Ohio native helps LeBron James, Maverick Carter move 'The Shop' to Amazon's 'Thursday Night Football'

Amazon Prime Video executive producer Brandon Lowe is a Northeast Ohioan through and through.

A native of Canton, Ohio, he attended boarding school in Hudson, a suburb nestled between Greater Cleveland and Greater Akron, and for broader scope he graduated from Ohio State University.

Those roots will serve him well as he produces "TNF in The Shop" an alternate stream that will feature the cast of the HBO series "The Shop: Uninterrupted" helmed by Akron natives LeBron James and Maverick Carter along with Paul Rivera.

The series features the cast and their celebrity guests commiserating over the issues of the moment in a barbershop setting. At 8:15 p.m. Thursday when the Tennessee Titans kick off against the Green Bay Packers, they will be chopping it up about the football.

"The Shop" on HBO is filmed and edited. This will be different.

"My duties related to this is – I am the live producer," Lowe said. "And really that's key because this is the first time that ‘The Shop’ is live."

That could make for some interesting, spontaneous television depending upon how the game flows and who the celebrity guests are. He will be collaborating with the creative team for "The Shop."

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"I'm the primary person who will be speaking in the ear of Maverick Carter, Paul Rivera, and LeBron James," Lowe said. "So, I'm really leading that charge there and just providing that live show structure to make sure everything flows smoothly throughout the night."

Streaming technology brings changes to television

What’s happening with “TNF in The Shop” shows what possibilities exist with a little bit of imagination. Alternate broadcasts are not new. ESPN should get credit for pioneering the concept on college football championship games and launching in partnership with Peyton and Eli Manning “The Manningcast” as part of some "Monday Night Football" broadcasts, which really brought them to the forefront. As part of "TNF" Amazon has other alternative streams for fans.

Lowe said the demand and will to do more in this area is there primarily because of our connected society, including social media. He said he doesn’t believe there’s too much desire to tinker with traditional broadcasts, however.

The football diehard wants that traditional broadcast, but the casual viewer wants something from a different perspective.

"So, that's where ‘TNF in The Shop’ comes in," he said. "You have some of the biggest names in sports and entertainment, along with an established great, great and award-winning brand, like ‘The Shop’ with Maverick Carter and Paul Rivera and LeBron James and you say, 'I want some smart, interesting conversation to go along with this great NFL  presentation.'

"And so I just think the appetite is there to have choices. We have choices. We know about second screens, again, we know about social media. So, it's like, 'OK, how do we put all of this into the fold and give the viewers something different?'”

Lowe has a special appreciation for being able to play a part in this primarily because the immortal James quote about Northeast Ohio.

"So for me to have this opportunity to produce this show, which is going to be seen by huge amounts of eyeballs, and it just so happens to involve some of the biggest, most impactful folks from Northeast Ohio, like LeBron James, it's just perfect," he said. "The universe is lining up. It just means a lot. It just goes to show that everybody from Akron, everybody from Canton, if you really set your mind to do something and work, sky's really the limit."

Reach George M. Thomas at gthomas@thebeaconjournal.com.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: LeBron James, Maverick Carter set up 'Shop' on Thursday Night Football