Heh, I pretty much guessed that was what was happening. Question for you though on that topic. Do you think Discovery paid for everything? By that I mean do you think they gave them the $250,000 that the guys supposedly scrapped up to do this, and when they ran short and needed to borrow another $40k from the guy's sister was that completely made up too (i.e. Discovery just gave them more money)? I'm just curious if the guys have any financial risk in this at all aside from hoping to get picked up for a second season.
Generally the way it works is that the money upfront for instance the 250k is probably really out of their pockets or the OWNER of the mine's pocket. I can't see why the miners would pay the owner of the mine/property or use their own money to mine on the person who's got the rights to the gold below to mine it. Basically Discovery finds out about the events taking place by some means whether it was proposed by them or they had people report back with matched ideas. Notice ALASKA stuff has been a big boom lately on the Discovery channels. What a coincidence...
Anyway, the 40k was probably floated by someone, might have been sponsors of the show or whatever. Ever notice the equipment or 'special deliveries' they have on the show? A magnetic sand and gold seperator that was newly invented.... Strange, that episode sounded like a pitch to me. Well, those people pay in some fashion to have their products (product placement) in the show. In return, they get sales, etc. from the people who are the target audience. Think about the show Deadliest Catch. Those are real fishermen who were selected to have cameras watch them 24/7 and they became famous, and I also bet Alaskan crab sales skyrocketed.
The RISK is not initially taken by the networks unless they are fully producing a show they can control (In studio usually). This is what makes it 'reality'. If the show is making the network millions in advertising, a 40k floater to keep the show alive is well worth the investment.
The show I worked on for Discovery wasn't good enough for the main Discovery Channel, but aired on Discovery Green and some others so it would meet it's target audience.
I love to use American Idol as a nit picking point. Do you think record labels are going to let america vote who they put millions of dollars into? NO WAY! Do you think those horrible atrocious singers actually make it through the 3 initial lines of producers to get to the judges?? NO WAY! It's about RATINGS!!
Sorry for the rant... not trying to hijack the thread. One more tidbit before I go... lol Ratings people think are the number of people watching the shows.... WRONG. Ratings come through even if your TV IS OFF and that channel is on. So if you hate a tv show don't just turn off the tv, change the channel completely!! A "share" is the amount of audience actually WATCHING the show. It's a frugal system... LOL
ok no more hijacking this thread lol sorry
