Right This Minute

Right This Minute
Company type	Television series
Industry	Television broadcasting
Founded	September 12, 2011; 15 years ago
Founder	MagicDust Television, Cox Media Group, Gray Television, E. W. Scripps Company
Defunct	September 2, 2022
Headquarters	Phoenix, Arizona, United States
Area served	United States, Canada
Key people	Charity Bailey, Gayle Bass, Nick Calderone, Oli Pettigrew, Christian Vera
Products	Viral video content television program

Right This Minute (RTM) was a U.S.-based syndicated television series that debuted on September 12, 2011. Created by MagicDust Television in collaboration with station groups Cox Media Group, Gray Television, and the E. W. Scripps Company, the program aired daily for 30 minutes and featured viral video content hosted by Charity Bailey, Gayle Bass, Nick Calderone, Oli Pettigrew, and Christian Vera. The show concluded its original run on April 29, 2022, with rerun episodes ("remixes") continuing in syndication until September 2, 2022.

Overview

RTM focused on showcasing popular viral clips, interviews with video creators, and newsworthy caught-on-camera moments. Its segments included police chases and crimes captured on dashcams and security cameras; unusual accidents; demonstrations of human and animal skills; rescue operations; notable fails such as extreme sports crashes; stunts; pranks; parodies; and original user-generated videos sourced from platforms like YouTube and LiveLeak. Episodes commonly incorporated interviews with people featured in the highlighted footage.

A memorable moment included magician John Stessel performing live on the RTM set after his Instagram clip was broadcast, entertaining the hosts with magic tricks.

Initially formatted as a one-hour show, RTM was restructured in 2012 into two separate half-hour episodes airing daily, supplemented by two weekend "best of" compilations that recapped the weekday content. Stations had the flexibility to air both segments consecutively as a full hour or schedule them at different times.

Production and distribution

Right This Minute was distributed nationally through syndication, originally broadcast on stations owned by Cox Media Group, Raycom Media (which was acquired and rebranded by Gray Television as Gray Media Group in early 2019), and the E. W. Scripps Company. In 2013, MagicDust Television collaborated with the Raycom-Scripps-Cox alliance and MGM Television to broaden the program’s reach to additional broadcasters.

In April 2014, Fox Television Stations incorporated RTM into its lineup on Fox owned-and-operated stations across ten markets. Further agreements expanded national coverage to approximately 91% of U.S. television markets during weekday time slots. Cable channel HLN aired reruns from February through September 2014. Production initially took place at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University, before relocating to the Ahwatukee area of Phoenix. During the COVID-19 pandemic, hosting duties transitioned temporarily to remote video conferencing while off-air production was managed remotely.

On January 19, 2016, distribution responsibilities shifted to Disney–ABC Home Entertainment and Television Distribution for the 2016–17 season. This transition resulted in pickups by eight ABC O&O stations, replacing the short-lived FABLife. Additionally, from September 2016 to September 2018, Hamilton, Ontario’s CHCH broadcast the series across Canadian markets.

According to Nick Calderone’s update on the show's Facebook page, Right This Minute was not renewed for another season in 2022 after running for eleven years. From May 2022 onward, only rerun episodes or "remixes" were televised until the final airing on September 2, 2022, marking the show’s permanent conclusion.

External links

Official site