Shark Tank is a business reality show that involves entrepreneurs from different sectors of business pitching their ideas to a team of judges.
The judges who are the investors will analyze the business ideas of the entrepreneurs and decide if they can invest in one. This reality television series was started by ABC with the first show premiering in August 2009.
How Did The Shark Tank Start?
The show started as an adaptation of the Dragon’s Den show that started in Japan under the name Money Tigers back in 2001.
In the Money Tigers show, the entrepreneurs come with creative business ideas to a panel of investor judges called the venture capitalists.
The pitching of an idea is done with the hope of getting a financial partnership or investment with one of the panelists. ABC borrowed this idea and started their American version under the name Shark Tank in 2009.
Just like the Money Tigers Show, Shark Tank features five panelists better known as the Sharks. They make efforts to find faults in the business pitches and ideas that the entrepreneurs are pitching to them.
The Sharks get paid to not only listen to the business plans but also make a correct judgment. In turn, one of them has to invest in the business idea of the lucky entrepreneur.
Sometimes, it can be a combination of two or all Sharks agreeing on one idea to make an investment plan for it.
To prove the success of these reality television shows, previous entrepreneurs in the Dragons’ Den show became successful investors in Shark Tank.
Kevin O’Leary and Robert Herjavec became a formidable force as investment panelists of the show. Together, they teamed up with Mark Cuban, Barabara Corcoran, Daymond John, and Lori Greiner.
A Comprehensive Review Of The Show
1.How it works
The primary theme of this television series is to connect the ideas of the businesspersons to the investors. It is the responsibility of the business person to pitch ideas tactically and convince the investors to accept them.
The entrepreneurs give a specific valuation of the business and put a negotiation forward based on this idea.
In most cases, business enthusiasts who are entrepreneurs come with a higher valuation of their ideas. On the other hand, the investors who are the Sharks counter this proposal with a lower amount of valuation. How the investors try to outbid each other is what makes this television series more interesting.
Many factors are taken into consideration when the Sharks are doing a valuation of the business idea of an entrepreneur.
The earnings, value, and revenue of companies that are in the same sector as the business proposal will guide the investors. The revenue of the previous year or what is in the pipeline guides the two parties in reaching a decision.
The investors make a comparison of a running company’s profit and the valuation of the entrepreneur to figure out the right earnings multiple.
After agreeing, the investors will need a stake in the business of the entrepreneur. There are times when they can agree on the percentage of ownership or formula of sharing profit.
2. The fans
The reality of the Sharks and the entrepreneurs trying to outshine or outbid each other is what makes this television series attractive. Rightly so, it has seen its fan base grow exponentially since it premiered in 2009.
Every week, close to 8 million viewers are glued to their screens to watch another exciting episode of Shark Tank. If you have watched it before, there is no way you will want to miss out on how entrepreneurs ask the investors for help as they showcase their competency in business.
The Shark Tank show is not only social but also interactive. Whenever the investors start tweeting live when the show is ongoing, thousands of fans usually go crazy on Twitter as they try to follow the proceedings.
For fans, it is an opportunity to have a conversation with the Sharks and the entrepreneurs. The show provides fans with vital hints, ideas, and information on businesses.
3. The actors
The main actors of this business television series are the Sharks. This list features the past, current, recurring, and guest Sharks of the show.
Kevin O’Leary is one of the most successful Sharks and the owner of O’Leary Fine Wines. On average, he has made over $400 million from Shark Tank investments.
Daymond John follows closely with $350 million. He is the CEO of FUBU, Shark branding, and FB legacy among other companies.
Robert Herjavec is another notable actor on Shark Tank. He is the founder of the Herjavec Group of companies. Also, a discussion of these Sharks cannot be complete without mentioning Lori Greiner.
Known to many as the queen of QVC, she is a successful inventor and entrepreneur. She has made more than $150 million through Shark tank investments. Barbara Corcoran, the founder of the Corcoran group of companies is also a regular actor in this television series.
Other actors include Marc Cuban who successfully runs notable companies such as Landmark Theatres, Dallas mavericks, and magnolia pictures.
Nick Woodman of Go Pro Cameras, Troy Carter of Atom Factory, Chris Sacca of Lowercase Capital, and Kevin Harrington of Home Shopping Network are also popular actors in Shark Tank.
Comedian Jeff Foxworthy, Film producer Steve Tisch, and philanthropist John Paul Dejoria have also made appearances on Shark Tank.
4. Ratings
The overall performance of the Shark tank show has given it good ratings from fans and viewers. Out-of-home viewing and a better playback on streaming platforms and DVR give the show a good rating.
In its last episodes, Shark Tank has been in the category of the most-watched television series drawing over 4.3 million viewers in total. Nevertheless, the inability of the show to entice young viewers made the ratings dwindle significantly.
In the first season of the show, its popularity and ratings were down with season 2 realizing only 9 episodes.
However, Shark Tank’s popularity in terms of viewers started soaring in season 3.
The viewers surpassed the 5 million mark giving the show an amazing rank in the ratings. In 2012, the show’s popularity was still rising after recording more than 6 million viewers for each episode.
With its shows on Friday night, Shark Tank became a favorite for viewers between the ages of 18-49 years. This growth in its rating made producers add more episodes in the subsequent series.
As a result, the sixth season became the most successful of the show with over 9 million viewers in one episode. And noting hos such TV shows generate money, they must have made a good return from that viewership.
5. Notable awards
Because of these amazing ratings of the show, it won several awards. In 2015 and 2017, Shark Tank was voted the best-structured television series by the Critics Choice television awards.
In the same year, Primetime Creative awards recognized the show as the best-structured program among many television shows contested.
Earlier in 2013, the Television Critics Association Awards recognized Shark Tank as the best in reality programming. In 2014, the show was nominated for the best reality series by Critics Choice Awards and won it.
The television series show has also been nominated for many other awards but it did finish as the runners-up. All these are clear indications that Shark Tank is a successful business reality show because of its impact on the fans.
6. Production
The show is produced by Mark Burnett with a lot of similarities borrowed from the UK version of Dragon’s Den. In the initial stages, Shark Tank contestants agreed with Finnmax, the starting production company for the show.
The company was given the go-ahead to take a 5% equity stake or 2% loyalty to the business idea of the entrepreneur.
In 2013, the company parted ways with this policy after protests from investors led by Mark Cuban. The policy was seen as a way of lowering the entrepreneurs’ quality. The law had made a substantial number of investors decline to participate in the Shark tank shows.
7. Profitability
On average, most of the investors and participants of the Shark Tank show have been successful. Only less than 10% of them have gone out of business after a successful pitch of ideas to the Sharks.
About 80% are operating and making a substantial amount of profits. The other remaining entrepreneurs whose ideas were picked by the investors are not making a profit but their businesses are still in running.
On average, the profitability success of the Shark Tank Show is approximately 94%.Bombas Company which specializes in the selling of comfort T-shirts and socks has made the most sales(over $225 million) on Shark Tank.
The initial funding to the entrepreneur who brought the business idea was $200,000. This gave Daymond John a 17.5% stake in the company as the Shark who got interested in the pitch.
Another noteworthy company is Scrub Daddy which has contributed $209 million in sales. After being interested in the pitch, Lori Greiner pumped in $200,000 to receive a stake of 20% in the company.
Squatty Potty Company which designs toilet stools that promote seamless movement generated $175 million. It was also Lori Greiner who made an investment contribution of $350 million for a 10% stake in the company.
8. Where to watch
You can watch all the seasons of Shark Tank online at ABC.com. You can also get episodes and seasons on Amazon Prime Video in the USA.
Apart from ABC, online streaming is also available on Fubo TV, Hulu, Direct TV, and Spectrum On Demand.
If you want to purchase the episodes as downloads, Apple iTunes, Vudu, Amazon Video and Google Play movies are available. Unfortunately, it is not possible to watch Shark Tank on Netflix.
Is it worth it on TV?
SharkTank is worth it for TV because of the value of entrepreneurial education it offers and the entertainment it has for the audience. Even if you are not a business enthusiast the Shark Tank reality television series is worth it.
Whether you are subscribing with payments or streaming the episodes online, watching the show can add value to your business mind.
It is a great show for both experienced and novice entrepreneurs.
Is Shark tank real or fake?
Despite the popularity and success of this television reality show, there have been doubts about its status. Other viewers have raised questions about it being scripted.
However, pitchers, investors, and sharks all confirm that no episode is scripted. Unlike other reality shows that have proved to be staged, all the characters and money involved in Shark Tank are real.
The sharks are the ones who provide the money that goes to an entrepreneur’s business. Read more on our update that Shark Tank deals are real and provide the actual events.
Performance of the show
In terms of season, production, and profitability, the performance of this show has been growing ever since it premiered in 2009.
With seasons one and two having 14 and 9 episodes respectively, the latest seasons witnessed a steady growth thereby confirming its positive performance.
After the growing popularity of the show, the seasons that aired from 2013 to 2016 each had 29 episodes. This was the highest number of episodes for a season.
In the last episode that ended in May 2022, the show had a total of 24 episodes. In total, the Shark Tank show has produced 13 seasons and over 290 episodes. Indeed, this is an incredible performance, especially with the impact the shows have made on the business world.
Fortunately, the producer and management of the show have now renewed the show to run for the 14th season. The first episode is going to make a debut in September 2022.
All the lovers of the show can enthusiastically wait to enjoy the amazing episodes again and get new business ideas.
Final Verdict
Over the years, there is formidable proof that the Shark Tank reality show has been a success. The stage of the show has witnessed amazing ideas that have turned into multimillion businesses today.
Lest you forget, there could be no success without the brilliant minds of entrepreneurs who are always eager to prosper.
Bombas, Squatty Potty, Simply Fit Body, Scrub Daddy, Tipsy Elves, and The Original Comfy are among the successful products of Shark Tank.
This demonstrates that there is a lot of space for new business ideas that entrepreneurs can still explore. With the growing millions of fans and viewers, the show will continue to boost successful businesspersons and their ideas.
I am a freelance journalist in the entertainment industry who currently works as a writer in showbiz. I have a particular interest in TV shows and online programs. I also write on news, ideas, trends, and updates.
