Advice on a new talk show

[Merboy]

I think I'd like to have a talk show one day on YouTube that's free for anyone to watch anywhere but I'd like some advice.

 

I might invest a lot of money in it and make it look very professional with the right cameras and lighting.

 

What do you think makes a successful TV talk show?

[+ MysticMenace]

please do not take this the wrong way, but here are my thoughts:

• most of the clips in YouTube are free anyway, so I guess whatever content you want to put on that platform could work
  
• might want to hold off on investing a lot of money until you have a clear path of how u want to take on the project
  
• just with any venture, there has to be a niche and a market demand for what you plan to put out there. I think one of the advantages of YouTube is accessible and convenient content. personally, I have not seen a lot, if any, talk shows on YouTube outside of clips from established shows you see on TV (Ellen, The Real, WWHL, Late Night shows). if anything else, I think talk show formats as a content might be a little saturated.
  
• if you still desire to pursue this, you could probably start with (a) having a clear objective of the show's objective, (b) establishing a format that you can consistently execute across multiple episodes, © maybe having a catchy tagline, and (d) starting small - testing the waters before investing too much money into it unless you're uber-rich then go for it.
  
• do you already have some ideas in mind of what your TV talk show could be? measuring success could mean different things - depends on what your goal is - is it to maximize ad revenue? subscribers? likes? or just feeling good about each content you put out?
  

if I were to start a straw man for a YouTube talkshow content, here's an off-the-cuff example:

1. Objective: To increase awareness and normalize LGBT+ culture or lifestyle (or something more specific)
   
2. Format:
   
   1. 
      
   2. Some original and catchy 2-3 second sound to intro the episode
      
   3. Catchy greeting
      
   4. The spiel - mention the title of the show, subscribe, like, ring the notification bell...the typical YouTuber spiel
      
   5. (option - to stay true to objective) Highlight an LGBT person or group, bring them on the show, interview them on what they do for the community and give them a place to plug their site <make sure you do some due diligence on the organization though>
      
      1. depending on whether you actually want to earn revenue, you could also make these episodes to be dedicated to the organization you just brought (e.g., all ad revenues or percentage of the revenues on this episode will go to XXXXX group).
         
      2. you could also select a couple known organizations (The Trevor Project) and donate the revenues of your series to those groups
         

      [*]Maybe grab a follower question from one of your social media platforms (insta, fb, reddit) to be the hook for your episode. then preview an outline of what the rest of the episode will have. so let's say the topic is around the concept of monogamy in gay relationships...then you could have:

      1. Word on the Street segment: you can do a 2-minute clip of your interviews of strangers about the topic
         
      2. Debate the Ish Outta Dis segment: get 2 folks with competing views and have them duke out their POVs with you moderating it
         
      3. Final Word segment: your closing statement to resolve or address the follower question you alluded to in the beginning of the episode
         

      [*]Recap the organization or group you brought into the beginning of the episode and a plug to their site or how someone could get involved in the group.

      [*]Do a quick 10 second preview of what the next episode is going to be

      [*]Have a catchy tagline to say good bye.

      [*]You might also want to have a test run on how you come across the screen. Some might think I am funny or charming in person, but when the lights are camera on me, I freeze and act stiff. So potentially work to get comfortable and look approachable on the screen before uploading the episode.

      After typing out this example, I got exhausted. I do hear from a lot of YouTubers the sweat equity that goes into creating and editing content - even for something as uploading something once a week. Anyway, good luck with this future endeavor! #yourpretendexecutiveproducer

   
   

Edited January 21, 2021 by JoeMendoza

[Merboy]

please do not take this the wrong way, but here are my thoughts:

• most of the clips in YouTube are free anyway, so I guess whatever content you want to put on that platform could work
  
• might want to hold off on investing a lot of money until you have a clear path of how u want to take on the project
  
• just with any venture, there has to be a niche and a market demand for what you plan to put out there. I think one of the advantages of YouTube is accessible and convenient content. personally, I have not seen a lot, if any, talk shows on YouTube outside of clips from established shows you see on TV (Ellen, The Real, WWHL, Late Night shows). if anything else, I think talk show formats as a content might be a little saturated.
  
• if you still desire to pursue this, you could probably start with (a) having a clear objective of the show's objective, (b) establishing a format that you can consistently execute across multiple episodes, © maybe having a catchy tagline, and (d) starting small - testing the waters before investing too much money into it unless you're uber-rich then go for it.
  
• do you already have some ideas in mind of what your TV talk show could be? measuring success could mean different things - depends on what your goal is - is it to maximize ad revenue? subscribers? likes? or just feeling good about each content you put out?
  

if I were to start a straw man for a YouTube talkshow content, here's an off-the-cuff example:

1. Objective: To increase awareness and normalize LGBT+ culture or lifestyle (or something more specific)
   
2. Format:
   
   1. 
      
   2. Some original and catchy 2-3 second sound to intro the episode
      
   3. Catchy greeting
      
   4. The spiel - mention the title of the show, subscribe, like, ring the notification bell...the typical YouTuber spiel
      
   5. Maybe grab a follower question from one of your social media platforms (insta, fb, reddit) to be the hook for your episode. then preview an outline of what the rest of the episode will have. so let's say the topic is around the concept of monogamy in gay relationships...then you could have:
      
      1. Word on the Street segment: you can do a 2-minute clip of your interviews of strangers about the topic
         
      2. Debate the Ish Outta Dis segment: get 2 folks with competing views and have them duke out their POVs with you moderating it
         
      3. Final Word segment: your closing statement to resolve or address the follower question you alluded to in the beginning of the episode
         

      [*]Do a quick 10 second preview of what the next episode is going to be

      [*]Have a catchy tagline to say good bye.

      After typing out this example, I got exhausted. I do hear from a lot of YouTubers the sweat equity that goes into creating and editing content - even for something as uploading something once a week. Anyway, good luck with this future endeavor! #yourpretendexecutiveproducer

      Thank you so much for this very thoughtful reply, Joe Mendoza! I will look carefully at everything you wrote!

   
   

[jjkrkwood]

Have guests that jump on sofas.... that Always leaves a long lasting impression !

[maninsoma]

I'm not sure if you mean something similar to "talk shows" that are on network television or if you have a broader definition. Lots of people have channels on YouTube where the content is a "talk show" as far as I am concerned, but not with the same structure as a TV talk show in the sense of having a monologue and then a guest or two come out.

 

Because I'm a big fan of RuPaul's Drag Race, I have watched a lot of content on line about that franchise. Some of the content is produced by World of Wonder (the production company behind the show); some of it is done by former contestants on the show; and some of it is just random people who decided they would try to monetize their thoughts on the show. To say there is a big difference in quality is an understatement, production quality aside. Some content providers are knowledgeable and then also do a good job of interviewing people. There's a guy named Joseph Shepherd whose content I like a lot. I don't know if he had any inside contacts with the show or if he's just good at making connections, but he gets a lot of people to spend around an hour talking with him and, for a fan of the show, the conversations are interesting. Maybe more similar to TV talk shows except the content is more sexually explicit, there are the shows hosted by Jonny McGovern -- Hey Qween and Look At Huh!. Then there are shows hosted by people actually on the show (Michelle Visage's Whatcha Packin'?, Raja and Raven's Fashion Photo Ruview, The Pit Stop with a variety of hosts) that are generally good. But then we get to other people. I'm not going to call out people whose content I've found lacking, but some former contestants on the show have tried to monetize their "fame" by recording themselves (or themselves with others) critiquing current episodes of the show. A lot of the time, this content isn't entertaining enough to keep me engaged. Sometimes it's a chemistry thing (the person just doesn't have that IT factor that makes me want to watch them) but sometimes it's because the person just rambles on and on with little focus. Probably the worst content I sampled was some woman who was supposedly going to review the show with her partner but the first few minutes of the video I watched was actually her just talking about how stressful her day had been. I'm sure her family and friends might be concerned about that, but as a stranger watching a video I expect it to be focused on the topic at hand.

 

I guess that's my long-winded way to say that these qualities are helpful to make a good talk show: knowledgeable host; good interviewing skills; ability to attract good guests, if that's part of the format; ability to either focus during one take or to edit to keep content engaging; and the elusive IT factor. If marketing to a gay male audience, then it doesn't hurt to be good looking.

 

I agree that it makes more sense to test the waters before investing a lot of money. As long as you have sufficient production quality that people can watch your content (i.e., decent video and audio), focus on the content you are creating first to see if you can gain an audience. These are certainly interesting times, where some people end up making a lot of money as internet "stars." I assume that for every person supporting themselves handsomely by creating online content, though, there are a lot of people whose income from their efforts is little or non-existent. I guess that's because, unlike traditional media, anyone can decide to create content and put it on line. Getting people to want to watch it and to continue to want to watch it is an entirely different matter.

[+ Topseed]

What is the unserved/underserved market that your proposed project will target?

[jjkrkwood]

Perhaps you also need to cultivate a skill OTHER than "talk" ? Ellen can also DANCE, and Kelly can also SING......

[Merboy]

If marketing to a gay male audience, then it doesn't hurt to be good looking.

Well I guess that's the end of my talk show career lol

[OCClient]

TV talk show hosts rarely dwell on themselves and blow their own horn, except in self deprecating ways. Yet gay bloggers on YouTube frequently fail to follow that model. It gets tiring except that in our narcissistic world, might be admired by some. They also look good in a tank top.

[+ friendofsheila]

What do you think makes a successful TV talk show?

 

Depends. Who is your target audience?

[Merboy]

Depends. Who is your target audience?

People who'd like to learn about U.S. history and politics.

[+ Coolwave35]

People who'd like to learn about U.S. history

I think instead of asking this forum, you round up those 6 people who’d LIKE to learn about U.S history and just ask them what you’d have to do to get them to watch you.

 

I’m just teasing!!!

 

I think reliable segments that are share worthy are important. Maybe little known people who made a big impact. Or contributions from short women often overlooked. Something that will draw in the average person who stumbles upon your content in addition to those looking for the content.

 

I don’t think I’ve ever watched an episode of Ellen but I’ve probably seen close to 500 segments on Ellen tube.

[+ friendofsheila]

please do not take this the wrong way, but here are my thoughts:

• most of the clips in YouTube are free anyway, so I guess whatever content you want to put on that platform could work
  
• might want to hold off on investing a lot of money until you have a clear path of how u want to take on the project
  
• just with any venture, there has to be a niche and a market demand for what you plan to put out there. I think one of the advantages of YouTube is accessible and convenient content. personally, I have not seen a lot, if any, talk shows on YouTube outside of clips from established shows you see on TV (Ellen, The Real, WWHL, Late Night shows). if anything else, I think talk show formats as a content might be a little saturated.
  
• if you still desire to pursue this, you could probably start with (a) having a clear objective of the show's objective, (b) establishing a format that you can consistently execute across multiple episodes, © maybe having a catchy tagline, and (d) starting small - testing the waters before investing too much money into it unless you're uber-rich then go for it.
  
• do you already have some ideas in mind of what your TV talk show could be? measuring success could mean different things - depends on what your goal is - is it to maximize ad revenue? subscribers? likes? or just feeling good about each content you put out?
  

if I were to start a straw man for a YouTube talkshow content, here's an off-the-cuff example:

1. Objective: To increase awareness and normalize LGBT+ culture or lifestyle (or something more specific)
   
2. Format:
   
   1. 
      
   2. Some original and catchy 2-3 second sound to intro the episode
      
   3. Catchy greeting
      
   4. The spiel - mention the title of the show, subscribe, like, ring the notification bell...the typical YouTuber spiel
      
   5. (option - to stay true to objective) Highlight an LGBT person or group, bring them on the show, interview them on what they do for the community and give them a place to plug their site <make sure you do some due diligence on the organization though>
      
      1. depending on whether you actually want to earn revenue, you could also make these episodes to be dedicated to the organization you just brought (e.g., all ad revenues or percentage of the revenues on this episode will go to XXXXX group).
         
      2. you could also select a couple known organizations (The Trevor Project) and donate the revenues of your series to those groups
         

      [*]Maybe grab a follower question from one of your social media platforms (insta, fb, reddit) to be the hook for your episode. then preview an outline of what the rest of the episode will have. so let's say the topic is around the concept of monogamy in gay relationships...then you could have:

      1. Word on the Street segment: you can do a 2-minute clip of your interviews of strangers about the topic
         
      2. Debate the Ish Outta Dis segment: get 2 folks with competing views and have them duke out their POVs with you moderating it
         
      3. Final Word segment: your closing statement to resolve or address the follower question you alluded to in the beginning of the episode
         

      [*]Recap the organization or group you brought into the beginning of the episode and a plug to their site or how someone could get involved in the group.

      [*]Do a quick 10 second preview of what the next episode is going to be

      [*]Have a catchy tagline to say good bye.

      [*]You might also want to have a test run on how you come across the screen. Some might think I am funny or charming in person, but when the lights are camera on me, I freeze and act stiff. So potentially work to get comfortable and look approachable on the screen before uploading the episode.

      After typing out this example, I got exhausted. I do hear from a lot of YouTubers the sweat equity that goes into creating and editing content - even for something as uploading something once a week. Anyway, good luck with this future endeavor! #yourpretendexecutiveproducer

      Short answers, off the top of your head, with no detail, like this, aren't helpful.