How Valuable is Your Talent?
As the Internet's first on-air superstar signs off, questions over who's expendable resurface.
By Christopher Zara
Earlier this month, tremors of uncertainty shocked the Internet world when Amanda Congdon, the infectiously charming host of the popular video blog Rocketboom, announced she would be leaving the program due to a dispute with her partner and the show's creator, Andrew Baron. The news of Congdon's exit from Rocketboom — which presents three-minute daily newscasts on topics ranging from tech culture to world politics — ushered into the Internet age one of the oldest dilemmas in show business: how do you measure the true value of your own talent? While it seems like a simple question, history has proven time and again that gauging talent's worth is an unpredictable process. Departing terrestrial radio host Howard Stern, for example, proved far more valuable than replacement David Lee Roth, who was effectively fired after only a few months. Conversely, when Craig Kilborn left the Daily Show, incoming host Jon Stewart actually brought the program greater success.
In the case of Rocketboom, Congdon was no doubt the reason roughly 300,000 people visited the site each day. The 24-year-old Northwestern grad delivered Rocketboom's newscasts with a "sexy tech geek" persona that effortlessly connected with viewers. Still, it was producer Baron who came up with Rocketboom's initial concept and who found Congdon through an ad he'd posted on Craigslist back in 2004. Congdon at that time was an aspiring actress who had little experience with the medium that would make her famous. But together the two of them shared a creative chemistry, and — with the help of a consumer video camera and a makeshift studio in Baron's Upper West Side apartment — took Rocketboom to the top of the Internet's legions of video blogs.
Late last year, disagreements began to surface between Congdon, who wanted to move Rocketboom to LA where she could continue hosting the show while pursuing other endeavors, and Baron, who repeatedly delayed the move. On July 5, Congdon announced during a Rocketboom newscast that she would be leaving the show. When asked about her future plans, Congdon explained that she is uncertain about her next move and referred Show Business to her aptly-titled blog, AmandaUnBoomed, which extensively discloses the events leading up to her departure. Baron, who could not be reached for comment, has resurrected Rocketboom with an interim host. While it's too soon to tell which of the two will profit more from their Rocketboom fame, their story stands to be the Internet's first show business breakup.