Both series have aired their original six episodes already, with those available on-demand through Vice TV’s website (cable-or-equivalent authentication required), streaming MVPDs including Philo and Hulu+Live TV, or via individual episode purchases through platforms including YouTube and Prime Video. Pitino: Red Storm Rising is also re-airing on Vice TV Friday night and Saturday morning beginning at 10 […]
Both series have aired their original six episodes already, with those available on-demand through Vice TV’s website (cable-or-equivalent authentication required), streaming MVPDs including Philo and Hulu+Live TV, or via individual episode purchases through platforms including YouTube and Prime Video. Pitino: Red Storm Rising is also re-airing on Vice TV Friday night and Saturday morning beginning at 10 p.m. ET, and it will have a seventh episode on April 3 covering the Red Storm’s NCAA Tournament run. Gaffney said they had to make the decision to extend one or both shows several weeks back, and made that call based on where those teams were at the time.
“We took a chance with doing both of these shows. Rick Pitino, Rick has had his ups and downs. And we thought that he specifically was someone who was very, as we say in our world, ‘Vice-y.’ We thought that both these coaches would be great for our brand. And everything we’ve done so far we’re extremely happy with.”
Gaffney said Vice’s two projects here were selected from a wide variety of pitches and stood out because of the coaches involved.
“The combination of sports and Vice really has been met with a sort of natural reaction from folks, ‘Yeah, that makes sense.’ And it made sense from day one for us, and so far we’re getting a lot of traction, so that’s great.”
“They’re great coaches, they’re the two active coaches with the most wins in college basketball. And we thought about starting from that point there, because we could have done it with other schools whose coaches weren’t as dynamic and weren’t as prominent.
For Vice, that move from one to two docuseries came with challenges and opportunities.
“It was not something we went into this marketplace thinking that we were going to do two of these shows,” Gaffney said. “In some ways it was risky to do two, but on the other hand, we were mitigating risk because we didn’t know which team was going to do well. We were hoping that both would do well. And as the season was progressing, St. John’s really did stand out and they have had a fantastic season.
“We sort of put that out there to the creative community. We got a bunch of different production companies that came back to us. And we started to circle both John Calipari and Rick Pitino.”
“As we got into this process, we knew we wanted to make a splash as we were moving more into sports, and we were looking for a show that was like this. We were looking specifically for a college basketball, Hard Knocks style follow doc series, where we would follow them during the season.
Other schools had their own appeals, but Gaffney said what stood out with St. John’s and Arkansas was the stories of Calipari and Pitino and their quests to achieve further success for their respective schools.
A large part of Vice TV’s December-announced shift to a sports-focused approach has revolved around docuseries. Two prominent ones there are college basketball docuseries on prominent coaches Rick Pitino and John Calipari and their teams, Calipari: Razor’s Edge (from Omaha Productions) and Pitino: Red Storm Rising (from WorkShop Content Studios).
“We have to be careful about how we spend our dollars. And so we thought that the Pitino show would be the one that we could take the most advantage of because they had a better chance of going far in the tournament, we thought at the time. And we’ll see what happens: I wish we could root for both teams to win at this point, but it was something we had to make a decision on a few weeks ago. And at the time, St. John’s was the hottest team in the country and continues to be one of the hottest teams.”
With Pitino’s St. John’s Red Storm and Calipari’s Arkansas Razorbacks both winning first-round NCAA Tournament matchups Thursday, those teams will now face off Saturday afternoon (2:40 p.m. ET, CBS). Vice TV president Pete Gaffney told Awful Announcing Friday that’s an outcome beyond anything Vice could have hoped for when they ordered these series.
“This is beyond my wildest dreams of how this was going to go. We could never have imagined it. You know, I’m an optimist, but we never could have imagined that these two teams that we are following throughout the season would be facing each other in the tournament. So I am, and the whole team is, beyond happy about these teams facing off tomorrow.
While many college coaches are known for media control and carefully presented images, Gaffney said Pitino and Calipari (both oft–quotable) stood out as subjects to cover who would be willing to be more raw and authentic.
“If we get great talent, we make great content, we’re able to get that attention in the world of sports, we’re going to get people to check this out, to build out the brand. And as we build it, you know, as they say, if we build it they will come. And we’re on our way. So we’re really happy about the progress we’ve made so far.”
“The only downside is one of them has to lose; I guess the only thing that could have been better is if they had met each other in the final. But this is fantastic; it’s fantastic for both coaches, it’s great for Vice as well, and for Vice Sports as we try to build out our sports brand.”
If those factors continue to build, Gaffney expects Vice TV to become an even more significant sports player in the future.
He said acceptance from that creative community is a key part of their success metrics, but not the only factor.
“When you talk about any content that you’re going to make, any show that you’re going to make, you want to make sure that you have great stories and great characters,” he said. “And I made sure that I met with both coaches going into the season to make sure they were, one, on board to do this, and two, were going to be authentic and talk about the things that may be tough, let us into their locker rooms and hear from them in a way that was real and raw and authentic.”
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Gaffney said Vice TV’s shift to more sports emphasis has been well-received in the industry, and that’s led to lots of people wanting to work with them.
“When it comes down to measuring our success, it comes down to a number of factors. One, you know, does the creative community and does talent want to make shows with us? That was one of the first things that we wanted to see, and that has been a resounding yes, the talent out there in the marketplace wants to work with us. Secondly, are we making good content? And we feel we are making best in class content for sure. And are we getting the attention in the marketplace for that content? And so far we are, hell yes.”
“Ultimately we thought that it was the combination of both the schools and the coaches and their stories as they came in: Calipari coming from Kentucky, having been there 15 years, trying to take Arkansas to a higher place. And then St. John’s, who hadn’t won the Big East in 25 years, we knew that the potential for great storytelling was there as well.”
“Coach Cal has struggled a little bit more throughout the season, he had a couple of losing streaks along the way. But they’ve gotten to this point and they’ve fought hard. So we’re ecstatic that the teams are playing as well as they’re playing now. And the fact that the two of them are going to be facing off against each other is again something we could not have even imagined.”
A big part of these particular series focuses on the coaches, with both even in the title of their respective documentaries. Gaffney said both stood out as compelling figures and were willing to provide the access and authentic approach Vice wanted.
“As we were in production and as production schedules sort of go, we had to make a decision about three weeks ago as to whether to end them both at six episodes, whether to extend them, or what. And at the time, St. John’s was on a roll, they were continuing to rise up in the ranks. Arkansas was struggling a little bit. And we thought, as a calculated risk, that extending the Pitino show was going to be the the right choice for us.
