WEBVTT - Golden Age of Distribution for Entertainment Content

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<v Speaker 1>You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Messer and

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<v Speaker 1>Jason Kelly on Bloomberg Radio. So I gotta tell you.

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<v Speaker 1>As I was reading in on this next guest, I

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<v Speaker 1>saw Spirits Network and then I saw O T T

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<v Speaker 1>platforms like water. We just talking about media. Are we

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<v Speaker 1>talking about Booze? We're talking about both. That's like the

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<v Speaker 1>dynamic duo. I love it. Nick Buzzle is the co

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<v Speaker 1>founder and CEO of Spirits Network. He joins us on

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<v Speaker 1>the phone from New York City. All right, Nick, so

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<v Speaker 1>tell us what Spirits Network is all about. Well, thanks

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<v Speaker 1>for having me. And Spirits Network is the first shoppable

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<v Speaker 1>streaming platform for premium spirits where you can watch and

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<v Speaker 1>purchase with two hour home delivery in over fifty cities

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<v Speaker 1>in the US. We are imagine Netflix meets birch Box.

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<v Speaker 1>We are experienced driven and you can watch all of

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<v Speaker 1>our great programming from documentaries to expert to celebrity and

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<v Speaker 1>you can actually try everything you see right in from

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<v Speaker 1>the comfort of your home. So you're watching a program, so,

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<v Speaker 1>so help me out. So I'm a consumer. So I'm

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<v Speaker 1>watching a program and I see something, and so then

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<v Speaker 1>I order and I get it or how does it? Try.

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<v Speaker 1>Imagine you're watching either on your Apple TV, your Apple iOS,

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<v Speaker 1>or your Android device, and you are watching a great documentary.

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<v Speaker 1>For example, we have a series called Science of Spirits

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<v Speaker 1>where we talk about how spirits are made, and we

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<v Speaker 1>feature both craft and commercial distilleries, and you are watching

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<v Speaker 1>and learning about it, and you can literally click with

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<v Speaker 1>your with your finger on your phone and with your

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<v Speaker 1>remote from your Apple TV and right on your screen

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<v Speaker 1>purchase that spirit and it's delivered right to your home

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<v Speaker 1>how quickly in most most cities within two hours. We

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<v Speaker 1>also have a monthly bottle service, so if you're into

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<v Speaker 1>exploring and discovering, and we're covering both whiskey, tequila, rum mescal,

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<v Speaker 1>you can actually have a bottle of the month the

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<v Speaker 1>livered to your home every month, handpicked by experts based

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<v Speaker 1>on your flavor profile, so you tell us. Just like

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<v Speaker 1>when you become a member of Spotify or Apple Music,

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<v Speaker 1>we ask you some questions about your taste when you

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<v Speaker 1>come in, and everything we're doing is personalized to what

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<v Speaker 1>you like, and we're helping you explore and discover, but

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<v Speaker 1>you're also entertained. We have over a hundred hours of

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<v Speaker 1>programming and everything is shoppable. All right. So, Nick, you

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<v Speaker 1>are well experienced in the media business, and you know,

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<v Speaker 1>as I look back at your your bio and your CV,

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<v Speaker 1>you have really been on the cutting edge, it feels

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<v Speaker 1>like in many ways, especially in terms of both how

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<v Speaker 1>we consume but also how content is created and distributed.

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<v Speaker 1>This is such a fascinating moment. I mean, I think

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<v Speaker 1>about it even for us sort of what we do

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<v Speaker 1>every day in the different ways that we try and

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<v Speaker 1>get people to consume what we do, whether it's on

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<v Speaker 1>video via YouTube or you know, linear radio or traditional radio,

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<v Speaker 1>directional radio, I should say, out of that radio, podcast, etcetera.

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<v Speaker 1>Help us understand what you make of all of this disruption.

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<v Speaker 1>How do you sort of separate, as it were, the

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<v Speaker 1>signal from the noise In terms of what's working now? Well,

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<v Speaker 1>I think we're in the Obviously, we've we've seen the

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<v Speaker 1>golden age of content for the last uh, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>five ten years, and now I think we're in the

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<v Speaker 1>golden age of distribution. Uh. Consumers now more than ever,

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<v Speaker 1>have more choice than ever. But I also think discovery

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<v Speaker 1>and finding things that are right for you have become

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<v Speaker 1>a bigger challenge. Everybody from Netflix to Hulu, to Amazon,

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<v Speaker 1>to the new Peacocks service. You know, they're attempting to

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<v Speaker 1>be everything to everyone, which is a tough task, and

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<v Speaker 1>as I'm sure you know, there's a lot of content

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<v Speaker 1>that they need to make and stand out with. But

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<v Speaker 1>I think at the end, the consumer is going to

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<v Speaker 1>make the decision based on value. But I also think

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<v Speaker 1>based on their personal choices and taste. I think people

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<v Speaker 1>are interested in hitch programming, and I think there's still

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of areas of underserved um, which is why

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<v Speaker 1>we decided to start with the world of premium spirits

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<v Speaker 1>and accessible luxury, because I do believe that's an area

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<v Speaker 1>where there's a lot of demand but very little supply.

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<v Speaker 1>But I think you're going to continue to see more.

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, I think there's been everything from hypothesis that

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<v Speaker 1>will go from a thousand channels of kind of traditional

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<v Speaker 1>cable all the way to potentially millions of apps of

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<v Speaker 1>these O T T tiles or these O T T

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<v Speaker 1>channels that has something for everyone. Yeah, I do feel

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<v Speaker 1>like it's going to be this menu, write this vast menu.

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<v Speaker 1>It's already rather large, but it is going to be segmented,

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<v Speaker 1>so it's not so simple as sports, but it's you know,

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<v Speaker 1>if I'm really into football for I'm really into basis, Like,

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<v Speaker 1>you're just going to be able to really find your

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<v Speaker 1>niche programming that you really really love and you're just

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<v Speaker 1>gonna be all in on it. Having said that, Nick,

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<v Speaker 1>I'm curious about your audience. Give me an idea of

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<v Speaker 1>the number of subscribers that you've got. So you've got

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<v Speaker 1>the video platform. That's one metric, but then that metric

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<v Speaker 1>turns into actual purchases. What are you seeing there? What

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<v Speaker 1>kind of numbers can you give us that show us

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<v Speaker 1>either you know, how you're doing. Yeah, well, we've just started.

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<v Speaker 1>We've been live for approximately three and a half months,

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<v Speaker 1>and we've been rolling out different aspects of our platform

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<v Speaker 1>over the last year, so we're essentially just at the

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<v Speaker 1>beginning and we've seen thousands of people sign up across

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<v Speaker 1>the US. One of the challenges with Spirits is obviously

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<v Speaker 1>there is regulations. So we are able to service about

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<v Speaker 1>seventeen states, uh, New York and California being one of them,

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<v Speaker 1>are two of them. We also have the ability to

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<v Speaker 1>deliver content to anybody across the US, but not everyone

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<v Speaker 1>has the opportunity to purchase we've seen a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>different purchase happening, mostly higher end spirits. Uh. You know,

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<v Speaker 1>our average cart sizes around two and thirty dollars a user,

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<v Speaker 1>which is pretty high. Um. We've also seen a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of excitement around um the women's category, especially one of

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<v Speaker 1>our shows, The Women's Whiskey Revolution, which features all of

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<v Speaker 1>these trailblazing women in the category of bourbon and whiskey.

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<v Speaker 1>And it's all about bringing community together but also helping

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<v Speaker 1>to really include women in the conversation and help women

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<v Speaker 1>that want to explore it feel welcome and open to

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<v Speaker 1>do so. So we've got something for everyone, everything from

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<v Speaker 1>long form documentaries that we've paired with Spirits too, topical

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<v Speaker 1>elements where we've got you know, the number one Bourbon

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<v Speaker 1>critic in the world, Fred Minick, and the number one

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<v Speaker 1>Spirits critic in the world, Flavian Descipline, hand picking items

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<v Speaker 1>for you. So imagine having an experience where it's really

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<v Speaker 1>for us, by us. It's four Spirits enthusiasts by Spirits enthusiasts,

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<v Speaker 1>and we're just getting started and we're very excited. All right.

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<v Speaker 1>Nick Buzzle, great to catch up with you. Co founder

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<v Speaker 1>CEO of Spirits Network, he joined us on the phone

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<v Speaker 1>from New York City. Such a fascinating concept in many ways.

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, I will say from my personal experience, I

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<v Speaker 1>take your point Carol about like, oh, there's all these

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<v Speaker 1>different things you can do, but how do you ultimately Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>I don't know if this happens to you. Maybe I'm

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<v Speaker 1>just not quite as decisive. But I feel like I

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<v Speaker 1>can sit for half an hour just with Netflix and

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<v Speaker 1>be like, Mmm, that's not exactly what I want. No,

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<v Speaker 1>that's not exactly what I want. No, maybe, and then

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<v Speaker 1>I end up like watching an old not anymore but

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<v Speaker 1>like thirty Rock or like Parks and Wreck or something.

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<v Speaker 1>He's like, then I gotta go to sleep. We do

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<v Speaker 1>it all the time. It's like you revert back to

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<v Speaker 1>those things that you really know and love. I mean,

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<v Speaker 1>I can't tell you how many times there's a series

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<v Speaker 1>that we've watched them, like, yeah, let's watch let's just

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<v Speaker 1>watch one more. Let's just watch one and then I

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<v Speaker 1>gotta get to bed, you know. Like, so I do

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<v Speaker 1>wonder about the sort of the discover ability. I mean,

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<v Speaker 1>even when you and I talked about podcasts, You're like,

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<v Speaker 1>I don't know how to pick a podcast. I did

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<v Speaker 1>I said, I'm like overwhelmed by it. I'm like, can you,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, kind of curate for me, Like it's something

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<v Speaker 1>I should go listen to. Not everyone has a personal

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<v Speaker 1>curator like you. I'm a very lucky individual.