ObsessedTV.com Debuts – Inteviews Passionate Entrepreneurs

Have you heard of ObsessedTV? It’s a show that interviews entrepreneurs to talk about their passion. It’s an online-only talk show. Rather than showing people fighting, it’s about happy people doing what they love.

“We want to create a destination that takes a deeper look into personalities that we know will make the audience and advertisers both very happy.”
—Gary Vaynerchuk, host — along with Samantha Ettus

The first one (it’s geared towards women) features renowned floral designer Preston Bailey.

I had a chance to do a quick impromptu interview with Ettus.

Why is it important to get story behind the entrepreneur?

Because if we could use anything in these difficult times, it is a dose of pure passion. All entrepreneurs have it in spades. For people who have their own businesses or those that have entertained dreams of starting them, there is nothing more motivating than hearing the stories of successful entrepreneurs.

Will my Mom want to see this show? She’s 50 and loves Oprah.

Definitely! This show is geared towards those people that love to hear the story behind the person. If you like to know what motivates people, what their personal lives are like, their professional paths and their personalities, then this show will become your favorite source of entertainment.

Putting your show on the web as opposed to television is a no-brainer, but are you worried that the “Oprah audience” is mainly still attached to their set top boxes?

We believe the Oprah audience is ready to take their passion for people online. But they are also representative of the kinds of people we are aiming at attracting. Those that love people and their stories. Most of our guests appear on talk shows every day giving expert advice but rarely are they asked about their paths to success and their personal stories. There hasn’t been an episode yet in which a guest hasn’t exclaimed, “I’ve never shared that before.”

The possibilities are endless on the web. What is the greatest lesson you’ve learned so far?

The web makes it so that we are no longer constrained to three minute segments like TV talk shows and that has made these interviews far more compelling than any other medium can offer. Of course, I am constantly in awe of how much more there is to learn – it is exactly as you describe – endless – and changing at a jaw dropping clip.

Will you use social media tools on Obsessed, and how will you build the community?

We are going to get in the trenches – Our attachment to our community will be very different than any other show out there because I will be interacting with our audience on a daily basis through Twitter, Facebook, and Ustream. This will enable us to be in touch with our viewers likes and dislikes and respond rapidly to give our community the best show possible.

Check out ObsessedTV and tell me what you think in the comments!

Andrew Mager is an associate technical producer at CBS Interactive Business. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.