Hey there, partner. This is The Oxer by Pegasus. The newsletter that takes you out of your tack room and into the global equestrian industry.
This week, we published our podcast with the founder of Ride TV, Craig Morris.
In today’s edition, we’re highlighting key takeaways on running a Western media company.
📺 What It Was Like Running a TV Channel
It wasn’t too long ago when we lived in a world in which streaming did not exist. Everyone consumed their video by watching television or by heading to their local Blockbuster to rent a DVD or VHS (ah, millennial nostalgia).
These days, anyone from MrBeast to Gabriela Reutter can grab a camera, record themselves, and upload to millions of people in minutes.
To get that kind of distribution, Craig and his team at Ride TV had to work much harder.
All your [cable] providers are controlled by about eight or nine companies, and all the television channels that are available out there are controlled more or less by eight or nine companies...they control everything and a lot of them control the pipe to your home. Their goal is to be a gatekeeper. It was a tremendously hard uphill battle to start from scratch.
Craig ran Ride TV during the time when cable TV was still the primary way to watch television but internet adoption and streaming were growing.
Wouldn’t have Ride TV been able to go direct-to-consumer with their own streaming platform?
Not exactly.
In the cable industry, many agreements contained clauses hindering their ability to offer similar content freely to viewers.
It prevented Ride TV from providing free content to the consumer directly via streaming.
Why wouldn’t cable companies get in trouble for cartel-like behavior?
It's because there's about eight or nine companies that they control all of [cable] and put a lot of money into DC. I walked the halls of Congress many, many times and met with a lot of congressional members to try and help change that and to get influence on that other side. It's a tough road. Like I said, it's one of those dirty little secrets of the cable industry and it was an uphill battle for us.
Ride TV does have a streaming channel, but all of the above possibly hindered their full potential.
🤠 A Yellowstone Moment 5 Years Earlier Would’ve Done Ride TV Wonders
The tricky part of running any content business is the business model. For TV channels in the cable era, most of them made money through advertising.
The inherent limitations of the equestrian industry as an advertising market became apparent.
Existing industry players were already heavily saturated with advertising requests from various associations and events, leaving limited potential for further revenue from them.
The primary objective, therefore, was to attract a broader audience by reaching a critical mass of viewers. That would’ve allowed Ride TV to target larger, non-industry advertisers like major corporations, who held the advertising budget necessary to sustain the channel.
One significant hurdle is horse sport’s complexity for newcomers.
While there are many passionate participants, the general public may lack the basic knowledge to understand the rules and intricacies of competition.
Unlike sports like baseball, where even casual viewers can grasp the game’s flow with basic explanation, equestrian sports require a deeper level of understanding to fully engage. This inherent barrier makes it difficult for viewers unfamiliar with the sport to connect with televised competitions.
Thanks a lot to Craig for sparking the conversation and be sure to listen to the full episode on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your podcasts.
Sit your canter,,
The Oxer by Pegasus
Note: Some of the quotes were edited for concision and clarity.
