It’s All Subjective. ‘Your Honor’ Miniseries and Super-Affiliates. (#5)

Last weekend I watched the miniseries ‘Your Honor’, starring Bryan Cranston. This limited series is on Showtime and it’s adapted from an Israeli TV series, Kvodo. Check out a trailer for the miniseries below.

The story is compelling. I don’t want to give too many spoilers, but it centers around a New Orleans Judge, Michael Desiato. Desiato faces an impossible situation when his teenage son causes a tragic accident. On the anniversary of his wife’s death, Desiato and his son create an alibi for the day of the accident.

‘Your Honor’ is the best TV show that I have seen in quite some time. I would even go so far to say that it’s the best TV show I have seen in the past year. Both Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad) and Michael Stuhlbarg (Broadwalk Empire) delivered stellar performances. Hunter Doohan (who plays Desiato’s son) played his part very well.

The critics, however…

Many critics don’t agree with me. Below are a handful of reviews on Rotten Tomatoes where the show currently gets 51%. (The audience score is somewhat better at 64%).

“Your Honor” seems to be written by people who’ve only heard about human nature and whose understanding of tragic consequences is strictly theoretical. – Hank Stuever, Washington Post

The characters feel like stock illustrations in a moral-philosophy seminar hypothetical… The result is an out-of-whack ratio of acting talent to material. – James Poniewozik, New York Times

There are many dramas out there that are grim, but they usually have some sort of pay-off or have an addictive quality that keeps you glued. This drama didn’t have that. – Scott Bryan, BBC.com

(The BBC wishes they could produce series like this! Most BBC productions these days are low-quality garbage. The only time they produce watchable content is in partnership with other studios. HBO being a case in point. But anyway…)

It’s all subjective!

Reading these reviews got me thinking. Good television is subjective. Highly subjective. What do I mean by this? Every person has a different opinion. And those opinions are based on or influenced by personal feelings, tastes, or opinions. While some opinions might be broadly similar. Others will be diametrically opposed. Like mine with Scott Bryan’s!

Certain definitions within the affiliate marketing industry are, like movie reviews, subjective. Over the years several clients have asked me what defines a super-affiliate. To answer the question I have had to hedge a little. Below is my last answer to this question.

What is a Super-Affiliate?

There are different definitions of what a “super-affiliate” is depending on who you ask. Some define a super-affiliate as the top-performing affiliate in a program. Others define super-affiliates as partners who earn more than $10,000 (in commission) per month. I have spoken with several people who believe that you’re not a real super-affiliate until you generate over $1,000,000 a year in commission! I’m not sure that there is a clear answer to this question. I define a super-affiliate as a partner who has the potential to drive a significant amount of traffic and sales to your program.

The major affiliate networks have their own internal programs for top affiliates. CJ for example has ‘CJ Performers’, known as CJPs. To get invited, a publisher must meet the following requirements:

• Earned at least $10,000 in commissions per month for the last three months.
• Approved by both the CJ publisher development and network quality teams.
• Engaged and willing to work with new advertisers.
• Converting with at least five advertisers.
• Limited to publishers in the North American market.

Rakuten Advertising has a similar program called ‘Platinum Publisher’. Their criteria are similar to CJ’s.

• Earning more than $10,000 in commissions per month for three consecutive months (not including Q4).
• Maintaining quality standards required by the network and advertisers.
• High level of engagement including participation at DealMaker events.
• Ongoing dialogue with assigned resources at the network and an advocate for the Network.
• The Platinum Publisher program is only available to publishers in the United States.

What do you think? How would you define a super-affiliate? I’d be very curious to know.

Check out more ‘Revelations’ here.