1 00:00:02,120 --> 00:00:05,640 Speaker 1: You're listening to Math and Magic production of I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:08,680 --> 00:00:10,680 Speaker 1: As a lawyer, I knew it wasn't gonna work when 3 00:00:10,840 --> 00:00:13,880 Speaker 1: I was writing prospectuses in the corporate department, and we 4 00:00:13,920 --> 00:00:16,760 Speaker 1: sat at lunch one day after about six or nine months, 5 00:00:17,120 --> 00:00:19,040 Speaker 1: and a partner came over and said that there was 6 00:00:19,079 --> 00:00:22,000 Speaker 1: a change to the disclosure lores that the SEC came 7 00:00:22,040 --> 00:00:24,720 Speaker 1: out with, and that from now on, there's going to 8 00:00:24,800 --> 00:00:27,560 Speaker 1: be a new way that you write paragraph twelve best six. 9 00:00:28,040 --> 00:00:30,080 Speaker 1: And I was at a table with like six really 10 00:00:30,160 --> 00:00:32,080 Speaker 1: bright people that I really liked that we're doing the 11 00:00:32,120 --> 00:00:35,440 Speaker 1: same thing as me, and they lit up, they were excited. 12 00:00:36,040 --> 00:00:39,480 Speaker 1: I remember thinking to myself, I could care less. How 13 00:00:39,520 --> 00:00:42,040 Speaker 1: am I going to compete with this group. They're bright, 14 00:00:42,120 --> 00:00:45,720 Speaker 1: they're hard working, and they love this stuff. I remember 15 00:00:45,760 --> 00:00:47,440 Speaker 1: going home that day, I think eight to myself, I 16 00:00:47,440 --> 00:00:50,640 Speaker 1: gotta find something else that I love. That's the journey 17 00:00:50,680 --> 00:01:01,000 Speaker 1: I think that we're all on. I'm Bob Pittman, and 18 00:01:01,040 --> 00:01:04,000 Speaker 1: welcome to this episode of Math and Magic Stories from 19 00:01:04,000 --> 00:01:07,840 Speaker 1: the Frontiers and Marketing, where we explore success stories and 20 00:01:07,959 --> 00:01:10,920 Speaker 1: some failures and the people behind them, focusing on that 21 00:01:11,080 --> 00:01:15,319 Speaker 1: marketing and product success formula of strong analytics and powerful 22 00:01:15,360 --> 00:01:19,080 Speaker 1: creative math and magic. We have as our guest today, 23 00:01:19,440 --> 00:01:23,520 Speaker 1: someone who has an amazing track record of success, success 24 00:01:23,560 --> 00:01:26,800 Speaker 1: that has always been built on well crafted strategy and 25 00:01:26,880 --> 00:01:40,679 Speaker 1: execution with both precision and passion. David Zaslow. He's the 26 00:01:40,720 --> 00:01:44,520 Speaker 1: President CEO of Discovery with over three billion viewers in 27 00:01:44,600 --> 00:01:51,320 Speaker 1: over two hundred and twenty countries, lawyer, strategists, cable pioneer, dealmaker, visionary, 28 00:01:51,720 --> 00:01:54,280 Speaker 1: even one of the highest paid execs in the US. 29 00:01:54,320 --> 00:01:57,600 Speaker 1: But what most people say about him is that he's 30 00:01:57,640 --> 00:02:01,560 Speaker 1: a nice, polite and concerned round a great guy. Actually, 31 00:02:01,640 --> 00:02:03,480 Speaker 1: I don't think I've ever heard anyone say a bad 32 00:02:03,520 --> 00:02:05,800 Speaker 1: word about him. Trust me, that's hard to pull off. 33 00:02:05,800 --> 00:02:08,680 Speaker 1: With a career as long and as diverse as David's, 34 00:02:08,680 --> 00:02:11,960 Speaker 1: he is really that great. So here he is today, 35 00:02:12,080 --> 00:02:16,000 Speaker 1: David's asked off with his ever present smile. Thank you, Bob. 36 00:02:16,280 --> 00:02:18,400 Speaker 1: It's a pleasure for me to be here because you 37 00:02:18,440 --> 00:02:22,200 Speaker 1: and I know each other for thirty years, many many years. 38 00:02:22,480 --> 00:02:25,960 Speaker 1: You inspired me. You made the cable business cool and 39 00:02:26,040 --> 00:02:29,520 Speaker 1: fun and hip, even though the industry as we looked 40 00:02:29,520 --> 00:02:31,840 Speaker 1: at it was very uncertain in those first few years. 41 00:02:32,320 --> 00:02:35,320 Speaker 1: You inspired many of us, including me that this is 42 00:02:35,320 --> 00:02:37,000 Speaker 1: what we wanted to do with our lives. You are 43 00:02:37,160 --> 00:02:39,800 Speaker 1: very nice and by the way you inspire me and 44 00:02:39,800 --> 00:02:42,200 Speaker 1: inspire others. Today, here's what we're gonna do. We're gonna 45 00:02:42,200 --> 00:02:43,960 Speaker 1: get started before we get into the meat of it. 46 00:02:44,280 --> 00:02:47,680 Speaker 1: I want to do you in sixty seconds. We have 47 00:02:47,720 --> 00:02:51,840 Speaker 1: fun with it. Do you prefer vanilla or chocolate, chocolate, 48 00:02:51,919 --> 00:02:57,280 Speaker 1: chip mint? Twitter or Instagram? Instagram, coffee or tea? Coffee? 49 00:02:57,600 --> 00:03:02,360 Speaker 1: Shark Weeker, Puppy Bowl, sharkly because it's a week in 50 00:03:02,440 --> 00:03:06,079 Speaker 1: Manhattan or Brooklyn. I live in Manhattan, but I'm a 51 00:03:06,120 --> 00:03:08,280 Speaker 1: Brooklyn boy. That's where I grew up, so my heart 52 00:03:08,360 --> 00:03:11,840 Speaker 1: is still in Brooklyn. Golf for tennis. Pretty bad at golf, 53 00:03:11,880 --> 00:03:14,160 Speaker 1: but it's what I play. It's what I enjoy doing now. 54 00:03:14,360 --> 00:03:18,320 Speaker 1: Sunrise or sunsets. Sunrise, that's my thing. I get up 55 00:03:18,320 --> 00:03:20,320 Speaker 1: at a quarter to five in the morning. I love 56 00:03:20,440 --> 00:03:24,760 Speaker 1: to be out while everyone's asleep. Mcnroe, O'Connors McEnroe definitely 57 00:03:25,160 --> 00:03:29,120 Speaker 1: MythBusters or Deadliest Catch. I think Deadliest Catch because it 58 00:03:29,240 --> 00:03:32,560 Speaker 1: really created a new genre of adventure. What's your favorite 59 00:03:32,560 --> 00:03:36,720 Speaker 1: country outside the US? Israel? Boats or planes. I'm a 60 00:03:36,760 --> 00:03:39,800 Speaker 1: little claustrophobic. So this answer may surprise you, but plane 61 00:03:40,120 --> 00:03:42,360 Speaker 1: with boats, you're stuck on him for an awful long time. 62 00:03:42,520 --> 00:03:44,480 Speaker 1: What did you want to be when you were growing up? 63 00:03:44,960 --> 00:03:46,520 Speaker 1: I thought I wanted to be a lawyer because my 64 00:03:46,600 --> 00:03:48,480 Speaker 1: dad was a lawyer and he loved it. When I 65 00:03:48,520 --> 00:03:51,200 Speaker 1: became a lawyer, who was pretty quick once I started 66 00:03:51,240 --> 00:03:54,320 Speaker 1: working that I realized it was the wrong choice for me. 67 00:03:54,760 --> 00:03:56,600 Speaker 1: It's one of the reasons that I have built a 68 00:03:56,760 --> 00:04:00,360 Speaker 1: very big internship program at Discovery, because I think getting 69 00:04:00,440 --> 00:04:03,960 Speaker 1: a summer of experience is a great opportunity to see 70 00:04:04,000 --> 00:04:05,920 Speaker 1: what you like and see what you don't before you 71 00:04:06,000 --> 00:04:08,480 Speaker 1: really invest yourself for a long time. You have a 72 00:04:08,560 --> 00:04:12,560 Speaker 1: legendary intern program, so you're doing it well. Okay, let's 73 00:04:12,600 --> 00:04:15,360 Speaker 1: jump into it. Fourteen years ago, you made the move, 74 00:04:15,560 --> 00:04:19,200 Speaker 1: the big move from NBC to be the CEO of Discovery. 75 00:04:19,360 --> 00:04:22,280 Speaker 1: Just recently, Discovery took the top spot in the key 76 00:04:22,279 --> 00:04:26,560 Speaker 1: advertising demo women. There's a lot of noise about in 77 00:04:26,560 --> 00:04:30,719 Speaker 1: the industry. You unseated NBC from their long leadership position. 78 00:04:31,279 --> 00:04:33,200 Speaker 1: I know that was a surprise for many people, but 79 00:04:33,320 --> 00:04:36,159 Speaker 1: not you. You started this journey with Discovery at a 80 00:04:36,200 --> 00:04:38,799 Speaker 1: time when NBC and the other broadcast networks were still 81 00:04:38,880 --> 00:04:42,360 Speaker 1: far ahead. Did you ever dream this was gonna happen 82 00:04:42,520 --> 00:04:45,240 Speaker 1: back in two thousand and seven. Is really a big 83 00:04:45,279 --> 00:04:48,360 Speaker 1: moment because cable, with a lot of hard work by 84 00:04:48,360 --> 00:04:53,159 Speaker 1: building niche's gain reel viewership and advertiser support and respect. 85 00:04:53,600 --> 00:04:55,880 Speaker 1: But it was always the big broadcasters that was the 86 00:04:55,880 --> 00:04:59,960 Speaker 1: big platform. And so early this summer when we aggregated 87 00:05:00,040 --> 00:05:04,599 Speaker 1: together h G, t V, I D, Food, t LC, 88 00:05:05,000 --> 00:05:07,599 Speaker 1: and Own, we had the top five channels in America 89 00:05:07,640 --> 00:05:11,120 Speaker 1: for women. We were bigger than not only all the broadcasters, 90 00:05:11,160 --> 00:05:13,559 Speaker 1: but we were bigger than the broadcasters plus their cable 91 00:05:13,600 --> 00:05:16,760 Speaker 1: networks together. It just reinforces that it doesn't matter what 92 00:05:16,839 --> 00:05:20,279 Speaker 1: platform you're on. You need great content that and tell 93 00:05:20,320 --> 00:05:23,599 Speaker 1: great stories that people want to spend time with. At Discovery, 94 00:05:23,640 --> 00:05:26,840 Speaker 1: we have a real advantage now because there's lots of 95 00:05:26,880 --> 00:05:30,160 Speaker 1: scripted content out there, in scripted movies, and there are 96 00:05:30,200 --> 00:05:32,800 Speaker 1: lots of channels out there that people go to first show. 97 00:05:33,480 --> 00:05:36,320 Speaker 1: But most of our channels are about passion groups and 98 00:05:36,640 --> 00:05:39,160 Speaker 1: we're trying to superserve people that like a particular thing. 99 00:05:39,279 --> 00:05:42,280 Speaker 1: So Food Network, when you get up in the morning, 100 00:05:42,279 --> 00:05:44,760 Speaker 1: you might put that on because you love Bobby Flay, 101 00:05:44,880 --> 00:05:48,560 Speaker 1: or you love Giata, or you just love food, h G, 102 00:05:48,720 --> 00:05:52,880 Speaker 1: t V, Discovery Science Channel, I D because you love crime. 103 00:05:53,279 --> 00:05:57,400 Speaker 1: In this world where people could watch anything, it becomes 104 00:05:57,400 --> 00:06:00,000 Speaker 1: harder and harder to curate when you have unlimited choice, 105 00:06:00,640 --> 00:06:04,680 Speaker 1: and so we have channels that curate for you. When 106 00:06:04,720 --> 00:06:07,120 Speaker 1: we started together thirty years ago, there were three or 107 00:06:07,120 --> 00:06:09,440 Speaker 1: four broadcasters, and it was a big deal to offer 108 00:06:09,480 --> 00:06:12,400 Speaker 1: people five or six or seven cable channels. I remember 109 00:06:12,560 --> 00:06:16,359 Speaker 1: fifteen these channels, and then there was going to be 110 00:06:16,400 --> 00:06:20,720 Speaker 1: a hundred. But now the problem with unlimited choices, it 111 00:06:20,760 --> 00:06:24,440 Speaker 1: creates anxiety and confusion. And so I think curation is 112 00:06:24,480 --> 00:06:27,400 Speaker 1: the real challenge for us in media, and it's to 113 00:06:27,440 --> 00:06:29,440 Speaker 1: be able to challenge for individuals trying to figure out 114 00:06:29,520 --> 00:06:30,800 Speaker 1: what do I want to watch? What do I do 115 00:06:30,839 --> 00:06:33,880 Speaker 1: with my time? And we've tried to gravitate towards things 116 00:06:33,920 --> 00:06:36,880 Speaker 1: people love, and that's a very different strategy than most 117 00:06:36,880 --> 00:06:40,320 Speaker 1: media companies. When we started cable networks, the basic networks 118 00:06:40,360 --> 00:06:43,039 Speaker 1: back in the late seventies early eighties, the whole idea 119 00:06:43,120 --> 00:06:46,440 Speaker 1: was narrowcast would be these curated channels, and somehow all 120 00:06:46,440 --> 00:06:49,680 Speaker 1: the channels over time sort of drifted away from being 121 00:06:49,720 --> 00:06:53,880 Speaker 1: that pure This is music, this is kids, this is whatever, 122 00:06:54,440 --> 00:06:56,359 Speaker 1: and you've sort of brought it back. Why do you 123 00:06:56,400 --> 00:07:00,120 Speaker 1: think the industry drifted away from it? Well, I oh, 124 00:07:00,279 --> 00:07:02,440 Speaker 1: why they drifted away because you and I were involved 125 00:07:02,480 --> 00:07:06,080 Speaker 1: in a lot of the channels, and it's capitalism profitability. 126 00:07:06,480 --> 00:07:08,720 Speaker 1: So you can create a channel and maybe it's a 127 00:07:08,800 --> 00:07:11,840 Speaker 1: history channel, maybe it's a kid's channel, and you look 128 00:07:11,880 --> 00:07:14,320 Speaker 1: at what your audience is, and for each niche, you 129 00:07:14,360 --> 00:07:17,440 Speaker 1: can estimate about how big that audience is going to be. 130 00:07:17,520 --> 00:07:19,280 Speaker 1: And when you do a good job within that niche 131 00:07:19,320 --> 00:07:21,280 Speaker 1: and you reach a limit and you go for more growth, 132 00:07:22,000 --> 00:07:23,800 Speaker 1: often what you need to do is go outside of 133 00:07:23,800 --> 00:07:26,560 Speaker 1: who you really are. If you look at the history 134 00:07:26,560 --> 00:07:30,400 Speaker 1: of our industry, it's been a very short term gain strategy. 135 00:07:30,480 --> 00:07:32,080 Speaker 1: Maybe you could put on a couple of shows that 136 00:07:32,080 --> 00:07:35,200 Speaker 1: are outside your niche and grow, but in the long term, 137 00:07:35,320 --> 00:07:37,440 Speaker 1: you alienate an audience because when they go to you, 138 00:07:37,920 --> 00:07:39,760 Speaker 1: they kind of expect a certain thing out of you. 139 00:07:40,280 --> 00:07:43,080 Speaker 1: When they get disappointed, it's very easy to lose a viewer. 140 00:07:43,120 --> 00:07:46,560 Speaker 1: And so we think, at least within the traditional TV world, 141 00:07:46,800 --> 00:07:49,680 Speaker 1: we really need to stay true to what these brands are, 142 00:07:49,720 --> 00:07:51,680 Speaker 1: so we turn away a lot of content that maybe 143 00:07:51,680 --> 00:07:53,920 Speaker 1: we could put on food or h G and really 144 00:07:53,960 --> 00:07:56,440 Speaker 1: stretch it out. That might get a bigger number, But 145 00:07:56,520 --> 00:07:59,200 Speaker 1: ultimately it's about people saying that's what I'd expect to 146 00:07:59,240 --> 00:08:01,800 Speaker 1: see on food. That's a lot of fun to watch 147 00:08:01,800 --> 00:08:04,520 Speaker 1: on food, but not why is that on the food network? 148 00:08:04,640 --> 00:08:08,840 Speaker 1: Do you find that with the advertisers that support these 149 00:08:08,920 --> 00:08:11,760 Speaker 1: channels that this is a benefit having this very tight 150 00:08:12,160 --> 00:08:15,040 Speaker 1: and clear purpose. Absolutely, the length of view is more. 151 00:08:15,240 --> 00:08:17,360 Speaker 1: We sell a lot of products within the home and 152 00:08:17,400 --> 00:08:20,520 Speaker 1: food category or cooking category. We have a car channel 153 00:08:20,560 --> 00:08:23,240 Speaker 1: called Motor Trend, and in each of those cases, we 154 00:08:23,280 --> 00:08:25,640 Speaker 1: have a lot of advertisers that just advertise on us 155 00:08:25,640 --> 00:08:27,960 Speaker 1: because they want to reach an affinity group that has 156 00:08:27,960 --> 00:08:31,800 Speaker 1: a passion for particular product. As the world changes, it 157 00:08:31,840 --> 00:08:34,240 Speaker 1: doesn't really matter if you have free to air channel 158 00:08:34,320 --> 00:08:37,200 Speaker 1: or cable channel. It's the content that you have, and 159 00:08:37,240 --> 00:08:40,360 Speaker 1: people want to consume that content on any platform. And 160 00:08:40,440 --> 00:08:43,240 Speaker 1: so how do we aggregate more and better? I P 161 00:08:43,840 --> 00:08:45,880 Speaker 1: We can talk about some of the chances we've taken. 162 00:08:45,920 --> 00:08:48,520 Speaker 1: We've been successful in some areas and some it's way 163 00:08:48,559 --> 00:08:50,840 Speaker 1: too early to tell, and some have not worked out. 164 00:08:50,840 --> 00:08:53,040 Speaker 1: So well, because we're all trying to figure out where 165 00:08:53,040 --> 00:08:55,040 Speaker 1: the ball is going to be, you know, the flavor 166 00:08:55,080 --> 00:08:57,640 Speaker 1: of the month right now. Are these scripted series and 167 00:08:57,720 --> 00:09:00,760 Speaker 1: scripted movie services, and whether it's is any Plus or 168 00:09:00,920 --> 00:09:05,439 Speaker 1: HBO or Netflix or Amazon Showtime, they're trying to appeal 169 00:09:05,480 --> 00:09:09,560 Speaker 1: to everyone, and I think ultimately people will probably buy 170 00:09:09,800 --> 00:09:12,400 Speaker 1: three or four of them. But we see ourselves as 171 00:09:12,440 --> 00:09:16,079 Speaker 1: almost like a magazine rack. You may watch scripted series 172 00:09:16,080 --> 00:09:19,160 Speaker 1: and scripted movies, but you still love science, you still 173 00:09:19,200 --> 00:09:20,679 Speaker 1: love food. You still want to go out and buy 174 00:09:20,679 --> 00:09:22,880 Speaker 1: your food magazine. So you waited to get your golf 175 00:09:22,920 --> 00:09:26,160 Speaker 1: magazine because you're passionate about golf. You love Oprah Winfrey 176 00:09:26,200 --> 00:09:28,640 Speaker 1: and you love her values and what she has to say. 177 00:09:28,760 --> 00:09:31,960 Speaker 1: And so that's how we have really changed the way 178 00:09:32,000 --> 00:09:34,160 Speaker 1: we look at the business. Let the rest of the 179 00:09:34,200 --> 00:09:37,600 Speaker 1: industry really fight over scripted series and scripted movies and 180 00:09:37,640 --> 00:09:40,679 Speaker 1: try and be almost like the way cable started, as 181 00:09:40,720 --> 00:09:43,839 Speaker 1: you said, very narrow. We don't need a big group 182 00:09:43,840 --> 00:09:46,679 Speaker 1: of people. If they're really passionate about food and they're 183 00:09:46,679 --> 00:09:49,960 Speaker 1: gonna spend a lot of time with us on any platform, 184 00:09:50,040 --> 00:09:51,840 Speaker 1: we could build a good business around that, and we 185 00:09:51,840 --> 00:09:54,840 Speaker 1: could nourish the audience. So with the scripted series of movies, 186 00:09:55,280 --> 00:09:58,200 Speaker 1: is that going more and more commercial free seems to 187 00:09:58,240 --> 00:10:00,840 Speaker 1: meet today that when someone's looking in a a movie, looking 188 00:10:00,840 --> 00:10:03,440 Speaker 1: at a series, they expect no commercials in it, whereas 189 00:10:03,440 --> 00:10:05,560 Speaker 1: the kind of content you have, commercials go with an 190 00:10:05,600 --> 00:10:08,760 Speaker 1: expectation of the content they're getting. People are consuming more 191 00:10:08,840 --> 00:10:11,640 Speaker 1: content than they ever have, but they're consuming it on 192 00:10:11,720 --> 00:10:14,439 Speaker 1: different platforms and as a result of that, a lot 193 00:10:14,480 --> 00:10:18,000 Speaker 1: of the scripted series and movies on TV have declined. 194 00:10:18,520 --> 00:10:22,080 Speaker 1: So you see broadcast declining significantly. Some of the more 195 00:10:22,240 --> 00:10:25,840 Speaker 1: broad cable networks that were nourished by scripted series or 196 00:10:25,880 --> 00:10:29,360 Speaker 1: movies that we're being rerun and rerun are declining quickly. 197 00:10:29,400 --> 00:10:31,240 Speaker 1: And so it's one of the reasons why we've emerged 198 00:10:31,920 --> 00:10:35,040 Speaker 1: with our group of channels as the number two or 199 00:10:35,040 --> 00:10:37,600 Speaker 1: three media company in America and number one for women. 200 00:10:37,960 --> 00:10:40,559 Speaker 1: You've been through the business in so many roles. How 201 00:10:40,559 --> 00:10:43,240 Speaker 1: do you think about the rebalancing of the power players 202 00:10:43,240 --> 00:10:45,760 Speaker 1: and TV. When you went to Discovery, no one thought 203 00:10:45,800 --> 00:10:49,120 Speaker 1: this is going to be the major media company in America, 204 00:10:49,280 --> 00:10:52,080 Speaker 1: And here you are today. And there's some others that 205 00:10:52,120 --> 00:10:54,000 Speaker 1: you looked at and said they'll always be there, and 206 00:10:54,440 --> 00:10:57,560 Speaker 1: they're not. When I went to Discovery, we had Discovery Channel, 207 00:10:57,920 --> 00:11:00,079 Speaker 1: we had Animal Planet, and we had t ls A 208 00:11:00,600 --> 00:11:02,280 Speaker 1: and it was called the Learning Channel, and that was 209 00:11:02,320 --> 00:11:06,120 Speaker 1: basically it. And our international business was very small. We 210 00:11:06,240 --> 00:11:08,520 Speaker 1: determined that we were going to lean forward and take 211 00:11:08,559 --> 00:11:11,520 Speaker 1: a lot of risk. We created the Oprah Winfrey Network. 212 00:11:11,640 --> 00:11:14,120 Speaker 1: Big risk, big risk and a lot of challenges, and 213 00:11:14,160 --> 00:11:16,560 Speaker 1: Oprah and I fought for three or four years to 214 00:11:16,559 --> 00:11:19,280 Speaker 1: find the right voice for that channel and to create 215 00:11:19,320 --> 00:11:21,960 Speaker 1: content that would really nourish an audience. And we didn't 216 00:11:22,000 --> 00:11:23,960 Speaker 1: launch that channel intending it to be a channel for 217 00:11:24,000 --> 00:11:26,360 Speaker 1: African American women, but in the end, there was a 218 00:11:26,400 --> 00:11:29,599 Speaker 1: void in the market and Oprah's voice and taste and 219 00:11:29,679 --> 00:11:34,599 Speaker 1: her ultimate drive to create quality premiere content for African Americans, 220 00:11:34,640 --> 00:11:37,200 Speaker 1: and seeing that that wasn't being done, we were able 221 00:11:37,240 --> 00:11:39,800 Speaker 1: to build the number one channel for African American women. 222 00:11:40,240 --> 00:11:43,679 Speaker 1: We launched i D Investigation Discovery, which is now the 223 00:11:43,800 --> 00:11:46,720 Speaker 1: number one channel in America for women that didn't exist. 224 00:11:47,240 --> 00:11:50,959 Speaker 1: True crime podcast do very well too. CBS for many 225 00:11:51,040 --> 00:11:53,720 Speaker 1: years was the number one broadcast network. There's something about 226 00:11:53,720 --> 00:11:56,840 Speaker 1: crime that's very primitive. We start every show on I 227 00:11:56,960 --> 00:11:59,760 Speaker 1: D with there's a murder, then we do a close 228 00:11:59,840 --> 00:12:02,440 Speaker 1: up of someone's face and there's a tier and we 229 00:12:02,520 --> 00:12:06,560 Speaker 1: all have that innate question of what happened, who did it, 230 00:12:06,920 --> 00:12:09,960 Speaker 1: and could have happened us. We also launched a car 231 00:12:10,040 --> 00:12:13,920 Speaker 1: channel called Motor Trend. Most media companies were defending their 232 00:12:13,960 --> 00:12:16,800 Speaker 1: existing channels. If you were at Viacom, you were defending 233 00:12:16,920 --> 00:12:20,440 Speaker 1: MTV and v H one and Nickelodeon. If you were 234 00:12:20,480 --> 00:12:23,000 Speaker 1: a Time Warner, you were defending T n T and 235 00:12:23,120 --> 00:12:25,880 Speaker 1: TBS and CNN, and they did a great job of it. 236 00:12:26,280 --> 00:12:28,360 Speaker 1: We decided that we were really going to try and grow, 237 00:12:28,400 --> 00:12:30,840 Speaker 1: and so we launched a lot of new channels. We 238 00:12:30,880 --> 00:12:33,199 Speaker 1: acquired scripts so we're able to get h G, t 239 00:12:33,360 --> 00:12:36,640 Speaker 1: V and cooking and food and d I Y, And 240 00:12:36,679 --> 00:12:40,800 Speaker 1: then we went over to Europe, where most media companies 241 00:12:40,920 --> 00:12:44,319 Speaker 1: have been a little wary, but we invested a lot 242 00:12:44,320 --> 00:12:46,920 Speaker 1: of money in Europe and Latin America, and I think 243 00:12:46,960 --> 00:12:50,040 Speaker 1: probably more than anyone else in the US media business 244 00:12:50,320 --> 00:12:54,240 Speaker 1: by a lot. Today, with the largest international media company, 245 00:12:54,280 --> 00:12:57,800 Speaker 1: we have twelve channels in every country. We've even gotten 246 00:12:57,800 --> 00:13:01,280 Speaker 1: into free to air across Europe, and we have your Sport, 247 00:13:01,320 --> 00:13:04,440 Speaker 1: which is the ESPN of Europe. But we have a 248 00:13:04,440 --> 00:13:06,760 Speaker 1: lot of losses. Not only did we make a lot 249 00:13:06,760 --> 00:13:10,280 Speaker 1: of mistakes, but we had a deficit invest So we 250 00:13:10,320 --> 00:13:13,640 Speaker 1: had a great shareholder group, John Malone and Bob Myron 251 00:13:13,720 --> 00:13:16,520 Speaker 1: in the new House family. For the first twenty five 252 00:13:16,559 --> 00:13:19,079 Speaker 1: years of our company took no money out of discovery. 253 00:13:19,440 --> 00:13:22,320 Speaker 1: So most of media traditional media in America, at the 254 00:13:22,400 --> 00:13:24,440 Speaker 1: end of every year there was a certain amount of profit, 255 00:13:24,880 --> 00:13:27,880 Speaker 1: they took that money out in discovery. At the end 256 00:13:27,920 --> 00:13:30,120 Speaker 1: of every year, we said where can we invest this 257 00:13:30,160 --> 00:13:33,319 Speaker 1: for growth? And so we're now the most profitable in 258 00:13:33,400 --> 00:13:36,719 Speaker 1: the national business. But for many years we were investing 259 00:13:37,040 --> 00:13:39,640 Speaker 1: and in a lost position. Did you ever worry that 260 00:13:39,679 --> 00:13:41,360 Speaker 1: maybe you've made a mistake and it wasn't at a 261 00:13:41,480 --> 00:13:45,360 Speaker 1: term profitable. Absolutely. In many cases we launched channels that 262 00:13:45,480 --> 00:13:47,880 Speaker 1: worked in a lot of countries and other countries didn't 263 00:13:47,880 --> 00:13:51,520 Speaker 1: work at all. In some cases we built great businesses. 264 00:13:51,520 --> 00:13:54,200 Speaker 1: We built a great business in Russia and then the 265 00:13:54,240 --> 00:13:58,720 Speaker 1: media rules changed where non Russian companies could not own 266 00:13:59,559 --> 00:14:02,160 Speaker 1: of media business, so we had a restructure and fully 267 00:14:02,160 --> 00:14:05,440 Speaker 1: divest our way out. Latin America was a fantastic business 268 00:14:05,520 --> 00:14:07,599 Speaker 1: for us for ten years, and then the economy is 269 00:14:07,600 --> 00:14:10,199 Speaker 1: turned upside down and they were struggling, and then Europe 270 00:14:10,240 --> 00:14:12,440 Speaker 1: was good for us, and then Europe started to slow down, 271 00:14:12,440 --> 00:14:13,920 Speaker 1: and then we had a great run in Asia. And 272 00:14:13,960 --> 00:14:16,120 Speaker 1: so we're in two d and twenty countries. There's a 273 00:14:16,160 --> 00:14:19,040 Speaker 1: lot of risk. The positive is we've built a lot 274 00:14:19,040 --> 00:14:22,280 Speaker 1: of competence. We have teams on the ground than every country. 275 00:14:22,520 --> 00:14:24,960 Speaker 1: We have a sense of how to do business around 276 00:14:24,960 --> 00:14:27,480 Speaker 1: the world. And as the world has become more global, 277 00:14:28,160 --> 00:14:30,960 Speaker 1: we're in this unique position of having content in language 278 00:14:30,960 --> 00:14:33,360 Speaker 1: in every country in the world, and it gives us 279 00:14:33,360 --> 00:14:36,360 Speaker 1: more of a perspective on media. It also gives us 280 00:14:36,400 --> 00:14:40,040 Speaker 1: more diversity. It's always like a portfolio. In the media industry, 281 00:14:40,520 --> 00:14:43,760 Speaker 1: you're known as one of the great strategists. As companies 282 00:14:43,800 --> 00:14:46,880 Speaker 1: are built, c e o s have three options you 283 00:14:47,000 --> 00:14:50,640 Speaker 1: make buy or partner. Scripts is a great example of 284 00:14:50,840 --> 00:14:54,040 Speaker 1: by Oprah is a perfect example of partner and maybe 285 00:14:54,320 --> 00:14:57,480 Speaker 1: deadly as catches the great build example. How do you 286 00:14:57,600 --> 00:15:00,960 Speaker 1: think about those three options. You've got your strategy in place, 287 00:15:01,760 --> 00:15:04,000 Speaker 1: Does the strategy come with one of those or do 288 00:15:04,040 --> 00:15:07,760 Speaker 1: you examine all three against every leg of the strategy 289 00:15:07,800 --> 00:15:11,360 Speaker 1: you're getting ready to execute. I think Ultimately, you have 290 00:15:11,440 --> 00:15:13,760 Speaker 1: to try and figure out where you think people are 291 00:15:13,760 --> 00:15:16,480 Speaker 1: going to be consuming content, and try and figure out 292 00:15:16,520 --> 00:15:18,320 Speaker 1: how you're gonna get the stuff that people are gonna 293 00:15:18,360 --> 00:15:20,280 Speaker 1: want and put it on the platforms where they're gonna 294 00:15:20,280 --> 00:15:22,720 Speaker 1: want to see it. A great example of that is 295 00:15:23,240 --> 00:15:26,560 Speaker 1: for my first ten years at Discovery, up until four 296 00:15:26,640 --> 00:15:30,080 Speaker 1: or five years ago, people weren't consuming content on phone screens. 297 00:15:30,640 --> 00:15:32,640 Speaker 1: They were making phone calls, they were texting, but they 298 00:15:32,640 --> 00:15:36,360 Speaker 1: weren't consuming content. Really until the last five years, Netflix 299 00:15:36,440 --> 00:15:39,280 Speaker 1: was only accelerating and the ability to move content around 300 00:15:39,280 --> 00:15:42,200 Speaker 1: from different platforms was just beginning. So for my first 301 00:15:42,200 --> 00:15:45,720 Speaker 1: ten years, I was operating in a pretty traditional business. 302 00:15:46,080 --> 00:15:49,040 Speaker 1: We were running cable channels, launching channels around the world, 303 00:15:49,200 --> 00:15:51,960 Speaker 1: launching free to air channels, and putting content on those 304 00:15:52,000 --> 00:15:55,000 Speaker 1: platforms and trying to get as many people to watch 305 00:15:55,040 --> 00:15:57,680 Speaker 1: as possible. What made it traditional was the place that 306 00:15:57,720 --> 00:16:00,640 Speaker 1: they watched content was on a TV set, and so 307 00:16:00,800 --> 00:16:03,680 Speaker 1: we kind of had a old stadium and we had 308 00:16:03,680 --> 00:16:05,640 Speaker 1: a pretty good sense of what we were doing and 309 00:16:05,680 --> 00:16:08,240 Speaker 1: who our competition was. Because there was really only one 310 00:16:08,280 --> 00:16:11,080 Speaker 1: place to consume rich content, and that was the TV, 311 00:16:11,640 --> 00:16:13,920 Speaker 1: it started to become pretty clear about four or five 312 00:16:14,000 --> 00:16:16,440 Speaker 1: years ago that everyone was going to have a screen 313 00:16:16,480 --> 00:16:17,960 Speaker 1: in their hands. People were going to be able to 314 00:16:18,000 --> 00:16:21,800 Speaker 1: consume anything they want, as opposed to just what's on 315 00:16:21,840 --> 00:16:25,080 Speaker 1: the schedule on a TV set. We started asking the 316 00:16:25,160 --> 00:16:28,840 Speaker 1: question what will people watch when they could watch anything, 317 00:16:29,200 --> 00:16:31,920 Speaker 1: which is very different than what will people watch when 318 00:16:31,920 --> 00:16:34,800 Speaker 1: they could watch anything that's on the TV set on 319 00:16:34,840 --> 00:16:38,240 Speaker 1: those fifty channels in France or in Italy. And so 320 00:16:38,320 --> 00:16:41,480 Speaker 1: it required looking again at our content and trying to 321 00:16:41,520 --> 00:16:43,560 Speaker 1: figure out that we have the right mix of I 322 00:16:43,720 --> 00:16:47,160 Speaker 1: P of content. And we came to the conclusion, even 323 00:16:47,160 --> 00:16:49,640 Speaker 1: though the company was doing great at the time, that 324 00:16:49,720 --> 00:16:52,320 Speaker 1: we need to do a full reset. And I think 325 00:16:52,360 --> 00:16:55,760 Speaker 1: we came to this probably earlier than anyone else because 326 00:16:55,800 --> 00:16:57,960 Speaker 1: one of the great assets we have at Discovery is 327 00:16:58,320 --> 00:17:01,480 Speaker 1: one of our largest shareholders is On Malone and he's 328 00:17:01,520 --> 00:17:04,800 Speaker 1: a great strategic thinker. He sees the world almost like 329 00:17:04,840 --> 00:17:07,520 Speaker 1: a Bobby Fisher. And it was John over a weekend 330 00:17:07,960 --> 00:17:10,639 Speaker 1: that said, we have all this great content for cable 331 00:17:10,680 --> 00:17:13,320 Speaker 1: channels and free to air channels, but if people could 332 00:17:13,320 --> 00:17:17,160 Speaker 1: watch anything on any platform, how would we do? And 333 00:17:17,640 --> 00:17:20,120 Speaker 1: I looked at him and I said, uh, I don't 334 00:17:20,119 --> 00:17:21,560 Speaker 1: think we do that well. I think we'd have a 335 00:17:21,600 --> 00:17:24,200 Speaker 1: real problem had you thought about the phone as a 336 00:17:24,280 --> 00:17:26,639 Speaker 1: viewing platform. I did, but I was thinking about it 337 00:17:26,760 --> 00:17:29,720 Speaker 1: not coming for a lot longer, and so we really 338 00:17:30,119 --> 00:17:32,359 Speaker 1: we changed the whole strategy of the company. It was 339 00:17:32,400 --> 00:17:36,040 Speaker 1: really based more on intuition and instinct. But if we 340 00:17:36,080 --> 00:17:38,120 Speaker 1: wanted content that people are gonna watch when they could 341 00:17:38,119 --> 00:17:41,639 Speaker 1: watch anything, we said to ourselves, what is that. The 342 00:17:41,680 --> 00:17:44,439 Speaker 1: first thing that came to mind was sports. If you 343 00:17:44,480 --> 00:17:46,440 Speaker 1: really love tennis, you're gonna want to watch the French 344 00:17:46,480 --> 00:17:48,880 Speaker 1: Open or the US Open. If you really love golf, 345 00:17:48,920 --> 00:17:51,000 Speaker 1: you're gonna want to be able to watch the PGA Tour. 346 00:17:51,560 --> 00:17:54,119 Speaker 1: If you really love cycling, you're gonna want to watch 347 00:17:54,560 --> 00:17:58,159 Speaker 1: Toward de France. And so we looked at Eurosport. It 348 00:17:58,240 --> 00:18:00,520 Speaker 1: had three sports channels in every kind tree in all 349 00:18:00,520 --> 00:18:02,560 Speaker 1: of Europe. If it was available to buy, we would 350 00:18:02,560 --> 00:18:04,760 Speaker 1: have bought it. But our only way of getting at 351 00:18:04,800 --> 00:18:07,240 Speaker 1: the sports at that point was the partner partner. So 352 00:18:07,280 --> 00:18:10,240 Speaker 1: we partnered and it turned out good because we learned 353 00:18:10,240 --> 00:18:12,440 Speaker 1: a lot from them. They were quite good and sports 354 00:18:12,480 --> 00:18:14,320 Speaker 1: was new to us. But then as soon as we 355 00:18:14,359 --> 00:18:18,280 Speaker 1: had the opportunity to buy. We brought them out and 356 00:18:18,320 --> 00:18:21,439 Speaker 1: then we went on a buying spree with sports in 357 00:18:21,480 --> 00:18:23,719 Speaker 1: Europe and around the world. The people think you were 358 00:18:23,720 --> 00:18:26,919 Speaker 1: crazy doing that at the time, they did because the 359 00:18:26,960 --> 00:18:30,359 Speaker 1: margins on sports were much lower. Those were big bets, 360 00:18:30,960 --> 00:18:34,680 Speaker 1: but we had real conviction that we needed great content 361 00:18:34,760 --> 00:18:37,800 Speaker 1: that people were watching no matter what. We also recognized 362 00:18:37,840 --> 00:18:39,800 Speaker 1: what we will go down and what we weren't. We're 363 00:18:39,840 --> 00:18:43,199 Speaker 1: not a movie company. We've done some scripted content, but 364 00:18:43,280 --> 00:18:45,119 Speaker 1: there were a lot of media companies that were a 365 00:18:45,119 --> 00:18:48,800 Speaker 1: lot bigger than us, that understood scripted content much better 366 00:18:48,800 --> 00:18:52,200 Speaker 1: than we did, and so we weren't gonna win by 367 00:18:52,320 --> 00:18:55,240 Speaker 1: trying to become a great scripted series company or become 368 00:18:55,280 --> 00:18:57,760 Speaker 1: a movie company. It wasn't what we did. We were 369 00:18:57,760 --> 00:19:00,960 Speaker 1: a non fiction company. We understood how to tell stories, 370 00:19:01,440 --> 00:19:04,560 Speaker 1: and sports to us was really something that was attainable. 371 00:19:04,920 --> 00:19:08,119 Speaker 1: We felt like if we stuck with just Discovery and 372 00:19:08,200 --> 00:19:12,440 Speaker 1: Animal Planet and Science and TLC that if media is 373 00:19:12,440 --> 00:19:14,960 Speaker 1: a poker hand, we didn't have the right cards and 374 00:19:15,000 --> 00:19:17,400 Speaker 1: it's a guess and we made a lot of mistakes 375 00:19:17,400 --> 00:19:20,680 Speaker 1: in sports. What was your biggest mistake in sports? When 376 00:19:20,720 --> 00:19:24,080 Speaker 1: we bought Eurosport, our ambition was to be the leader 377 00:19:24,119 --> 00:19:27,280 Speaker 1: in sports all across Europe. We did it, but we 378 00:19:27,359 --> 00:19:30,320 Speaker 1: invested probably more than we should have, and we bought 379 00:19:30,400 --> 00:19:34,040 Speaker 1: most of what was available. There were multiple bidders for 380 00:19:34,200 --> 00:19:37,600 Speaker 1: football or soccer across Europe country by country. They want 381 00:19:37,640 --> 00:19:40,600 Speaker 1: to get the most premier sport, and we participated in 382 00:19:40,640 --> 00:19:43,400 Speaker 1: some of those auctions because we felt like in Germany 383 00:19:43,440 --> 00:19:46,439 Speaker 1: we need the Bundesliga, which is like the NFL, but 384 00:19:46,520 --> 00:19:50,720 Speaker 1: it was so expensive that it overflowed the boat, whereas 385 00:19:51,280 --> 00:19:54,399 Speaker 1: it was very efficient because there weren't multiple bidders for 386 00:19:54,480 --> 00:19:57,440 Speaker 1: us to own all the majors in tennis or own 387 00:19:57,480 --> 00:20:00,600 Speaker 1: all the cycling. Over a couple of years, we learned 388 00:20:01,119 --> 00:20:04,560 Speaker 1: that we're better off staying away from football because it's 389 00:20:04,600 --> 00:20:07,800 Speaker 1: so so expensive and so risky, and we were able 390 00:20:07,880 --> 00:20:10,640 Speaker 1: to pick up most of the other sports for much 391 00:20:10,640 --> 00:20:13,080 Speaker 1: more of a reasonable price, and more importantly, we're able 392 00:20:13,080 --> 00:20:15,600 Speaker 1: to get it for long term. When you buy football 393 00:20:15,640 --> 00:20:17,359 Speaker 1: in Europe, you only get it for three years and 394 00:20:17,359 --> 00:20:20,000 Speaker 1: then you got a bid again, whereas we got the 395 00:20:20,040 --> 00:20:24,560 Speaker 1: Olympics for a decade, having some time to develop an 396 00:20:24,560 --> 00:20:27,320 Speaker 1: audience and to figure out how to present that content, 397 00:20:27,440 --> 00:20:29,560 Speaker 1: and then to grow an asset around. It takes time, 398 00:20:30,000 --> 00:20:32,919 Speaker 1: and so one of our big strategies around sports was 399 00:20:33,640 --> 00:20:37,320 Speaker 1: don't do short term deals anymore. Just hold on a second, 400 00:20:37,400 --> 00:20:39,920 Speaker 1: because we've got so much more to talk about. We'll 401 00:20:39,960 --> 00:20:46,600 Speaker 1: be back after a quick break. Welcome back the Math 402 00:20:46,680 --> 00:20:50,800 Speaker 1: and Magic. We're here with David Zasloff. Let's go back 403 00:20:50,840 --> 00:20:53,280 Speaker 1: a little bit. Born in Brooklyn, grew up in Brooklyn, 404 00:20:53,320 --> 00:20:55,479 Speaker 1: moved to Rockland County. I was sort of at that 405 00:20:55,520 --> 00:20:57,800 Speaker 1: moment where a lot of people were leaving cities going 406 00:20:57,840 --> 00:21:00,960 Speaker 1: to the suburbs. Paint a picture of life then. I mean, 407 00:21:01,000 --> 00:21:03,760 Speaker 1: what kind of childhood did you have and what was 408 00:21:03,800 --> 00:21:06,879 Speaker 1: America like at that moment that you hit Rockland County. 409 00:21:07,000 --> 00:21:09,040 Speaker 1: I love Brooklyn. We were on the sixth floor of 410 00:21:09,080 --> 00:21:12,400 Speaker 1: an apartment building and we had a two bedroom apartment. 411 00:21:12,400 --> 00:21:15,000 Speaker 1: I shared a room with my older brother and my 412 00:21:15,080 --> 00:21:17,720 Speaker 1: younger brother was in my parents room. We had a 413 00:21:17,720 --> 00:21:19,920 Speaker 1: little den. I thought it was the greatest thing ever. 414 00:21:20,720 --> 00:21:22,800 Speaker 1: I moved when I was in second grade. It was 415 00:21:22,800 --> 00:21:24,960 Speaker 1: a little scary when I went to Rockland County because 416 00:21:25,000 --> 00:21:27,080 Speaker 1: we bought a house, and when we bought a house, 417 00:21:27,119 --> 00:21:28,680 Speaker 1: I had in my own room. It was a little 418 00:21:28,680 --> 00:21:30,760 Speaker 1: scary at first, I was used to sharing a room 419 00:21:30,880 --> 00:21:33,399 Speaker 1: my brother. Everything was bigger, There was lots of grass. 420 00:21:33,440 --> 00:21:35,879 Speaker 1: There wasn't a lot of grass in Brooklyn, but I 421 00:21:35,920 --> 00:21:38,520 Speaker 1: loved it. Rockland County was a great, very diverse community. 422 00:21:39,040 --> 00:21:42,159 Speaker 1: It was a middle class, lower middle class area. We 423 00:21:42,200 --> 00:21:45,560 Speaker 1: went there because we can get four bedrooms and two 424 00:21:45,560 --> 00:21:48,719 Speaker 1: car garage. My dad was a lawyer, super hard worker. 425 00:21:48,800 --> 00:21:51,119 Speaker 1: He was up at five thirty every day. And my 426 00:21:51,200 --> 00:21:54,080 Speaker 1: mom was a teacher. You know. Warren Buffett once talked 427 00:21:54,119 --> 00:21:58,399 Speaker 1: about my generation being the great beneficiary because when my 428 00:21:58,480 --> 00:22:01,480 Speaker 1: mom was growing up, they weren't as many fair choices 429 00:22:01,680 --> 00:22:05,560 Speaker 1: for really bright educated women, and the opportunities were limited, 430 00:22:06,080 --> 00:22:09,000 Speaker 1: and so my mom went into teaching. So she was 431 00:22:09,040 --> 00:22:11,000 Speaker 1: home when I got home. She read to us every night. 432 00:22:11,520 --> 00:22:13,359 Speaker 1: And I think there's a whole generation of us that 433 00:22:13,400 --> 00:22:16,119 Speaker 1: grew up with really great teachers. My mom was a 434 00:22:16,160 --> 00:22:18,840 Speaker 1: teacher too, for those same reasons. I mean a lot 435 00:22:18,920 --> 00:22:21,720 Speaker 1: of the wrong reasons. But the beneficiary was I think 436 00:22:21,760 --> 00:22:24,320 Speaker 1: the education system. But Rockland was great, and you were 437 00:22:24,400 --> 00:22:28,000 Speaker 1: just inducted into the Remapo High School Hall of Fame, 438 00:22:28,320 --> 00:22:30,800 Speaker 1: Sports Hall of Fame, Sports Hall of Fame. As a 439 00:22:30,840 --> 00:22:33,479 Speaker 1: tennis player, I learned a lot from tennis. When I 440 00:22:33,520 --> 00:22:36,600 Speaker 1: was very young, I was very good ALTHEA Gibson saw 441 00:22:36,680 --> 00:22:39,760 Speaker 1: me play and wanted to take me on, and so 442 00:22:39,800 --> 00:22:43,560 Speaker 1: she was giving me instruction for nothing as a young talent, 443 00:22:43,640 --> 00:22:46,000 Speaker 1: and I thought I was talented at the time. When 444 00:22:46,000 --> 00:22:48,560 Speaker 1: I was ten and twelve, I was really very good. 445 00:22:48,600 --> 00:22:51,600 Speaker 1: When I was in junior high school, they restructured my 446 00:22:52,359 --> 00:22:54,080 Speaker 1: day in junior high school so I didn't have to 447 00:22:54,080 --> 00:22:55,840 Speaker 1: go to the last two periods so I can go 448 00:22:55,920 --> 00:22:58,639 Speaker 1: up to play on the varsity high school team. It 449 00:22:58,720 --> 00:23:01,239 Speaker 1: became part of who I thought I was. I just 450 00:23:01,280 --> 00:23:03,199 Speaker 1: thought I was always going to be really good just 451 00:23:03,240 --> 00:23:06,280 Speaker 1: because I was talented. I was winning a lot as 452 00:23:06,280 --> 00:23:08,960 Speaker 1: a young kid. And when I got to the four 453 00:23:09,000 --> 00:23:11,560 Speaker 1: teens and sixteens, some of the the players that I used 454 00:23:11,600 --> 00:23:14,480 Speaker 1: to beat started beating me. A couple of the players 455 00:23:14,480 --> 00:23:16,199 Speaker 1: in the New York area that I would play with, 456 00:23:16,640 --> 00:23:18,679 Speaker 1: i'd meet him, we'd play for two hours, and then 457 00:23:18,720 --> 00:23:21,240 Speaker 1: they'd stay for another two or three hours and hit backheads. 458 00:23:21,600 --> 00:23:23,119 Speaker 1: But when I got there, there had been there for 459 00:23:23,160 --> 00:23:26,760 Speaker 1: two hours working on four hands or serving. I came 460 00:23:26,800 --> 00:23:29,680 Speaker 1: to learn that talent is only a very small portion 461 00:23:30,160 --> 00:23:32,840 Speaker 1: of what creates success. I got to see a lot 462 00:23:32,880 --> 00:23:36,040 Speaker 1: of guys blow right by me, and it was painful. 463 00:23:36,080 --> 00:23:39,600 Speaker 1: By the end, I was nowhere close to as good 464 00:23:39,600 --> 00:23:42,000 Speaker 1: as I could have been. And so my big lesson 465 00:23:42,080 --> 00:23:46,159 Speaker 1: from tennis was I'm not going to get out worked again. 466 00:23:46,480 --> 00:23:48,840 Speaker 1: If your eighteen year old self saw you today, what 467 00:23:48,840 --> 00:23:52,400 Speaker 1: would you think? How did that happen? So you didn't 468 00:23:52,400 --> 00:23:55,119 Speaker 1: have dreams of this as a kid? No. I was 469 00:23:55,160 --> 00:23:57,280 Speaker 1: a lawyer at a firm called La Buff Lamb that 470 00:23:57,359 --> 00:24:00,160 Speaker 1: was doing La Buff big white shoo firm. And at 471 00:24:00,200 --> 00:24:03,520 Speaker 1: that job, and I got an apartment and had a 472 00:24:03,520 --> 00:24:05,840 Speaker 1: big rent and I needed to make it work. And 473 00:24:05,880 --> 00:24:08,240 Speaker 1: I stayed there for four years. But I knew pretty 474 00:24:08,240 --> 00:24:10,920 Speaker 1: early on I'm not that great at this and I 475 00:24:10,960 --> 00:24:13,199 Speaker 1: don't like it that much. I worked really hard, so 476 00:24:13,240 --> 00:24:14,840 Speaker 1: I think they thought I was pretty good at it, 477 00:24:14,880 --> 00:24:17,480 Speaker 1: but it didn't feel right to me. I got lucky 478 00:24:17,520 --> 00:24:22,040 Speaker 1: because a partner transferred in who worked at MTV, who 479 00:24:22,080 --> 00:24:25,240 Speaker 1: is now Federal court judge Richard Barman, and he had 480 00:24:25,280 --> 00:24:28,280 Speaker 1: a lot of cable clients. He also was a tennis player, 481 00:24:28,320 --> 00:24:31,480 Speaker 1: and I was quietly unhappy. And I found out rich 482 00:24:31,560 --> 00:24:33,920 Speaker 1: was a tennis player, and we went and played tennis 483 00:24:33,960 --> 00:24:35,680 Speaker 1: a couple of times, and then we had a weekly game. 484 00:24:36,160 --> 00:24:38,280 Speaker 1: Next thing you know, I was doing all this cable work. 485 00:24:38,640 --> 00:24:43,119 Speaker 1: You were doing work for MTV, for MTVS, for Discovery, 486 00:24:43,440 --> 00:24:47,159 Speaker 1: for CNN, for most of the media companies. But the 487 00:24:47,200 --> 00:24:50,199 Speaker 1: real opportunity that I got was Jack Welch. He and 488 00:24:50,240 --> 00:24:52,440 Speaker 1: Bob Wright, who was the chairman of NBC at the time, 489 00:24:52,480 --> 00:24:55,000 Speaker 1: said they want to get into the cable business, which 490 00:24:55,000 --> 00:24:57,359 Speaker 1: at the time was unusual because broadcasters were not in 491 00:24:57,400 --> 00:25:00,800 Speaker 1: the cable business. So I sent the letter to them 492 00:25:00,800 --> 00:25:03,400 Speaker 1: saying I love the cable business. I have a great 493 00:25:03,440 --> 00:25:05,760 Speaker 1: passion for it. I've done a lot of work. If 494 00:25:05,760 --> 00:25:07,879 Speaker 1: you're gonna build a cable division, I'd love to be 495 00:25:07,960 --> 00:25:10,880 Speaker 1: part of it. And they called me over. Remember Bob 496 00:25:10,880 --> 00:25:12,800 Speaker 1: Wright wrote on the top of it, bring this kid in. 497 00:25:13,480 --> 00:25:16,720 Speaker 1: I was the third or fourth person hired for NBC 498 00:25:16,760 --> 00:25:20,920 Speaker 1: Cable for NBC Cable. Through that, I built a relationship 499 00:25:21,080 --> 00:25:23,800 Speaker 1: with Jack Welch, who still loves you today, and that 500 00:25:23,920 --> 00:25:28,480 Speaker 1: love created all this confidence in me. It created a 501 00:25:28,480 --> 00:25:32,400 Speaker 1: willingness to fail, it drive to work hard. But mostly 502 00:25:32,520 --> 00:25:34,879 Speaker 1: I got to be in all these meetings that he 503 00:25:34,960 --> 00:25:38,399 Speaker 1: was in, and I got to see firsthand, whether it 504 00:25:38,480 --> 00:25:42,439 Speaker 1: was around cable or around broadcast, you begin to know 505 00:25:42,520 --> 00:25:45,520 Speaker 1: the questions that he's going to ask how he sees 506 00:25:45,520 --> 00:25:48,280 Speaker 1: the world. When I see you as a business person, 507 00:25:48,359 --> 00:25:51,280 Speaker 1: am I seeing some Jack Welch too? There's no question 508 00:25:51,359 --> 00:25:54,239 Speaker 1: you're deeply influenced by the people that you work with. 509 00:25:54,640 --> 00:25:57,360 Speaker 1: I got to work with Jack Walch, and I also 510 00:25:57,480 --> 00:25:59,680 Speaker 1: got to work with Bob Right, who ran NBC, and 511 00:25:59,800 --> 00:26:03,040 Speaker 1: they were very different. But by spending eighteen years at 512 00:26:03,080 --> 00:26:06,800 Speaker 1: that company and going to meetings and quarterly reviews and 513 00:26:07,040 --> 00:26:10,240 Speaker 1: business reviews, you think that you have the right question. 514 00:26:10,320 --> 00:26:13,960 Speaker 1: But it's the question that Jack would ask. Steve Ross 515 00:26:14,040 --> 00:26:17,199 Speaker 1: was that for me? Founder of Warner Communications. So I 516 00:26:17,240 --> 00:26:20,320 Speaker 1: had Jack and the second half of my career I 517 00:26:20,359 --> 00:26:24,600 Speaker 1: had John Malone. These are two of the greatest leaders entrepreneurs. 518 00:26:24,640 --> 00:26:27,920 Speaker 1: And that's lucky. That eighteen year old kid could never 519 00:26:27,960 --> 00:26:31,920 Speaker 1: imagine that he would have had the chance to learn 520 00:26:32,040 --> 00:26:35,360 Speaker 1: from and hang around with Jack Welch. That eighteen year 521 00:26:35,359 --> 00:26:38,000 Speaker 1: old kid would never believe that he would have a 522 00:26:38,080 --> 00:26:41,879 Speaker 1: chance to spend Saturday mornings talking to John while he 523 00:26:41,880 --> 00:26:44,800 Speaker 1: walks the dog and hear how he sees the world 524 00:26:44,840 --> 00:26:47,720 Speaker 1: and tell him what I'm thinking about and talk about 525 00:26:47,720 --> 00:26:50,359 Speaker 1: where the world is going and how to succeed. So 526 00:26:50,400 --> 00:26:52,800 Speaker 1: you made a jump from partner to law firm to 527 00:26:52,920 --> 00:26:55,920 Speaker 1: NBC Jeff to take a pay cut to pay cut. 528 00:26:56,000 --> 00:26:58,600 Speaker 1: Everyone thought I was crazy, including the people at the 529 00:26:58,640 --> 00:27:01,119 Speaker 1: law firm. What's the less than that for somebody who's 530 00:27:01,160 --> 00:27:04,080 Speaker 1: building their career here you are, had a nice career 531 00:27:04,080 --> 00:27:07,400 Speaker 1: as a lawyer, working with interesting people, and you took 532 00:27:07,400 --> 00:27:09,520 Speaker 1: a fifty percent pay cut to make a job somewhere. 533 00:27:09,680 --> 00:27:11,359 Speaker 1: You got to try and figure out what you really 534 00:27:11,400 --> 00:27:14,119 Speaker 1: love doing, what you're interested in as a lawyer. I 535 00:27:14,200 --> 00:27:16,920 Speaker 1: knew it wasn't gonna work when I was writing prospectuses 536 00:27:16,960 --> 00:27:19,560 Speaker 1: in the corporate department. And we sat at lunch one 537 00:27:19,600 --> 00:27:22,520 Speaker 1: day after about six or nine months, and a partner 538 00:27:22,560 --> 00:27:24,639 Speaker 1: came over and said that there was a change to 539 00:27:24,760 --> 00:27:27,399 Speaker 1: the disclosure laws that the SEC came out with, and 540 00:27:27,440 --> 00:27:29,920 Speaker 1: that from now on, there's going to be a new 541 00:27:29,920 --> 00:27:33,040 Speaker 1: way that you write paragraph twelve best six. And I 542 00:27:33,080 --> 00:27:35,560 Speaker 1: was at a table with like six really bright people 543 00:27:35,600 --> 00:27:37,280 Speaker 1: that I really liked that we're doing the same thing 544 00:27:37,280 --> 00:27:40,879 Speaker 1: as me, and they lit up, they were excited. I 545 00:27:40,880 --> 00:27:44,439 Speaker 1: remember thinking to myself, I could call us, and I 546 00:27:44,480 --> 00:27:46,720 Speaker 1: thought how am I going to compete with this group? 547 00:27:47,119 --> 00:27:50,440 Speaker 1: They're bright, they're hard working, and they love this stuff. 548 00:27:50,880 --> 00:27:52,960 Speaker 1: I remember going home that day, I think eight to myself, 549 00:27:53,000 --> 00:27:55,879 Speaker 1: I gotta find something else that I love. That's the 550 00:27:55,960 --> 00:27:57,800 Speaker 1: journey I think that we're all on. And that's what 551 00:27:57,880 --> 00:28:00,480 Speaker 1: I tell our interns that you may be in PR, 552 00:28:00,600 --> 00:28:02,639 Speaker 1: you may be in marketing, you may be in programming, 553 00:28:02,920 --> 00:28:04,800 Speaker 1: but if you're working at one of our channels, you 554 00:28:04,840 --> 00:28:07,280 Speaker 1: get to see all of it. Try and imagine would 555 00:28:07,280 --> 00:28:10,280 Speaker 1: you want to be that person? And a successful internship 556 00:28:10,359 --> 00:28:12,760 Speaker 1: might be that you didn't love PR, but you got 557 00:28:12,760 --> 00:28:15,000 Speaker 1: to look at marketing and you thought, maybe that's for me. 558 00:28:15,160 --> 00:28:17,639 Speaker 1: And I think if by age thirty you could figure 559 00:28:17,640 --> 00:28:19,760 Speaker 1: out you can move your way around so you can 560 00:28:19,760 --> 00:28:22,560 Speaker 1: get yourself into something that you're excited about, that you 561 00:28:22,600 --> 00:28:25,320 Speaker 1: really love, then it's a gift. You started out I 562 00:28:25,320 --> 00:28:29,240 Speaker 1: think as general counsel of NBC Cable work through business affairs, 563 00:28:29,280 --> 00:28:33,520 Speaker 1: business development, became president of NBC Cable, president of NBC 564 00:28:33,640 --> 00:28:36,119 Speaker 1: Universal Cable. You didn't want to be a lawyer. What 565 00:28:36,160 --> 00:28:38,680 Speaker 1: did you discover that that was sort of your superpower, 566 00:28:39,080 --> 00:28:42,800 Speaker 1: your skill that really made you you. I love the business, 567 00:28:42,840 --> 00:28:44,840 Speaker 1: so I was happy. I was happy to be there 568 00:28:44,840 --> 00:28:48,760 Speaker 1: and grateful to be there, and figuring out how to 569 00:28:48,760 --> 00:28:52,440 Speaker 1: get along with people because NBC was a pretty complicated place. 570 00:28:52,960 --> 00:28:55,440 Speaker 1: We had to work across a lot of divisions. If 571 00:28:55,440 --> 00:28:57,120 Speaker 1: we wanted to do anything, we had to also go 572 00:28:57,200 --> 00:28:59,760 Speaker 1: up to G and presented a G board. So there 573 00:28:59,760 --> 00:29:01,720 Speaker 1: were a lot of layers and a lot of different people, 574 00:29:02,240 --> 00:29:05,320 Speaker 1: and it was figuring out how to get along and 575 00:29:05,560 --> 00:29:07,600 Speaker 1: how to find support. You know, I think about you 576 00:29:08,080 --> 00:29:09,720 Speaker 1: and there are two things to come to mind. One 577 00:29:09,760 --> 00:29:13,920 Speaker 1: strategist and two you have this incredible people skills, but 578 00:29:14,040 --> 00:29:18,200 Speaker 1: you get people to talk listen. Well, was that developed 579 00:29:18,480 --> 00:29:21,080 Speaker 1: or was that a basic skill you had that sort 580 00:29:21,080 --> 00:29:23,600 Speaker 1: of came to life in the right circumstance. I do 581 00:29:23,720 --> 00:29:27,360 Speaker 1: love people. We're all imperfect. Everyone has a few things 582 00:29:27,400 --> 00:29:29,960 Speaker 1: that you admire look for the best in people. There's 583 00:29:29,960 --> 00:29:33,320 Speaker 1: a Brooklyn element of be a candid but also I'm 584 00:29:33,320 --> 00:29:36,120 Speaker 1: pretty emotional at times. And one of the things that 585 00:29:36,240 --> 00:29:40,000 Speaker 1: Jack worked with me on was that it's not show friends, 586 00:29:40,040 --> 00:29:42,640 Speaker 1: it's show business. Part of your job is to get 587 00:29:42,640 --> 00:29:46,000 Speaker 1: along with everyone. If you're having a real conflict and 588 00:29:46,080 --> 00:29:48,560 Speaker 1: it's creating an issue, there is no right and wrong 589 00:29:48,640 --> 00:29:50,040 Speaker 1: so you just got to try and figure a way 590 00:29:50,040 --> 00:29:53,120 Speaker 1: around it. And often there are personalities. There are some 591 00:29:53,200 --> 00:29:56,040 Speaker 1: people that just one conflict and there are ways you 592 00:29:56,040 --> 00:29:58,080 Speaker 1: can just step away from it, let him go argue 593 00:29:58,120 --> 00:29:59,680 Speaker 1: with someone else, and you got to stay away from 594 00:29:59,720 --> 00:30:03,640 Speaker 1: that negative energy. Positive energy is the most important thing 595 00:30:03,680 --> 00:30:07,000 Speaker 1: you need in a company to succeed personally. Positive energy 596 00:30:07,080 --> 00:30:10,080 Speaker 1: is the thing that a company itself needs to succeed. 597 00:30:10,560 --> 00:30:13,240 Speaker 1: Every idea you have the will to happen, and part 598 00:30:13,240 --> 00:30:17,160 Speaker 1: of that will is positive energy. We'll figure it out, 599 00:30:17,440 --> 00:30:19,480 Speaker 1: We'll keep trying, and when we find something they like, 600 00:30:19,560 --> 00:30:21,480 Speaker 1: we'll give them more of it. That's sort of what 601 00:30:21,640 --> 00:30:24,520 Speaker 1: the media business is about, trying to figure out with 602 00:30:24,560 --> 00:30:27,160 Speaker 1: every one of our channels, what are they like? And 603 00:30:27,200 --> 00:30:28,880 Speaker 1: then we get a rating, We find out how many 604 00:30:28,880 --> 00:30:31,360 Speaker 1: people watch, how long did they watch for It's not 605 00:30:31,400 --> 00:30:33,840 Speaker 1: what we think is going to be people should see 606 00:30:33,880 --> 00:30:36,400 Speaker 1: on Food Network or on the Oprah Winfrey Network or 607 00:30:36,440 --> 00:30:40,560 Speaker 1: on Discovery. We're really trying to nourish an audience. The 608 00:30:40,600 --> 00:30:42,520 Speaker 1: better job we do, the more they watch, and the 609 00:30:42,520 --> 00:30:46,960 Speaker 1: more shows they watch. When you were at NBC, how 610 00:30:47,000 --> 00:30:49,800 Speaker 1: hard was it to get support for your plans? I 611 00:30:49,800 --> 00:30:52,320 Speaker 1: mean you grew the business. As you say, you were 612 00:30:52,320 --> 00:30:54,760 Speaker 1: one of the first people hired an NBC cable became 613 00:30:54,920 --> 00:30:58,480 Speaker 1: NBC Universal, and you built out this incredible array of 614 00:30:58,520 --> 00:31:02,240 Speaker 1: networks where people leaning into cables. The thing we gotta 615 00:31:02,320 --> 00:31:05,000 Speaker 1: go or as you said earlier with everybody saying you're 616 00:31:05,000 --> 00:31:08,479 Speaker 1: stealing my money from broadcast, was it really tough slog 617 00:31:08,600 --> 00:31:11,640 Speaker 1: to grow? Well, first, it's never one person. I was 618 00:31:11,680 --> 00:31:13,600 Speaker 1: the guy that in the beginning that carried the bags, 619 00:31:13,960 --> 00:31:16,360 Speaker 1: and there were a lot of brilliant people that were 620 00:31:16,400 --> 00:31:19,080 Speaker 1: there with me in those early days that were very courageous. 621 00:31:19,080 --> 00:31:21,840 Speaker 1: Bob Right was one, a guy named Tom Rodgers was 622 00:31:22,080 --> 00:31:24,600 Speaker 1: fighting every day to build that business. Anytime you see 623 00:31:24,600 --> 00:31:27,720 Speaker 1: a business, it's multiple people. It was a big group 624 00:31:27,760 --> 00:31:31,320 Speaker 1: of us. We did face some real challenges. I remember 625 00:31:31,480 --> 00:31:33,880 Speaker 1: there was a great programmer at NBC at the time 626 00:31:33,960 --> 00:31:37,640 Speaker 1: named Don Olmaier, really like a legend genius by the way, 627 00:31:37,680 --> 00:31:40,240 Speaker 1: started the v M as with us at MTV. Really 628 00:31:40,320 --> 00:31:41,880 Speaker 1: he was at Nibisco and he said, I got an 629 00:31:41,880 --> 00:31:43,520 Speaker 1: idea for awards show. If you do it with me, 630 00:31:43,560 --> 00:31:46,080 Speaker 1: I'll sponsored. And he created the Skins game and golf. 631 00:31:46,120 --> 00:31:48,800 Speaker 1: He just had that brilliant touch and I remember being 632 00:31:48,800 --> 00:31:51,400 Speaker 1: in a meeting once and it was Jack Welch, it 633 00:31:51,480 --> 00:31:53,680 Speaker 1: was Bob Wright who was running NBC at the time. 634 00:31:54,000 --> 00:31:57,640 Speaker 1: There was Don Olmyre running entertainment. Dick Ever saw another 635 00:31:57,680 --> 00:32:00,720 Speaker 1: great legend, great friend of mine was running sports. Andy 636 00:32:00,800 --> 00:32:03,680 Speaker 1: Lack was running News. I was thirty five at the time, 637 00:32:03,760 --> 00:32:06,800 Speaker 1: and I remember thinking to myself, how did this happen? 638 00:32:06,880 --> 00:32:09,760 Speaker 1: How how am I in this room? But we were 639 00:32:09,800 --> 00:32:13,840 Speaker 1: in one meeting and CNBC was losing significant money. We 640 00:32:13,840 --> 00:32:17,520 Speaker 1: were invested with Chuck Dolan in a MC, in Bravo 641 00:32:17,640 --> 00:32:20,040 Speaker 1: and News twelve Long Island. We had invested in sports 642 00:32:20,120 --> 00:32:24,760 Speaker 1: channels with Cable Vision, and everything was losing money, real 643 00:32:24,800 --> 00:32:28,000 Speaker 1: money at the time, and Don Olmier stood up and said, 644 00:32:29,040 --> 00:32:31,400 Speaker 1: losing all this money in cable. For the amount of 645 00:32:31,400 --> 00:32:34,479 Speaker 1: money while losing in cable, I could do five more 646 00:32:34,520 --> 00:32:38,840 Speaker 1: pilots for NBC. This is nuts. Give me the money. 647 00:32:38,920 --> 00:32:42,640 Speaker 1: Let me do five more pilots. It was Welch's drive 648 00:32:42,720 --> 00:32:44,920 Speaker 1: to say, I don't care how much money we're losing. 649 00:32:45,360 --> 00:32:47,360 Speaker 1: The audience. Eventually, I think is going to go to 650 00:32:47,400 --> 00:32:51,200 Speaker 1: cable and we have to invest. Don's passion was real 651 00:32:51,840 --> 00:32:55,320 Speaker 1: because there wasn't a limited amount of resources he ended 652 00:32:55,400 --> 00:32:58,080 Speaker 1: up being hugely successful with the resources he had. Yes, 653 00:32:58,400 --> 00:33:01,000 Speaker 1: but when NBC sold that bit and this the comcast 654 00:33:03,440 --> 00:33:06,760 Speaker 1: of the profits of that business was from the cable business. 655 00:33:07,800 --> 00:33:11,479 Speaker 1: That vision of investing in the next medium and that 656 00:33:11,560 --> 00:33:14,760 Speaker 1: drive to do it even with the losses really paid off. 657 00:33:14,840 --> 00:33:16,440 Speaker 1: And it's one of the things that when I got 658 00:33:16,480 --> 00:33:20,240 Speaker 1: to Discovery fourteen years ago, it gave me real conviction 659 00:33:20,600 --> 00:33:23,880 Speaker 1: for launching new channels and getting out and building businesses 660 00:33:24,280 --> 00:33:27,320 Speaker 1: outside the US. When they started to lose, I had 661 00:33:27,360 --> 00:33:30,080 Speaker 1: that feeling of like, I've been here before, we have 662 00:33:30,200 --> 00:33:32,680 Speaker 1: to figure out how to grow You make the jump 663 00:33:32,880 --> 00:33:37,080 Speaker 1: from NBC to Discovery why. A big piece was that 664 00:33:37,320 --> 00:33:41,080 Speaker 1: Discovery was a great company. It had great ownership, the 665 00:33:41,120 --> 00:33:44,280 Speaker 1: new House family and John Malone. I was very close 666 00:33:44,320 --> 00:33:47,160 Speaker 1: to both of them, and they really wanted me to come. 667 00:33:47,360 --> 00:33:49,480 Speaker 1: So it was like I was going to a family 668 00:33:49,960 --> 00:33:52,320 Speaker 1: and a family that I loved and that I admired, 669 00:33:52,760 --> 00:33:55,360 Speaker 1: and it was a chance to run my own company 670 00:33:55,560 --> 00:33:58,800 Speaker 1: with some real autonomy. When I went to Discovery, the 671 00:33:58,920 --> 00:34:01,840 Speaker 1: real drive was how do we grow this? How do 672 00:34:01,880 --> 00:34:03,400 Speaker 1: we grow it in the US, how do we grow 673 00:34:03,440 --> 00:34:06,200 Speaker 1: it around the world? What else should we be buying 674 00:34:07,000 --> 00:34:10,000 Speaker 1: and Discovery itself was a brand that really had the 675 00:34:10,040 --> 00:34:14,160 Speaker 1: ability not just to entertain, but when Discovery was at 676 00:34:14,160 --> 00:34:18,200 Speaker 1: its best, had a chance to really inspire. After I 677 00:34:18,239 --> 00:34:21,480 Speaker 1: got to Discovery, we did Planet Earth. That's a great 678 00:34:21,520 --> 00:34:24,680 Speaker 1: example of a piece of content that really did more 679 00:34:24,680 --> 00:34:28,360 Speaker 1: than just entertain. It helped people fall in love again 680 00:34:28,400 --> 00:34:31,440 Speaker 1: with the planet. And it's hard to really care about 681 00:34:31,480 --> 00:34:34,760 Speaker 1: something if you haven't fallen in love with it. Planet 682 00:34:34,800 --> 00:34:37,640 Speaker 1: Earth really had an impact, by the way, still does. 683 00:34:38,000 --> 00:34:41,239 Speaker 1: I remember thinking to myself, that's why I'm here. This 684 00:34:41,320 --> 00:34:45,240 Speaker 1: isn't just about making money, This isn't just about growing audience. 685 00:34:45,800 --> 00:34:49,279 Speaker 1: This is about having an impact. I followed what you 686 00:34:49,320 --> 00:34:52,880 Speaker 1: did with great admiration at MTV when you took MTV 687 00:34:53,120 --> 00:34:56,080 Speaker 1: around the world and had a huge impact with culture 688 00:34:56,600 --> 00:35:00,520 Speaker 1: and fashion, and we took Discovery and sign and surround 689 00:35:00,560 --> 00:35:04,359 Speaker 1: the world, and in certain cases we made the demonstrable 690 00:35:04,400 --> 00:35:07,880 Speaker 1: decision that will probably never make money in this country, 691 00:35:08,000 --> 00:35:11,319 Speaker 1: but the idea that we could take science and Discovery 692 00:35:11,360 --> 00:35:14,520 Speaker 1: into countries around the world and the kids could put 693 00:35:14,560 --> 00:35:17,360 Speaker 1: the TV set on and they could watch this content, 694 00:35:17,760 --> 00:35:20,759 Speaker 1: they could have some impact. And so there really was 695 00:35:20,880 --> 00:35:25,200 Speaker 1: that real drive within the ownership to do well. But 696 00:35:25,320 --> 00:35:28,480 Speaker 1: it was also to really do some good and that's 697 00:35:28,560 --> 00:35:31,120 Speaker 1: part of the culture that still exists that. I think 698 00:35:31,160 --> 00:35:33,839 Speaker 1: it's one of the reasons we attract so much great 699 00:35:33,880 --> 00:35:37,960 Speaker 1: talent at Discovery. How would you describe the culture at Discovery? 700 00:35:38,239 --> 00:35:41,600 Speaker 1: Your corporate culture? Make sure you respect other people. People 701 00:35:41,600 --> 00:35:43,640 Speaker 1: should be able to come to a creative company and 702 00:35:43,640 --> 00:35:48,239 Speaker 1: feel safe and feel valued. We're great record on equal pay. 703 00:35:48,480 --> 00:35:51,000 Speaker 1: We really have a chance creatively to make a difference. 704 00:35:51,440 --> 00:35:53,399 Speaker 1: That's where we try and this thing wish ourselves. When 705 00:35:53,440 --> 00:35:56,560 Speaker 1: you came to Discovery, you really made a mark quickly. 706 00:35:56,800 --> 00:35:59,520 Speaker 1: Probably one of the most interesting things is what you 707 00:35:59,560 --> 00:36:02,400 Speaker 1: do with the gramming. We talked about Deadliest Catch earlier. 708 00:36:02,680 --> 00:36:04,960 Speaker 1: What was the thinking there? Where did that idea come 709 00:36:05,000 --> 00:36:07,320 Speaker 1: from that this is the direction we're going. It was 710 00:36:07,480 --> 00:36:09,400 Speaker 1: more of a basic point, which is the future of 711 00:36:09,440 --> 00:36:13,480 Speaker 1: this business is about owning great content globally and creating 712 00:36:13,480 --> 00:36:17,160 Speaker 1: great content and telling great stories and also having characters 713 00:36:17,160 --> 00:36:20,319 Speaker 1: that people love, whether it's Micro and Dirty Jobs, whether 714 00:36:20,400 --> 00:36:23,560 Speaker 1: it's Sig and Phil and Deadliest Catch. Jamie and Adam 715 00:36:23,600 --> 00:36:26,920 Speaker 1: are MythBusters. That was kind of the formula, great content, 716 00:36:27,040 --> 00:36:30,719 Speaker 1: great characters. Ultimately we were going to try and save 717 00:36:30,760 --> 00:36:34,040 Speaker 1: as much money as possible by running as an efficient business. 718 00:36:34,360 --> 00:36:37,080 Speaker 1: We broke the company in half. Everything that's not on 719 00:36:37,120 --> 00:36:41,640 Speaker 1: the screen, let's get really aggressive about every penny so 720 00:36:41,680 --> 00:36:44,040 Speaker 1: that we could spend more money on the screen. When 721 00:36:44,080 --> 00:36:46,720 Speaker 1: I got there, I think we were spending about hundred 722 00:36:46,719 --> 00:36:49,440 Speaker 1: million dollars on content. Today we're spending four and a 723 00:36:49,480 --> 00:36:53,440 Speaker 1: half billion dollars. And so the whole journey of Discovery 724 00:36:53,480 --> 00:36:57,160 Speaker 1: has been spend more and more money on content and 725 00:36:57,239 --> 00:37:00,359 Speaker 1: own that content everywhere in the world. We we're talking 726 00:37:00,400 --> 00:37:02,880 Speaker 1: earlier about the phone and where are people going to 727 00:37:02,960 --> 00:37:06,200 Speaker 1: consume your product? You were very early and jumping to 728 00:37:06,280 --> 00:37:10,480 Speaker 1: digital discovery. Go. You've done the Group nine deal, You've 729 00:37:10,480 --> 00:37:13,520 Speaker 1: got lots of plays there. How do you think about 730 00:37:13,520 --> 00:37:16,600 Speaker 1: the merger of digital and TV networks and their content 731 00:37:16,640 --> 00:37:19,600 Speaker 1: and brands. We're hedging in a lot of different areas. 732 00:37:19,840 --> 00:37:21,680 Speaker 1: The number one thing that we're doing is we're owning 733 00:37:21,680 --> 00:37:24,680 Speaker 1: all of our content. We did buy a significant interest 734 00:37:24,719 --> 00:37:27,359 Speaker 1: in a business called Group nine, which owns now this. 735 00:37:28,000 --> 00:37:31,160 Speaker 1: It's the leading provider of news for people and under. 736 00:37:31,640 --> 00:37:33,919 Speaker 1: Most of what we did a couple of years ago 737 00:37:34,640 --> 00:37:37,200 Speaker 1: was long form content, and now we're one of the 738 00:37:37,239 --> 00:37:40,040 Speaker 1: leaders in short form content and mid form content. Now 739 00:37:40,239 --> 00:37:43,319 Speaker 1: short form and mid form and not making money today. 740 00:37:43,360 --> 00:37:46,759 Speaker 1: But we've built a great group of storytellers that are 741 00:37:46,800 --> 00:37:51,120 Speaker 1: generating six seven eight billion views a month of short 742 00:37:51,160 --> 00:37:54,280 Speaker 1: form content, and we've built that expertise into our company, 743 00:37:54,480 --> 00:37:56,640 Speaker 1: which over the long term, we think it's going to 744 00:37:56,719 --> 00:37:58,560 Speaker 1: really be an advantage. Do you think this is like 745 00:37:58,600 --> 00:38:01,000 Speaker 1: in the days at NBC Cable and Don Olmeiner says 746 00:38:01,400 --> 00:38:03,680 Speaker 1: they're losing all that money. Give it to me that 747 00:38:03,840 --> 00:38:05,719 Speaker 1: you're investing for the future and this will have the 748 00:38:05,760 --> 00:38:08,920 Speaker 1: same kind of outcome as Cable did against Broadcast. I 749 00:38:08,960 --> 00:38:12,120 Speaker 1: don't know. This is a moment where if you have chips, 750 00:38:12,360 --> 00:38:14,759 Speaker 1: you got to decide, I'm not in this for the 751 00:38:14,800 --> 00:38:16,719 Speaker 1: long term and I'm not going to invest in a 752 00:38:16,719 --> 00:38:19,359 Speaker 1: lot of new stuff. I'm gonna generate as much near 753 00:38:19,480 --> 00:38:22,400 Speaker 1: term value as possible and sell the company. Time Warner 754 00:38:22,440 --> 00:38:25,480 Speaker 1: had that strategy. Jeff Bukas is a great leader, and 755 00:38:25,480 --> 00:38:27,400 Speaker 1: he was going to build that company to get the 756 00:38:27,440 --> 00:38:30,040 Speaker 1: most value for shareholders. There are a lot of companies 757 00:38:30,080 --> 00:38:32,399 Speaker 1: and media that are being run that way. When Bob 758 00:38:32,440 --> 00:38:35,520 Speaker 1: Iger said I'm gonna try and build Disney Plus an 759 00:38:35,680 --> 00:38:38,719 Speaker 1: ESPN plus two D and fifty million homes watch me 760 00:38:38,760 --> 00:38:41,640 Speaker 1: over the next five years. He took the opposite strategy, 761 00:38:41,719 --> 00:38:44,399 Speaker 1: which is, I'm all in in the future and I'm 762 00:38:44,400 --> 00:38:46,040 Speaker 1: gonna take my I P and I think I can 763 00:38:46,040 --> 00:38:49,040 Speaker 1: create some new platforms. I can create a competitor in Netflix. 764 00:38:49,480 --> 00:38:52,479 Speaker 1: I can create a sports Netflix type product. Five years 765 00:38:52,480 --> 00:38:54,640 Speaker 1: from now, I'm gonna have a more successful company, but 766 00:38:54,680 --> 00:38:56,520 Speaker 1: I'm gonna lose a lot of money in the meantime. 767 00:38:56,840 --> 00:38:59,399 Speaker 1: We're focused really in the same vein as Bob. We're 768 00:38:59,440 --> 00:39:02,560 Speaker 1: betting for the long term. So we are where I 769 00:39:02,600 --> 00:39:05,640 Speaker 1: think g E was when they invested in NBC, but 770 00:39:06,040 --> 00:39:09,440 Speaker 1: we're just much more diversified. We're not sure which one 771 00:39:09,480 --> 00:39:11,799 Speaker 1: of these assets we're going to end up being the 772 00:39:11,800 --> 00:39:13,920 Speaker 1: big Is it going to be Group nine, Is it 773 00:39:14,040 --> 00:39:15,560 Speaker 1: going to be the fact that we have the greatest 774 00:39:15,600 --> 00:39:18,200 Speaker 1: natural history and science global library in the world. Is 775 00:39:18,200 --> 00:39:19,759 Speaker 1: it going to be all the sports that we own. 776 00:39:20,040 --> 00:39:23,839 Speaker 1: Certainly all of them will not be successful, but we're 777 00:39:23,840 --> 00:39:26,400 Speaker 1: going to use all of our energy and will to 778 00:39:26,480 --> 00:39:28,600 Speaker 1: have them be successful over the next couple of years. 779 00:39:28,600 --> 00:39:31,200 Speaker 1: And it's going to take all that positive energy and 780 00:39:31,200 --> 00:39:34,439 Speaker 1: will to make it happen. So we wrap up each 781 00:39:34,440 --> 00:39:37,000 Speaker 1: episode as a shout out to the folks who make 782 00:39:37,080 --> 00:39:40,000 Speaker 1: math and magic work, the folks who provide the analytics, 783 00:39:40,080 --> 00:39:42,200 Speaker 1: which I know you use a lot of, and the 784 00:39:42,239 --> 00:39:45,080 Speaker 1: creatives who provide the magic. Who do you think is 785 00:39:45,120 --> 00:39:47,560 Speaker 1: the greatest analytics person? If we want to give a 786 00:39:47,600 --> 00:39:51,319 Speaker 1: shout out to the mathematician, who isn't John Malone? If 787 00:39:51,320 --> 00:39:54,200 Speaker 1: we want to say who's the greatest creative? Just that 788 00:39:54,360 --> 00:39:56,880 Speaker 1: spark of a raw idea that turns out to be 789 00:39:57,560 --> 00:40:00,719 Speaker 1: that idea that changes the world. Tom for He's a 790 00:40:00,760 --> 00:40:03,400 Speaker 1: great guy. Former guest here, you can go back and 791 00:40:03,600 --> 00:40:06,480 Speaker 1: listen to his podcast and you're exactly right. David. You 792 00:40:06,520 --> 00:40:10,799 Speaker 1: have had an amazing life, an inspiring career, and you're 793 00:40:10,800 --> 00:40:13,359 Speaker 1: a great pal. Congrats and thanks for being here. Thank 794 00:40:13,360 --> 00:40:18,439 Speaker 1: you so much for having me. Here's what I learned 795 00:40:18,440 --> 00:40:22,600 Speaker 1: from David One. Don't get out worked. It's something David 796 00:40:22,640 --> 00:40:25,320 Speaker 1: has been thinking about since his tennis years. He waits 797 00:40:25,360 --> 00:40:28,839 Speaker 1: up early and outworks the competition because he believes, even 798 00:40:28,880 --> 00:40:32,719 Speaker 1: if you have natural talent, hard work always wins today. 799 00:40:33,160 --> 00:40:36,000 Speaker 1: To take risk in the future now, even if you're 800 00:40:36,040 --> 00:40:39,480 Speaker 1: successful like Discovery was in the TV era, David believes 801 00:40:39,480 --> 00:40:41,480 Speaker 1: you have to invest in the next medium so that 802 00:40:41,560 --> 00:40:46,240 Speaker 1: you're well positioned when the industry inevitably changes. Three David 803 00:40:46,320 --> 00:40:49,239 Speaker 1: believes your company doesn't need the cater to everyone. If 804 00:40:49,280 --> 00:40:52,360 Speaker 1: you go after passionate consumers and stay true to your brand, 805 00:40:52,640 --> 00:40:56,000 Speaker 1: they'll keep coming back with the content they love. And Fourth, 806 00:40:56,200 --> 00:40:58,840 Speaker 1: when it comes to your career, David believes you should 807 00:40:58,880 --> 00:41:02,239 Speaker 1: listen to your heart and stay vigilant. David knew a 808 00:41:02,320 --> 00:41:05,600 Speaker 1: law career wasn't right for him. You should still work hard, 809 00:41:05,840 --> 00:41:08,080 Speaker 1: but be ready for an opportunity to make a move. 810 00:41:10,000 --> 00:41:14,520 Speaker 1: Thanks for listening. I'm Bob Pittman. That's it for today's episode. 811 00:41:14,719 --> 00:41:16,920 Speaker 1: Thanks so much for listening to Math and Magic, a 812 00:41:16,920 --> 00:41:19,680 Speaker 1: production of I Heart Radio. This show is hosted by 813 00:41:19,719 --> 00:41:22,799 Speaker 1: Bob Pittman. Special thanks to Sue Schillinger for booking and 814 00:41:22,800 --> 00:41:26,359 Speaker 1: wrangling our wonderful talent, which is no small feat Nikkiatore 815 00:41:26,480 --> 00:41:29,680 Speaker 1: for pulling research bill plaques, and Michael Asar for their 816 00:41:29,680 --> 00:41:33,600 Speaker 1: recording help, our editor Ryan Murdoch, and of course Gayle Raoul, 817 00:41:33,800 --> 00:41:37,080 Speaker 1: Eric Angel, Noel Mango and everyone who helped bring this 818 00:41:37,080 --> 00:41:39,239 Speaker 1: show to your ears. Until next time,