Speaker 1: Welcome to another episode of Strictly Business, the podcast in
Speaker 1: which we talked with some of the brightest minds working
Speaker 1: in media today. I'm Andrew Wallenstein with Variety Intelligence Platform.
Speaker 1: This week I bring you excerpts of a panel discussion
Speaker 1: I just had with executives from NBC, Universal, Orner Media, Spotify,
Speaker 1: and PwC. What right now is topic A for the
Speaker 1: entertainment industry How the business is absorbing the impact of
Speaker 1: COVID nineteen. The discussion was featured in the Variety Screening
Speaker 1: Room webinar. Take a listen. Welcome everyone to a Variety's
Speaker 1: first ever streaming room. I'm Andrew Wallenstein, President of Variety
Speaker 1: Intelligence Platform. It's a new venture focused on digging deep
Speaker 1: into the issues that matter most to the media business.
Speaker 1: You can check it out at Variety dot com, slash
Speaker 1: v i p. Thanks to all of you for streaming
Speaker 1: in from your homes today. We may not be able
Speaker 1: to gather together. This is the next best thing. I
Speaker 1: think of it as a virtual version of a Variety
Speaker 1: Summit panel. Before we get started, I want to say
Speaker 1: that we'd Avariety understand there are much more important issues
Speaker 1: in the world right now. When it comes to the
Speaker 1: coronavirus and it's impact on the entertainment business. But I
Speaker 1: think we also know that the impact this crisis will
Speaker 1: have on our industry is profound worth some conversation. I've
Speaker 1: got a group of great panelists virtually gathered to talk
Speaker 1: about the impact it's already having on their own businesses
Speaker 1: and how they're adapting. So let's meet our panelists. Greg
Speaker 1: Boyer is the Partner for Technology, Media and Tell Telecommunications
Speaker 1: at p w C. Josh Feldman is Executive vice President
Speaker 1: of Head of Marketing and Advertising Creative at NBC Universal.
Speaker 1: Julie Clark is the global head of ad Revenue in
Speaker 1: Innovation at Spotify. And Seaun Kisker is the e v
Speaker 1: P and Chief Strategy Officer for Warner Media is Direct
Speaker 1: to Consumer division. Thanks to you all for being with
Speaker 1: me today. Um, Sean, let's start with you, and this
Speaker 1: is a question I want to hear from each of
Speaker 1: our panelists on what are the sum of the ways
Speaker 1: you're seeing your your business change in the midst of
Speaker 1: this crisis. Yeah, I mean, I would say obviously engagement
Speaker 1: is way up and it's hard to sort of start out.
Speaker 1: You hit it, you hit the right note there, which
Speaker 1: is it's hard to sort of look at look at
Speaker 1: something like that, which is a bit of a tail
Speaker 1: wind for us in the broader context, and get particularly
Speaker 1: excited about it. But the when when we look at
Speaker 1: the constraints people have, consumption is way up. People are
Speaker 1: consuming more media according to report, I just saw if
Speaker 1: you want per center watching more shows and films on
Speaker 1: streaming service, so and we've seen that in HBO now
Speaker 1: as well so net Net. From a contextual point of view,
Speaker 1: it's a it's a good time to be thinking about
Speaker 1: providing solutions to people who are stuck at home and
Speaker 1: at at this point don't have very many options. So
Speaker 1: it's from a from a product point of view, it's
Speaker 1: been it's probably created a bit of a tail in,
Speaker 1: but obviously they're a whole hosts of challenges that go
Speaker 1: along with that. Julie, what about yourself, Uh, I imagine
Speaker 1: there's some challenges your way too. Yeah. Absolutely, I mean
Speaker 1: I think that from the perspective of like Spotify, culture
Speaker 1: has always been a huge part of the business and
Speaker 1: context in which our marketing partners are reaching our listeners
Speaker 1: is always a paramount importance, and now with cultural moments
Speaker 1: that are happening in the ecosystem. It's just really important
Speaker 1: that we are making sure that we're being extremely thoughtful
Speaker 1: about how we are approaching that listener experience because how
Speaker 1: people are listening, when they're listening, and what they're listening
Speaker 1: to is changing. So it's made us really have to
Speaker 1: adapt to um that environment and make sure that we're
Speaker 1: extremely authentic to the overall experience. Well, I definitely want
Speaker 1: to hear more from you later on what kind of
Speaker 1: trends you're seeing its Spotify in terms of audience patterns.
Speaker 1: But I want to go over to Josh at ends
Speaker 1: Universal and the advertising side. Uh, how has this crisis
Speaker 1: impacted you in your business? Yeah, you know, so we're
Speaker 1: on our fourth week of remote work at this point, so,
Speaker 1: you know, they changes that have really come that have
Speaker 1: been most interesting to me is how we as a
Speaker 1: division and a group are really adapting to this. You know,
Speaker 1: we've always been a you know, people first, human first company,
Speaker 1: like all of the other panelist companies are here, and
Speaker 1: how do you keep that momentum alive as we're working
Speaker 1: in a work from home scenario. So, um, what we're
Speaker 1: doing right now is we've been having daily phone calls
Speaker 1: um for our entire division, which is like twelve hundred people,
Speaker 1: where we're able to keep ourselves up and going uh
Speaker 1: and having daily phone calls all day long to keep
Speaker 1: in touch with each other. And that's been really really amazing,
Speaker 1: because when you work for a company my size and
Speaker 1: you can't really share information in a timely manner normally.
Speaker 1: What we've found is actually in our work from home scenario,
Speaker 1: we're sharing information in real time so much better than
Speaker 1: we ever have before. And we've tried to really humanize
Speaker 1: those events as well. We start every single meeting by
Speaker 1: recognizing heroes, whether it's from the medical profession or first
Speaker 1: responders that are close to employees of our company, and
Speaker 1: really taking the time to recognize those books. So it's
Speaker 1: been become a really human element of what we do,
Speaker 1: but it's also been able to share information in real time.
Speaker 1: So moving on, wanting to get to you know, as
Speaker 1: stark as this situation is, as you were operating, you know, Julie,
Speaker 1: going back to you, was it the kind of thing
Speaker 1: where you were operating out of a playbook and now
Speaker 1: you have to sort of throw that out and operate
Speaker 1: in the whole different way, you know, it's not that
Speaker 1: everything is thrown out. I think that, you know, what
Speaker 1: we're really doing is making sure that we're consulting our
Speaker 1: partners UM and that it's really opening up an opportunity
Speaker 1: for creatively and we co operate, you know, creatively working
Speaker 1: together as a team and cooperating in different ways. UM.
Speaker 1: I think that you know what Josh was talking about,
Speaker 1: you know, having that collective and making sure that we're
Speaker 1: communicating appropriately from a playbook internally and then externally. It's really, um,
Speaker 1: you know a lot of the things that were priorities
Speaker 1: before our priorities now, you know, making sure that we're
Speaker 1: you know, at the forefront of podcast content creation, making
Speaker 1: sure the creators are a primary UM focus for us,
Speaker 1: and then making sure, um that we're having thoughtful engagement
Speaker 1: with our UM listeners in the right way. So have
Speaker 1: we seen the trends change and how we're having those conversations. Absolutely.
Speaker 1: I think that, you know, previously we've always encouraged our
Speaker 1: partners to lean into cultural moments. This is a place
Speaker 1: where we're really starting to think about, you know, how
Speaker 1: do you lean into that cultural moment? But more from
Speaker 1: an emotive perspective in understanding that you really want comfort
Speaker 1: and entertainment and education. Um, you know, with what the
Speaker 1: content that they're you know, streaming at this point, got it? Uh,
Speaker 1: and Sean work back to you. Is it the kind
Speaker 1: of thing where it's like you have one playbook at
Speaker 1: the beginning of the year and now everything's changed, or
Speaker 1: is it maybe a little more moderate than that. I mean, uh, well,
Speaker 1: it's hard enough to launch a streaming service, never mind
Speaker 1: in the middle of a pandemic. So I think there
Speaker 1: was a starting you know, really two years ago when
Speaker 1: this thing kicked off. There's been a pretty constant stream
Speaker 1: of effort and and the team has run basically at
Speaker 1: one speed and what's been actually really cool. I'm not
Speaker 1: sure if the other panalysts you guys have seen this,
Speaker 1: but um, we really haven't missed a beat. From a
Speaker 1: remote working point of view. Um, it's really a testament
Speaker 1: to the teams and the leadership of those teams to
Speaker 1: be able to keep everybody together. But we haven't. You know,
Speaker 1: we're still very much on for a May launch and
Speaker 1: and haven't really missed a beat. Which I have to
Speaker 1: say is you know, obviously there there are things you
Speaker 1: think about in terms of the marketplace you're entering into
Speaker 1: and um, some consideration you give to those two to that,
Speaker 1: but the team has really has really sort of cloud
Speaker 1: own admirable here. Nice. I mean, you're the launch you're
Speaker 1: referring to as HBO Max that's still on schedule. I mean,
Speaker 1: there's been naturally people in the market saying the streaming
Speaker 1: services should get out there early. Is that even possible?
Speaker 1: I think I think if if, if we if we
Speaker 1: could have gone a little bit earlier, we would have.
Speaker 1: But but I think we're absolutely on schedule for for
Speaker 1: the May launch, and I think just based on what
Speaker 1: I'm seeing and reading, uh, I think there's the opportunity,
Speaker 1: which is to say, people being at home for a
Speaker 1: little while, it's going to be there for a little while.
Speaker 1: So I think when we come out in May, it's
Speaker 1: gonna be a very good time for people to get
Speaker 1: not just the d HBO content, but all of the
Speaker 1: library content that we have coming from from the warnerside.
Speaker 1: It's ten thousand hours of content at launch and then
Speaker 1: plus all the originals. So I think there's there's gonna
Speaker 1: be something for everybody there. Greg, you're in your capacity
Speaker 1: at p w C, you're hearing from a lot of
Speaker 1: different businesses. I'm just curious, is it is the tone
Speaker 1: sort of crisis level at media company ease or you know. Look,
Speaker 1: there has been a share of these kind of situations
Speaker 1: in the past, when you go back to things like
Speaker 1: the recession of two thousand eight, when you go back
Speaker 1: to the wider strike mine eleven. How does this stack
Speaker 1: up in terms of crises that you have consulted on.
Speaker 1: I think it's um, it's it's very similar to those
Speaker 1: in some respects, but it's very different as well. Um.
Speaker 1: We we don't certainly haven't faced a situation where the
Speaker 1: entire country, you know, is staying at home. That's something
Speaker 1: that's very new and very different and I shouldn't stay
Speaker 1: entire country. But but the most of the businesses that
Speaker 1: we work with, and it's very different across the M
Speaker 1: and E stegments in terms of how how it's affecting
Speaker 1: their business. Um, we're seeing sub businesses that are they're
Speaker 1: handling it very calm and dealing with good stabilization. Uh,
Speaker 1: and they're looking towards you know, that light at the
Speaker 1: end of the tunnel where things come and they can
Speaker 1: return to a new normal. We also have some businesses
Speaker 1: that are very severely impacted, and in some cases that's
Speaker 1: working with those clients to to help look at the
Speaker 1: care Act and how that might be able to help
Speaker 1: them in time of time of need UM, but also
Speaker 1: looking to the future in terms of what does this
Speaker 1: mean for their business, their business model, and how are
Speaker 1: things going to change moving forward and what what's the
Speaker 1: that new normal again, how's that going to be significant
Speaker 1: for their business and uh and how they approached the market. Okay,
Speaker 1: now over to you, Josh. You know, on the advertising side,
Speaker 1: it's interesting NBCUniversal participated in a pretty broad ranging p
Speaker 1: s A with a lot of partners the White House
Speaker 1: about getting the message out to people about how they
Speaker 1: should be conducting themselves in a crisis like this. I
Speaker 1: can tell me a little bit about that, sure. So
Speaker 1: it was actually a really phenomenal project to be involved with.
Speaker 1: We were originally UM contacted the CDC reached out to
Speaker 1: the Ad Council and said they wanted to create a
Speaker 1: series of p s as that could run across all
Speaker 1: of media UM and they asked who can create those
Speaker 1: for them. So the Ad Council reached out to our
Speaker 1: team and we were able to create a number of
Speaker 1: graphic based um P S A S that gave the
Speaker 1: information that obviously was changing literally by the hour as
Speaker 1: the CDC was getting more information. Uh. We felt really
Speaker 1: really proud we were able to do that quickly over
Speaker 1: the weekend. This was now three weeks ago, probably when
Speaker 1: COVID nineteam was really starting to take effect on our
Speaker 1: country and people were really needed to to get that
Speaker 1: information in real time. Following up on that, there were
Speaker 1: calls directly with the White House on how each media
Speaker 1: company could then further get the word out in ways
Speaker 1: to their audiences. So we decided to utilize our iconic
Speaker 1: the More You Know campaign, which has been around for
Speaker 1: thirty years at NBC Universal. We utilize our talent from
Speaker 1: across the portfolio. UH, and we thought, since everybody obviously
Speaker 1: is working remotely from home, what was gonna obviously going
Speaker 1: to have to happen Because all of our talent was
Speaker 1: also social distancing and working from home. We were able
Speaker 1: to then write thirty to forty scripts on various different
Speaker 1: things that were important, so whether it was messaging directly
Speaker 1: to those most at risk, whether it was messaging to
Speaker 1: parents on how they should be speaking to their children
Speaker 1: to get them through COVID nineteen UM whether it was
Speaker 1: UM trying to reach millennials who were not social distancing
Speaker 1: and taking it seriously enough. So we created a variety
Speaker 1: of different scripts and we had UM about sixty different
Speaker 1: talent from across the portfolio UM shoot themselves at home
Speaker 1: with their cameras UM on their phones, and we then
Speaker 1: had them send it into us and we edited it
Speaker 1: together into a full series of p s a s
Speaker 1: under the More You Know campaign that featured talent from
Speaker 1: all across our portfolios, from news to entertainment to Hispanic.
Speaker 1: We did a bunch of English language and a bunch
Speaker 1: of Spanish language that are now running everywhere. And it's
Speaker 1: something we're really really proud of because the CDC is
Speaker 1: the one giving us that direct information and we feel
Speaker 1: like we're getting that real information to the people in
Speaker 1: real time. But also the process of not being able
Speaker 1: to go and shoot this high you know, high tech
Speaker 1: high resolution like we normally would, but having everybody shoot
Speaker 1: them on their phones and editing from our own homes
Speaker 1: was really an interesting process and something we're really really
Speaker 1: proud of. I think that's great, Julie. You know, on
Speaker 1: the subject of giving back you've been engaged in some
Speaker 1: relief efforts over at Spotify. Tell us a bit about that. Sure, absolutely,
Speaker 1: And and similarly, I think Spotify is really a part
Speaker 1: of people's essential listening UM habits on a daily basis.
Speaker 1: So you know, part of what we have been UM
Speaker 1: working on and something that we're really proud of is
Speaker 1: the Spotify COVID nineteen Music Relief Project, where Spotify is
Speaker 1: matching up to ten million dollars in donations UM specifically
Speaker 1: for the music community, UM, the creator community. So UM,
Speaker 1: you know, that is something UM that has been a
Speaker 1: passion point and been moving forward on. And then also
Speaker 1: just from like general information perspective, UM Spotify on our
Speaker 1: home screen it allows users to you know, visit the
Speaker 1: app and then also learn information from the CDC and
Speaker 1: the World Health Organization across thirty nine different languages, So
Speaker 1: independent of where you are, that's where you're going to
Speaker 1: be directed to to be able to get the right
Speaker 1: information about your health and wellness as well. That's great,
Speaker 1: that's great to hear. UM. I want to talk a
Speaker 1: bit more about what we're all dealing with these days,
Speaker 1: which is you know, remote work and what that's been
Speaker 1: like for you guys, is the nature of being in
Speaker 1: your business like many business nowadays, that everything can be
Speaker 1: done remotely? Or is there something distinct your business is
Speaker 1: where you know, maybe it's okay to be doing it
Speaker 1: from home. Maybe there's even hidden benefits. Uh, Sean, what's
Speaker 1: your take? Yeah, I mean I guess what must be
Speaker 1: for everybody else, But for for us it has been
Speaker 1: as I said, it's been. I think productivity is there
Speaker 1: are aspects of it, so for example, like QA and
Speaker 1: things that some some things that need to be done
Speaker 1: in a in a more shared setting, uh, are more challenging. Um.
Speaker 1: But from a from a global point of view, I
Speaker 1: think it's been really really. I don't think we've missed
Speaker 1: a beat, and I think that I think the the
Speaker 1: the challenge actually becomes more Uh. The tools are there,
Speaker 1: the challenge becomes more of an emotional challenge than a
Speaker 1: physical work product one, which is how do you keep
Speaker 1: the team together oriented, understanding what's happening? And as the
Speaker 1: panelists were saying it, it's in an environment where the
Speaker 1: information is changing very quickly. It's uh, it's how do
Speaker 1: you how do you sort of keep everybody connected to
Speaker 1: the mothership. The biggest challenging. Got it Josh and your
Speaker 1: capacity of NBC Universal. What's it been like for you, Well,
Speaker 1: it's obviously very difficult. You know, the crux of everything
Speaker 1: we do is usually you know, in studios with a
Speaker 1: number of different people on a shoot at all times,
Speaker 1: you know, hundreds of people there for a shoot. So
Speaker 1: having to take that away and do everything you know
Speaker 1: from home, from that point of view is less than ideal.
Speaker 1: But I think that if you see the work that's
Speaker 1: coming out, not just from NBC Universal, but from marketers
Speaker 1: all across the country, and how they're responding and creating
Speaker 1: messaging that is not tone death, that is done remotely,
Speaker 1: that's using imagery that's already shot. Um, it's really been
Speaker 1: an amazing thing for me to watch as a viewer,
Speaker 1: UM and really see how these companies have responded to
Speaker 1: it as far as working remotely though, you know, for
Speaker 1: the most part, Um, I agree very much with what
Speaker 1: John was just saying that, you know, we've really responded well.
Speaker 1: And I think that we're actually sharing information, as I
Speaker 1: mentioned earlier, more in real time than ever before, and
Speaker 1: we're certainly learning about other divisions in our company quicker right,
Speaker 1: there's meetings that unfortunately we're all guilty of we just
Speaker 1: didn't go to because I've got something else going on. Well,
Speaker 1: now that we're having these big, massive work from home meetings,
Speaker 1: I'm hearing from folks and other divisions and learning so
Speaker 1: much more. I'm getting so much from my insights and
Speaker 1: Measurements teams on what this truly means, that it's really
Speaker 1: helping me in my day to day work as well.
Speaker 1: So there's definitely, you know, some positives and some negatives
Speaker 1: about this. GREG you consult with a lot of different
Speaker 1: companies on remote working other kinds of issues. What has
Speaker 1: been some of your counsel during these challenging times. Well,
Speaker 1: some are more prepared than others obviously, you know, if
Speaker 1: you think of Workforce of the Future and all the
Speaker 1: tools and technologies UM that we use for UH for
Speaker 1: not only video conferencing, but for collaboration, every every client's
Speaker 1: a little different in terms of how they're handling it.
Speaker 1: There's some some areas that really require UM in person
Speaker 1: human interaction. If you think of moving to towards a
Speaker 1: virtual salesforce in some regard you think of like projects
Speaker 1: that require design in UH, they're much more suited for
Speaker 1: you know in person, and I agree with both Josh
Speaker 1: and Shawn's comments that it's really hard to UM to
Speaker 1: remotely cover the human factor associated the camaraderie, the ability
Speaker 1: for people to feel part of a community, and sometimes
Speaker 1: that's the biggest challenge UM. At PDC, we work very
Speaker 1: remotely on a constant basis. The biggest change for our
Speaker 1: folcus is they're they're not traveling to be at their
Speaker 1: client site and interacting in a in a in a
Speaker 1: very human way. They're doing that, you know, using technology. UM.
Speaker 1: But we're seeing that across the landscape or seeing you know,
Speaker 1: lots of rooic efforts to to stay connected. And I
Speaker 1: do think that a good portion of this will remain
Speaker 1: when we UM. When we come out of this, I
Speaker 1: think there will be new and innovative ways to work collaboratively,
Speaker 1: to work virtually. Some of this will remain UM as
Speaker 1: part of you know, where we go UM, but we're
Speaker 1: seeing very innovative approaches across that form UM in all
Speaker 1: different client spaces. Greig, why don't you show us some
Speaker 1: of the slides you've got on this subject. I know
Speaker 1: you've got some interesting thoughts to share. Sure, we've developed
Speaker 1: UH the way we approach, and all of these are
Speaker 1: available via p TWOBC dot com at our US COVID
Speaker 1: site that's up on the screen as well as on
Speaker 1: the resource center. But we've developed a crisis methodology that
Speaker 1: we work with a lot of our clients on. First mobilized,
Speaker 1: which is taking care of your people UM, dealing with
Speaker 1: some of the issues that that are cropping up in
Speaker 1: the first number of weeks related to the crisis. Then
Speaker 1: moving from that into stabilization, which is making a little
Speaker 1: bit more informed decisions for your people in your business.
Speaker 1: And lastly, it's you know, looking at the big picture
Speaker 1: as we get on top of the you know, the
Speaker 1: backside of that belker, and how we look at UM
Speaker 1: strategic decisions that are going to affect your business moving forward,
Speaker 1: both today and tomorrow. We have six key areas of
Speaker 1: focus that we that we have seen our clients looking
Speaker 1: at UM. Obviously crisis response, workforce, supply chain, UM, a
Speaker 1: lot of finance, liquidity, copple market issues, how do you
Speaker 1: deal with trade as an as an example, there's a
Speaker 1: lot in it operating loss advantages for lated to the
Speaker 1: care Act, and then ultimately that strategy and that brand
Speaker 1: component in terms of how we're working with communities and businesses.
Speaker 1: We've got a number of tools out on the site.
Speaker 1: One is our COVID navigator that allows people to UM
Speaker 1: fill out a quick survey, get real time UM sentiment
Speaker 1: on where things are going and how people are dealing
Speaker 1: with the critical areas of focus are And then we
Speaker 1: have a set of tools outside on our site related
Speaker 1: to check in, which is some new tools associated with
Speaker 1: how you manage UH and and and benchmark productivity for
Speaker 1: your workforce. Now that we're all working from home and
Speaker 1: working virtually, and there's many other UM resources out there,
Speaker 1: I would say at the site, most of them are
Speaker 1: you know, available to all, so please uh check it
Speaker 1: out and you'll find something probably useful that you can
Speaker 1: your organization can use moving forward. So I want to
Speaker 1: go to the subject of you know, we're seeing companies
Speaker 1: like some of yours with drawing financial guidance for the
Speaker 1: coming quarter, and I'm curious what kind of messages hearing
Speaker 1: from leadership at your companies right now. Is it is
Speaker 1: it about rallying the troops in the face of adversity
Speaker 1: or is it really tough talk about tough times ahead. Sean,
Speaker 1: do you want to take that one first. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: think there's a healthy dose of realism in it. And
Speaker 1: I think just to take one step back within our company,
Speaker 1: you know, you we've talked about sort of how people
Speaker 1: have engaged in the crisis from multidimensional point of view.
Speaker 1: I mean, when when we take a step back, A
Speaker 1: T and T is responsible for a major piece of
Speaker 1: the country's infrastructure and communications CNN is responsible for a
Speaker 1: major piece of how people get their information about this.
Speaker 1: So there are aspects of this that that uh, well
Speaker 1: beyond the launch of a streaming service and well beyond
Speaker 1: you know HBO Max that that are are being sort
Speaker 1: of dealt with every day. So when you think about
Speaker 1: the scope of what leadership is telling us, it's through
Speaker 1: the lens of a major responsibility to to the country. Um,
Speaker 1: well before it is any anything about sort of a
Speaker 1: you know, uh sort of future prognant this. But at
Speaker 1: the same time, you know the other messages, there is
Speaker 1: another side to this, like this is not it's hard
Speaker 1: to see now it is changing, but there is going
Speaker 1: to be another side to this and we're going to
Speaker 1: get there. And the question becomes, you know, what, what
Speaker 1: are the new habits that are going to be formed,
Speaker 1: what are the new systems they're going to be created,
Speaker 1: and how do we be part of that solution as
Speaker 1: we come through this. Julie, what about what about yourself? Uh?
Speaker 1: You know, is uh is your CEO sending the right
Speaker 1: messages at this time? Is he talking about tough times
Speaker 1: ahead or being more optimistic? I'm curious about the leadership
Speaker 1: town So I would say the leadership tone has remained
Speaker 1: very similar to what it's always been. It's very authentic,
Speaker 1: and it is you know. I think that the thing
Speaker 1: that I personally appreciate about Spotify is that it's a
Speaker 1: company that will address head you know, head first, what
Speaker 1: are opportunities and what are our challenges? So that that
Speaker 1: tone has remained. Um. I will say that there has
Speaker 1: been a special attention to the work place and you know,
Speaker 1: the employees overall, just understanding that people have might have
Speaker 1: infants or children and trying to balance working and their
Speaker 1: partners working at the same time too, and just being
Speaker 1: really thoughtful about, um, you know, how we can balance
Speaker 1: all of this and manage that. I think I've got
Speaker 1: two ten year old boys in the basement right now, Um, well,
Speaker 1: when they're playing video games. But uh, so they're they're
Speaker 1: loving a little break from school. But you know, it
Speaker 1: has been really authentic, and it's been authentic to the
Speaker 1: user experience and just understanding that it's really about being informed,
Speaker 1: connected and grounded and everything that we do. So I
Speaker 1: wouldn't say that like there has been no Guman gloom,
Speaker 1: but it's also been very realistic about you know, how
Speaker 1: do we you know, understand our business now even better
Speaker 1: moving into this next phase in what this new normal
Speaker 1: is got it UM? You know, Josh and your case,
Speaker 1: what's interesting is, you know, you have a senior executive
Speaker 1: image Universal actually came down with COVID nineteen. Has talked
Speaker 1: about what that has been like for him. I would
Speaker 1: imagine that that does something to a company's culture. Uh
Speaker 1: not that they're you know what tell me about that? Absolutely,
Speaker 1: you know that was something that was you know, obviously
Speaker 1: a shock to all of us. We found out in
Speaker 1: real time. He kept that UM within a small circle
Speaker 1: in the beginning and then came public with it. Luckily,
Speaker 1: from my understanding, he's feeling good and he's doing well now.
Speaker 1: But our leadership team UM, in my opinion, has led
Speaker 1: by example, and I think they've done a phenomenal job.
Speaker 1: You know, Jeff Shell, who we were just referring to.
Speaker 1: Brian Roberts and other very very senior and executives have
Speaker 1: publicly come out and said they're donating a hundred percent
Speaker 1: of their salaries to COVID nineteen based um, you know,
Speaker 1: research or whatever, it may be, something to help people
Speaker 1: along the way. A percent of their salaries is going
Speaker 1: towards that. But they've also really cared about the people,
Speaker 1: knowing this is really tough time, so they've created what
Speaker 1: I believe a five hundred million dollar fund uh specifically
Speaker 1: to keep people salaries paid during this really really difficult time.
Speaker 1: But they've also set up things for our employees that
Speaker 1: aren't helping us. So, whether it's meditation, whether it's doctors,
Speaker 1: whether it's access to all these other types of things
Speaker 1: that anybody can choose to go into. Literally on my
Speaker 1: calendar every single day is something that our company is
Speaker 1: offering to our employees, which has been a really really
Speaker 1: nice thing to feel throughout this process that that the
Speaker 1: senior management of our team truly does care about us,
Speaker 1: and they care about the general public as well. Right,
Speaker 1: I think to the point of what we're trying to accomplish.
Speaker 1: Every single one of our networks needs to have a
Speaker 1: different sort of messaging because people are coming at this
Speaker 1: from a different point of view. People are tuning into
Speaker 1: MSNBC to get real time information. People are tuning into
Speaker 1: c NBC because they're worried about what's happening to their
Speaker 1: four oh one case and what's going to happen there.
Speaker 1: People are turning into Today to get a mixture of everything.
Speaker 1: They need something, they need some good news, they need
Speaker 1: some real news, and Today is It's been a real
Speaker 1: crutch for a lot of people that way, and then
Speaker 1: this place is like Bravo where you just need to
Speaker 1: escape and not hear about COVID nineteen. So everybody's trying
Speaker 1: to play their part. So I think our management has
Speaker 1: done a phenomenal job of really, you know, being there
Speaker 1: for our people and showing that they truly care. But
Speaker 1: I also think the way that we're talking to the
Speaker 1: general public is trying to show that we truly care
Speaker 1: about them as well. Thank you. Um. One last question
Speaker 1: for me, just wanted to ask Greg a question media
Speaker 1: companies in particular. Is there something about the d n
Speaker 1: A of this industry that you think holds up well
Speaker 1: in a crisis situation relative to other industries. Just curious
Speaker 1: to get your read there and thanks again for your time.
Speaker 1: Thanks Anny, No, I definitely think so. I think, uh,
Speaker 1: the media industry has been under so much change if
Speaker 1: you look back over the last decade and you think
Speaker 1: about the adversity that has been put through in terms
Speaker 1: of adaptability, flexible reality, being able to develop new products
Speaker 1: and services to drive innovation. And while this is a
Speaker 1: horrible event for all of us, I think the media
Speaker 1: industry is a little more suited, um, partially in terms
Speaker 1: of being able to work uh in this environment. There
Speaker 1: are many other industries that were not prepared for you know,
Speaker 1: working virtually. Um. They haven't handled that type of adversity
Speaker 1: and they're not as adaptable. And I think overall, the
Speaker 1: industry should come out of this, I think with a
Speaker 1: tremendous amount of opportunity when that does come, um, and
Speaker 1: it will be about taking advantage of that opportunity like
Speaker 1: it always has been, and I think the media industry
Speaker 1: is well suited for that. This has been another episode
Speaker 1: of Strictly Business. Tune in next week for another helping
Speaker 1: of scintillating conversation with media movers and shakers, and please
Speaker 1: make sure you subscribe to the podcast to hear future episodes.
Speaker 1: Also leave a review in Apple Podcast let us know
Speaker 1: how we're doing