Read Online Death at the Trade Show: Target Practice Mysteries 3 by Nikki Haverstock - Free Book Online Page B

channel, so the assumption is that all the viewers are the right demographic to sell the products. Prices are lower, but they are in much fewer households. They only do hunting shows, their prices are cheaper, and you get three timeslots for your price. The idea is that you get one prime timeslot then two reruns during less-prime timeslots.”
    This was all fascinating background. “Which station are you on?”
    “We’re on Real Outdoor Adventures, which splits the difference between the channels, you could say. Price point, production quality, household numbers, and you get one rerun. Plus, the channel’s a bit more diverse when it comes to programming. In addition to hunting shows, they also have fishing and competitive shooting sports. A real well-rounded channel. Plus, it is the channel that Westmound prefers. A lot of the time, your sponsors make the decision for you since they have a theory on which channel works for them.”
    Mary kept writing, and we silently waited. Once she finished, she looked up at Jillian. “Tell me about these theories you keep mentioning.”
    “We don’t have any proof of how much hunting shows, or pro-staff contacts, or any of that affects sales, if at all. Because people aren’t going out of business, we assume it’s working, but it’s a bit of a mystery. So in general, companies play it safe; they want something new but still very familiar, basically variations on a theme. They like certain timeslots and certain channels. I met a gal a few years ago that hosted a target archery competitive reality show. Its first season, it had great viewership numbers, but they couldn’t get any sponsors for a second season because it was too different from everything else being done. Wonder what she’s doing now?”
    Mary held up her finger. “Hold on. So do you start with the sponsors or the station? ’Cause you need money to buy the timeslot, but you said sponsors prefer certain channels.”
    “It’s a juggling act, for sure. You talk to a bunch of sponsors and figure out who might be interested and what they want, i.e., a certain channel or they want to be a title sponsor. Then you go and get the timeslot then go back and try to get the sponsors. Our first year, we self-funded the show with only a few sponsors who mostly provided equipment. We lost money that season. Second year we broke even but didn’t pull a salary, but since the third season, we’ve been able to pay ourselves for the show. We’ll never buy a vacation house in Hawaii, but we love what we do.”
    Mary flipped the notebook to a new page. “The sponsors give you money; what do they get? Their name on the opening?”
    “Depends on the negotiation. All the stations give you a certain number of commercial spots, so often a large sponsor gets a commercial, a banner at the beginning of the show, product integration in the show, using only their product and describing it. Basically if you can imagine it, it can be done.”
    Sitting back, I contemplated the information. While it was useful for this article that we hadn’t even committed to writing, it didn’t tell us much about Cash’s murder. “How competitive is it to get sponsors?”
    Jillian grimaced briefly before continuing. “It can get… interesting. Nothing really underhanded, I think, but we’re all competing for the same money. I don’t know what happens behind closed doors. Some people might try to casually undercut another show without being too obvious, like posting online about ‘Our show does this, unlike other shows that do that.’ Or you might see marketing guys, the ones that decide who gets money, being taken on private hunting trips by the hosts of shows. Sometimes it really is an old-boys’ club, lots of chumming around.”
    “So potentially, behind closed doors, other shows could be undercutting competitors?” That’s a possible motive.
    “Or overplaying their own strengths. Viewership numbers are kept very hush-hush, even by the