Mark Cuban has been investing in the TV business since he began his career as a tech entrepreneur when he became a billionaire through the sale of broadcast.com to Yahoo!. Over a decade later he continues to invest in the space, most recently with Flingo one of the social TV companies we write about often.
We spoke with Cuban and his Executive Producer Jordan Berman about social TV and “Bikini Barbershop: Jersey,” the hit reality show on his HDNet satellite channel.
Cuban’s passion and interest in TV goes beyond his investment and beyond his starring role in ABC’s Shark Tank. Cuban launched HDNet in 2001, and has since carefully grown the HD only content to be distributed by many of the MSOs. One of his recent successes on the network was with “Bikini Barbershop: Jersey,” a reality show about a barbershop in Long Branch, New Jersey which stars, “Jeff Wulkan, the Hugh Hefner of hair,” as he is “caught in the middle of the hookups, brawls and drama that unfold daily at his new salon on the Jersey shore.” The show, which recently had it’s finale, will begin another airing of the season on May 18th. Cuban and Berman (formerly SVP of Integrated Marketing at MTV) discussed social TV and the success of the show with Lost Remote.
Lost Remote: Mark, why did you decide to green light Bikini Barbershop: Jersey?
Mark Cuban: They are definitely a unique cast of characters, particularly the shop owner Jeff. They didn’t seem real, but they are 100% real and honest, which is what I liked about them.
LR: Mark, you recently invested in Flingo, why is social TV important to you? As an investor and TV executive why do you think social media is important to TV? What do you think we can expect in the future?
Cuban: Social TV isn’t important to me. Recognizing that the interactions that social media users have with each other is relevant content that has to be integrated into the TV experience is. I guess you can call that social TV, but not in the traditional sense.
All new #SharkTank tonight. Make sure to check it out. I will be live tweeting and having fun No better Fri Nite#Pregame than #Sharktank !
— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) May 11, 2012
LR: Mark, you are personally an influential blogger and have an active Twitter presence. Why is it important for you to use these channels? Do you tweet while you watch TV? Do you think it makes the programming more social? Anything else you’d like to add?
Cuban: When I was on Dancing with the Stars, I was the first to use my “friends” to glomb votes. When I was on Shark Tank last year I decided to live tweet during the show and we immediately trended. I don’t know if anyone else on TV who had done it before. To me, I want to be the first to try new things, but more importantly I want to learn as much as I can about every new platform. If I don’t learn, I don’t know the value and if I don’t know the value, I can’t make good decisions on content and marketing.
LR: For someone who might not have watched yet, what’s Bikini about and why did HDNet decide to air it?
Cuban: It’s just a hair salon run by someone who you would think would get sued by his employees, but it turns out as much of a jerk he is, they always come back because they trust and like him. That’s a unique dichotomy in a setting few people would ever think they could be part of. It’s like Jersey Shore, but instead of “look at me”, it’s “this is my life, it’s not easy, but I’m trying to make it work”.
LR: What is HDNet’s social TV strategy with Bikini? What partners are you working with? How have they strategies affected ratings, brand awareness?
We really are just experimenting using all the tools at our disposal. There is not a partner goal. Our goal is to learn what works and doesn’t work so we can best leverage those ideas as we transition to AXS TV.
LR: Are the characters in the show active on social? How has that helped get the word out about the show? How did the show do in its first season?
Cuban: More and more so. From chats, to tweeting to video hangouts. It has definitely helped get the word out. The buzz has been enormous.
LR: Anything else?
Cuban: This is an age of experimentation. I’m looking at new things we can introduce to our customers/viewers through our partners and distributors.
LR: Jordan, How did you come up with the idea for Bikini Barbershop New Jersey?
Jordan Berman: This show was birthed in social media. Jeff Wulkan, the owner of Bikini Barbers in Long Branch, NJ, originally reached out to me via Facebook after discovering that I had run integrated marketing at MTV, the home of Jersey Shore. I then brought in the talented Dave Goldberg and Rob Cea as co-executive producers and we pitched the show to Mark Cuban at HDNet. We loved the juxtaposition of a classic entrepreneur story set against the backdrop of Jeff’s unfiltered personality and turbulent relationships with the salon’s staff of twentysomething bikini clad stylists.
LR: Do you think social TV is important?
Berman: I think social TV is important in two regards. First, it re-creates a communal viewing experience that existed when we all gathered in living rooms on Thursday nights to watch Cheers and Seinfeld. That behavior essentially disappeared with the rise of time shifting and multiple digital platforms. You can now watch with the world while alone on your La-Z-Boy recliner. Second, social TV creates a digital watercooler to discuss and debate the morning after. And it’s people connecting with our characters and stories that underpins the industry.
LR: As a producer how do you use social media tools?
Berman: As reality TV producers, we use social media throughout the process: uncovering stories from the digital lives of the cast, fostering interaction between audience and on-screen talent, promoting awareness/tune-in, and gauging viewer response and reaction to the finished product we put on the screen.
LR: Anything else?
Berman: Dave, Rob and I couldn’t be more excited about working with Mark Cuban and his amazing team at HDNet. They really get how technology and social media can be additive to storytelling, rather than a distraction. And where else can you find the head of a network actually walking the walk and tweeting the tweet?! : )