New ‘Dog’ back on track on CMT
LAS VEGAS — Duane “Dog” Chapman and Beth Chapman sit conspicuously in a dimly lit bar inside the Bellagio in Las Vegas, scanning for Elvis impersonators and, just like on TV, bickering — this time about Dog’s hair.
She calls him the golden, mulleted one.
“Don’t touch my hair,” he says gruffly as Beth reaches over to pick at his blonde mane. “I didn’t even brush it today.”
The Chapmans — who starred in A&E’s hit “Dog the Bounty Hunter” for eight seasons — have returned to the cable lineup as the stars of “Dog and Beth: On the Hunt,” airing at 7 and 9 p.m. Sundays on CMT.
The show — which features the couple traveling around the country training bail enforcement agencies to conduct their criminal captures and run their business — anchors the network’s aggressive plan to have four nights of original programming by 2016. CMT currently has one night of original programming.
“We have put a tremendous amount of time and effort and money into the show and the marketing campaign, and we’re placing a big bet,” says Jayson Dinsmore, CMT executive vice president of development. “We think it’s a game changer.”
CMT president Brian Philips says he’s never met a bigger star than Dog and he’s hoping that star power will provide the network an opportunity to find and successfully launch other series.
“We aspire to have shows like ‘Duck Dynasty,’ “Dinsmore says, of the reality TV cable hit about a Louisiana family-operated business centered around duck-hunting calls.
Philips says CMT beat out several other stations, including major networks, for the new “Dog” series.
So where does this leave music videos, the calling card on which CMT built its brand? Currently the programming mix is 25 percent acquisitions (syndicated shows such as “Reba”), 25 percent music and 25 percent originals, but Dinsmore says the station is “moving more and more towards originals.”
“We believe in owning our content and we believe in picking our own destiny,” he explains. “But we are certainly not abandoning music in any way.”
Philips says music is still a big focus at the network, citing the CMT Awards, the “Crossroads” genreblending music series and the fact that the “CMT Hot 20 Countdown” video countdown is enjoying “record ratings.”
Later this year, CMT is also set to launch a reality series on “The Voice” winner Cassadee Pope. Pope was on judge and country star Blake Shelton’s team and originally wanted to sing rock music. However, over the course of the season, it became clear her voice was well-suited for country music. After winning the show, Big Machine Records signed her.
Pope’s debut single will be out later this spring and she plans to spend the summer months on tour with Rascal Flatts. CMT will be there every step of the way.
“We think she’s a legitimate superstar in the making,” Philips says.
“Our goal is for her to tell her story in her own words,” Dinsmore says.
But it’s “Dog and Beth: On the Hunt” that Philips believes makes the biggest statement about the network.
“We’re playing in the major leagues of cable development and I think ‘Dog’ puts an exclamation point on that,” he says. “We’re really starting to roll right now.”