Travel Channel, oh how I miss you.
I read this week that Travel Channel vice president and CFO Shannon O’Neill has been put in the big chair as the brand’s new president, replacing Laureen Ong, who stepped down in October 2013. “Our mission at Travel Channel,” O’Neill says, “is to build a team of engaging, expert hosts who accompany our viewers on amazing journeys, adventures and experiences.”
This excites me. I have been increasingly critical of the network as it has become decreasingly travel-centric. However, this sounds much like the days of old when you could count on seeing Samantha Brown frolicking in some new country, and Anthony Bourdain frowning at another poor destination. The fun days, when you didn’t flip past the station quickly for fear of running into a haunting or a dead person. Seriously, as I write, that’s what’s on: four hours of Ghost Adventures and Dead Files, preceded by shows that might make you think you had tuned into the Food Network. Don’t get me wrong, I love Adam and Andrew and they do more traveling than just about anyone else over there now, but they are shows centered on food, not travel.
Since those glory days, I would imagine the only thing that’s left faster than Tony Bourdain on a train to CNN has been the viewers. At least, viewers looking for actual travel shows. I ducked out a couple of years ago when I had a weekend at home and was jonesing for a Samantha Brown fix but all TC had on was a paranormal marathon. #EpicFail. Mr. O’Neill has a steep hill to climb to win back viewers, but a relatively easy hike to fulfill that mission statement.
How? Simple: Focus, kids. You’re the Travel Channel; focus on travel. This is not rocket science.
The travel news site Skift put it this way: the challenge is “making the brand relevant in a time when most travelers are turning to digital content for inspiration.” True, but largely because the Travel Channel abdicated. I also think that’s exactly how to make the network relevant: step up to the challenge! There are thousands of travel experts and wannabe hosts putting out content who would absolutely love – and richly deserve – a spot in the Travel Channel’s lineup. There are great shows, scattered around the world and across the cable-sphere, which should have a happy home at the network.
If I’m so smart, what’s my Travel Channel line up?
Personally, I’m addicted to the fun and vivacious hosts of South Africa’s Top Travel Show, which has come back to life for a new season but doesn’t have an American home. I’d fix that. The Emmy-winning series Joseph Rosendo’s Travelscope is not widely available, and it should be. If you’re lucky enough to have AWE TV in your channel guide, there are more great travel shows to be had: Travel In Style, Distant Shores, Culinary Travels, LUX Lifestyle and more; their list of travel-oriented programming is probably the most robust out there. Why hasn’t Travel Channel grabbed some of these?
Top Travel Show hosts Janez Vermeiren and Jeannie D are like your best globe trotting friends that just happen to be beautiful and have great jobs! (Photo: Top Travel Show, TopTravel.co.za)
And then there are the shows we love to watch again and again. PBS has something like 90 Rudy Maxa episodes, and countless hours of Rick Steves. BBC’s Michael Palin and Stephen Fry have brilliant travel shows. Axs.tv airs some of them now, and so would I. Even better, perhaps we could coax new shows and themes out of these venerable travel guides, along with Travel Channel favorites like Samantha Brown.
On the web, you find up and coming ‘casters covering travel for everyone: millennials to seniors, solo and family, domestic and global. There are shows that stretch beyond the travelogue to focus on the people and cultures that draw us to destinations. Does that make the Travel Channel less relevant, or is it a breeding ground for innovation and inspiration that should find its way to an accessible broadcast outlet?
The point is, there is content. There is an audience. These two should meet somewhere…like maybe at the Travel Channel?
Samantha Brown in Greece from TravelChannel.com.
