!! Pure GOLD!!!!

- K&R

[Ichingcarpenter]

48. Maybe The Learning Channel will learn something from this

And do a program on what they learned.

I'll do it for only 100,000€ an episode

[Politicalboi]

50. Now we know where the

New Coke guy went.

[nxylas]

56. This is going to play into the narrative she's creating for herself

"Of course those coke-snorting liberal ad agency types laughed at my show. They don't understand the values of real heartland Americans like me and you (wink). Poor me. Poor, poor me."

[Hubert Flottz]

57. What the TeaBraggers "think"

You and me Sarah we ain't nothin' but mammals
So let's do it like they do on the Discovery Channel
Do it again now
You and me Sarah we ain't nothin' but mammals
So let's do it like they do on the Discovery Channel
Gettin' horny now

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xat1GVnl8-k

[DeeDeeNY]

59. SNL had it right. Just give her her own channel already.

:rofl:

http://rackjite.com/archives/4844-Video-SNL,-Tina-Fey-does-The-Palin-Channel.html

[ihavenobias]

87. Thanks for the link. n/t

[political_Dem]

60. I think the Learning Channel would have an easier time doing a show about her brain.

After all, they also do medical shows. Although the woman is clearly distasteful, people would actually tune in to see what's exists in Sarah's head. It'll be like "Fantastic Voyage" in a black hole.

It would be so entertaining that the viewers would probably run a pool to see what's inside. Is it stuffing? Straw? Feathers?

:evilgrin:

But the best part would be to watch her take an IQ test. That would be the burning question in a lot of people's minds.

(And to add a little spice to the "documentary", they would actually do a scientific exploration of *'s liquor cabinet. I always wanted to know what type of alcohol caused his unfortunate "confrontation" with a pretzel.)

;) :rofl:

[90-percent]

62. Olbermann quote

"That woman is an idiot"

-90% jimmy

[Hubert Flottz]

63. World's deadliest KKKooKKK...

Even the turkeys don't like that turkey.

[Fla Dem]

65. The Learning Channel (TLC)...Discovery Channel 2 different channels

So which one is it. I thought it was The Discovery Channel. Let's not beat up on TLC if they're not involved.

[City Lights]

66. It's going to be on TLC, which is owned by Discovery Communications. nt

[newtothegame]

67. This person was "concerned."

'Nuff said. I've been on DU long enough to know what "concern" means.

[rurallib]

70. On a side note : History channel shows strange history; weather channel

is about the last place to go for weather; discovery channel does little discovering. Cable TV is like the republican party of media, all promise and no delivery.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

72. I haven't had cable for years. Does the "H" logo in History Channel still stand for Hitler. Because

last I remember that's all they talked about.

[mwooldri]

77. Not any more....

There's even less History on the History Channel these days...

Ice Road Truckers, Ax Men, Pawn Stars, Sliced, Alaska: Dangerous Territory... not exactly Hitler or History for that matter.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

79. So the "H" now stands for "Huh?" nt

[yellowcanine]

71. How bad is it if you can't do at least a half decent show on Alaska?

Just pointing a camera without any commentary would be worth watching in many instances. Even someone with a modicum of actual knowledge and stage presence ought to be able to make a show worth watching. Hell just read from tourist brochures for a given area.

My guess is that Sarah, being Sarah, tried to promote her various agendas instead of just playing it straight with what the camera was showing.

[Nailzberg]

82. The show hasn't even shot yet. I think reports of it being a bomb are premature.

The producers have said it will be a travel series and will be apolitical, pretty sure it will come off as they intend. It could actually be pretty decent show if it is shot well, cause Alaska is a great looking piece of land.

[yellowcanine]

84. Well the ad buyers were laughing at something.....

[colsohlibgal]

73. Dumbing Down Of The Egghead Channels

There used to be real interest things on TLC, Discovery, History Channel etc for those of us easily clearing 100 on the IQ meter and now we have shows like this and "Ax Men". There is still some fascinating stuff that's not fluff, thankfully, particularly on the Science Channel and the History Channel,which has now funneled most of it's Hitler stuff to their Military Channel.

'Ice Road Truckers" is one thing, but giving Palin a show seems not fair and balanced. How about a show featuring Michael Moore on that channel? I would say that's fair and balanced except for brain power.

[Crowman1979]

76. Now if that isn't a con-job, I don't know what is.

Of course the GOP is full of con-artists, but Im-Palin broke the glass celing with the amount of money she manipulated people into giving her.

[Shining Jack]

78. Wow.

I wonder how she does it.I mean the McClown campaign picked her and it was a huge blunder from their part(hehehe).Alaska,she quits.Her "book" was printed and it's garbage,and now this.Why do those morons can't see that she's an incompetent idiot before it's too late ? I wouldn't trust her to flip burgers for crying out loud ! :rofl:

[Crunchy Frog]

81. If she would just make her family into a reality show

it might actually have some entertainment value.

[mainer]

89. Natural audience for Discovery Channel probably have Palin antipathy

If I were an ad buyer, there's no way I'd advertise on her show. Discovery probably attracts better-educated, more liberal viewers who would turn off their TV rather than watch Palin.

Surely the ad buyers are smart enough to know that.