Emily Chang - eHub Interviews

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December 22, 2006
eHub Interviews TasteTV

Thanks to Kevin Reed & A.K. Crump of TasteTV.com for this email interview.

eHub: What is your web application/service about?

TasteTV: TasteTV is part of TCB CAFE Publishing & Media LLC, which is a media and technology company. Our service with TasteTV is to provide some of the best independently produced food, wine and lifestyle programming to our online and on demand communities, and allow them to participate in what we do as Tastemakers, Tastesetters or Taste Producers. Our programs run a fairly large range of topics, from restaurant reveiws, sexy dishes, chocolate, wine, chef demos, to fashion shows, model cooks, product & book reviews, and travel.  The programs come from around the world, including the US, UK, France, Japan and Australia.

eHub: Why did you start this project?

TasteTV: This project was started in 2003, when we developed the idea for the Indie Food Channel. We saw then that there were new technologies and broadcast opportunites opening up, and that there was also a lot of great food and lifestyle programs that kept trying to get syndicated and weren’t able to be seen outside of a small area. We did not have a name for the concept of giving viewers and independent producers the chance to submit programs, but now everyone calls it Viewer Generated Content or Consumer Generated Media.  Based on these two vectors that we analyzed, we created this “indie food channel” and launched it in 2004. Of course, as you know, we’re now TasteTV, but when we launched originally as the Indie Food Channel we spent two years explaining to analysts and media watchers how we could ‘possibly be a channel if we didn’t have a station or cable number.’ Now everyone has a “channel,” so we’ve moved on from the concept that we sort of pioneered.

eHub: How much time do you devote to its growth?  Do you have a day job?

TasteTV: This is a full time project, so we work on TasteTV all day (and night). Plus, we have books that we publish, which also add to the workload, since some of the books provide content or branding opportunities for TasteTV. Some of our books are on food, some are on lifestyle, some are on relationships and running a good business (eg. “Everything I Know about Dating I Learned in Business School"), and some are just on art, like our photography books that we create from our annual photography & art competition (www.PhotoContest2006.com). Plus, you really have to stay on top of what competitors are doing, or new technology that helps us.

eHub: How large is your team and what are your backgrounds?

TasteTV: We have a large roster of contributors, but our core team could be said to be made up of A.K. Crump (CEO), myself Kevin Reed (Biz Dev/Director), S. Green (director), Susan Jones (host and biz dev), Laurie Gauguin (host and relationship marketing), Natasha Levitan (production), and a few others who are valuable to our effort.  Of course, we consider our partner Brightcove to also be a big contributor, as we are to them. (you can actually see a video we made for them here.

eHub: What is your design philosophy?

TasteTV: Make it attractive, interesting, useful and sleek. The User Interface has to be intuitive. The topic should be obvious. The way to join should be easy.
We’re going to increase our use of tags fairly soon, as well as other elements.

But of course, we on’t go crazy with minor bells and whistles. Customer satisfaction is always first.

Sometimes a good Beta trial will really help, but A.K. and I have found in our past in the tech industry that sometimes people working on a project really don’t want to do a true Beta, and then you have to do a little song and dance about it being “presales,” then everyone is onboard.  A.K. Crump is actually a marketing professor and marketing/business consultant, so he can talk a lot on the subject. He just helped launch the Duet software that was jointly created by SAP and Microsoft.  He even uses the book he wrote as a tool for teaching business concepts to people in a way they can understand ("Everything I Know about Dating I Learned in Business School"). The worldwide Chinese language rights to the new Second Edition of that book were just sold.

eHub: What technologies are you currently using?

TasteTV: Mostly Flash for viewing videos, but we use some other types of technologies that we’d prefer not to divulge at this time.
However, a lot of the Brightcove tech is public knowledge, and that’s what we use for our video player and content management.

eHub: If your project is live, what are the most requested features from your users/community?

TasteTV: To join and contribute. We’re always thinking of new ways that people can be a part of what we do.

On the other hand, YouTube and mySpace have really set the standard for certain types of video features online, even if they’re not always the most optimal, people have gotten used to them.

eHub: Does your user base reside in a primary geographic location or is it distributed?

TasteTV: Worldwide. But we’re based in San Francisco, so you can imagine there is some slant there.

eHub: Where do you see the project heading in the next 6 months?  The next 2 years?

TasteTV: 6 months: growth in the viewership, contributors, partners and brand. New tech features that are in development.

2 years: new technologies, partnershps and markets that will support the TasteTV vision and brand.

eHub: What is the greatest challenge to your success?

TasteTV: Though we’ve been around for three years, when you don’t just focus on celebrity items, clothese or gadgets, you have to really be in touch with your target market in order to fuel growth. For us it’s a challenge but also a strength.

Another challenge is quite frankly copycats, of which there are legions.

eHub: What is the one thing you need to get to the next phase of the project?

TasteTV: A little VC money wouldn’t hurt. We could take an influx and spin it like gold.

eHub: Do you have a business model?  If so, what is it?

TasteTV: Our model is continually refined, but it’s basically the same one we had in 2003, which in and of itself was far reaching and thought well into the future, so now that we’re in “the future” the need to completely revamp isn’t necessary. That’s not to say we don’t get new ideas, in fact we get those about once every few minutes (which used to be what they said about the amount of times men thought of sex in an hour, but there you go, we’ve replaced one obsession with another)

eHub: If you’re able to disclose this information, how much traffic or usage do you see on an average day?

TasteTV: We’re a bit squeemish on that topic because we got burned recently from a new competitor. We approached them to consider a partnership—before they were actually a competitor—and they asked us for a lot information, including web traffic, then a month later they were right in our markets giving us the finger. Not good behavior, but that’s how it is these days.

But let me say, we’re happy with the traffic we have, but we’d love a lot more, as well as a few more links to our site.

eHub: What is the one thing you’re most proud of about the project?

TasteTV: We feel good that we’re not just jumping on the online video bandwagon, that we planned this out before it was even technically possible.

And, that we have some really great contributors and partners.

eHub: How would you describe the shift that’s occurring with the web right now to future generations?

TasteTV: “When I was a boy, we didn’t have a such thing as video online or on demand...we had to sit in front of the TV and watch what they told us to when they told us to...”

eHub: What site(s) do you visit everyday other than your own?

TasteTV: Coolhunting.com, pulver.com, dvguru.com, paidcontent.org, xeep.net, core77.com

eHub: How many hours of sleep do you get a night?

TasteTV: 5-7 hours, of course we’re all working in our sleep, so what do you really call that?

Thanks to Kevin Reed & A.K. Crump of TasteTV.com for this email interview.

Visit TasteTV
Originally added to eHub on Sep 22, 06

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eHub Interviews is a series with the creators of Web 2.0 applications and services by Emily Chang, author of eHub, designer, and co-founder and principal of Ideacodes, a strategic web consultancy in San Francisco that she co-founded with Max Kiesler.

Also see eHub Interviews in Japanese at CNET Japan