Mike talks briefly about Somebody’s Gotta Do It and the move to CNN.
CAPITAL: You are very active on social media. What have you found about the importance of interact directly with viewers who mostly know you from your previous show, Discovery’s “Dirty Jobs”?
ROWE: It is critical. The reason is because, I have been fired so many times. “Dirty Jobs” is about apprenticing for one day and then getting fired, but I mean in real life, before that, everything I did in the industry flames out, burns out or blows up. I learned—in 1997 I guess—that I really didn’t work for the people who paid me, I worked for the people who watched. When I realized that, it is an obvious thing, but it is not unlike you, you work for the people who read your stuff, they stop reading, your bosses stop paying.
I think we are in a time where everything is connected. Brand. Program. Point of view. I have a foundation and we give away work ethics scholarships every year. The thing that interests me, is, the place where all of that comes together. Socially, on the network side, on the talent’s side, and on the fan’s side. It is a really interesting time. Bourdain would probably tell you the same thing. That guy hasn’t changed. He writes, he eats, he cooks, he travels. I travel, I talk to people, we are basically doing what we do.
Read the complete article at capitalnewyork.com.