How about a 'SCUBA Channel'?

I have shopping channels, cooking channels and even travel channels. There's channels for golf, tennis and fishing. Everything I want to know about history, gardening, fitness, automobiles and firearms can be found on my television. I have seventeen news stations, sixty-three movie channels and more specialty channels then there are PADI specialty certifications. So, with such a big selection and nothing to watch, how come there isn't a SCUBA Channel on television yet?

Lack of marketability.

To explain: Golf TV viewership is all but nothing, but what there is- is choice. That's why you see luxury car ads and such sponsoring the little watched programming. They reach an elite audience.

SCUBA manufacturers may bother to reach what audience they want in Scuba Diving Magazine. Magazine ads are cheap in comparison, and they keep "running" forever as those magazines sit around dive shops and your garage.

Anything diving related venture of broader appeal... Ritchie is already doing and selling to the History/Discovery/PBS bidders. Everyone is trying to fill time slots with any media or programming, trying to find viable material at the right price is the problem.

Blue Planet (series,not a channel) about as close as you'll get I think.

Science channel had a show about the wrecks of the great lakes last night...

Don't know if its true or not. I'm sure someone will jump in, if not. I was told that 1% of the population are divers, if that is true we will never see a diving channel.

I think it's much smaller than that. More like 1/3rd of 1%. Which supports your argument further.

I've also seen several dive shows launch spectacularly then never be heard from again. Or just on a regional basis on local cable access channels - even in areas with higher diver concentrations. drbill's show on cable in SoCal being one example.

Here's a more or less logical guess. They define "active" divers at 1.2M:
How Many Divers Are There? - Undercurrent, May 2007

I'm glad for what we DO get, but you'd think that either History or Discovery would put a little more dive related programming on...Ok we get Shark Week once a year, but not a WHOLE lot else...CN8 USED to have Divers Down on, but for some reason stopped carrying it!

I don't get it anymore, but does the Travel Channel ever have any dive related specials?

RoatanMan:

Lack of marketability.

To explain: Golf TV viewership is all but nothing, but what there is- is choice. That's why you see luxury car ads and such sponsoring the little watched programming. They reach an elite audience.

SCUBA manufacturers may bother to reach what audience they want in Scuba Diving Magazine. Magazine ads are cheap in comparison, and they keep "running" forever as those magazines sit around dive shops and your garage.

Anything diving related venture of broader appeal... Ritchie is already doing and selling to the History/Discovery/PBS bidders. Everyone is trying to fill time slots with any media or programming, trying to find viable material at the right price is the problem.

Click to expand...

I work in the television industry in advertising and the key is the elite audience that you mentioned. It doesn't matter how many people that are reached, it is the spending power of those people. The viewers of Golf Channel (great example by the way) have a high % of "C" level viewers. One of these viewers has a much higher spending power than say a low income viewer of say WWE.

I don't think the problem is the # of potential viewers b/c the spending level is there for scuba enthusiasts. i think the problem is the lack of programming that would be available to use. You can only replay Cousteau so many times.

I think it's unfortunate that there isn't a Scuba Diving show. Or at least a space for it on an established sports channel like ESPN. If they can show my favorite bowling tournaments on ESPN Classics, then surely there is a place for a Scuba Diving show. There IS an audience. Just a matter of knowing HOW to market to them. Part of it may be the fault of the diving industry. With so many agencies, varying S&P's, and teaching philosophies how can you present a unified picture of diving? A diving show should show some aspect of the educational components of diving. Who's do you show? Can the industry establish a set of unified criteria both educationally and practically (skills) that would make marketing the industry not only easy to comprehend, but pull in new prospective divers? This Board is a partial reflection of the interest in diving both nationally and globally. People log on and contribute to this Board daily from around the world. THAT is just a small reflection of the potential audience that exists. Many who write here are potential divers. That is yet another market that can be reached with the proper approach. There is a reason why there is not currently a Scuba Channel. That should NOT be the reason why a Scuba Channel cannot exist with the right marketing technique, good videography and photography, and an organized format that would include not only footage of exotic trips and destinations, but also be educational and informative. It's like someone saying that creating an online blog site for divers to discuss diver related issues is foolish because there would not be a market for it. All it takes is an idea and some persistence by the right people. Maybe Pete (NetDoc) would be interested in organizing such a monstrosity?

I think that part of a SCUBA channel/series would have to be appealing to non-divers. Many non-divers consider techy wreck divers in a similar lights as the folks who climb Everest (a past time which obviously recieves a fair helping of TV programming.) Obviously these mountaineering shows aren't aimed at the people who actually do this stuff because they have done it, they don't need to see it on TV. I think for a commercially viable dive TV venture the same would have to be true. Of course this programming would have appeal to divers (like myself) who don't currently dive deep/long but it would also be exciting for the vast majority of TVs viewers who have never breathed from a reg let along breathed from one at 100m. The discovery channel is almost entirely made up of shows that expose boring viewers to extreme(ly) un-boring pastimes and careers.

How about an Oceans channel that focuses on Marine Biology, Oceanography and maybe some meteorology? A little broader based than just Scuba and both educational and fun.