Entertainment in Flux: How Nerdist Stays Ahead of the Curve
by from Mashable
Big things are afoot at Nerdist Industries. It’s been less than a month since the company launched its YouTube partner channel, but already they seem to be making significant strides.
“We make the stuff that we would want to consume,” says Peter Levin, CEO of Nerdist. “That’s the metric we use, for better for worse, and our YouTube channel is a very clear indication of that. We’re doing shows with people that we know and like, and we’re doing them about stuff that we want to consume.”
Levin previously co-founded company GeekChicDaily, but joined forces with Nerdist and Hardwick in 2011 to form what is now Nerdist Industries.
“What Chris had created in such a short amount of time was very unique, and I think a lot of the uniqueness came from how authentically he was resonating with the audience,” says Levin.
Nerdist, founded in 2008, began with Hardwick’s intent to build a platform for a sub-culture that he felt lacked the proper resources to build a thriving audience. To put it in his own words, he wanted an “evil nerd empire.”
Hardwick’s original Nerdist podcast program now includes a network of 17 channels that receive just north of 2.4 million downloads a month. It has since exploded into a full-fledged media company, expanding to multiple other platforms: a website, newsletter, live events across the country and much more, including the recently launched YouTube channel.
A New Medium Is Born
The Nerdist Channel, like other YouTube partner channels, is a significant indicator of how the lines between traditional and nontraditional media are blurring. Hardwick, who has experience in both formats, says that this new medium is “refreshing.”“What tends to happen with television is, not only do ideas change from when you initially pitch them — if you can get them on the air — but the process is so long. During that time, people kind of lose the point of view or they lose the enthusiasm,” says Hardwick.
The channel’s production schedule is much different. Each episode is shot and edited weekly, which means production overlaps with air schedule. Hardwick says the shows, just two or three episodes in, are already evolving and taking shape because of this.
“It’s totally real-time, which is super exciting because it keeps you on your toes — there’s nothing passive about what we’re doing,” says Hardwick. “We’re able to sort of tweak shows on the fly as they’re being aired, and I think that’s a tremendous advantage over working in television.”
The platform also allows content to be tailored to any length. A video could be a minute if that’s all it needs, like the “Cute Things Exploding” series — or it could be more long-form, running 20 to 30 minutes
Although Hardwick is certainly taking advantage of the new platform, he believes that traditional media is still important, considering the majority of Americans still consume entertainment through television. In 2012, Nielsen estimated 96.8% of homes in the U.S. have a TV set. Additionally, Americans still spend 20% of their day watching television.
If the shows on the Nerdist Channel were to make the jump to the (bigger) small screen, which Hardwick says is a possibility someday, the company would have the advantage of providing a television network with a “prefab show,” rather than figuring it out in the development process.
“That’s the glory of the new digital age,” says Hardwick. “It has given us the ability to create new and exciting things that never would have existed in the old model.”
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