Paris by Night, the struggling franchise, got weekend coverage in mainstream press which themselves suffer declining readership.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0711-paris-20100711,0,6607368.story
But people still showed for the live taping. Vietnamese-American pilgrimage to the Temple of Chance.
GA (gamblers anonymous) regional meetings are also held in Macau, and most recently, Singapore.
I thought to myself , after Spain’s WC victory, that a lot people probably had lost their shirts.
Mr Lai of PBN franchise bet big this time with a lavish $2M production. The House (turned set) always wins.
Perhaps he understood Long Tail. But by peddling and pitching guilt (please do not download for free), Mr Lai mistook marketing for fund raising (PBS tactic
“our volunteers will be standing by to take your calls”).
There is a culture war going on in Little Saigon, just as its counter part in America during the 80’s which resulted in Red and Blue states.
PBN manages to walk the thin line to broaden its appeal, and to milk Customer Lifetime Value. It is now at its 100th taping. You can only skin a cat that many ways.
Even Playboy as an enterprise is struggling and coming out with its first 3-D version (and talks of merging with Hustler?).
So the story on LA times about Paris By Night sums up our modern fable: globalization (Vietnamese show concept with a French capital title produced in the US on the Fourth of July in Mega city of Vegas), technology (digitization and pirated versions) and Long Tail economics (you can’t expect ROI immediately).
Baby boomers are retiring . I just hope as these Vietnamese turn gray, they will turn green.
Just replenish the Earth, plan a garden, raise up grandchildren so they grow up to be responsible World Citizens.
Show the world we are here for the long run, where ever we are, not just on the Vegas strip.
Woody Allen is right, “90% of success is showing up”. In Vegas, showing up alone doesn’t guarantee the odds. In fact, they favor the House, hence it’s quite dicey for both show producer and show goers alike on its 100th taping. Happy Birthday! Bonne Chance.
Thang Nguyen 555 