1 00:00:07,440 --> 00:00:12,160 Speaker 1: Welcome to Strictly Business Varieties, weekly podcast featuring conversations with 2 00:00:12,240 --> 00:00:15,840 Speaker 1: industry leaders about the business of media and entertainment. I'm 3 00:00:15,920 --> 00:00:19,720 Speaker 1: Cynthia Lyttleton, co editor in chief of Variety Today. My 4 00:00:19,800 --> 00:00:24,160 Speaker 1: guest is Takashi Nakano, Senior director of Content for Samsung 5 00:00:24,280 --> 00:00:28,760 Speaker 1: TV Plus. Samsung TV Plus is the biggest streaming platform 6 00:00:28,920 --> 00:00:31,639 Speaker 1: that you probably have never heard of, but it is 7 00:00:31,720 --> 00:00:36,320 Speaker 1: becoming a force and entertainment. The South Korean electronics giant 8 00:00:36,440 --> 00:00:40,839 Speaker 1: has embraced the fast channel market, building in hundreds of 9 00:00:40,920 --> 00:00:45,680 Speaker 1: free streaming channels into the operating systems of its connected TVs. 10 00:00:46,120 --> 00:00:49,600 Speaker 1: Samsung has sold more than six hundred million such TVs 11 00:00:49,640 --> 00:00:53,440 Speaker 1: in twenty four countries in recent years. That means Samsung 12 00:00:53,560 --> 00:00:56,760 Speaker 1: is creating a very different kind of network, one that's 13 00:00:56,800 --> 00:01:01,120 Speaker 1: not bound by geography or someone searching for a specific outlet. 14 00:01:01,560 --> 00:01:05,400 Speaker 1: Samsung's menu of free channels is available the minute consumers 15 00:01:05,440 --> 00:01:08,840 Speaker 1: turn on their TV sets. Samsung isn't the only TV 16 00:01:08,959 --> 00:01:12,000 Speaker 1: manufacturer in this game, but they are far ahead of 17 00:01:12,040 --> 00:01:16,280 Speaker 1: their competition. Nikano is based in Los Angeles. He's a 18 00:01:16,360 --> 00:01:20,080 Speaker 1: cable veteran who joined Samsung in twenty sixteen to help 19 00:01:20,120 --> 00:01:23,520 Speaker 1: it grow beyond the hardware side of television. Before that, 20 00:01:23,640 --> 00:01:27,560 Speaker 1: he worked in distribution and affiliate sales for Discovery, Scripts, 21 00:01:27,800 --> 00:01:33,039 Speaker 1: Pop TV, and GSN As Nikano explains, fast channels are 22 00:01:33,080 --> 00:01:36,039 Speaker 1: evolving into a new form of basic cable and a 23 00:01:36,160 --> 00:01:40,480 Speaker 1: new form of syndication for creatives and profit participants. He 24 00:01:40,600 --> 00:01:43,160 Speaker 1: walks us through the ins and outs of how Samsung 25 00:01:43,240 --> 00:01:46,160 Speaker 1: has grown the business over the past five years. He's 26 00:01:46,200 --> 00:01:49,560 Speaker 1: also really candid about how the company flocked with its 27 00:01:49,560 --> 00:01:53,560 Speaker 1: first effort focused on paid VOD offerings and what they 28 00:01:53,680 --> 00:01:57,480 Speaker 1: learned from all those mistakes. It's all coming up right 29 00:01:57,520 --> 00:02:11,120 Speaker 1: after this break. Takashi Nakano, Senior director of Content for 30 00:02:11,200 --> 00:02:14,120 Speaker 1: Samsung TV Plus, thank you so much for joining me today. 31 00:02:14,320 --> 00:02:15,440 Speaker 2: Sure, no, thanks for having. 32 00:02:15,360 --> 00:02:18,720 Speaker 1: Me well as you As you probably know, I've been 33 00:02:18,800 --> 00:02:20,959 Speaker 1: knocking on the door of Samsung TV Plus for a 34 00:02:21,040 --> 00:02:23,800 Speaker 1: while now because I've seen you've been doing a lot 35 00:02:23,880 --> 00:02:28,079 Speaker 1: of interesting stuff. You have been, you know, aggregating and 36 00:02:28,120 --> 00:02:31,760 Speaker 1: bringing together fast channels. You've you've been doing a lot 37 00:02:31,800 --> 00:02:36,720 Speaker 1: of interesting stuff just with the Samsung platform and the 38 00:02:36,760 --> 00:02:41,359 Speaker 1: operating system that you have, and in making the decision 39 00:02:41,400 --> 00:02:44,080 Speaker 1: to really go for it with fast channels with free 40 00:02:44,080 --> 00:02:47,560 Speaker 1: streaming ad supported content. You've created a different kind of 41 00:02:47,680 --> 00:02:52,120 Speaker 1: network that's based on Samsung TV devices, which at last 42 00:02:52,160 --> 00:02:55,240 Speaker 1: count is somewhere over five hundred and seventy one million 43 00:02:55,600 --> 00:02:58,960 Speaker 1: around the world. It's an intriguing kind of network that 44 00:02:59,000 --> 00:03:02,360 Speaker 1: you've built. I'd love kind of the thirty thousand foot 45 00:03:02,440 --> 00:03:07,400 Speaker 1: view of Samsung TV Plus. What encouraged Samsung, which is 46 00:03:07,400 --> 00:03:11,040 Speaker 1: a very established name in consumer electronics, what encouraged them 47 00:03:11,080 --> 00:03:12,800 Speaker 1: to go deeper into the content side. 48 00:03:13,280 --> 00:03:17,079 Speaker 2: So it's interesting we started this endeavor. I joined Samsung 49 00:03:17,120 --> 00:03:21,080 Speaker 2: in twenty sixteen and I was originally brought over to 50 00:03:21,160 --> 00:03:26,080 Speaker 2: launch a virtual MVPD. That's when Sling was launching, Direct 51 00:03:26,080 --> 00:03:29,200 Speaker 2: tv Now was launching. So the idea was to integrate 52 00:03:30,120 --> 00:03:33,840 Speaker 2: a video ecosystem into the TV and everything at that 53 00:03:33,880 --> 00:03:37,440 Speaker 2: point was pay. We had modeled it a number of 54 00:03:37,440 --> 00:03:40,160 Speaker 2: different ways, We had talked to partners, and it was 55 00:03:40,240 --> 00:03:42,960 Speaker 2: just a business that was never going to really be profitable, 56 00:03:43,680 --> 00:03:48,920 Speaker 2: and we pivoted from that point. We you know, simultaneously, 57 00:03:48,960 --> 00:03:52,400 Speaker 2: we had launched a transactional vod store in twenty sixteen 58 00:03:52,440 --> 00:03:56,840 Speaker 2: as well. It was it was called TV Plus, and 59 00:03:57,560 --> 00:04:03,360 Speaker 2: interestingly enough, it was a gigantic failure, but we learned 60 00:04:03,360 --> 00:04:03,680 Speaker 2: a lot. 61 00:04:04,040 --> 00:04:07,720 Speaker 1: Sometimes that's the benefits, can you know outweigh the fail. 62 00:04:07,560 --> 00:04:10,000 Speaker 2: Right, you know, we we had a lot of We 63 00:04:10,320 --> 00:04:13,280 Speaker 2: didn't sell many assets, and part of it was execution, 64 00:04:13,480 --> 00:04:17,720 Speaker 2: part of it was market dynamics. Transactions weren't really we 65 00:04:17,960 --> 00:04:20,520 Speaker 2: weren't doing it well. But what we learned was a 66 00:04:20,560 --> 00:04:23,359 Speaker 2: lot of people came in to look, to browse and look. 67 00:04:23,800 --> 00:04:27,960 Speaker 2: And simultaneously, Korea was building this idea of you know, 68 00:04:28,120 --> 00:04:31,960 Speaker 2: Caro selling movie trailers and used in leveraging an impulse pread, 69 00:04:32,440 --> 00:04:36,000 Speaker 2: an impulse pay per view experience to buy and red movies, 70 00:04:36,960 --> 00:04:39,920 Speaker 2: and so they were car selling trailers into a into 71 00:04:39,960 --> 00:04:43,440 Speaker 2: an EPG. And we liked that idea and what we 72 00:04:43,560 --> 00:04:45,680 Speaker 2: ended up doing is bringing that to the US, not 73 00:04:45,800 --> 00:04:48,360 Speaker 2: the transit what we we had a separate transactional element. 74 00:04:48,560 --> 00:04:51,280 Speaker 2: But what we really liked was the fact that you 75 00:04:51,279 --> 00:04:55,599 Speaker 2: can integrate channels essentially content into an electronic programming guide 76 00:04:55,839 --> 00:05:00,159 Speaker 2: without the need of any additional hardware. You just go 77 00:05:00,200 --> 00:05:03,000 Speaker 2: to Best Buy or Amazon would deliver your TV, bring 78 00:05:03,000 --> 00:05:05,320 Speaker 2: it into the house, hang it from the wall, and 79 00:05:05,360 --> 00:05:08,239 Speaker 2: connect to your Wi Fi and you would just get content. 80 00:05:08,680 --> 00:05:11,960 Speaker 2: And that was very interesting and without the need of 81 00:05:11,960 --> 00:05:16,440 Speaker 2: a cable box. We believe integrating content into your electronic 82 00:05:16,480 --> 00:05:19,279 Speaker 2: programming guide was very much akin to what people are 83 00:05:19,920 --> 00:05:22,320 Speaker 2: used to doing. Anyways. Yeah, it used to be called 84 00:05:22,360 --> 00:05:26,640 Speaker 2: cable Yeah, even before that, it was called broadcast TV, right, 85 00:05:26,760 --> 00:05:29,840 Speaker 2: So I think that's what really kind of set us 86 00:05:29,839 --> 00:05:34,400 Speaker 2: down this journey. We didn't have content obviously, we were 87 00:05:34,440 --> 00:05:36,839 Speaker 2: a hardware manufacturer. We were knocking on a lot of 88 00:05:36,880 --> 00:05:40,920 Speaker 2: doors looking for content. Most of it was available, you know, 89 00:05:41,240 --> 00:05:43,279 Speaker 2: most of it was on YouTube, and it was short 90 00:05:43,279 --> 00:05:48,440 Speaker 2: form and it wasn't really situated well for TV. We 91 00:05:48,440 --> 00:05:50,680 Speaker 2: we at that, you know, at that point we had 92 00:05:50,680 --> 00:05:54,159 Speaker 2: a small strategic investment a company called Pluto TV. Heard 93 00:05:54,200 --> 00:05:57,120 Speaker 2: of them, so we had a small minority stake in 94 00:05:57,200 --> 00:06:02,600 Speaker 2: them early days, and we launched ten channels and we 95 00:06:02,600 --> 00:06:06,560 Speaker 2: were off to the races. So it's been an interesting journey, 96 00:06:06,560 --> 00:06:09,680 Speaker 2: and for us, it's obviously evolved from the ten channels 97 00:06:09,720 --> 00:06:12,840 Speaker 2: that we originally launched. We had learned a lot from 98 00:06:12,880 --> 00:06:16,440 Speaker 2: that from those ten channels that have expanded to you know, 99 00:06:16,839 --> 00:06:20,880 Speaker 2: over four hundred channels now here in the US. We're 100 00:06:20,880 --> 00:06:25,320 Speaker 2: available in twenty four countries, thousands of channels around the world. 101 00:06:25,400 --> 00:06:28,359 Speaker 2: It's an interesting it's interesting to see the scale that 102 00:06:28,400 --> 00:06:31,760 Speaker 2: it's grown to and just you know, the all five 103 00:06:31,800 --> 00:06:32,880 Speaker 2: short years. 104 00:06:33,279 --> 00:06:35,839 Speaker 1: Is there are there things that you can do because 105 00:06:35,880 --> 00:06:39,080 Speaker 1: you are a device based network. Are there things that 106 00:06:39,120 --> 00:06:42,599 Speaker 1: you can do for advertisers or content providers that others can't? 107 00:06:42,839 --> 00:06:45,000 Speaker 1: And I know you have such a depth of experience 108 00:06:45,360 --> 00:06:48,599 Speaker 1: in the multi channel world. I'm curious if there are 109 00:06:48,640 --> 00:06:51,840 Speaker 1: like benefits to the kind of uniqueness of the Samsung network. 110 00:06:51,920 --> 00:06:55,280 Speaker 2: Yeah. The ecosystem that we have today is you know, 111 00:06:55,320 --> 00:06:58,039 Speaker 2: it's very much from the outside looking in. From the 112 00:06:58,160 --> 00:07:01,800 Speaker 2: user's perspective, looking at the service, looks like television, right, 113 00:07:01,839 --> 00:07:06,279 Speaker 2: but on the backside it there there and on the 114 00:07:06,320 --> 00:07:10,000 Speaker 2: backside it looks very different. It's very digital, right. And 115 00:07:10,240 --> 00:07:13,600 Speaker 2: when you have a digital ecosystem, you're essentially able to 116 00:07:13,600 --> 00:07:17,800 Speaker 2: send one feed to one device in a unicast model 117 00:07:17,840 --> 00:07:22,800 Speaker 2: around the world. That model has given the ability to 118 00:07:22,840 --> 00:07:27,040 Speaker 2: sell dynamic insert dynamic ads. We're able to have real, 119 00:07:27,720 --> 00:07:32,679 Speaker 2: real life measurement and understand who's watching what in real time. Everything. 120 00:07:32,840 --> 00:07:36,080 Speaker 2: The beauty of digital is all transferred, you know, with 121 00:07:36,240 --> 00:07:39,200 Speaker 2: the simplicity of using television. So I think that has 122 00:07:39,280 --> 00:07:42,520 Speaker 2: really if you take that and see what we can 123 00:07:42,680 --> 00:07:46,480 Speaker 2: continue to do with it. The you know, the world 124 00:07:46,520 --> 00:07:48,760 Speaker 2: is our oyster, and we think that if you have 125 00:07:48,880 --> 00:07:52,440 Speaker 2: access to the hardware you have, you understand what the 126 00:07:52,520 --> 00:07:55,960 Speaker 2: users are doing, and then you understand what the future 127 00:07:56,000 --> 00:07:58,080 Speaker 2: of this content world is going into and you can 128 00:07:58,080 --> 00:08:02,280 Speaker 2: combine all that to think all those things together. Really, 129 00:08:02,360 --> 00:08:07,240 Speaker 2: the opportunity of media and the future is unlimited, and 130 00:08:07,240 --> 00:08:10,800 Speaker 2: that's what's exciting to us right where we're not you know, 131 00:08:10,880 --> 00:08:13,520 Speaker 2: I came from traditional cable. We had we were fighting 132 00:08:13,560 --> 00:08:17,840 Speaker 2: for qualm space essentially. Right we were fighting for a channel, 133 00:08:18,160 --> 00:08:22,520 Speaker 2: trying to get launched with direct TV or Dish or Comcast, 134 00:08:22,920 --> 00:08:26,800 Speaker 2: and that was a billion dollar investment to do one channel. 135 00:08:27,080 --> 00:08:29,640 Speaker 2: Today you can launch a channel for thousands of dollars 136 00:08:30,120 --> 00:08:34,160 Speaker 2: and the dynamics are very different and what you can 137 00:08:34,200 --> 00:08:37,440 Speaker 2: do with that type of economic structure and now the 138 00:08:37,520 --> 00:08:40,760 Speaker 2: scale of being able to deliver content around the world 139 00:08:41,200 --> 00:08:44,240 Speaker 2: because you're not terrestrial based, but you really you live 140 00:08:44,240 --> 00:08:48,360 Speaker 2: in the Internet. That's awesome and we don't. We're exploring 141 00:08:48,400 --> 00:08:50,640 Speaker 2: all the elements of what that looks like in the future. 142 00:08:51,600 --> 00:08:54,520 Speaker 1: It's really when you think about the potential, it can 143 00:08:54,600 --> 00:08:56,520 Speaker 1: kind of blow your mind when you think about it. 144 00:08:56,760 --> 00:09:00,079 Speaker 1: Are you able to see what people are watching, and 145 00:09:00,160 --> 00:09:03,160 Speaker 1: do you have visibility because it's going through the operating system, 146 00:09:03,240 --> 00:09:05,560 Speaker 1: do you have visibility into what people are watching, how 147 00:09:05,640 --> 00:09:08,640 Speaker 1: much they watch, how they how they surf channels. 148 00:09:08,960 --> 00:09:12,400 Speaker 2: Yes and no. Yes, in the sense that we do. 149 00:09:12,760 --> 00:09:15,560 Speaker 2: You know, on a macro level, we understand that. But 150 00:09:15,800 --> 00:09:19,520 Speaker 2: in a micro level, it's not usable in much of 151 00:09:19,559 --> 00:09:22,560 Speaker 2: the In much of the experience, there's just too many 152 00:09:22,600 --> 00:09:27,480 Speaker 2: people consuming too much content to make anything that a lot. 153 00:09:27,360 --> 00:09:29,120 Speaker 1: Of data points to consider. 154 00:09:29,600 --> 00:09:33,800 Speaker 2: It's not actionable in that sense. But you can identify trends, 155 00:09:33,880 --> 00:09:37,280 Speaker 2: you can identify you know, how people are consuming, what 156 00:09:37,320 --> 00:09:41,680 Speaker 2: they're consuming, and why they're consuming, and where they go 157 00:09:41,840 --> 00:09:45,079 Speaker 2: to next, and how these kind of patterns, these macro 158 00:09:45,200 --> 00:09:49,320 Speaker 2: shifts are changing. So it's exciting to see that, you know, 159 00:09:49,360 --> 00:09:53,480 Speaker 2: and I think we're we're learning right every day. It's 160 00:09:53,600 --> 00:09:56,560 Speaker 2: it's it's a learning experience around how content is changing 161 00:09:56,640 --> 00:10:00,360 Speaker 2: and how people are navigating, you know, whether it's sports, 162 00:10:00,400 --> 00:10:03,480 Speaker 2: whether it's news, whether it's general entertainment, why people turn 163 00:10:03,520 --> 00:10:06,640 Speaker 2: on the TV and watch what they do, and it's 164 00:10:06,920 --> 00:10:09,680 Speaker 2: you know, how different parts of the country watch different things, 165 00:10:09,679 --> 00:10:12,280 Speaker 2: how different parts of the world watch different things. It's 166 00:10:12,320 --> 00:10:15,160 Speaker 2: interesting to see that, and it's and it's difficult to 167 00:10:15,240 --> 00:10:18,400 Speaker 2: navigate all of those different points and understand how do 168 00:10:18,440 --> 00:10:22,080 Speaker 2: you take all this data and distill it into you know, actionable, 169 00:10:22,280 --> 00:10:26,960 Speaker 2: forward thinking content decisions. But that's what makes this job 170 00:10:27,000 --> 00:10:27,480 Speaker 2: so exciting. 171 00:10:27,840 --> 00:10:31,360 Speaker 1: That's absolutely the challenge. I mean, again, having come from 172 00:10:31,440 --> 00:10:35,880 Speaker 1: the traditional cable ecosystem, do you think is it is 173 00:10:35,920 --> 00:10:38,960 Speaker 1: it fair to say that fast is the new ad 174 00:10:39,000 --> 00:10:40,200 Speaker 1: supported basic cable. 175 00:10:41,080 --> 00:10:43,320 Speaker 2: I think that was our premise when we started, and 176 00:10:44,920 --> 00:10:47,360 Speaker 2: you know, five years we fast forward now, you know, 177 00:10:47,440 --> 00:10:51,120 Speaker 2: five years later, and there's no question, right, there's there's 178 00:10:51,160 --> 00:10:54,280 Speaker 2: no question that what's happening in the pay TV world 179 00:10:54,360 --> 00:10:57,880 Speaker 2: and I came from that place. I understand that world. 180 00:10:58,120 --> 00:11:01,520 Speaker 2: It's changing, you know, significantly, and it's going to continue 181 00:11:01,600 --> 00:11:04,400 Speaker 2: to change, and how it evolves is going to continue 182 00:11:04,440 --> 00:11:07,080 Speaker 2: to is going to continue to change. But it's the 183 00:11:07,120 --> 00:11:09,760 Speaker 2: way people are going to watch TV. The value proposition 184 00:11:09,880 --> 00:11:13,680 Speaker 2: is just too strong, and we're seeing the growth and 185 00:11:13,720 --> 00:11:16,920 Speaker 2: engagement daily and now when you can mirror that with 186 00:11:16,960 --> 00:11:20,280 Speaker 2: great content together, we see a hockey stick effect. 187 00:11:21,559 --> 00:11:24,880 Speaker 1: How the economics of all of this for the creative 188 00:11:24,880 --> 00:11:27,920 Speaker 1: community have been you know, of this sort of the 189 00:11:27,960 --> 00:11:31,480 Speaker 1: digital transition have been challenging for sure. Can you kind 190 00:11:31,480 --> 00:11:34,120 Speaker 1: of talk through how it works, how your approach to 191 00:11:34,160 --> 00:11:37,600 Speaker 1: the to content owners. Do you do things like largely 192 00:11:37,600 --> 00:11:40,760 Speaker 1: on a rev share basis? Is it different depending on 193 00:11:40,800 --> 00:11:41,200 Speaker 1: the deal. 194 00:11:41,440 --> 00:11:47,240 Speaker 2: Yeah, Our deals vary across the board. You know, it's 195 00:11:47,280 --> 00:11:50,200 Speaker 2: to take all content creators and put them into a 196 00:11:50,320 --> 00:11:53,640 Speaker 2: bucket of where they are, you know, structurally and economically, 197 00:11:53,679 --> 00:11:59,960 Speaker 2: it's tough to do. You got everyone from the biggest 198 00:12:00,160 --> 00:12:03,520 Speaker 2: and the best studios like Warner Brothers and NBC Universal 199 00:12:03,760 --> 00:12:07,120 Speaker 2: in Fox Disney, and then you got YouTube creators and 200 00:12:07,160 --> 00:12:11,560 Speaker 2: then everyone in between. They all have a different need 201 00:12:11,760 --> 00:12:15,600 Speaker 2: and structural requirements for them to continue to succeed. You know, 202 00:12:15,679 --> 00:12:18,720 Speaker 2: I look at fast as the opportunity to bring content 203 00:12:18,800 --> 00:12:23,320 Speaker 2: to millions and millions of people that many that you 204 00:12:23,360 --> 00:12:27,560 Speaker 2: weren't able to do before right outside of YouTube. You know, 205 00:12:27,679 --> 00:12:29,680 Speaker 2: now you can take it just wasn't feasible. 206 00:12:30,080 --> 00:12:32,560 Speaker 1: It was the economic model just wasn't there to even 207 00:12:32,600 --> 00:12:34,280 Speaker 1: put it on Just the cost of putting it on 208 00:12:34,320 --> 00:12:35,600 Speaker 1: TV would have been prohibitive. 209 00:12:35,720 --> 00:12:39,040 Speaker 2: Yeah, and you had, you know, cable networks, broadcasters that 210 00:12:39,080 --> 00:12:41,240 Speaker 2: made decisions on what kind of content would be up 211 00:12:41,240 --> 00:12:44,959 Speaker 2: on the screen at eight PM on a Tuesday, right, 212 00:12:45,040 --> 00:12:49,160 Speaker 2: and that was that was finite. It was one second. 213 00:12:49,240 --> 00:12:51,640 Speaker 2: It's one hour of time during the day, during the week, 214 00:12:51,720 --> 00:12:54,120 Speaker 2: during the month, during the year, and when that's gone, 215 00:12:54,400 --> 00:12:57,080 Speaker 2: it's gone. Now, all of a sudden, you can take 216 00:12:57,160 --> 00:13:01,920 Speaker 2: content that users created, whether it's high production from a 217 00:13:02,440 --> 00:13:06,240 Speaker 2: big studio or it's a high quality you know, someone 218 00:13:06,280 --> 00:13:10,040 Speaker 2: created great content in their garage and now you can 219 00:13:10,720 --> 00:13:13,600 Speaker 2: put that anywhere. Right, you could target that content to 220 00:13:13,640 --> 00:13:16,000 Speaker 2: the right user on your sixty five inch tea and 221 00:13:16,080 --> 00:13:21,120 Speaker 2: sixty five inch TV. It emulates that same breath that users, 222 00:13:21,360 --> 00:13:24,839 Speaker 2: you know, associate with this television and quality television. We've 223 00:13:25,080 --> 00:13:28,600 Speaker 2: we've launched brands that were you know, we just launched 224 00:13:28,640 --> 00:13:31,800 Speaker 2: a channel called Haggardy Media. Right, it's a it's a 225 00:13:31,840 --> 00:13:35,160 Speaker 2: car enthusiast channel. Right, They're an insurance company and now 226 00:13:35,200 --> 00:13:38,400 Speaker 2: they've got they had tons of content for their fans 227 00:13:38,520 --> 00:13:40,199 Speaker 2: and now we've turned that into a twenty four to 228 00:13:40,240 --> 00:13:43,400 Speaker 2: seven linear channel. It's exciting to see this happen, and 229 00:13:43,440 --> 00:13:47,520 Speaker 2: we've it's countless We've seen lots of small creators build 230 00:13:47,640 --> 00:13:52,360 Speaker 2: channels that have really done a great job and facilitating 231 00:13:52,440 --> 00:13:56,319 Speaker 2: and bringing new content forward, and that's what I'm excited about. 232 00:13:56,360 --> 00:13:59,160 Speaker 2: That's exciting for me to see new stuff that that's 233 00:13:59,200 --> 00:14:02,720 Speaker 2: often lost in you know, billions of videos on the 234 00:14:02,920 --> 00:14:05,920 Speaker 2: on the internet to something that's premium on television. 235 00:14:06,600 --> 00:14:10,080 Speaker 1: Is your phone just ringing off the hook from people that, boy, 236 00:14:10,200 --> 00:14:11,480 Speaker 1: do I have a channel for you? 237 00:14:11,640 --> 00:14:15,240 Speaker 2: My team, my team's phones are ringing off the hook, 238 00:14:15,280 --> 00:14:18,160 Speaker 2: they are, and everyone's building channels, and you know, I 239 00:14:18,200 --> 00:14:22,640 Speaker 2: think that yes it is. You know, the channel environment 240 00:14:22,760 --> 00:14:25,760 Speaker 2: is something that's important. But you look at video on 241 00:14:25,800 --> 00:14:29,760 Speaker 2: demand as something that is really a way to look 242 00:14:29,760 --> 00:14:33,120 Speaker 2: at content. That is, you know, where you don't need 243 00:14:33,240 --> 00:14:36,400 Speaker 2: volumes and volumes of hours of content. As you know, 244 00:14:36,720 --> 00:14:39,360 Speaker 2: being in from this business, a twenty four to seven 245 00:14:39,440 --> 00:14:43,240 Speaker 2: channel is hard to program. It's they're voracious, right. You 246 00:14:43,280 --> 00:14:46,600 Speaker 2: have to continue to acquire a new content feed that monster, 247 00:14:47,240 --> 00:14:51,480 Speaker 2: and it's hard to do. You know, we can now 248 00:14:51,880 --> 00:14:55,960 Speaker 2: bring a video on demand experience, you know, forward, curate 249 00:14:56,040 --> 00:14:59,000 Speaker 2: that to the user and all of a sudden, now 250 00:14:59,240 --> 00:15:03,120 Speaker 2: use linear expose video video on demand content and then 251 00:15:03,200 --> 00:15:05,920 Speaker 2: drive that back. So we create this flywheel effect and. 252 00:15:06,000 --> 00:15:08,680 Speaker 1: The user decides when that twenty four hour or whatever 253 00:15:08,920 --> 00:15:11,120 Speaker 1: whatever amount of time they want to spend that the 254 00:15:11,240 --> 00:15:14,560 Speaker 1: user decides when they're two hours with whatever channel starts. 255 00:15:14,800 --> 00:15:17,560 Speaker 2: We're so focused on the user, and I think what's 256 00:15:17,680 --> 00:15:21,240 Speaker 2: really important is whatever we're whatever we're doing, it's how 257 00:15:21,240 --> 00:15:23,880 Speaker 2: do we super serve the user? How do how do 258 00:15:23,880 --> 00:15:26,560 Speaker 2: we provide the best content that they may not have 259 00:15:26,640 --> 00:15:30,440 Speaker 2: seen to, you know, to that audience. In the business, 260 00:15:30,440 --> 00:15:32,720 Speaker 2: we talk about this a lot, and we've been saying this, 261 00:15:33,160 --> 00:15:35,600 Speaker 2: you know since the early days. When I was at Discovery. 262 00:15:36,040 --> 00:15:38,720 Speaker 2: We got one point zero rating on a Sunday night 263 00:15:38,840 --> 00:15:42,800 Speaker 2: and we were extatic it was amazing. And that's one 264 00:15:42,880 --> 00:15:46,960 Speaker 2: percent of the US households watch that content. And today 265 00:15:47,280 --> 00:15:50,600 Speaker 2: we can now take that same piece of content and 266 00:15:51,000 --> 00:15:53,280 Speaker 2: expose it to the ninety nine percent of people that 267 00:15:53,320 --> 00:15:55,560 Speaker 2: have never seen it. And now, all of a sudden, 268 00:15:55,560 --> 00:15:59,160 Speaker 2: the content economics change. Right before, it was the volume 269 00:15:59,200 --> 00:16:02,880 Speaker 2: game where you had to continue to produce content reaching 270 00:16:02,920 --> 00:16:06,040 Speaker 2: that one percent. Now, how do we take content that's 271 00:16:06,080 --> 00:16:10,680 Speaker 2: been created that has amazing, that take amazing IP and 272 00:16:10,720 --> 00:16:13,160 Speaker 2: deliver it to those other ninety nine percent that have 273 00:16:13,320 --> 00:16:16,440 Speaker 2: not yet seen it. That I think is what makes 274 00:16:16,520 --> 00:16:17,640 Speaker 2: this business really interesting. 275 00:16:18,440 --> 00:16:21,800 Speaker 1: Don't change the channel. We'll be right back after this break, 276 00:16:26,960 --> 00:16:31,680 Speaker 1: and we're back with more from Samsung TV Plus's Takashi Nakano. 277 00:16:32,680 --> 00:16:35,120 Speaker 1: Are you surprised at the number I mean, I've seen, 278 00:16:35,240 --> 00:16:38,240 Speaker 1: you know, major brands on your channel lineup? Are you 279 00:16:38,280 --> 00:16:41,120 Speaker 1: surprised that the number of major leagues showbiz brands that 280 00:16:41,160 --> 00:16:43,280 Speaker 1: have come to you and said, oh boy, do we 281 00:16:43,320 --> 00:16:44,880 Speaker 1: want to you know, do we want to work with 282 00:16:44,920 --> 00:16:47,480 Speaker 1: you and package some of our content because they, you know, 283 00:16:47,520 --> 00:16:49,640 Speaker 1: the biggest, have so much that sits on the show. 284 00:16:50,000 --> 00:16:53,720 Speaker 2: You know, I look back five years ago and to 285 00:16:53,800 --> 00:16:56,200 Speaker 2: see the you know, the ground that our team has 286 00:16:56,240 --> 00:17:00,200 Speaker 2: made up between then and now, it's shocking. It's it's 287 00:17:00,280 --> 00:17:02,560 Speaker 2: it's amazing that and I wouldn't have thought that we 288 00:17:02,560 --> 00:17:04,119 Speaker 2: would be at this point this fast. 289 00:17:04,359 --> 00:17:06,159 Speaker 1: Was it a hard sell at first? Did you have 290 00:17:06,240 --> 00:17:07,960 Speaker 1: to like talk people through the concept? 291 00:17:08,280 --> 00:17:10,600 Speaker 2: Yeah? It was. It was you know, I think the 292 00:17:10,680 --> 00:17:14,560 Speaker 2: MVPD world hadn't imploded yet, right, it was starting to. 293 00:17:15,440 --> 00:17:18,399 Speaker 2: It was starting to quake, a little landslide. Starting was 294 00:17:18,600 --> 00:17:24,800 Speaker 2: just just early days. And yeah, no people, we most 295 00:17:24,840 --> 00:17:27,240 Speaker 2: of the answers were no, we're not interested, we don't 296 00:17:27,240 --> 00:17:31,720 Speaker 2: believe in this, and that was fine, and it was 297 00:17:32,520 --> 00:17:35,639 Speaker 2: my team was persistent. They believed in what we were doing, 298 00:17:35,720 --> 00:17:39,879 Speaker 2: and everyone focused on you know, hey, this is a 299 00:17:39,920 --> 00:17:43,240 Speaker 2: new way to watch television, especially with the shifting of 300 00:17:43,240 --> 00:17:46,120 Speaker 2: the landscape, and at that point, s VOD was becoming 301 00:17:46,240 --> 00:17:50,560 Speaker 2: really the place to you know, to be and it's 302 00:17:50,600 --> 00:17:52,679 Speaker 2: still for the for the most part. We you know, 303 00:17:52,720 --> 00:17:55,080 Speaker 2: we love our s FOG partners at Samsung. We you know, 304 00:17:55,119 --> 00:17:57,840 Speaker 2: they're all of our partners as well, so you know, 305 00:17:57,920 --> 00:18:00,520 Speaker 2: it's still a great place to watch premium content. But 306 00:18:00,640 --> 00:18:04,760 Speaker 2: you can't avoid and can't ignore the value of a free, 307 00:18:04,800 --> 00:18:08,440 Speaker 2: ad supported experience. It's it's it's one hundred year old 308 00:18:08,440 --> 00:18:10,800 Speaker 2: experience that we've had in you know, broadcast TV in 309 00:18:10,840 --> 00:18:13,960 Speaker 2: the US, and it's not going away, and we still 310 00:18:14,000 --> 00:18:14,520 Speaker 2: believe in it. 311 00:18:15,680 --> 00:18:19,400 Speaker 1: From Samsung's perspective, do you use Does Samsung see content 312 00:18:19,600 --> 00:18:22,760 Speaker 1: as a you know, growth area, a profit driver in 313 00:18:22,800 --> 00:18:24,840 Speaker 1: the future, I know you have. You know, Samsung has 314 00:18:24,880 --> 00:18:28,480 Speaker 1: far flung businesses in many different, many different pockets, but 315 00:18:28,560 --> 00:18:30,200 Speaker 1: content is still relatively new. 316 00:18:30,480 --> 00:18:34,040 Speaker 2: Yeah, No, content is new, you know. I think that's 317 00:18:34,080 --> 00:18:36,280 Speaker 2: that's the big question for us, like how deep do 318 00:18:36,359 --> 00:18:41,320 Speaker 2: we get into this content game? Are there opportunities? You know, 319 00:18:41,720 --> 00:18:43,600 Speaker 2: if you spoke to our team most of us believe 320 00:18:43,640 --> 00:18:46,679 Speaker 2: that there is right, there is absolutely if we have 321 00:18:47,400 --> 00:18:51,320 Speaker 2: information on what users are interested in watching, if we 322 00:18:51,400 --> 00:18:55,240 Speaker 2: have the ability to tailor and craft, and if it 323 00:18:55,320 --> 00:18:58,920 Speaker 2: makes economic sense to actually make and control and own 324 00:18:59,000 --> 00:19:02,240 Speaker 2: that for the life of the asset and the life 325 00:19:02,280 --> 00:19:05,960 Speaker 2: of our business. Yeah, it may, it may actually make 326 00:19:06,040 --> 00:19:09,240 Speaker 2: sense to do that, you know. And our unique proposition 327 00:19:09,400 --> 00:19:13,000 Speaker 2: is twenty four plus countries and a few more later 328 00:19:13,040 --> 00:19:15,359 Speaker 2: on this year. Right, So now, when you can take 329 00:19:15,520 --> 00:19:19,760 Speaker 2: a global footprint, which most of our competitors can't, and 330 00:19:20,160 --> 00:19:22,439 Speaker 2: you know, and we also can take not just a 331 00:19:22,480 --> 00:19:25,879 Speaker 2: global television footprint, but a global mobile footprint, and you 332 00:19:25,960 --> 00:19:30,640 Speaker 2: combine all that together. We have access to a lot 333 00:19:30,680 --> 00:19:32,840 Speaker 2: of households and a lot of people, and a lot 334 00:19:32,920 --> 00:19:35,840 Speaker 2: of screens in pockets. How do you take that and 335 00:19:35,840 --> 00:19:39,280 Speaker 2: how do you bring content to those experiences? I think 336 00:19:39,320 --> 00:19:42,040 Speaker 2: that's what's exciting. So, yeah, I do see an opportunity 337 00:19:42,080 --> 00:19:43,959 Speaker 2: for us to move into that space. 338 00:19:44,359 --> 00:19:48,560 Speaker 1: Are you able to customize your channel selection by country 339 00:19:48,640 --> 00:19:50,440 Speaker 1: or region at all? We do. 340 00:19:51,080 --> 00:19:55,560 Speaker 2: Every country has you know, country managers that oversee the 341 00:19:55,640 --> 00:20:01,320 Speaker 2: content requirements needs, you know, this decisions that it's managed 342 00:20:01,359 --> 00:20:05,720 Speaker 2: at the country level. There's nuances and rights are very complicated, 343 00:20:05,920 --> 00:20:07,639 Speaker 2: as you know, across territories. 344 00:20:07,720 --> 00:20:10,280 Speaker 1: I'm sure that's a full time job for a small, 345 00:20:10,359 --> 00:20:12,920 Speaker 1: small army of people watching all around the world. 346 00:20:13,200 --> 00:20:16,240 Speaker 2: It's difficult. You know, there's languages, you know, there's languages, 347 00:20:16,400 --> 00:20:19,000 Speaker 2: there's you know, dialects that we need to manage for 348 00:20:19,560 --> 00:20:22,439 Speaker 2: close captions versus subtitles. So there's a lot of nuance 349 00:20:22,520 --> 00:20:26,600 Speaker 2: around operating a global environment, especially both mobile and TV, 350 00:20:26,720 --> 00:20:29,320 Speaker 2: and how do you expose the content in the right way. 351 00:20:30,200 --> 00:20:33,680 Speaker 2: So yes, we you know, it is complicated and is challenging, 352 00:20:33,760 --> 00:20:36,800 Speaker 2: but there is there's an opportunity in that that very 353 00:20:36,880 --> 00:20:40,720 Speaker 2: few companies can you know, take advantage of and move 354 00:20:40,880 --> 00:20:46,119 Speaker 2: business forward. So what's exciting is we could with simplify it, 355 00:20:46,119 --> 00:20:48,320 Speaker 2: but with a push of a button, you can launch 356 00:20:48,359 --> 00:20:52,520 Speaker 2: content around the world. Really that's on a television on 357 00:20:52,560 --> 00:20:56,879 Speaker 2: a mobile phone simultaneously. We've been talking about this in 358 00:20:57,560 --> 00:21:01,480 Speaker 2: cable television forever and it's never been possible until today. 359 00:21:01,600 --> 00:21:02,320 Speaker 2: So it's exciting. 360 00:21:02,640 --> 00:21:07,440 Speaker 1: It's it is the end of geographic borders of being 361 00:21:07,520 --> 00:21:12,119 Speaker 1: the parameters of where a service could go initially and 362 00:21:12,160 --> 00:21:14,520 Speaker 1: then the and then it was so much based on 363 00:21:14,560 --> 00:21:17,879 Speaker 1: the export model of content and it and you know 364 00:21:17,920 --> 00:21:21,040 Speaker 1: that when Netflix at Cees twenty sixteen was a pivotal 365 00:21:21,119 --> 00:21:25,240 Speaker 1: year for the PayTV ecosystem because twenty Netflix at Cees 366 00:21:25,359 --> 00:21:28,960 Speaker 1: twenty sixteen flipped the switch and went global and just 367 00:21:29,080 --> 00:21:32,239 Speaker 1: blew our minds in terms of like, oh thinking and 368 00:21:32,280 --> 00:21:34,119 Speaker 1: to see now you know, where you have like a 369 00:21:34,200 --> 00:21:36,639 Speaker 1: real you know, with the biggest of the big things 370 00:21:36,680 --> 00:21:39,320 Speaker 1: like Game of Thrones and Stranger Things. You now literally 371 00:21:39,359 --> 00:21:42,919 Speaker 1: have a market where you compete globally, yes, which is 372 00:21:43,040 --> 00:21:45,560 Speaker 1: which is fascinating and obviously you all are in there. 373 00:21:45,640 --> 00:21:47,840 Speaker 2: Well, if you look at the content experience that's around 374 00:21:47,880 --> 00:21:51,280 Speaker 2: the world, that's really what's exciting. There's so much content 375 00:21:51,840 --> 00:21:54,920 Speaker 2: that this country hasn't seen from around the world. There's 376 00:21:55,000 --> 00:22:00,080 Speaker 2: brilliant creators that are doing this every day, day in 377 00:22:00,080 --> 00:22:02,840 Speaker 2: and day out around the world. And to be exposed 378 00:22:02,880 --> 00:22:05,919 Speaker 2: to some of those things, you know, the you know, 379 00:22:06,040 --> 00:22:11,720 Speaker 2: the fandom of Korean content has exploded, and not because 380 00:22:11,760 --> 00:22:15,920 Speaker 2: traditional television has brought to popularity. It's really the digital 381 00:22:16,320 --> 00:22:19,800 Speaker 2: you know environment has really brought that and you know, 382 00:22:20,480 --> 00:22:23,119 Speaker 2: we as a Korean company can appreciate what that is. 383 00:22:23,480 --> 00:22:26,440 Speaker 2: But now to see it in mainstream is very exciting 384 00:22:26,800 --> 00:22:29,440 Speaker 2: and what else is out there? And you know, our 385 00:22:29,520 --> 00:22:32,520 Speaker 2: teams are focused on finding that the what else is 386 00:22:32,560 --> 00:22:35,400 Speaker 2: out there because that's untapped and unminded. 387 00:22:36,920 --> 00:22:39,480 Speaker 1: I would imagine that the growth of your fast business 388 00:22:39,520 --> 00:22:42,879 Speaker 1: has also helped build up your VOD business. Are you 389 00:22:42,920 --> 00:22:43,920 Speaker 1: still pursuing that at all? 390 00:22:44,359 --> 00:22:48,000 Speaker 2: Absolutely? You know, we look at VOD as as core 391 00:22:48,680 --> 00:22:52,480 Speaker 2: of our business. You know, the fast business is great, 392 00:22:52,560 --> 00:22:56,800 Speaker 2: it's growing, It continues to grow week after week, month 393 00:22:56,840 --> 00:22:58,879 Speaker 2: after month, year over year over year. The growth has 394 00:22:58,920 --> 00:23:02,200 Speaker 2: been phenomenal, and that engagement does not it hasn't stopped. 395 00:23:02,840 --> 00:23:06,760 Speaker 2: The VOD business is exciting to us because the content 396 00:23:06,840 --> 00:23:12,000 Speaker 2: mix is very different. Right, People watch content in different ways, 397 00:23:12,160 --> 00:23:15,199 Speaker 2: and there's certain types of content that's best situated for VOD. 398 00:23:15,600 --> 00:23:18,880 Speaker 2: There's great content that's best situated for linear. When we 399 00:23:18,960 --> 00:23:22,879 Speaker 2: only had I Rewind twenty five years ago, we only 400 00:23:22,920 --> 00:23:26,359 Speaker 2: had a linear experience. We all waited for, you know, game, 401 00:23:26,880 --> 00:23:29,480 Speaker 2: the Game of Thrones or the Entourage to come in 402 00:23:29,640 --> 00:23:33,480 Speaker 2: at Sunday nights at eight pm. And today that's not 403 00:23:33,640 --> 00:23:36,520 Speaker 2: the model. Right. Netflix has broken that I want it 404 00:23:36,560 --> 00:23:38,960 Speaker 2: when I want it, yeah, and they drop all thirteen 405 00:23:39,000 --> 00:23:42,240 Speaker 2: episodes at the same time. So these models are continuing 406 00:23:42,280 --> 00:23:45,239 Speaker 2: to change, and so how do we then, you know, 407 00:23:45,280 --> 00:23:48,840 Speaker 2: this world of primetime watching versus late night watching versus 408 00:23:48,880 --> 00:23:51,840 Speaker 2: daytime that's all a lot of that's broken too, and 409 00:23:52,920 --> 00:23:55,840 Speaker 2: VOD can fix that. It's what kind of content do 410 00:23:55,920 --> 00:23:58,200 Speaker 2: you want to watch that you're going to invest your 411 00:23:58,200 --> 00:24:01,879 Speaker 2: time into and consume and what is that content? And 412 00:24:01,920 --> 00:24:04,639 Speaker 2: how does Samsung TV Plus deliver that experience to the 413 00:24:04,720 --> 00:24:07,800 Speaker 2: user where they're at at that right appropriate time. 414 00:24:08,520 --> 00:24:11,679 Speaker 1: A lot of fast channels are broadly distributed. Are you 415 00:24:11,720 --> 00:24:15,600 Speaker 1: at all interested in I know you have some exclusive deals. 416 00:24:15,920 --> 00:24:17,679 Speaker 1: As I recall some of them, you'll have like an 417 00:24:17,720 --> 00:24:20,520 Speaker 1: exclusive for a year or two and then it'll go wider. 418 00:24:21,000 --> 00:24:23,000 Speaker 1: Is there value in exclusivity? To you? 419 00:24:24,600 --> 00:24:28,920 Speaker 2: There is value in exclusivity. It does create this idea 420 00:24:29,040 --> 00:24:34,840 Speaker 2: that users can only find it in our environment. Is 421 00:24:34,880 --> 00:24:38,520 Speaker 2: it is it critical and important for ultimately the user? 422 00:24:40,160 --> 00:24:44,439 Speaker 2: Not yet, you know, I don't believe that that that 423 00:24:44,440 --> 00:24:47,400 Speaker 2: that's there yet. Will it become something in the future? 424 00:24:47,640 --> 00:24:50,280 Speaker 2: It may, right, and I think it depends on the content. 425 00:24:52,000 --> 00:24:54,760 Speaker 2: But if there, if it's content that's being produced for 426 00:24:55,080 --> 00:24:57,879 Speaker 2: hundreds of millions of dollars and making it exclusive on 427 00:24:57,960 --> 00:25:01,399 Speaker 2: a single platform, for the life of it, for the 428 00:25:01,560 --> 00:25:05,080 Speaker 2: entire life of that asset likely doesn't make sense. How 429 00:25:05,119 --> 00:25:07,679 Speaker 2: do you create, you know, how does that work for 430 00:25:07,720 --> 00:25:11,359 Speaker 2: the content itself? And how does that work for the user? 431 00:25:11,480 --> 00:25:14,280 Speaker 2: It doesn't. So if we're focused on the content, focus 432 00:25:14,359 --> 00:25:17,359 Speaker 2: on the user, how do we expose that? You know, 433 00:25:17,480 --> 00:25:21,080 Speaker 2: we don't necessarily think about exclusivity or non exclusive, but 434 00:25:21,160 --> 00:25:23,199 Speaker 2: really what's best for the user and what's best for 435 00:25:23,240 --> 00:25:23,679 Speaker 2: the content. 436 00:25:25,560 --> 00:25:28,080 Speaker 1: Let me ask you in terms of like marketing in 437 00:25:28,119 --> 00:25:31,400 Speaker 1: a consumer speaking to consumers about the fact that there 438 00:25:31,480 --> 00:25:35,040 Speaker 1: is this great value added you know package that when 439 00:25:35,040 --> 00:25:37,560 Speaker 1: you turn on your TV. How do you market that 440 00:25:37,800 --> 00:25:40,960 Speaker 1: in a traditional kind of you know, consumer marketing or 441 00:25:41,000 --> 00:25:43,520 Speaker 1: do you do you rely on like you know, people 442 00:25:43,640 --> 00:25:46,760 Speaker 1: at people that are selling television sets at the at 443 00:25:46,800 --> 00:25:50,639 Speaker 1: the electronics store to really you know, promote, hey, you 444 00:25:50,680 --> 00:25:52,800 Speaker 1: buy this channel, you buy this set, and you're going 445 00:25:52,840 --> 00:25:55,719 Speaker 1: to have all this other you know, scot free content 446 00:25:55,760 --> 00:25:57,920 Speaker 1: that flows in as soon as you plug it in. 447 00:25:58,240 --> 00:26:00,720 Speaker 2: And part of the great the great thing of Samsung 448 00:26:00,840 --> 00:26:05,280 Speaker 2: is that we know our core business is selling hardware, 449 00:26:05,560 --> 00:26:07,639 Speaker 2: and to do that, they spend a lot of money 450 00:26:07,640 --> 00:26:12,200 Speaker 2: in marketing, marketing the hardware, you know, consumer marketing, product 451 00:26:12,240 --> 00:26:16,280 Speaker 2: and feature marketing ces. There's a lot of money spent 452 00:26:16,320 --> 00:26:19,920 Speaker 2: on marketing hardware products, and we're the beneficiary of that. 453 00:26:20,480 --> 00:26:23,800 Speaker 2: We draft off of a lot of that marketing that's 454 00:26:23,840 --> 00:26:26,119 Speaker 2: being done at the hardware level, so we do rely 455 00:26:26,200 --> 00:26:31,199 Speaker 2: on hardware and the value proposition. Our marketing team has 456 00:26:31,200 --> 00:26:33,760 Speaker 2: done a phenomenal job selling TV Plus to the user 457 00:26:34,240 --> 00:26:38,480 Speaker 2: our users, and we see that by the engagement, right, 458 00:26:38,680 --> 00:26:42,720 Speaker 2: the consumers are watching and consuming a lot of the content, 459 00:26:42,800 --> 00:26:45,880 Speaker 2: are exciting when new shows and new channels are launched, 460 00:26:46,119 --> 00:26:48,800 Speaker 2: and our marketing teams does a phenomenal job and leveraging 461 00:26:48,840 --> 00:26:52,520 Speaker 2: that and making that available and known to our user base. 462 00:26:53,160 --> 00:26:55,760 Speaker 2: But we also need to be patient. Right, this is 463 00:26:55,760 --> 00:26:58,480 Speaker 2: a service that's been around for five years, right, and 464 00:26:58,520 --> 00:27:01,920 Speaker 2: we you know Amazon's been around for twenty five years. 465 00:27:02,119 --> 00:27:05,320 Speaker 2: We forget that these things take a long time to 466 00:27:05,440 --> 00:27:10,240 Speaker 2: incubate and grow to become part of the consumer zeitgeist. 467 00:27:10,440 --> 00:27:14,440 Speaker 2: And how do we get there is a long term endeavor? 468 00:27:15,200 --> 00:27:19,800 Speaker 2: We see a long term secular shift in television consumption 469 00:27:20,240 --> 00:27:23,119 Speaker 2: that comes down to the great content coming on our platform, 470 00:27:23,520 --> 00:27:28,360 Speaker 2: a better user experience, ubiquity across devices, you know, being 471 00:27:28,440 --> 00:27:30,480 Speaker 2: able to watch the content you want, where you want 472 00:27:30,520 --> 00:27:32,159 Speaker 2: to watch it, and how you want to watch it, 473 00:27:32,640 --> 00:27:36,320 Speaker 2: and the consumer ultimately knowing that, hey, there's an amazing 474 00:27:36,359 --> 00:27:39,480 Speaker 2: service out there that is free, and this is the 475 00:27:39,480 --> 00:27:41,159 Speaker 2: way we end up. This is the way we're going 476 00:27:41,200 --> 00:27:45,040 Speaker 2: to be consuming content as our central hub, whether it's 477 00:27:45,080 --> 00:27:48,560 Speaker 2: on a mobile device or a television. That does take time. 478 00:27:48,840 --> 00:27:51,320 Speaker 2: So when we look at our programming, we try to 479 00:27:51,359 --> 00:27:55,359 Speaker 2: focus on users of all demographic of all ages, and 480 00:27:55,400 --> 00:27:58,680 Speaker 2: how do we give them something that they can now 481 00:27:59,119 --> 00:28:03,360 Speaker 2: anchor into. So this becomes habitual and it becomes instinctual 482 00:28:03,720 --> 00:28:07,359 Speaker 2: as opposed to something that's conscious. Television for many people 483 00:28:07,440 --> 00:28:08,600 Speaker 2: is unconscious. 484 00:28:08,840 --> 00:28:11,280 Speaker 1: There you go wake up in the morning and turn. 485 00:28:10,880 --> 00:28:14,560 Speaker 2: It on right and you open Netflix because that's what 486 00:28:14,600 --> 00:28:18,160 Speaker 2: you do. And that took thirteen fourteen years for Netflix 487 00:28:18,200 --> 00:28:21,920 Speaker 2: to become that. So we give ourselves time and we 488 00:28:21,960 --> 00:28:25,160 Speaker 2: see the long term impacts and you know, the opportunity 489 00:28:25,600 --> 00:28:29,120 Speaker 2: over multiple decades in this business. So that's what we're 490 00:28:29,119 --> 00:28:29,800 Speaker 2: excited about. 491 00:28:30,200 --> 00:28:33,000 Speaker 1: You're also doing some creative things. I understand you're bringing 492 00:28:33,080 --> 00:28:37,200 Speaker 1: some a new package of like vintage Conan O'Brien episodes 493 00:28:37,440 --> 00:28:41,120 Speaker 1: to one of your existing channels. That is slightly repackaged. 494 00:28:41,320 --> 00:28:44,440 Speaker 2: Yeah. No, we're always looking to grow our linear channel 495 00:28:44,600 --> 00:28:47,640 Speaker 2: channels that we're creating. We're always looking to add and 496 00:28:47,720 --> 00:28:50,440 Speaker 2: augment and enhance the experience that we that we bring. 497 00:28:51,480 --> 00:28:56,120 Speaker 2: Channels are like children. They're you know, you birth them, 498 00:28:56,360 --> 00:28:58,440 Speaker 2: you take care of them, you grow them, and eventually 499 00:28:58,480 --> 00:29:01,640 Speaker 2: one day they move off to have their own life 500 00:29:01,720 --> 00:29:05,200 Speaker 2: to grow up. Right, But it doesn't happen overnight. We 501 00:29:05,320 --> 00:29:07,440 Speaker 2: have to continue to feed them. We have to continue 502 00:29:07,520 --> 00:29:10,040 Speaker 2: to nurture them. We have to grow their grow their 503 00:29:10,040 --> 00:29:13,880 Speaker 2: ecosystem as well, and make sure that these channels are 504 00:29:14,920 --> 00:29:18,720 Speaker 2: are changing. And you know, when I first started in 505 00:29:18,760 --> 00:29:21,960 Speaker 2: the business years ago, we were launching we launched a 506 00:29:22,040 --> 00:29:24,880 Speaker 2: channel called animal Planet and it was a gentle bend 507 00:29:24,960 --> 00:29:27,480 Speaker 2: Lastly and Flipper, and that's what we were selling the 508 00:29:27,480 --> 00:29:29,440 Speaker 2: cable operators. But the vision of what it could be 509 00:29:29,480 --> 00:29:31,920 Speaker 2: in the future is what it is today and that's 510 00:29:31,960 --> 00:29:35,560 Speaker 2: exciting to see. And it's no different, right, all of 511 00:29:35,600 --> 00:29:38,040 Speaker 2: these channels, if you look at every single channel over 512 00:29:38,080 --> 00:29:43,040 Speaker 2: the evolution of its multi decade, experience has changed, right, 513 00:29:43,320 --> 00:29:47,120 Speaker 2: it's adapted to the to what's new, it's adapted to growth. 514 00:29:47,480 --> 00:29:51,480 Speaker 2: Some didn't grow, some, you know, shrank, some went away, 515 00:29:51,800 --> 00:29:55,080 Speaker 2: and that evolution is exciting to see and for us, 516 00:29:55,160 --> 00:29:58,520 Speaker 2: we we own and operate and curate forty plus channels, 517 00:29:58,800 --> 00:30:02,200 Speaker 2: we see what's going on in them. We try to 518 00:30:02,240 --> 00:30:04,160 Speaker 2: take care of all of them as much as we can. 519 00:30:04,400 --> 00:30:07,959 Speaker 2: We try to make them look like channels and content 520 00:30:08,000 --> 00:30:11,800 Speaker 2: experiences that users can come into and appreciate and enjoy. 521 00:30:12,280 --> 00:30:15,440 Speaker 2: And then we add on to that, right bringing in 522 00:30:15,520 --> 00:30:18,120 Speaker 2: new content. So yeah, you're going to see a whole 523 00:30:18,120 --> 00:30:20,800 Speaker 2: host of new content coming into each of our channels, 524 00:30:21,200 --> 00:30:24,560 Speaker 2: both you know, the linear channels and VOD over the 525 00:30:24,600 --> 00:30:27,640 Speaker 2: next you know, twelve to twenty four months. 526 00:30:27,760 --> 00:30:30,040 Speaker 1: So you must have quite I mean, with forty owned 527 00:30:30,080 --> 00:30:33,080 Speaker 1: and operated channels alone, plus all the other stuff that 528 00:30:33,120 --> 00:30:35,320 Speaker 1: you're like, you must have quite a team working on 529 00:30:35,720 --> 00:30:40,320 Speaker 1: the just the operation of it's tiny. You're all working 530 00:30:40,440 --> 00:30:41,080 Speaker 1: twenty four. 531 00:30:41,000 --> 00:30:44,200 Speaker 2: Seven, they're working thirty six hours a day. I think 532 00:30:44,800 --> 00:30:49,920 Speaker 2: it's really shocking to see the level of not just engagement, 533 00:30:50,000 --> 00:30:52,440 Speaker 2: but what they're able to put together and what they 534 00:30:52,720 --> 00:30:55,320 Speaker 2: what they bring to the table every day. It's it's 535 00:30:55,440 --> 00:30:59,360 Speaker 2: mind boggling. Cable networks were built with a single cable 536 00:30:59,400 --> 00:31:02,200 Speaker 2: network took a hundred and fifty people to operate. You know, 537 00:31:02,240 --> 00:31:05,320 Speaker 2: a decade and a half ago. Today, my small team 538 00:31:05,320 --> 00:31:08,520 Speaker 2: has launched forty channels. You know, the marketing team has 539 00:31:08,560 --> 00:31:11,440 Speaker 2: done a great job in marketing these forty channels. Like 540 00:31:11,520 --> 00:31:15,040 Speaker 2: it's not a large team. And now you know, we're 541 00:31:15,040 --> 00:31:18,840 Speaker 2: talking about efficiency and scale earlier. We're able to leverage 542 00:31:18,960 --> 00:31:24,240 Speaker 2: technology and become more efficient and scale and launch more stuff, 543 00:31:24,840 --> 00:31:28,360 Speaker 2: and we're excited to leverage that to other parts of 544 00:31:28,360 --> 00:31:28,960 Speaker 2: our business. 545 00:31:29,360 --> 00:31:31,720 Speaker 1: And being part of Samsung, I'm sure does not hurt 546 00:31:31,920 --> 00:31:33,560 Speaker 1: in that in that pursuit. 547 00:31:33,600 --> 00:31:37,520 Speaker 2: For sure, no engineering technology focus there. You know, we 548 00:31:37,680 --> 00:31:41,000 Speaker 2: think about the future of what this experience is there. 549 00:31:41,360 --> 00:31:45,600 Speaker 2: You know, our research labs are developing and building. We 550 00:31:45,720 --> 00:31:48,120 Speaker 2: hear and see new ideas all the time and we're 551 00:31:48,160 --> 00:31:50,320 Speaker 2: blown away. And that's that's exciting. 552 00:31:52,040 --> 00:31:56,600 Speaker 1: It's it is a big moment of invention and innovation 553 00:31:57,040 --> 00:32:00,440 Speaker 1: for the business, that is for sure. Let's back up. 554 00:32:00,920 --> 00:32:04,920 Speaker 1: I'm curious, Takashi. You worked for Discovery, you worked for Scripts, 555 00:32:04,960 --> 00:32:08,040 Speaker 1: you worked for GSN, you worked for pop TV, which 556 00:32:08,160 --> 00:32:10,600 Speaker 1: was a joint venture of lions Gate and CBS, so 557 00:32:10,640 --> 00:32:14,320 Speaker 1: you've had quite a bit of exposure to all of this. 558 00:32:14,560 --> 00:32:17,360 Speaker 1: How did what got you what first got you into 559 00:32:17,840 --> 00:32:19,520 Speaker 1: the cable distribution business. 560 00:32:19,920 --> 00:32:22,720 Speaker 2: So I didn't know I wanted to do cable distribution. 561 00:32:22,960 --> 00:32:25,280 Speaker 2: I didn't know I wanted to negotiate deals with the 562 00:32:25,280 --> 00:32:29,800 Speaker 2: cable operators. That's what I did for sixteen seventeen years. 563 00:32:30,480 --> 00:32:33,760 Speaker 2: And it was a great learning experience, you know. We 564 00:32:33,960 --> 00:32:35,959 Speaker 2: it was a great time of the business, and it 565 00:32:36,000 --> 00:32:39,280 Speaker 2: was it was exciting to see and at that evolved 566 00:32:39,520 --> 00:32:41,680 Speaker 2: when you know, I joined in. I joined Discovery in 567 00:32:41,720 --> 00:32:45,560 Speaker 2: nineteen ninety eight, and I look, you know, from that 568 00:32:45,720 --> 00:32:47,600 Speaker 2: day and I look forward to where we are today, 569 00:32:47,600 --> 00:32:51,480 Speaker 2: and it's changed so much. Right, the highs and the lows, 570 00:32:51,520 --> 00:32:55,600 Speaker 2: and the the challenges that our teams had and negotiating 571 00:32:55,680 --> 00:32:59,280 Speaker 2: deals with big cable operators and as being at most 572 00:32:59,280 --> 00:33:02,479 Speaker 2: of those were small networks, so we had to we 573 00:33:02,480 --> 00:33:03,160 Speaker 2: were challenged. 574 00:33:03,320 --> 00:33:05,440 Speaker 1: Do you have any good John Malone stories for us? 575 00:33:06,040 --> 00:33:09,479 Speaker 2: Probably something, probably things I can't say on on on 576 00:33:09,520 --> 00:33:13,760 Speaker 2: the record, but no, like the the John Malone I 577 00:33:13,800 --> 00:33:17,200 Speaker 2: have so much respect for and what he's built and 578 00:33:17,240 --> 00:33:21,240 Speaker 2: how he really came and saved you know, Discovery years 579 00:33:21,240 --> 00:33:25,520 Speaker 2: and years ago in his relationship with John Hendrix, and 580 00:33:25,800 --> 00:33:27,840 Speaker 2: just to see some of that. And I was on 581 00:33:27,920 --> 00:33:29,720 Speaker 2: the tail end of it and then you know the 582 00:33:30,280 --> 00:33:32,960 Speaker 2: the growth days. But we heard about the stories of 583 00:33:33,400 --> 00:33:37,480 Speaker 2: the old days of cable, and I think about where 584 00:33:37,480 --> 00:33:41,600 Speaker 2: we are today. It's no different, right. There's there's struggle, 585 00:33:41,640 --> 00:33:44,920 Speaker 2: there's growth, there's opportunity, but there's vision. There's visionaries in 586 00:33:44,960 --> 00:33:47,480 Speaker 2: this business that are that see so much more than 587 00:33:47,880 --> 00:33:50,680 Speaker 2: what we currently have today. And I think that's what's 588 00:33:50,720 --> 00:33:53,760 Speaker 2: really the exciting part of what fast in the future 589 00:33:53,800 --> 00:33:57,560 Speaker 2: of television is it's we're convinced it's not going away. 590 00:33:57,640 --> 00:34:00,800 Speaker 2: TV consumption doesn't doesn't go away, right, It's going to 591 00:34:00,920 --> 00:34:03,680 Speaker 2: change here in the future, but it's not going to 592 00:34:03,720 --> 00:34:04,120 Speaker 2: go away. 593 00:34:07,040 --> 00:34:09,920 Speaker 1: Thanks for listening. Be sure to leave us a review 594 00:34:09,960 --> 00:34:13,360 Speaker 1: at Apple Podcasts and Amazon Music, and please go to 595 00:34:13,440 --> 00:34:16,600 Speaker 1: Variety dot com and sign up for the free weekly 596 00:34:16,760 --> 00:34:20,440 Speaker 1: Strictly Business newsletter. And don't forget to tune in next 597 00:34:20,440 --> 00:34:23,160 Speaker 1: week for another episode of Strictly Business.