Few have been more dedicated to successfully mixing art, commerce, mainstream media, and action sports than Fuel TV General Manager CJ Olivares.
In seven years Olivares has taken what was basically a couple action sports event shows on Fox Sports and turned them into a compelling “network” of quality TV programming that has remained surprisingly true to the core of the sports it covers.
Fuel TV is only available in 30 million households (small in cable channel terms) but as CJ points out they’re getting millions of downloads each month in the iTunes store.
“We have 4 million downloads a month from the iTunes store,” C.J. Olivares, Fuel’s general manager, said Wednesday during an interview in his office, which sports a collection of surfboards, skateboards, guitars and a Batman mask. . . According to media consulting firm SNL Kagan, Fuel’s revenues have increased at least 20% nearly every year since its launch, and it should rake in $71.4 million in 2010. SNL Kagan estimates the channel’s cash flow at $20 million, amounting to a nearly 30% margin.
In the interview LA Times’ writer Meg James asks Olivares about being part of the Murdoch Media family, going through a potential sale, and growing a brand in the increasingly shattering media world. Follow the link for the rest of the interview.
[Link: LA Times via @JennGoodman]
