Sarah Palin launches online channel

Former Alaska governor and Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, shown last year, has launched "The Sarah Palin Channel."

July 28, 2014 4:53 PM PT

Sarah Palin wants the Internet to “go rogue” with her.

On Sunday, the former governor of Alaska and 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee launched subscription-based “The Sarah Palin Channel” on online video platform “TV App,” or TAPP Platform.

“Tired of media filters? Well, so am I,” Palin Tweeted. “So, let’s go rogue together and launch our own member-supported channel.”

The channel, of which Palin serves as executive editor, is available for $9.44 per month or $99.95 a year. Active military members can subscribe free of charge.

Palin is not the first to take her political commentary to the web -- after his departure from Fox News in 2011, Glenn Beck launched GBTV, an online video channel, at www.glennbeck.com.

Beck then merged GBTV with TheBlaze.com, the right-leaning news site Beck founded in 2010. In 2012, Dish Network announced his 24-hour online news and opinion network would be available to its subscribers.

TAPP co-founders Jeff Gaspin, former chairman of NBC Universal Television, and Jon Klein, former president of CNN’s operations in the U.S., launched the online network in March.

“The idea of TAPP is to find personalities that have fan followings that are rabid and that really just can’t get enough of their favorite hero, basically,” Gaspin told The Times in an interview. “When you see [Palin] host something you get one of those very engaged reactions that we believe is key to a successful over-the-top subscription channel.”

Both Gaspin and Klein said the network provides something broadcast can’t: A channel built around an individual.

“The reason we can do this is because the production costs are so low to deliver high quality content,” Klein said. “Broadcast channels can’t afford to build channels around individuals and they don’t have the means of reaching individual audience members who they know have these kinds of niche interests.”

Because TAPP is a new model, Gaspin said it is hard to set projections.

“Obviously we like to do better than break-even but we really haven’t set any expectations because we are still learning,” Gaspin said.

However, he noted looking at reactions on Palin’s social media posts helps highlight the channel’s appeal.

In a short two-minute video promo uploaded to the channel’s website, YouTube and Facebook, Palin said the news channel is “a community where we are going to be able to share ideas and discuss the issues of the day and we’re going to find solutions.”

Her Tweet of the clip was re-Tweeted 159 times and it had more than 28,000 views on YouTube as of Monday. On Facebook, more than 29,000 people liked the video and more than 1,500 people commented.

“You go girl,” wrote one Facebook commenter.

“I like her, at least she speaks the truth,” wrote another.

Others took to Twitter using the hashtag “#sarahpalinchannel” to mock the politician’s latest endeavor.

“Just stop,” Tweeted one user to Palin.

“What have we done to deserve this?” Tweeted another.

The promo video features Palin talking to the camera as a montage of clips and photos of the politician at various appearances and with her family at home.

The politician said the channel will address “issues mainstream media won’t talk about,” provide “fly-on-the-wall backstage coverage” of speeches and campaign rallies across America and “fun moments” with the Palin family. Members will also be able to send questions to Palin and participate in online video chats.

On the channel’s homepage, Palin has a ticking graphic called “state of our country,” which projects “our national debt” and “days left in the Obama administration.” There is also a quote of the day and image of the day featured.

As of Monday, a “Sarah Says” video called “The Solution to Putin’s Aggression: American Energy Development” is the most popular video on the website.

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