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A rush of adrenaline
Tampa Bay Business Journal

Alexis Muellner

Editor
When it takes root in Tampa Bay, Adrenaline Nation TV is going to extremes.

"We are an actual network," said CEO and music industry veteran Keith Dressel. "It's MTV meets adrenaline sports stuff with motorcycles thrown in."

The company began in North Carolina and has been quietly crafting its business plan and plotting its move south. Now it's hunting for space, likely in Clearwater.

The choice of the Bay area adds further insight into why businesses like his decide to establish operations here.

"First, it's a stop on all the major cable companies' itineraries because of [Home Shopping Network]," Dressel said. "Also, there's such a tremendous amount of different outdoor shooting locations and terrain to pick from and interesting activities to come to. To us, it's the perfect choice."

The company has 20 people and management in place here already and is building an online and cable sales staff.

, Dressel said.

"We'll end up with 100 people in the first nine months," he said. "That's a lot of camera guys and editors," he said.

New media is on the radar of the state's film commissioners, said Krista Soroka, Hillsborough County film commissioner.

Just recently, she's had discussions with counterparts around the state about how more production-related business could be secured.

"We've got the talent here and now that we have the International Design and Technology Academy, let's get those students working," Soroka said. "We'd love to keep local talent here in the area."

Broadband launch
The TV network will launch Sept. 15, first on broadband through liveonthenet.com, and then in January on cable networks, Dressel said.

"He's got a track record for picking winners," said Roger Schneider CEO of Alabama-based Live on the Net. "From our perspective, we're the Internet guys and he brings a lot of entertainment savvy."

The plan: connect with advertisers who want to reach viewers in the coveted 18- to 49-year-old audience and tap its purchasing power.

Among its inaugural shows: A blues concert show "Rick Vito's Blues Party," an American Idol concept show "Heavy Metal Gods of the Future," and reality TV offerings like "DEA Shipwrecks."

"Think about it, Harley-Davidson sales to women are up 40 percent," Dressel said. "We're not a clone of anything."

He estimates that based on its relationships, the network has access to a 90 million-subscriber base through the Internet.

The company has an agreement with 4com to distribute the company's network to 50 million households and is in discussion with the National Cable Television Co-op to launch there, public filings say.

Dressel believes his advertising model is within the budgets of his potential advertisers.

"It's not priced crazy and we give them a lot of stuff," he said. By the end of the year, Dressel believes he'll sell out of inventory at the broadband level.

One show goes on the road with Broadway Choppers in New York and another focuses on do-it-yourself motorcycle kits -- made by women.

"He's signed with Comcast and broadband direct and liveonthenet.com and that's some pretty good coverage," said Keith Bruno, president of Broadway Choppers in New York. "He's been in entertainment in most of his life. I build the bikes."

A brush with Duke
Dressel, 49, grew up in the San Fernando Valley Calif., where as a kid his Sherman Oaks little league team was sponsored by actor John Wayne and the coach was Alan Hale Jr., the skipper on "Gilligan's Island."

"His son was on our team and a guy named Chuck Norris had just opened his first karate school nearby," he said. "Once a month, during little league, [Wayne would] cook us steaks or ribs and we'd all be invited to and many of us had never had ribs or steak."

It was a very natural transition for him to go from the music industry to running a TV network, he said.

Part of the model is keeping quality up but production costs low. Adrenaline Nation TV is projected to have revenue of $12 million in year one, Dressel said.

As soon as it gets subscribers, it will look to get paid at 11 cents for each on broadband, a price that can fluctuate among different distribution partners, he said.

But 30 million subscribers at a nickel each is some decent coin.

"We'll get paid every month," Dressel said. "We have lots of companies coming to us for product placement deals."

Key to the company's launch: careful planning of the timing of when to begin trading in the public market, when to move here, when to promote, and when to push.

"One thing I've learned is that if you are riding the river you are not changing it," he said. "You can hope and hope and hope and try and force Bright House to carry you on their cable channel, but when Bright House decides it's the right time for them to carry you, they will."

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