I have read through all your comments and questions and want to take this opportunity to address some of your questions and look at it a bit more from a WildEarth perspective as well.
As many of you know WildEarth is majority owner of Safari Television, but the two are separate companies. Therefore while this situation will have its impact, it will not result in WildEarth stopping its other activities.
I thought I’d write this in the form of a Q&A based on the most often seen questions.
Q: Will this affect other cameras on WildEarth.tv?
A: No, it will not. Safari Television is its own company and is the company that is stopping its operations. WildEarth will continue to operate and broadcast the other cameras on its platform, including the cam at Gowrie Dam which is owned and operated by Djuma (with support from WildEarth and the zoomies who control and move the camera).
Q: Who will be affected by this?
A: As Safari Television will completely stop operating and close down it will affect everybody at Safari Television. That means Marc, Tara, Herman, Sebastien, Craig, Siphiwe, Cynthia, Carol, and Will.
Q: Will archives remain accessible?
A: Yes, all recorded footage will remain accessible.
Q: Will the safaris never return?
A: Safari Television is ceasing its operations at the end of this month. This is final and unfortunately cannot be changed. Having said that, we are all passionate about these safaris and will certainly not give up on looking for ways to bring them back to you. We hope to be able to, at some time in the future, rise from the ashes and restart the drives. We will certainly try very hard to find a way to do this, but if it happens it will not be through Safari Television.
Q: Should we send money to initiatives that are posted by others to collect funds to keep the safaris going?
A: No, Safari Television currently has not been approached by nor has agreements with anybody for raising funds from donations. Any such efforts posted might be legitimate attempts to help, but the internet is also full of people with less noble intentions. We therefore discourage sending money to any such initiatives as it will not help and might even hinder future efforts to bring the drives back.
Q: Could switching to a subscription-based model provide enough revenue to keep this going?
A: No, unfortunately generating enough subscription revenue to cover the costs for even a limited safari operation is not feasible. Broadcasting a safari is expensive, it requires much more than some salaries and an internet connection. Even assuming the safari would have many times the number of viewers they have now and that all of them would all be willing to pay for a subscription, a subscription model would not cover these.
Q: Is there anything else we can do to keep the safaris going?
A: Unfortunately not at this time. We will certainly not give up on finding a different way to broadcast the safaris in the future, but we ask that you give us a bit of time to work through everything involved in the closing down of Safari Television’s operations which is inevitable. We promise that once that is behind us we’ll work hard on bringing safaris back in one form or another. No promises, other than that we’ll try hard!
I’m sure there will be many more questions after this, or maybe there were some that I missed for this blog. I will attempt to answer those in a future blog.
–Peter
The internet can be a great tool to help Safari TV I'm sure there are organizations who would love to sponsor Safari TV. Africa tours and lodging for example, wildlife education programs, possibly even Animal Planet or Discovery Channel, If someone offered the chance to them and would ask them.
By sponsoring Safari TV, not only could they have the means to bring Safari drives back, it would increase they're profits for tours & lodging, as well as boost their television ratings.
Please don't give up in fear of might happen if you ask others to help, in fear of "hindering future efforts". You can't throw out all the apples out with the basket in fear one of the apples might be spoiled. There's alot of people online who have the means to fund & support Safari TV and love wildlife.
It is NOT impossible. Anything is possible if people put their hearts & minds to it, There are people out there who have got the money and would love to help you. But you must be willing to ask, and keep on asking and believe it is possible. If you don't believe it's possible, neither will anyone else.
This is Jane Huth Langdon. After correspondence with Peter Bratt, I will
STOP all donation efforts for Wild Earth Safari. Peter feels this would
hinder future efforts to bring this much loved program back. Best
wishes for all their efforts and thank you all for a magical time in the
wilds of Africa.
This is Jane Huth Langdon. After correspondence with Peter Bratt, I will
STOP all donation efforts for Wild Earth Safari. Peter feels this would
hinder future efforts to bring this much loved program back. Best
wishes for all their efforts and thank you all for a magical time in the
wilds of Africa.
Peter, I cannot thank you enough for your thoughtful consideration in posting this blog and using your reassuring upbeat tone. I have been virtually speechless with grief at losing the learning opportunities and friendships with the people and animals of Safari TV and the viewers. Thank you Peter, and know that we are praying and waiting anxiously for the safaris to continue or return.
Marc, Tara and all—couldn't be more bummed about the end of your safaris! It is a recent discovery for me and I look forward to them everyday. Thank you to you all for providing such a wonderful and educational web time. I so hope you find a way to bring them back some time. You and Tara are excellent at what you do and I can imagine this is quite a loss for you as well.Will be watching for more down the road in MN! Take care~
Marc, Tara and all—couldn't be more bummed about the end of your safaris! It is a recent discovery for me and I look forward to them everyday. Thank you to you all for providing such a wonderful and educational web time. I so hope you find a way to bring them back some time. You and Tara are excellent at what you do and I can imagine this is quite a loss for you as well.Will be watching for more down the road in MN! Take care~
This IS NOT A Tragedy! Very sad yes indeed, tragedy NO! Kepp this in perspective.
I have loved these drives and I do hope you will be back. If not you have given me something I can not replace, the chance to see animals in the wild, what a treasure, thank you so much.
Kevin
So you may raise from the ashes after all these people lose their jobs? Is that correct? Why could you not have been rising from the ashes when you saw the writing on the wall and prevented this terrible tragedy for everyone, but especially your people working there day in and day out.
You all are smart business people yes? This situation should have be resolved before it ever happened so the lives of so many thousands of people were not disrupted. I find it hard to believe you let it happen. Trying, and putting the pedal to the metal are two different things when you want something bad enough.
Thank you for taking the time to address some of our concerns. I only recently discovered the safaris, and it is a huge disappointment to learn that they are going away. This must have been a difficult decision. I am sorry for the impact it will have on the people who worked the safaris. We wish that there was something we could do. It's a disappointment for us viewers, but a bigger loss for the cause of conservation and preservation.
That said, I thank you for the opportunity to see a place that I shall never be able to visit, to experience it up close and personal. It is a world of unbelievable beauty.
Best wishes to Marc, Tara, and the rest of the people who will be sorely missed. – Debbie
Peter, I cannot thank you enough for your thoughtful consideration in posting this blog and using your reassuring upbeat tone. I have been virtually speechless with grief at losing the learning opportunities and friendships with the people and animals of Safari TV and the viewers. Thank you Peter, and know that we are praying and waiting anxiously for the safaris to continue or return.
I'm so sorry to hear this news. I've enjoyed the live game drives enormously. Many thanks to all who worked on them.