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Startup launches ‘TV’ show for Atlanta real estate pros

Commercial real estate is getting its own version of the TV show Entertainment Tonight. REAL CRE TV, which launched May 10 with a Metro Atlanta edition, is an online video show that aims to give time-starved brokers, developers and other commercial real estate professionals access to the latest industry news. (Sorry, Entertainment Tonight fans — Mary Hart and John Tesh will not be hosts.)

“This is Entertainment Tonight meets the most detailed industry publication you can think of,” said Michael Shoer, head of business development for the video news service, which is delivered by desktop or laptop computer or by mobile phone as a free subscription for qualified professionals. “What we are creating is unlike anything out there currently. It is fast-paced, solid content, delivered in an engaging and exciting way.”

REAL CRE TV, which will eventually cover 10 metro markets if all goes as planned, boasts some impressive network know-how, with production values akin to those of prime-time TV, says Shoer. Led by two former CNN producers, its team includes former FOX and NBC sales executive Michael Panethere, who recently joined as head of interactive advertising and sponsorship. “This is not about making YouTube videos,” Shoer said. Nor is it about running video puff pieces. “We are very conscious of our core video programming being independent editorial content,” he said. “We want that content to be of absolute relevance and importance to a broker, agent or developer on the go.”

Toward that end, the editorial board includes a number of industry veterans, among them Richard C. Lackey Jr., CEO of Atlanta-based City Commercial Real Estate, and Matt Gove, senior vice president of marketing for Cousins Properties and a longtime commercial real estate journalist in Atlanta.

Subscribers to the www.realcretv.com site are encouraged to submit their own videos, photos, press releases and project descriptions and to use a variety of online resources. The editorial team will cull through the submissions for story ideas and do its own reporting on those it deems relevant.

Companies have several ways to advertise on the site, such as sponsoring show segments. “It could be ‘The Real Deal: Brought to You by Simon Property Group,’ ” Shoer said. “The story wouldn’t be about Simon Property Group, but on the page, Simon would have the potential to have its own sponsored video specifically about them or one of their projects. It’s kind of like ‘The Prudential Halftime Report.’ ”