“Brands are all about trust. You can expand the universe of what people think you are, but there’s only so much elasticity. On Discovery, that’s why I talk about authenticity. Authenticity is job No. 1, 2 and 3.”
So are National Geographic, Animal Planet, and The Learning Channel (TLC) going to abandon their malarkey too?
Don't count on it.
It's too easy to contract with independent film outfits who are eager to cock-up low-cost crapola and fakery like "The Legend of Mick Dodge".
These crap peddlers have no brands to protect. Rich Ross seems to understand that the short-term interests of fly-by-night production companies are not necessarily in his channels's long term interests. I suspect that that message will get reinforced all over as the era of for-pay always-on-demand internet television come to the fore. The 120-channel package deal is probably going to die, and evidence of that is that a-la-carte is starting to gain ground even in the world of cable. When it all goes to internet the money men and women will quickly discover (pund intended) that people will pay a dollar a show for Downton Abey, Alpha House, and Ken Burns. but won't for Mick Dodge, Honey Boo-Boo, and Turtle Man.
It's all solipsistic American CRAP on those channels- Joseph Goebbels dream come true- "1984" made manifest. The more American Heroes Channel or National Geographic or Animal planet you watch the duller you become. Ross says in the article "“Wouldn’t it be amazing if we could tell stories that are actually indicative of behaviors and situations and see if we can alter them in a positive way?” HAH! How are you going to tell the story of say Syria or Ukraine or ISIS and put a happy-face American smile on it? As Colonel Jessep says: "We couldn't handle the truth!"
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