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Verminators: In the Public Eye
1 Jul, 2008 By: Pete Grasso Pest Management ProfessionalMike Masterson and the Isotech team want to educate the public on the world of pest management — one Discovery Channel viewer at a time
Here's a fact few members of the general public know: At any given time during the day, you're never more than 15 feet from some type of insect.
When confronted with that fact, many people freak out and don't know what to do — that is, until now. Thanks to the power of television and the exceptional reputation of Discovery Channel for educational programming, ordinary people are learning about the world of pest management. Their lesson: "Maybe I should call a professional."
 Left to right: Robert Roman, Joey De La Rosa, Mike Masterson and Sam Torres. |
That's one of the main goals of Verminators, a reality show that chronicles the everyday activities of pest management professionals (PMPs) Mike Masterson and Kevin Alden, owners of Isotech Pest Management in Covina, Calif.
"I've been telling my wife for years they should have a TV show about what we do," Masterson jokes.
Now they do. Verminators, which airs new episodes every Monday night on Discovery Channel, is taking the television world by storm. It's the latest water-cooler show that has people talking — talking about pest management.
"The first episode was off the charts," Masterson says. "The second episode, Discovery Channel was worried what would happen, but it turned out we held our audience."
But, Masterson says, the third episode is when they really started breaking away. The network purposely scheduled Verminators to air after the popular show Dirty Jobs to pull some of the other show's audience.
"By the third episode, we started pulling away from Dirty Jobs with our own audience," Masterson says. "Every time an episode airs, we get 100 to 200 calls. The network loves this show.
"We have the biggest audience they've ever had for that time slot. We've almost got a cult-like following now."
HOW IT ALL STARTED
Masterson started in this industry working a part-time gig with Orkin that turned into a full-time job. During that time, he made it his goal to learn everything he could about pest management.
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"I realized I must find a way to make an impact in this industry, and I knew it started with knowledge," Masterson says. "I listened to the top people who've been in this industry a while, learned little secrets about the industry, and then tried to make it better."
After 18 years at Orkin, Masterson invented the Termiscope, a subterranean early warning system for termites.
"That's what got me to leave Orkin after 18 years. I brought it to market in 2002 and pursued selling that and looking for other opportunities," Masterson says. "I became an entrepreneur and learned how to deal with being out on my own."
Soon after that, long-time friend Kevin Alden approached Masterson about opening up their own pest management company.
"Mike and I really set out to change the culture not only within the industry, but specifically within the industry's technicians — to teach them they're not just technicians or applicators, they're diagnosticians," Alden says. "Our technicians diagnose problems. Our customers depend on us to protect their businesses and their reputations. We're not just there to make a buck."
The concept for Verminators was already in the works by Discovery Channel, and the network began interviewing different companies by having them come out and perform services. Isotech won the job with its exceptional customer service.
In order to do the show right, Isotech teamed up with production company Original Productions — producers of The Deadliest Catch and Ice Road Truckers.
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"Being portrayed as the old-fashioned exterminator and having the industry portrayed in a negative light was our main worry," Masterson says. "We were actually approached by four different production companies, and Kevin and I looked at it and submitted everything to our lawyers to find out who was for real and who was a joke.
"Our lawyers came back and told us that Original Productions was the real deal — they're the leaders in reality TV."
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