‘The Insider’ Host Kevin Frazier: My Show is A Dinosaur

Frazier said his show would need to figure out how to build a social following and convince viewers it offers something they can't find online

Kevin Frazier, host CBS’ “The Insider,” called his own television show a dinosaur on Wednesday, arguing it needs to find a new way to bring in viewers.

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Frazier, speaking on a panel at the Social TV Summit Wednesday, pointed to his newer ventures, like HipHollywood.com, as the future.

“Everyone has an iPad and iPhone; they don’t need to sit in front of a TV,” he said at the posh Bel-Air Country Club. “The real dinosaur is the show I do now.”

In the YouTube and social media age, so many different sites secure behind-the-scenes footage that it endangers the very model for “The Insider.”

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Brian Norgard, CEO of social video site Chill, suggested shows need to start at the production level, showing viewers a picture of the script or a decision on a plot point using Facebook, Twitter (or his own social video site).

“The generic clip anyone else can get ripped onto YouTube is not good enough anymore,” Norgard said. “People want to be a part of the story.”

Frazier agreed, but that's bad news for his show.

“What you’re talking about is what scares the crap out of us,” Frazier said. “Entertainment shows make a living on behind-the-scenes stuff that can now be doled out socially. When we see it, we’re like ‘uh oh.’”

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Frazier said many executives are in denial when it comes to how the world is changing.

Though “Entertainment Tonight” has experimented with show-related content for the “second screen” (tablets and mobile phones), “The Insider” has been less aggressive.

He said it would be possible “once we can figure out a way to get people and interact with them at the same time about the stories they care about.”

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