Rocketboom host Amanda Congdon rocketed out the door |
Wow, this one surprises me, especially considering it’s Rocketboom, a video blog that is arguably the shining star in the video blogging scene. Amanda Congdon goes on video in the spirit of “transparency” to explain that she owns 49% of Rocketboom and Andrew Baron owns 51% and that Baron doesn’t want to be partners with her any more.
“And that’s just something I’m gonna kind of have to live with”, says Congdon in her brief, much less cheerful than normal video explanation of the conflict.
Watch her farewell video, and notice how much realer Congdon feels when she speaks off the cuff. Either this is the natural tone Baron felt she was missing, or it’s a hoax and Congdon’s finally learned how to act.
This seems real, folks. If it’s an April Fool’s joke in July, it can only get worse. Is this a sign of the talent getting too much glory or something less obvious? I think most people related Rocketboom to Amanda Congdon and not Andrew Baron and sooner or later this was bound to cause friction. Partnerships aren’t easy, especially when egos are involved. I’m sure Amanda Congdon will land on her feet doing another video blog elsewhere (or show up on the real TV or in movies), but this could serve as a cold reminder that if you are talent and don’t own an equal or controlling interest in a show that breaks through, you can always be shown the door.
I think this also shows how fragile video blogging is as a career. I would expect Scoble [here], Rice [here] and others to comment on this news very soon.
If the top videoblog out there can’t have a harmonious relationship when some reports claim they are pulling in tens of thousands of dollars a week, how can much smaller video bloggers carve out a profitable niche? Purely from a business standpoint, I bet hollywood and the TV networks are lapping this news up like thirsty dogs.
Update 10:34am PST j. botter points to a comment allegedly made by Andrew Baron in the Yahoo Videoblogging group which suggests this was a surprise to him too. j.botter doesn’t think the show will survive without Amanda and adds a possible romantic angle twist to the story:
Andrew and Amanda were apparently an “item” until recently, and it’s being speculated that a bad breakup is the root cause of Amanda leaving the show. I’d assumed from Amanda’s farewell video that she’d been fired by Andrew, but that doesn’t appear to be the case.
Meanwhile PR maven and hyperbole king Steve Rubel makes an absurd comparison to Lennon and McCarthy McCartney. As popular and successful as Congdon (and behind the scenes Baron) are in a small, but growing niche, it’s ridiculous to compare this in any context to the Beatles breaking up. C’mon Steve.
Update 12:35pm PST: Dave Coustan stops by in the comments below saying he received an email from Andrew Baron with permission to publish (similar story reported to Mathew Ingram) that indicates Amanda was moving to Los Angeles and would be moving on without Rocketboom. Kinda odd if true that Amanda didn’t just say this in her video blog instead of making it sound like a split that wasn’t amicable. I mean, in the spirit of “transparency” after all (sarcasm). Something isn’t adding up here.
Update 4:56pm PST: Jason Calacanis offers Amanda a chance to enter AOhell first class through the Netscape doorway, with paid bennies and all. Nice offer but likely a sucker’s gig, even with the killer studio. Jason should probably get back to wooing the netscape.com faithful annoyed by the switch to a digg clone.
Meanwhile, Dave Winer claims he has seen some behind the scenes conversations between Congdon and Baron and “it’s totally unfair to say that Amanda was fired.” Dave goes on to bash the blogosphere: “the reporting by the blogosphere so far has been pretty one-sided and totally shoddy and unfair.”
Update July 6, 2006 8:35am PST: There are now hundreds of posts out there about this situation, and this morning I summarized the heresay, facts, twists and rumors in chronological order in one post here, which is also trackbacked in the comments below.
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I think that Amanda’s departure is going to be a real litmus test for the blogging industry as to how important an individual journalist is to brand identity. I know that I always watched Rocketboom more for Amanda then anything else and I’m sure that others will follow her where she goes, but the interesting part for me will be to see if people still tune into Rocketboom after she’s left. It should help to answer hom much of a blog’s identity exists with with the journalist on the blog vs. the actual site itself. It would be sad to see Rocketboom lose a healthy percentage of it’s readership, but in an age of personalized publishing, it would also be a good warning to other sites not to forget the voices that define what your blog is about. In the end it will probably be a great push forward for Amanda’s career, but in the meantime, it’s sad to see the program lose such a talented reporter. Hopefully, we see her land on her feet at a more mainstream outlet.
Comment by Davis Freeberg — July 5, 2006 @ 12:40 pm PST
That’s an interesting point, Davis, that you watched Rocketboom more for Amanda than the content. For me, I’d say it was more for the content than Amanda. I found her style a bit quirky and offbeat and she’s ceratinly easy on the eyes, but if someone less attractive was there doling out the same good info, I don’t think it would change my viewing of Rocketboom.
Of course keep in mind although subscribed for awhile I probably watched Rocketboom a half dozen times or so a month.
I’m not sure Amanda is going to have much more success in Hollywood now that she’s even more available because her agent had been shopping her all the while Rockeboom has been growing and the most significant appearance was on CSI, right? Not slamming Amanda here because I hope she lands a great gig somewhere in TV/movies, both for her career and otherwise, but my guess is she’ll become a frustrated mostly out of work actress trying to go the road alone and it won’t be the same as it was on Rocketboom. There are a lot of talented actresses in Hollywood who are struggling for work.
Now if she ratchets down her goals from actress stardom to be a journalist, TV anchor, etc. then she could have a good career there. Imagine her as an anchor woman on CNN or some place? Wow, that would be something. There are better gigs than being a hollywood star, so it will definitely be interesting to see where this leads for her.
As for Baron? Replacing Congdon on Rocketboom is not going to be easy. Unsurmountable? I don’t think so, but not easy.
Comment by TDavid — July 5, 2006 @ 1:03 pm PST
Amanda and Andrew were not romantically involved.
Comment by Chuck Olsen — July 5, 2006 @ 1:05 pm PST
So, what was this about then, Chuck? Any idea?
Comment by TDavid — July 5, 2006 @ 1:14 pm PST
From what I gather, this is really about timing. Amanda’s timing to head to LA just didn’t work with Andrew’s timing to transition the show to a new host. I got an e-mail from Andrew earlier to that effect (here).
Comment by Dave Coustan — July 5, 2006 @ 2:12 pm PST
Amanda Congdon leaves Rocketboom
One of the leading video blog hosts, Amanda Congdon of Rocketboom, has decided to seek out greener pastures. There was definitely a romantic side of Amanda and Andrew that we saw at ConvergeSouth last year, and it was no secret…
Trackback by LUX.ET.UMBRA — July 5, 2006 @ 2:43 pm PST
Not following Rocketboom that closely, Dave, was this move to LA thing well known? Had Amanda mentioned this before on camera or in public somewhere? In her move to be more “transparent” this seems like a rather untranparent omission.
Comment by TDavid — July 5, 2006 @ 2:49 pm PST
I don’t know that she’d mentioned it to the public before. But as I understood it it was something she’d been discussing with Andrew for some time. I asked her if she’d do the show from LA and it sounded like that was the direction they were heading, so it didn’t seem like it would necessarily affect the show. They’ve got a lot of other shows and ideas in development, and their new Jet Set Show for kids is made in LA. So it kind of all fit together.
Comment by Dave Coustan — July 5, 2006 @ 3:05 pm PST
Youre right - something doesnt add up completely. Congdons anouncement makes it sound like Baron didnt want to be partners with her anymore, but the Baron says that he just heard about it in the video.
Do you think that they will both just fade away? Rocketboom cant be the same without Congdon….
Comment by GaryL — July 5, 2006 @ 3:45 pm PST
GaryL - I don’t think both will just fade away unless they choose that path. From what I’ve read it seems Rocketboom will be getting a replacement host and/or has already been in the replacement host process. The flipside is not all talent is easily replaced. Look at what happened with Stern? My guess is that we should pity the next host of Rocketboom as it won’t be the same show without Congdon.
I also don’t see Amanda Congdon becoming a big movie star. If she’s moving to LA to pursue that dream, then best of luck to her but she’s going to have a ton of competition. Yeah, maybe the other actresses clawing and scraping for the same parts won’t have Rocketboom credentials, but …
It would have made a lot more (business) sense for the partners to continue Rocketboom with Congdon on the West Coast pursuing her Hollywood dreams. Then again not all decisions are made for what’s best for business. With a 49% stake in RB, one would think that Congdon would want to do what’s best for the show and business.
It might be awhile before we learn what really happened here.
Comment by TDavid — July 5, 2006 @ 4:51 pm PST
Transparent my a**. If this were glass in my car, I’d be in the side of a building within 10 feet.
Comment by Shelley — July 5, 2006 @ 4:53 pm PST
One of the obvious items to note about this, is how impactful this news is coming from a not-mass-media outlet. Remember when Dave Chapelle went MIA? What if Jon Stewart left the Daily Show or was fired? This is similar in vein, and it comes from the new new media. It’s a testament to the weight of the medium, if I ever saw one.
I don’t have much to say other than that, as they’re both friends and I hope things work out for them. Life happens.
Comment by Eric Rice — July 5, 2006 @ 7:52 pm PST
[…] After posting about Amanda Congdon’s video exiting Rocketboom yesterday updates continued to roll in and the story contained more twists and turns than an episode of The Twilight Zone. […]
Pingback by Make You Go Hmm: » Day 2 of The Rocketboom Zone: the show must go on — July 6, 2006 @ 10:34 am PST
Am I like the only one on the internet who doens’t have a clue who these people are? Or am I just not trendy enough or out of the loop?
Comment by orangecrush — July 6, 2006 @ 4:28 pm PST
Actually orangecrush, you’re ahead of the trend. In a year, it will be Amanda who, and Rocketwhatsit.
Comment by Shelley — July 6, 2006 @ 4:32 pm PST
Thanks Shelly. I feel better now.
Comment by orangecrush — July 6, 2006 @ 4:35 pm PST
If you don\’t follow or watch the videoblogging scene, orangecrush your response is completely normal. Which I guess means 99% of the rest of the world.
I think I\’m a little more tuned in because we have gone TV-less.
Comment by TDavid — July 6, 2006 @ 4:54 pm PST
[…] I wasn’t among those who sang Amanda Congdon praises when she parted ways with Rocketboom. With her looks and resume she was destined to land another gig. Her first stop was a boring trip across America interviewing different marginally interesting people — sponsored by Ford, of course — and just never had the quirky appeal of Rocketboom for my taste. […]
Pingback by Amanda Congdon on ABC News, Amanda UnRSSed » Make You Go Hmm — December 13, 2006 @ 8:35 pm PST
I am glad that Amanda and Andrew are still bonded and this issue didn’t leave a scar on their bondage.
Comment by Simon — October 20, 2009 @ 6:49 am PST