(23-02-2015 16:23 )ShandyHand Wrote: I come back to the question of why all these experienced night girls would leave the channel in such a short space of time? Add in a possible trouble recruiting established names, even though by all accounts they are not afraid to splash big money on shifts, and you have something seeming a little off to say the least.
You need to apply the principle of Occam's razor. Look for the simplest solution.
Let me explain. From 2012 to 2013 Cellcast lost 19% of their revenue. Yes as much as 19% in a single year, due to what they describe as declining demand for their services. It's hard to believe that Studio 66 haven't been similarly hit. Why would they be exempt from the market conditions that Babestation operate in?
I have no evidence of Studio 66's turnover, but it's a fair bet that it's been hit in the same way as Babestation. The question then arises of how to cope with such a downturn? The answer at Cellcast is to sell properties to cover their Babestation losses. A couple of major sales have covered the huge losses that Babestation have racked up recently (although they will eventually run out of things to sell).
So what of Studio 66? Well they have nothing to sell, so they can't go down the Babestation route of racking up losses in the millions and covering them by selling other assets. Comparing Studio 66 to Babestation is like comparing your local corner shop to Tesco.
So given that Studio 66 haven't got anything they can sell to cover losses, they have to make sure instead that they don't rack up such losses in the first place, and in a market of declining demand that can only mean cutting costs. If they were losing millions like Babestation they must be out of business by now, so they simply have to exercise careful cost control.
Doesn't this leave them vulnerable to having their presenters picked off by the offer of higher pay elsewhere? Yes, you bet it does. Babestation have had a policy for sometime of picking off Studio 66 girls by offering higher pay, and an ex-Babestation producer said in this forum that Studio 66 losing girls to Babestation was a sure thing.
You asked why all these experienced night girls would leave the channel in such a short space of time? And I'm telling you again to forget any fancy explanations and apply the principle of Occam's razor. Money talks.
Babestation have been able to pursue their policy of picking off Studio 66 girls because despite losses in the millions - £2.5m in 2013 alone - they are a relatively big business and have the means to cover those losses for now. Studio 66 have no hope whatever of covering losses like that and consequently they simply can't compete with Babestation when they come calling for their girls. This is the reality of the situation.
Assuming that Studio 66 have experienced a similar downturn in demand as Babestation in the last few years, they are in that case doing pretty well to survive as well as they have. Still running 4 channels more or less (I know they 'rent' a channel to Xtreme Filth, but I assume the rent is some kind of revshare, so Studio 66 are still earning from it). And even though their night girls are being routinely picked off, they still have a strong daytime lineup at the moment - which is presumably why they are trying to make the most of it just now.
What of the future? Well in their last published results Cellcast announced ANOTHER drop of 19% in their revenues, so we may be in a downward spiral here which nobody can stop. I suspect the channels won't ever disappear, but if things carry on the way they are we may see considerable downsizing. Look at how Red Light have shed a channel and also now only have 2 girls in the morning instead of 3 on their remaining channels.
When was the last time we had a new channel? Oh yes Euro Babes, lasted all of 6 days. But that wasn't a new operator anyway. I mean when did we have an entirely new operator in the market? Not for some time, because who in their right mind would want to get into this business now?
I give great credit to Studio 66 because despite terribly declining demand as people head off to their favourite webcam sites instead of tuning in to the TV channels, and despite their very limited financial status, and despite Babestation picking off their presenters at will, they still somehow carry on regardless, always finding a way to keep going and maintain as many as 4 channels (more or less). There's something admirable about their refusal to bow down and let the supermarket conquer them.