Comments on: Step 3: Profit!

Step 3: Profit!

pivotal — Sun, 19 Feb 2006 23:22:24 -0800

Looks like Ricky Gervais (and Steve Merchant and Karl 'I could eat a knob at night' Pilkington) are looking to commercialise on the success of their first series of podcasts. The second series is going to be a pay-for affair via Audible.com. The asking rate is $6.95 for 'at least four' episodes.

By: roguescout

roguescout — Sun, 19 Feb 2006 23:40:20 -0800

Those guys are great!

By: AaronRaphael

AaronRaphael — Sun, 19 Feb 2006 23:46:02 -0800

Looks like it'll be on iTunes Music store too. The first series was so great, I'm glad they're going to keep going.

By: grabbingsand

grabbingsand — Mon, 20 Feb 2006 04:36:39 -0800

The Guardian podcasts were funny, but only in a "Well, at least this is a lot better than my local morning DJ banter" kind of way. Not sure if I'd want to pay for just more of just Karl saying something ridiculous and Ricky pointing out just how incredibly ridiculous it was.

By: gsb

gsb — Mon, 20 Feb 2006 05:00:22 -0800

This is a fantastic advert. Well done, pivotal!

By: cavalier

cavalier — Mon, 20 Feb 2006 05:27:23 -0800

Good for them.

By: unsupervised

unsupervised — Mon, 20 Feb 2006 05:27:31 -0800

Monkey News needs funding and there's only so many grants from the Chubb Group to go around.

By: srboisvert

srboisvert — Mon, 20 Feb 2006 05:29:22 -0800

This is a great idea! Now if only MySpace would start charging money for premium services. Excuse me I have to go. I am off to get a robot signature from Margaret Atwood and then spend some quality time with my WoW clan.

By: ColdChef

ColdChef — Mon, 20 Feb 2006 05:44:14 -0800

Eh. It's a great show, but I probably wouldn't pay for it. Not when there's so much else out there that is free.

By: Ricky_gr10

Ricky_gr10 — Mon, 20 Feb 2006 06:27:36 -0800

I've listened to every episode of the first bunch of podcasts (just downloaded #12 this second and am dying to get to it!), and I'd gladly pay for the next series. Good for them.

By: krunk

krunk — Mon, 20 Feb 2006 06:27:55 -0800

I was just thinking how Ricky Gervais needs to be even richer.

By: cavalier

cavalier — Mon, 20 Feb 2006 07:32:37 -0800

Since when is a radio actor/star rich? He's not Tom Cruise, I don't see how you can knock the guy for trying to make a living.

By: trey

trey — Mon, 20 Feb 2006 07:34:13 -0800

You're kidding right?

By: milov

milov — Mon, 20 Feb 2006 07:37:21 -0800

Maybe he'll even manage to brake into TV!

By: milov

milov — Mon, 20 Feb 2006 07:37:51 -0800

*break, rather

By: thparkth

thparkth — Mon, 20 Feb 2006 07:38:59 -0800

Sadly, they probably do need to charge for this. If you're serving your weekly "world of vintage tractors" podcast to its 17 subscribers you can probably get away with a free or very cheap web hosting account; but if you're serving more than 4 million downloads over the course of a three month series (which adds up to about 57 terabytes) it's going to get expensive. And of course, that's not even taking into account production costs; value of the performer's time etc.

By: cavalier

cavalier — Mon, 20 Feb 2006 07:44:09 -0800

Maybe you two could join SAG and realize that the majority of actors out there make jack and shit :) -- Ricky's vitae shows that he is modestly successful. I'm not saying the guy is a pauper, but for all your jealousy he is not a millionaire (yet?) unless he has a very astute financial advisor. on preview: what thparkth said about costs, too.

By: basicchannel

basicchannel — Mon, 20 Feb 2006 08:02:23 -0800

cavalier: You're joking, right?

By: smackfu

smackfu — Mon, 20 Feb 2006 08:09:39 -0800

I suppose he might not have made THAT much money off the original UK Office. It was only two short series and he wasn't well known going into the first one. Given that... I'm sure he cleaned up on the DVDs, the US version, the Christmas special, and his new show Extras (which was sold directly to HBO).

By: tristeza

tristeza — Mon, 20 Feb 2006 08:16:09 -0800

Isn't Gervais the most successful comic in the UK, hands down? I doubt he's hurting for cash. He's been writing and producing for years if I'm not mistaken, and surely has a bit of a savings account. That said - I'd pay almost any amount for these podcasts, nothing has made me laugh as hard in years as those 3 idiots. Chimpanzee that!

By: PurpleJack

PurpleJack — Mon, 20 Feb 2006 09:01:51 -0800

I'll gladly supply the quills and ink for Karl's diary.

By: mullacc

mullacc — Mon, 20 Feb 2006 09:02:42 -0800

basicchannel writes "cavalier: You're joking, right?" Are you kidding?

By: graventy

graventy — Mon, 20 Feb 2006 09:03:02 -0800

Gonna need a lot of ink. That guy writes everything down.

By: basicchannel

basicchannel — Mon, 20 Feb 2006 09:12:37 -0800

Ok... let's clear this right up. DVD sales + licensing The Office for the American version of The Office to NBC + a successful series sold to HBO. Now is there anyone still not able to do that math?

By: punilux

punilux — Mon, 20 Feb 2006 09:17:16 -0800

In a world where talent-vacuum Harry bloody Hill can be scammed for 280 grand, I reckon Ricky Gervaise is probably doing OK. The podcasts so far have brightened my Monday mornings, I'm looking forward to more. (On preview - don't forget the Animals & Politics DVDs, plus the live shows that spawned them).

By: aberrant

aberrant — Mon, 20 Feb 2006 09:30:16 -0800

I love the podcasts, but charging for them seems a bit over the top. Part of the appeal was that they were doing this on a lark - now that they've got a financial tie-in, I think it detracts from the overall effect.

By: cavalier

cavalier — Mon, 20 Feb 2006 09:44:53 -0800

Well it moves from being a lark to a product, I guess. I would just question how many points that Ricky has on those, basicchannel. The Office was commissioned by the BBC, so we do not know just how many points Ricky has on that regarding the DVD sales -- if at all. The NBC bit was probably a good pocket of cash as the trades haven't talked of any other series or show commitments that NBC might have offered instead. Extras, while a lot of us like it, did not generate a lot of buzz in Variety and HR when it was first signed. Its numbers are OK and I think they trended upwards so maybe if they renew he'll be able to bank some more. Again.. when 'big movie $tar$' sign on something, there are notes in the trades about the zillions of dollars rolling around. Ricky hasn't had any of these zillions. He's very gainfully employed and I'm sure he's on his way, but I must restate for the third time now that the guy is by no means on easy-cheesy street with millions to burn and ooo he's such a dick for not giving this away for free. It's creative content.. the creators, if they want, can ask for a living on it :p

By: aberrant

aberrant — Mon, 20 Feb 2006 09:47:13 -0800

Cavalier, you make a good point. I'm not against them trying to make a buck (or cover their costs, given that they probably LOST money on the last one). It just feels strange given their "hey, we're doing this, and it's totally free" statements in the last series. Now, if I could find out how to get the new series through iTunes, I'd be happy.

By: cavalier

cavalier — Mon, 20 Feb 2006 09:51:50 -0800

Oh sure, aberrant, sorry, most of my comment was for basicchannel and I should have labelled it as such. And yes.. It's a bit of an odd position.. "hey we're totally free, and, hey, now we're totally pay!"

By: smallerdemon

smallerdemon — Mon, 20 Feb 2006 10:21:04 -0800

Now, if I could find out how to get the new series through iTunes, I'd be happy. Probably will just be a pay-per-episode download. Not all of the podcasts they list are free (not that I've actually seen a pay one, mind you, but there's clearly an option there to pay for them). I think I would be more inclinded to download them for $1 an episode. If that's the price at the iTunes Music Store, then they'll sell plenty of them.

By: quarsan

quarsan — Mon, 20 Feb 2006 11:14:37 -0800

i can understand the need to charge, but i think it unlikely that i'll be paying, mainly because i can't find an easy way to pay in euro's. i know i'm missing out, but i'll live

By: chandy72

chandy72 — Mon, 20 Feb 2006 11:51:06 -0800

I've laughed at little else as hard as I've laughed at this initial series. However, as they've progressed, it's gotten a bit rote. Couple that with the advertising content that's snuck into the program and the aforementioned fact that there's a whole world of free content still out there, I'll likely not pay. Could be though that with the bills paid they'll step up their game. That said, it was a good run of generally good fun. Oh eff it: 'meh,' says I.

By: kaemaril

kaemaril — Mon, 20 Feb 2006 12:23:43 -0800

I'm undecided whether Karl Pilkington is genuinely moronic or one of the greatest comic creations out there. Either way, it's cheap enough and funny enough that I'm perfectly willing to spring for it.

By: pivotal

pivotal — Mon, 20 Feb 2006 14:46:36 -0800

quarsan, I'd just keep an eye out on your torrent site of choice and you should be good to go.

By: cavalier

cavalier — Mon, 20 Feb 2006 17:24:02 -0800

On behalf of content creators everywhere, sigh. :p

By: IshmaelGraves

IshmaelGraves — Mon, 20 Feb 2006 20:57:04 -0800

On behalf of content creators everywhere, sigh. I've created some content in my day, some of it for filthy lucre, and you're sure as hell not speaking on my behalf.

By: QuietDesperation

QuietDesperation — Mon, 20 Feb 2006 23:16:56 -0800

Even if he were a multi-zillioniare, should he necessarily give away good material for free? Last I heard, movie stars didn't start giving away their services when they'd amassed a fortune.

By: meech

meech — Tue, 21 Feb 2006 00:05:43 -0800

I'm not saying the guy is a pauper, but for all your jealousy he is not a millionaire (yet?) unless he has a very astute financial advisor. He's getting 300,000 pounds for licencing The Office to France - for them to do a complete remake called Le Bureau. He might just be quite rich.

By: cavalier

cavalier — Tue, 21 Feb 2006 03:47:31 -0800

Wow! And, On behalf of content creators everywhere, sigh except Ishmael Graves because he is punk rock and doesn't want to be paid for his work.

By: jimmy

jimmy — Tue, 21 Feb 2006 07:40:35 -0800

On behalf of content creators everywhere, sigh except Ishmael Graves because he is punk rock and doesn't want to be paid for his work. And me.

By: cavalier

cavalier — Tue, 21 Feb 2006 08:27:25 -0800

By: greycap

greycap — Tue, 21 Feb 2006 14:29:26 -0800

I'll be paying up, if only to keep Karl the K-Man Pilkington's mortgage up to date. The 12 podcasts so far have often been stream of consciousness gibberish but they have made me laugh far harder than anything else recently.

By: AJD

AJD — Tue, 21 Feb 2006 17:53:58 -0800

Ricky Gervais is totally loaded by now what with the Flanimals books and the selling of those movie rights and The Office syndication and dvd sales of Extras/The Office and what not but meech is right, you don't just hit a money ceiling and then work pro bono from then on. Although movie stars and the like probably could, maybe even should? hmmm