Kickstarter for Outdoor TV Projects?

I was recently reminded of Kickstarter, the self-described “way to fund creative projects,” website via a favorite drinking show of mine hosted by Zane Lamprey. Zane has hosted two shows, “Three Sheets” and  “Drinking Made Easy” over four or five cable networks in the last few years. I empathize with Zane as I’m very familiar with the TV business and can relate to his struggles to get a VERY GOOD show on air. (I wish it could air on Sportsman Channel.)  He is now using Kickstarter to fund his international drinking show titled “Chug.” Right now, he still needs $350,000 over the next 24 days, or his vision of this show will not be.

And that’s the bummer of Kickstarter, if you don’t meet your goal in the specific amount of time, all the money gets refunded and your project must find a new route.

Zane has a HUGE following, both socially and when from he toured “Drinking Made Easy.” In fact, my husband and I saw him TWICE on tour in a span of one year.

But his struggles had me thinking – have any outdoor TV shows tried Kickstarter?

Using their search function, I typed in “outdoor TV” and found one, relevant item: a fly-fishing show that tried to get off the ground in 2011. They only had 35 backers giving them nearly $3,000 of their $26,000 goal. That seems pretty paltry, no?

I searched “hunting” and found everything from a show about mushroom hunting (I can see Discovery Channel picking that up) to children vampire hunters (that can be on CW).

The “Fishing” search didn’t fare much better.

So safe to say, the outdoor industry is NOT using Kickstarter. Why not? I dare say, would Kickstarter be opposed to having a hunting or fishing show use them for funding? Or could it be no one in the business has thought of using them? I would LOVE to see a show try Kickstarter and broadcast to the world (you can start by reaching out to Jim at The Outdoor Wire) that you are trying to get your show off the ground. The industry would probably embrace you as one thing I’ve learned here, we enjoy a good story and we want to see all facets of our industry survive and thrive.

Maybe someone who is trying to start an outdoor TV show will see my post and try this. I hope so.