It’s not surprising that the explosion of web-based TV has taken hold in Vegas, given the apparently limitless appeal of recycled cable specials about casinos, production shows and the glamorous side of Sin City, as well as the inherently bite-size nature of Strip culture. Two sites, RawVegas.tv and TheV.tv, have been trying to carve a niche for themselves as the authority in online Vegas TV—something sorely needed, since we don’t even have such a thing on local traditional TV or on cable. (Another site, watchitvegas.com, is now defunct.)
RawVegas, which just celebrated its one-year anniversary, boasts in a press release that its more than 1,100 videos have been viewed nearly 35 million times, and picked up for rebroadcast by major websites and TV networks. Certainly its site is slick and professional, if a little overwhelming, and the content is extensive. It’s also mostly vapid and useless, more evidence of the seemingly bottomless hunger for empty interviews with celebrities on red carpets. Coverage of nightlife events and mixed martial arts accounts for the bulk of the site’s most popular videos, and infomercial-like segments on restaurants, Strip production shows and gaming make up most of the rest of the offerings.
These videos are mostly competently produced, if a little rough, with the quality of local-news segments. Where RawVegas shows more life is in its daily news segment, hosted by the site’s main personality, Denise Pernula. Pernula, like most of the RawVegas hosts, has more enthusiasm than skill, but at least she brings a bit of edge to the presentation of a couple of Vegas-related headlines and the day’s weather. And she’s never shy about emphasizing her cleavage.
Dig deeper into RawVegas, and you can find some intermittently amusing and infrequently updated comedy shows, the best of which is Rough Cut Comedy, a relatively clever sketch show written and performed by local actors. This kind of programming at least showcases genuine local talent, and goes beyond the superficial Vegas image promoted on entertainment-news shows and Travel Channel specials.
TheV, which is less popular and has fewer videos than RawVegas, also emphasizes nightlife and Vegas flash, and has its own daily segment hosted by a marginally talented hot babe, the amusingly named Ava Vavoom. While RawVegas offers extensive archives for most of its shows, TheV advertises local personalities like Wayne Newton and gossip columnist Norm Clarke as hosts, only to have them appear solely in brief introductory videos. What TheV offers that RawVegas specifically shies away from (its anniversary press release also emphasizes “professionally-produced programming”) is a YouTube-like interface that allows users to submit their own content. It’s not a free-for-all: There are specific sections designed for people who want to push themselves for their own Vegas show or share Vegas memories, and incongruously given the Vegas-centric focus, there’s also a section for user-submitted horror videos, which, like RawVegas’ comedy section, generally provides the most entertainment, even if the quality varies wildly.
The user sections on TheV are sparse enough to emphasize mostly that not a lot of people bother using them, but they do point to something quirkier and less polished about the city. A truly successful Vegas TV venture, whether online or over the air, will find a way to integrate coverage of the things about our city that fascinate outsiders with the unique and not always upbeat perspective of the people who live and work here.