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Headline, Industry News
Dragon’s done: Brett Wilson says CBC too restrictive
Tuesday March 01st 2011Calgary entrepreneur and philanthropist Brett Wilson says he left the hit CBC series Dragons’ Den last week over a contractual arrangement that he found to be restrictive and inefficient.
“Where we got bogged down was over the use of the words CBC and Dragons’ Den,” said Wilson, the charismatic former panellist on the Gemini-winning reality show, on Monday.
“Initially, they gave me a contract that said I couldn’t even utter those words. It was almost Monty Pythonesque in its approach.”
According to Wilson that created problems when it came to advertising and promoting his various business ventures, as he wasn’t allowed to mention his ties to the show.
As Wilson explains it, multimedia giant Sony owns the franchise rights to Dragons’ Den, which airs in 21 countries around the world.
Though Wilson says he was never allowed to see the CBC’s contract with Sony, the Canadian broadcaster informed him that any use of the Dragons’ Den brand in Wilson’s ventures might result in Sony taking a cut of the profits.
“At one point somebody from CBC said … if you’re doing a public talk to a group of students who are paying you … and you advertise that you’re from Dragons’ Den, Sony might want a piece of revenue from you,” Wilson says.
“My issue was wanting to get the correct flexibility that I needed to actually run my businesses and promote the things I do.”
While the CBC did not respond to an interview request on Monday, the broadcaster did announce Wilson’s replacement on the show.
Bruce Croxon, co-founder of the Toronto-based online dating service Lavalife will join the Dragons’ Den in September for the kick off of Season 6.
He will join Wilson’s former Dragon-mates, including Calgary’s Arlene Dickinson and Kevin O’Leary, the panel of venture capitalists vetting offbeat pitches from budding entrepreneurs who are looking to secure financing.
In a CBC news release Dickinson stated: “There’s no denying we had great chemistry with Brett. But I was once the new dragon in the den, and I have no doubt that Bruce is up for the challenge.”
For his part, Wilson says he still has “ongoing relationships” with the other Dragons. “I have business partnerships with most of them,” he says. “I had a lot of fun. . . . I’m going to miss it.”
He adds: “My face and my deals will continue to resonate as long as they continue to Gilligan’s Island me in reruns.”
As for his relationship with the CBC, Wilson insists there’s not a lot of harsh feelings.
He points out that while there were issues to iron out throughout his three season run on the show – including scheduling and the money that CBC was offering – he says that the broadcaster worked hard to accommodate him.
The CBC was also trying to amend his contract, so that it would be less restrictive when it came to the use of the Dragons’ Den name, but, ultimately, time simply ran out.
“They wanted absolute clarity by last weekend,” Wilson says. “We couldn’t reach an agreement.”
He adds: “It wasn’t run as efficiently as I like (deals) to run in the business world.”
Source: Calgary Herald
Headline, Industry News
Dragon’s done: Brett Wilson says CBC too restrictive
Tuesday March 01st 2011Calgary entrepreneur and philanthropist Brett Wilson says he left the hit CBC series Dragons’ Den last week over a contractual arrangement that he found to be restrictive and inefficient.
“Where we got bogged down was over the use of the words CBC and Dragons’ Den,” said Wilson, the charismatic former panellist on the Gemini-winning reality show, on Monday.
“Initially, they gave me a contract that said I couldn’t even utter those words. It was almost Monty Pythonesque in its approach.”
According to Wilson that created problems when it came to advertising and promoting his various business ventures, as he wasn’t allowed to mention his ties to the show.
As Wilson explains it, multimedia giant Sony owns the franchise rights to Dragons’ Den, which airs in 21 countries around the world.
Though Wilson says he was never allowed to see the CBC’s contract with Sony, the Canadian broadcaster informed him that any use of the Dragons’ Den brand in Wilson’s ventures might result in Sony taking a cut of the profits.
“At one point somebody from CBC said … if you’re doing a public talk to a group of students who are paying you … and you advertise that you’re from Dragons’ Den, Sony might want a piece of revenue from you,” Wilson says.
“My issue was wanting to get the correct flexibility that I needed to actually run my businesses and promote the things I do.”
While the CBC did not respond to an interview request on Monday, the broadcaster did announce Wilson’s replacement on the show.
Bruce Croxon, co-founder of the Toronto-based online dating service Lavalife will join the Dragons’ Den in September for the kick off of Season 6.
He will join Wilson’s former Dragon-mates, including Calgary’s Arlene Dickinson and Kevin O’Leary, the panel of venture capitalists vetting offbeat pitches from budding entrepreneurs who are looking to secure financing.
In a CBC news release Dickinson stated: “There’s no denying we had great chemistry with Brett. But I was once the new dragon in the den, and I have no doubt that Bruce is up for the challenge.”
For his part, Wilson says he still has “ongoing relationships” with the other Dragons. “I have business partnerships with most of them,” he says. “I had a lot of fun. . . . I’m going to miss it.”
He adds: “My face and my deals will continue to resonate as long as they continue to Gilligan’s Island me in reruns.”
As for his relationship with the CBC, Wilson insists there’s not a lot of harsh feelings.
He points out that while there were issues to iron out throughout his three season run on the show – including scheduling and the money that CBC was offering – he says that the broadcaster worked hard to accommodate him.
The CBC was also trying to amend his contract, so that it would be less restrictive when it came to the use of the Dragons’ Den name, but, ultimately, time simply ran out.
“They wanted absolute clarity by last weekend,” Wilson says. “We couldn’t reach an agreement.”
He adds: “It wasn’t run as efficiently as I like (deals) to run in the business world.”
Source: Calgary Herald
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Headline, Industry News
Dragon’s done: Brett Wilson says CBC too restrictive
Tuesday March 01st 2011Calgary entrepreneur and philanthropist Brett Wilson says he left the hit CBC series Dragons’ Den last week over a contractual arrangement that he found to be restrictive and inefficient.
“Where we got bogged down was over the use of the words CBC and Dragons’ Den,” said Wilson, the charismatic former panellist on the Gemini-winning reality show, on Monday.
“Initially, they gave me a contract that said I couldn’t even utter those words. It was almost Monty Pythonesque in its approach.”
According to Wilson that created problems when it came to advertising and promoting his various business ventures, as he wasn’t allowed to mention his ties to the show.
As Wilson explains it, multimedia giant Sony owns the franchise rights to Dragons’ Den, which airs in 21 countries around the world.
Though Wilson says he was never allowed to see the CBC’s contract with Sony, the Canadian broadcaster informed him that any use of the Dragons’ Den brand in Wilson’s ventures might result in Sony taking a cut of the profits.
“At one point somebody from CBC said … if you’re doing a public talk to a group of students who are paying you … and you advertise that you’re from Dragons’ Den, Sony might want a piece of revenue from you,” Wilson says.
“My issue was wanting to get the correct flexibility that I needed to actually run my businesses and promote the things I do.”
While the CBC did not respond to an interview request on Monday, the broadcaster did announce Wilson’s replacement on the show.
Bruce Croxon, co-founder of the Toronto-based online dating service Lavalife will join the Dragons’ Den in September for the kick off of Season 6.
He will join Wilson’s former Dragon-mates, including Calgary’s Arlene Dickinson and Kevin O’Leary, the panel of venture capitalists vetting offbeat pitches from budding entrepreneurs who are looking to secure financing.
In a CBC news release Dickinson stated: “There’s no denying we had great chemistry with Brett. But I was once the new dragon in the den, and I have no doubt that Bruce is up for the challenge.”
For his part, Wilson says he still has “ongoing relationships” with the other Dragons. “I have business partnerships with most of them,” he says. “I had a lot of fun. . . . I’m going to miss it.”
He adds: “My face and my deals will continue to resonate as long as they continue to Gilligan’s Island me in reruns.”
As for his relationship with the CBC, Wilson insists there’s not a lot of harsh feelings.
He points out that while there were issues to iron out throughout his three season run on the show – including scheduling and the money that CBC was offering – he says that the broadcaster worked hard to accommodate him.
The CBC was also trying to amend his contract, so that it would be less restrictive when it came to the use of the Dragons’ Den name, but, ultimately, time simply ran out.
“They wanted absolute clarity by last weekend,” Wilson says. “We couldn’t reach an agreement.”
He adds: “It wasn’t run as efficiently as I like (deals) to run in the business world.”
Source: Calgary Herald
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