Support our non-partisan non-profit newsroom 💜 Donate now

Random House gets in show business

Queena Kim Aug 19, 2013
HTML EMBED:
COPY

Random House gets in show business

Queena Kim Aug 19, 2013
HTML EMBED:
COPY

Penguin Random House is known as a book publisher, but now they’re hoping to make a mark in TV. Their first foray? A food show. TV food shows are big, and cookbooks by show hosts like Emeril Lagasse do really well. Penguin Random House is trying to reverse that equation.

The book publisher’s first TV production will be “Heartland Table” starring Amy Thielen. It’s set to air in September. After the show airs, the publisher will release her first book “The New Midwestern Table.”

“In a perfect world, these TV shows basically serve as infomercials for the book properties,” says Michael Norris, an analyst at Simba Information. He says book publishers need to look beyond the traditional formula of creating a best selling book and turning it into a movie or a TV series. Norris argues book publishers’ future depends on thinking of the value of their content first and then trying to spin it out onto as many media platforms as possible.

It doesn’t matter what comes first the TV show or the book,” he says. And, he adds, let’s face it, books are getting less-and-less attention so publishers are smart to take put their content where it get the most eyeballs.

There’s a lot happening in the world.  Through it all, Marketplace is here for you. 

You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible. 

Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.