The Business Herald

Another favorite TV pick of mine is The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch.  The host can get a little out of hand at times, but he can definitely pull the big dogs of business in for an interview.  From Paul Mitchell and Donald Trump, to Bill Gates and even Mike Tyson… he’s got heavy hitters coming on his show.  Definitely check this one out.

SHOW TITLE: The Big Idea on CNBC

HOST: Donny Deutsch(wiki, CNBC)

WHEN: Monday-Friday at 10:00 PM, 1:00 AM (ET) (shows are 1hr long)

OVERVIEW: Power meets power, every night on "The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch."

Donny Deutsch, the maverick CEO who built a multi-billion dollar advertising and media business, asks the fearless question of the most powerful people in business, entertainment and politics.

Whether it’s a one-on-one with Bill Gates, Howard Schultz, Harrison Ford or Donald Trump… "The Big Idea" celebrates the power brokers, trendsetters and stars who really make it happen.

-Source: CNBC’s The Big Idea Homepage

Donny Deutsch is definitely a marketing guy and you can see it as he always seems to tie in his guest’s success and life in with marketing tactics.  Sometimes that’s what gets him in a little trouble with his guests, but that adds to the show’s flavor in my opinion.  Donny engages his guests by asking thought provoking questions to give his viewers more insight to these power hitting business people’s lives and business successes.

Unlike the "Your Business" show, Donny doesn’t have a show with segments, viewer’s e-mails, etc.  He focuses completely on the guest, his/her experiences and how others can learn or be inspired from that.  He takes his guests(and the viewers) back in time to "when it all started" and works his way to the present.  From there, the business, the product and the service are broken down and explained.  Most times, this is where talk shows drop the ball and lose the viewer’s interest, but The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch manages to ask the right questions, keep his guests engaged and ultimately turning out excellent interviews. 

Should You Tap Into Your 401(k) To Invest In Your Startup?  The Sloan Brothers just posted a well written article on this very subject.  I recommend reading this if you've ever considered doing this.

On television today, you can find just about any type of channel ranging from Spanish and DIY to home gardening and tech.  Heck, they've even got knitting shows for those die-hard knitters.  So my question is if we have G4 Tech TV, DIY Network and Bravo, why the heck don't we have an Entrepreneur channel?  What's up with that?

There's definitely not a shortage of viewers for this niche and typically Entrepreneurs make a nice living, so I doubt it would be difficult to interest advertisers.  In fact, I bet you'd have plenty of advertisers knocking at your door.  Oh well, until that happens(maybe I'll just do this my darn self), I guess I'll keep digging around for the good shows.  Thanks to my beloved Digital Video Recorder(DVR), it's as easy as "Set it and forget it". 

Periodically, I'll let you know what my personal favorites are.  Maybe I'll call it "TV Tuesday"… who knows.  Yeah, I think that's what I'll do.  A little cheesy, but it may help develop a good routine for my blogging.  So to kick things off, here's my first official pick for "TV Tuesday": 

SHOW TITLE: Your Business on MSNBC
HOST: JJ Ramberg
WHEN: Sundays at 7:30am-8:00am(ET)

OVERVIEW: The weekly, half-hour program, hosted by JJ Ramberg, which focuses exclusively on America's small business entrepreneurs, will be the place to go for news, advice, guidance, and tips for small business owners. Entire press release… -Source: MSNBC Press Release Aug 2, 2006.

PROS

The main reason I enjoy this show is because of the amount of content they are able to fit in this 30 minute show.  Too many shows are guilty of focusing on one issue the entire show and sometimes that's a good fit, but Entrepreneurs are hungry for information and inspiration.  The more you can throw at them, the better(in my opinion).

Host & Guest Panelists: The host has lots of energy and her personality fits right in with the show.  She does a good job of keeping conversations and interviews under control and keeping her guest panelists on topic instead of allowing them to get out of control plugging their business, service or product.

The Fish Bowl: During the show, JJ pulls out a fish bowl filled with questions from viewers of the show.  Random questions are pulled and are presented to the guest panelists to provide their insite.  

Viewer E-Mails: During the show, JJ reads a few e-mail questions from viewers of the show and are presented to the guest panelists to provide their answers.

Weekly Polls: Each show, viewers are encouraged to participate in a poll ranging all topics in the world of business.  Results are announced the following episode.

Elevator Pitch: Each week, the show allows one of their viewers to present their Elevator Pitch to the guest panel and is given feedback of his/her presentation and product or service.  Not only does the person pitching the product get to work on his/her skills, the exposure is surely well worth the effort

CONS

Like I said, the show is great.  I guess I only have two complaints:

Length of Show: 30 minutes isn't enough.  At a minimum I think an hour would be great.

Frequency of Show: Your Business should air every day.

QUESTION: What business shows do you watch?