With content and distribution plans in place, the WHAM Network opened its doors across XUMO, Twitch, and web and mobile devices, as part of a partnership with independent content distributor Cinedigm. Anchored by programming that pays homage to a love of gaming, the channel will be “devoted to providing innovative and immersive programming covering the latest in industry news and the celebrity gaming scene, and providing original series, intense esports tournaments, and in-depth coverage of live events.” Cynopsis caught up with Gary Kleinman, CEO of The Wham Network, to discuss its evolution since partnering with Cinedigm last year, Las Vegas and live events.
Kleinman on preparations: The past year has been about building out the content and the distribution platform. We have worked very diligently on the original programming and acquiring relevant licensed content, while Cinedigm went out and secured distribution for us. We are excited to look at everything gaming, whether it is competitive such as esports, which is fantastic and wonderful, to moms playing Candy Crush and how those games impact their lives. We are the bridge between gamers and those that game, which are two distinct audiences. That’s why a lot of this content that we are producing continually highlights that.
On other platforms: We also have an app called Wind, and the background for that is that I saw a listing on Craigslist about six months ago and it said that they were looking for four League of Legends to pay and have a beer. I thought to myself that there needed to be a Tinder for gamers so they can meet each other. So we created an app for ioS and Android, where you fill out a profile about the games you play, where you are, the levels that you play, etc. and the app will introduce you to somebody who mirrors your gaming habits. You can swipe left to remove them from your introductory. The app will also allow you to see games you are not aware of that will fit your gaming habits. We will be adding, at the request of our users, that ability to add a specific person for a role on a team, like a tank on League of Legends. We can also push tune-in because we know what games they like.
On Vegas as headquarters: Vegas is putting a lot of effort and energy into esports and gaming to draw Millennials. You have Allied Esports at Luxor, Caesars is doing something, MGM at Aria just announced theirs, and you have Millennial Esports has their arena downtown. We are the Switzerland of gaming and a neutral platform for all of them to distribute content. The esports live show that we are going to do, we will be doing initially from Millennial Esports, which has a phenomenal production facility. They also are into the production and development of games, so that is a smart strategic alliance for us. In addition, Vegas is the entertainment capital of the world, and there is a lot of content for athletes, artists and celebrities that game that we can utilize. So we look at Vegas as a 12-month schedule.
On developing live events vs. buying media rights: We are looking to do our own live events. One that we are going to do will be at the end of July, which will be part of an outdoor gaming festival in San Pedro that will be a co-production with the guys who produced Coachella. We’ll be announcing more as we get talent signed.
