Beauty and the Beast Videotape Pledge

Event
Event:	Beauty and the Beast Videotape Pledge (also known as "The Pledge Drive," "Beauty and the Beast Video Campaign," and "B&B Pledge")
Participants:	Nan Dibble (zine editor), Kimberly Harman and Mark Hartman (Helper's Network)
Date(s):	1990
Type:	fundraising
Fandom:	Beauty and the Beast (TV)
URL:
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campaign flyer, click twice to read

The Beauty and the Beast Videotape Pledge was a Beauty and the Beast (TV) fan-led effort to show support for the episodes that were filmed but threatened not to be shown after the show was cancelled. Fans also felt that this campaign would also show TPTB that there was sufficient interest in further episodes and/or a full-length feature film.

The campaign was organized by Nan Dibble and Kimberly Hartman and Mark Hartman who were some members of The Loyal Collective. Word-of-mouth, promotion by mentions to the press, and print flyers (posted in public areas, mailed via the postal service) were the main source of communication and distribution among fans.

The Beginning

A 1990 description:

The idea for more immediate insurance in the short-term came from a Senior Editor for Writer's Digest Books, Nancy Dibble. An internationally published author and past college president, Nancy did not consider herself fan material, only knew of fandom through a friend's copy of "Pipeline." Yet she woke in the middle of the night with an idea that wouldn't quit, and the next day put the marketing division of F&W Publications (publishers of Writer's Digest magazine) to work on "shooting it full of holes and making suggestions."

The end product is the "Beauty and the Beast Video Campaign"... For fans it is a way of putting their money where their mouths are, without spending a dime until the goal is achieved. It is also a way of being counted. Even if Republic and Witt-Thomas don't take us up on the idea, they will still have in their hands a very publicity-worthy vote of confidence from the 'Loyal.' However, 'should they decide to accept it' it could mean a no-strings-attached source of extra income. This might make up the difference in production costs, while not even affecting the episodes' finally being broadcast right along with the rest of the syndied repeats. Each set of episodes would simply be made available on video to subscribers first.

A 2006 description:

The battle for a third season of Beauty and the Beast was hard-won, but the war for the hearts of many fans and for more viewers was lost by January 1990.

Despite conceptual differences, many fans campaigned to reinstate the show, if not on CBS then on another network. “Pipeline," my own newszine, ran a special "strategy issue" in February 1990 with ideas ranging from a plan for audience-backed programming, to a "first-run-on-video" subscription campaign. The person behind that idea was Nan Dibble, then an editor with "Writer's Digest" magazine. She created "The Beauty and the Beast Videotape Pledge."

Four different national newspaper wire services and three national radio networks, as well as many TV columns (contacted by local clubs) covered the Videotape Pledge idea. The February issue of Pipeline went into a second and third(?)) printing after receiving 1,000 requests for Pledge Drive info. The combined mailing lists of the Helpers' Network and Pipeline would grow' in the following months to 8,000.

By March, the Video Pledge Drive gained even more momentum.

The editor of the Canadian TV Guide wrote: "The latest (newsletter) to reach TV GUIDE represents resourcefulness in the extreme. This newsletter proposes a resurrection of the series through a direct-to-video club; fans are. In a sense, hoping to do an end-run around the networks..." He gave the address of the Canadian branch of the Helpers' Network for pledge forms, and pleaded: "But please. Do not write us!"

August of 1990, it became clear that Republic Pictures, then owner of the rights to Beauty and the Beast were unwilling to entertain the idea of a video pledge. According to staffers. the thousands of envelopes received (some containing hundreds of pledges each) were never seriously tallied. The exact count will never be known.

The Money

It was estimated the petition needed 100,000 by mid-February 1990 in order for Witt Thomas to find the project feasible.

The campaign did not succeed, even after reaching 200,000 signatures from fans across the world promising to pay $4 million dollars for the episodes, sight unseen.

Mainstream Press Comment

From the Los Angeles Times:

And one devotee hopes that VCRs will offer another kind of "network" for three unaired episodes. Nancy Dibble from Albany has started a "Beauty and the Beast Videotape Pledge" in which fans are promising to pay $20 initially for the exclusive tapes, and sending their pledges (not their money) to the producers of the show, Witt Thomas Productions. Dribble, a book editor, said she based the idea on the success of book clubs. She needs about 100,000 pledges for it to work. "So far there's been great reaction," she said. "People who love the show must know it need not die." Cable outlets A&E, TNT have inquired about picking up "Beast," but the leading contender is Lifetime, which appeals to female audiences and matches the show's demographics, according to a spokesman from Republic Pictures, which will distribute the show. No new episodes are planned.

Acafan Comment: 2013

In retrospect the campaign faced significant technical hurdles, most of which are not present today. In his March 2013 article Kickstarting Veronica Mars, Henry Jenkins notes that:

The fans rightly recognized that the Nielsen Ratings measured the scope of viewership but not its intensity, and that the scale of success demanded to stay on network television was considerably lower than what would be required to cover the costs of production. At the time, such plans were unlikely to succeed, given the nature of the media environment: they really did not have a robust method for collecting funds from dedicated fans, the producers would not have had a viable business model for proceeding under this unstable system, and the distribution of episodes via VHS was going to be clunky at best.

Picked Up for Syndication: 1990

When the show was suddenly picked up for syndication, and fans could look forward to the full run of episodes, interest in the pledge waned.

But that did not mean the Pledge was in vain. Nan Dibble wrote in an article called "

Report from non-Neilsen [sic] country...":

In answer to an oft asked question: It's this Editor's opinion that the cable/syndie deal does not have to supplant the Video Pledge Campaign, which, when you come right down to it is more about the desire for new productions than it is about owning first-run videotapes. Letters may accumulate unread, phone calls be construed as harassment, but a continuing tide of people willing to "buy" Republic's product is just good business, deserving of attention. And according to Jill Coplan of Republic, it may take 'em awhile, but they do intend to count them all.

More than any specific 'suggestion for action' that the form itself may represent— as an expression of concern, not to mention one of the best vehicles for press coverage this fandom has ever had, the Pledge Drive continues to be worth the effort.

Bypassing the Nielsen Ratings

VCR tapes were envisioned as a way to take back the power from The Nielsen Ratings.

A $50 ad placed in a local Rochester, NY newspaper that read: "Beauty and the Beast: To help return it to TV write letters to networks. Be part of TV history with Video Collectors Club. New episodes on tape. Pledge now - pay later. Bypass networks and Neilsen.

See Beauty and the Beast Fandom and The Nielsen Ratings.

Fan Comments

[March 1990]:

Sorry, the count is not in as far as how many Video Pledge Drive sheets Witt-Thomas has received. Envelopes numbering in the thousands are being bundled over to Republic Pictures, but no word yet on the tally.

[...]

Donna Haarman of the "Great Expectations" project reported that they now have the services of a lawyer who has donated his time and expertise to the study of audience 'backed' programming. Yet an other idea that may take hold in a larger sense.

Who knows? We may see the idea of first run videos, if not first run videos by subscription, adopted by the industry at large — most especially as an adjunct to network and/or cable first runs (or as first run 'repeats'). Whether B&B will be the show to pioneer the concept remains to be seen. But, I suspect most would be just as happy if Republic doesn't feel the need to take us up on our little 'insurance policies' in order to get Beauty and the Beast back on the airwaves again. In any case, the idea and the efforts behind it have not gone unnoticed.)

[March 1990]: After the early edition of the February "Pipeline" hit the mail the queries transformed into applause for Nancy Dibble's "Video Campaign" and Donna Haarman's "Great Expectations Project." Neither idea in and of itself was new, versions had been kicking around fandom since the beginning. Indeed, Inez Paskal of "Paskal's Pathways" wrote January 11th of "a foundation for the continuation of the Art of Beauty and the Beast — Possibility of matching funds — and underwriting at least part of the production cost." She even mentioned putting "our money where our mouth is." At least three other letters used the same exact phrase.

[April 1990]: I've been rewatching my tapes of B&B since it went off on Jan. 24th, just to keep from being too depressed. I have never been this upset with the loss of a show before. I've gone though $15 worth of stamps writing to networks, local stations, etc.. I made copies of B&B videotape pledge after signing one and sending it out. Left them in stores, post office, library, college, and any place I could find. Hope it will help; I feel like I've lost a whole family and don't know what to do.

[April 1990]: Jay Avocone was charming, funny, and absolutely wonderful to talk with. He right away opened the floor to questions. Of course, the biggie was what was the status of the show. He didn't know anything. He seems to be just as much in the dark as we are? actually, I think HE is more in the dark than we are! He didn't seem to know much about the video tape pledge and he came right out and said that he didn't (HE DIDN'T) think the show would return (???). That kind of stunned the audience, but as we continued to question him, we soon realized that he has not really been in touch with anyone as to what is actually going on, so judge from there.

[April 1990]: The journalists seem to think that we should be grateful for the reruns and one local writer even had the nerve to write, “Beauty and the Beast fans, you can stop your campaigning. Please stop campaigning.” I suppose we should be grateful that Republic Pictures made and enormously profitable rerun deal with cable and NBC, but I just can’t seem to work up the enthusiasm, especially since Republic Pictures has not acknowledged the fact that they were flooded with video pledges for first-run episodes. Reruns were not the only thing I wanted. There are more stories about Vincent to be told, with or without Catherine, and I want them.

[December 1990]: What happened to the videotape pledge drive? I thought that was the ideal solution. It cut out the network middlemen, so episodes would be a direct communication between the creators and the audience.