Matt Buckler: 'Paltrocast with Darren Paltrowitz' puts positive spin on guests

Matt Buckler, Journal Inquirer, Manchester, Conn.
·4 min read

Jul. 8—Darren Paltrowitz of Long Beach, New York, had a problem growing up — he couldn't afford all the music CDs and concert tickets he wanted to buy.

He came up with a solution — volunteer to write stories for local publications about upcoming CDs from artists he wanted to talk to, and free music would follow.

In the 20 years that followed, that concept of interviewing people looking to promote themselves has developed into a TV show, "Paltrocast with Darren Paltrowitz," which is the culmination of years of interviewing people who want to get the word out about themselves and their projects.

"I have been doing interviews on and off for 20 years now," Paltrowitz said. "When the pandemic hit, I realized I was doing most of my interviews over Zoom."

Paltrowitz said he watched late-night shows such as "The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon" and saw Fallon was conducting his interviews over Zoom as well.

So I said to myself, "Wait a second — I have all these videos." I got the idea of turning my podcasts into a weekly TV show. What does a show like 'Tonight' have that I don't have?"

So the seed for the Paltrocast was planted. It turned out to be a seed that many people wanted in their garden.

"I quickly has three stations on board and it kept growing and growing," Paltrowitz said. "Now there are 30 stations on board, a mix of digital outlets and cable stations."

"The Paltrocast with Darren Paltrowitz" airs Fridays at 8 p.m. on Cox Communications Public Access Channel 15 in Enfield. It also is available on outlets such as YouTube.

Paltrowitz said he has churned out 54 shows so far and his guest list has included some A-listers such as David Duchovny of "X-Files" fame, the band Linkin Park, Kristin Chenoweth, and former basketball star Shaquille O'Neal.

"Sometimes it depends on where I happen to be," Paltrowitz said. "I was at the Tribeca Film Festival and I got to talk to Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys. There definitely is no shortage of material."

Paltrowitz says he constantly gets calls from publicists looking to get their clients on his show.

"It's a mix of athletes, celebrities, singers, comedians, and other influencers," Paltrowitz said.

Paltrowitz said he prides himself on making his guests look as good as possible.

"I want to give them the forum to talk about what they want to talk about," Paltrowitz said, "but at the same time, I pride myself on asking them about a few topics they normally don't get asked about. I want my guests to promote their new stuff, but there's also something for the diehards as well as for the informal fans."

Paltrowitz says if a publicist is willing to work with him a second time, it's an indication that he is doing his job.

"I think I still have my fingers on the pulse of what's happening in the music industry," Paltrowitz said, "I can feel what the hits are going to be."

Paltrowitz says he has no idea who his audience is.

"I think it's a mix of people who like my interviews, people who are tuning in to listen to the guests, and people who are just flicking through the channels," Paltrowitz said.

It's a show that Paltrowitz thinks he can be doing for a long time to come.

"The only two things that will end the show is if I run out of time or if I run out of energy," Paltrowitz said. "Otherwise, I would be happy to do this for the rest of my life. As long as the offers from publicists keep coming, I'll be there."

He started in print media. Then he branched out to an online service. And now his show is audio and video based.

But it's always been entertainment based. That's why "Paltrocast" has grown from three stations to to a bundle of them.

Ratings rebound

The Phoenix Suns and the Milwaukee Bucks don't have national followings and the teams aren't from major markets. They'll never be confused with the Los Angeles Lakers.

But they pulled off respectable ratings for Game 1 of the NBA Finals Tuesday on ABC.

The game finished No. 1 Tuesday in the 18-to-40 demographic, but it didn't have the biggest audience.

The game drew 6.41 million, which was good enough for second among total viewers, finishing behind NBC's "America's Got Talent," which delivered 6.89 million viewers, a slight increase from the previous week.

None of the other first-run programming, however, could compete with the NBA. "LEGO Masters" on Fox only drew 1.55 million viewers, down 7 percent from the week before. "Mental Samari" on Fox was down 3 percent from a week ago, attracting 1.05 million viewers. "The Flash" on CW did even worse, with an audience of 770,000.

"Capitol One College Bowl" grabbed 2.68 million watchers. The NBA Finals may not have popular teams, but they are still more popular than most of the competing shows.

Follow Matt Buckler for more television, radio, and sports coverage on the JI's Twitter @journalinquirer, and see his articles on the Journal Inquirer Facebook page.