If you've ever watched "E! Entertainment Television," you have probably seen their popular shows like, "The Brady Bunch - Where Are They Now," or "Grease-Where Are They Now," and so on. So here I am, asking the same kind of question, but with a slightly different curve.
You see, even with the all the efforts of nearly 300 members on our Facebook cause, our numbers are truly low, relatively speaking. While the international support has been amazing, I'm wondering, where are the domestic U.S. "Escape To Chimp Eden" viewers? How many are we talking about? Take a look at the numbers here from an April 2008 article in Media Life Magazine:
Now I'm not talking about the 94 million subscribers. But the article does mention an average of over 1/2 millions viewers during prime-time (usually defined as 8 PM-11:00 PM, local time). With "Escape" having been broadcast at both the 9 PM and 10 PM slots, in the U.S. (first-run, not repeats) the numbers should be close that that Nielsen measurement of 500,000.
Now the target audience is women 18-49 and 25-54. Why women? Because for all the "nature" of the story, there's still a strong emotional bond to these stories. Just look at the comments on our Facebook page or remember how we ALL (women AND men) felt with the passing of Abu. Look, that's the TV business. No matter which country you're in, it's all about ratings and selling advertisements to make money. However, that doesn't me that our project is doomed without those numbers.
However, what is indeed important to remember is that there are hundreds of thousands of loyal, dedicated viewers of "Escape to Chimp Eden," who have no idea as to what we're doing and/or why? Thus, the question we need to ask ourselves is, "How do we get our message out to those viewers?" (Let's also bear in mind that in all likelihood, most of those viewers are
not
members of Facebook. So what do we do?
First, if one or two of you are as well versed over at MySpace as you are in Facebook, how about creating a cause page over there? Does MySpace even have causes? I don't know.
Second, I have searched DCI's "Animal Planet" web page. But I have not been able to find a strong enough location to post our cause. I am certain that any number of you are much more familiar with the web site that I am and again, I invite your help, to either do it yourself or just bring me up-to-speed and let me know where to go and I'll do the posting myself.
Third, I'm open to suggestions. We're all concerned about seeing another season of "Escape," and as of late last week, I received word that there is no firm decision and discussions are ongoing. But whether or not the
show
returns, the danger of fire will remain as long as the Preserve exists. And Heaven forbid it does not return, our efforts, our concerns, and our love for the chimps, Eugene, Philip, Ms. Goodall, and all the staff, are not dependent on the show being broadcast. Our efforts are for the location and work being done to preserve these innocent victims.
So please, keep spreading the word and scratching your heads for new ideas on just
how to spread the word. If you take your own initiative, please just let me know so I can visit and verify.
You're the best - there's no doubt about it.
Till next time...
