WEBVTT - Samsung TV Plus Builds a New Kind of TV Bundle 0:00:07.440 --> 0:00:12.160 Welcome to Strictly Business Varieties, weekly podcast featuring conversations with 0:00:12.240 --> 0:00:15.840 industry leaders about the business of media and entertainment. I'm 0:00:15.920 --> 0:00:19.720 Cynthia Lyttleton, co editor in chief of Variety Today. My 0:00:19.800 --> 0:00:24.160 guest is Takashi Nakano, Senior director of Content for Samsung 0:00:24.280 --> 0:00:28.760 TV Plus. Samsung TV Plus is the biggest streaming platform 0:00:28.920 --> 0:00:31.639 that you probably have never heard of, but it is 0:00:31.720 --> 0:00:36.320 becoming a force and entertainment. The South Korean electronics giant 0:00:36.440 --> 0:00:40.839 has embraced the fast channel market, building in hundreds of 0:00:40.920 --> 0:00:45.680 free streaming channels into the operating systems of its connected TVs. 0:00:46.120 --> 0:00:49.600 Samsung has sold more than six hundred million such TVs 0:00:49.640 --> 0:00:53.440 in twenty four countries in recent years. That means Samsung 0:00:53.560 --> 0:00:56.760 is creating a very different kind of network, one that's 0:00:56.800 --> 0:01:01.120 not bound by geography or someone searching for a specific outlet. 0:01:01.560 --> 0:01:05.400 Samsung's menu of free channels is available the minute consumers 0:01:05.440 --> 0:01:08.840 turn on their TV sets. Samsung isn't the only TV 0:01:08.959 --> 0:01:12.000 manufacturer in this game, but they are far ahead of 0:01:12.040 --> 0:01:16.280 their competition. Nikano is based in Los Angeles. He's a 0:01:16.360 --> 0:01:20.080 cable veteran who joined Samsung in twenty sixteen to help 0:01:20.120 --> 0:01:23.520 it grow beyond the hardware side of television. Before that, 0:01:23.640 --> 0:01:27.560 he worked in distribution and affiliate sales for Discovery, Scripts, 0:01:27.800 --> 0:01:33.039 Pop TV, and GSN As Nikano explains, fast channels are 0:01:33.080 --> 0:01:36.039 evolving into a new form of basic cable and a 0:01:36.160 --> 0:01:40.480 new form of syndication for creatives and profit participants. He 0:01:40.600 --> 0:01:43.160 walks us through the ins and outs of how Samsung 0:01:43.240 --> 0:01:46.160 has grown the business over the past five years. He's 0:01:46.200 --> 0:01:49.560 also really candid about how the company flocked with its 0:01:49.560 --> 0:01:53.560 first effort focused on paid VOD offerings and what they 0:01:53.680 --> 0:01:57.480 learned from all those mistakes. It's all coming up right 0:01:57.520 --> 0:02:11.120 after this break. Takashi Nakano, Senior director of Content for 0:02:11.200 --> 0:02:14.120 Samsung TV Plus, thank you so much for joining me today. 0:02:14.320 --> 0:02:15.440 Sure, no, thanks for having. 0:02:15.360 --> 0:02:18.720 Me well as you As you probably know, I've been 0:02:18.800 --> 0:02:20.959 knocking on the door of Samsung TV Plus for a 0:02:21.040 --> 0:02:23.800 while now because I've seen you've been doing a lot 0:02:23.880 --> 0:02:28.079 of interesting stuff. You have been, you know, aggregating and 0:02:28.120 --> 0:02:31.760 bringing together fast channels. You've you've been doing a lot 0:02:31.800 --> 0:02:36.720 of interesting stuff just with the Samsung platform and the 0:02:36.760 --> 0:02:41.359 operating system that you have, and in making the decision 0:02:41.400 --> 0:02:44.080 to really go for it with fast channels with free 0:02:44.080 --> 0:02:47.560 streaming ad supported content. You've created a different kind of 0:02:47.680 --> 0:02:52.120 network that's based on Samsung TV devices, which at last 0:02:52.160 --> 0:02:55.240 count is somewhere over five hundred and seventy one million 0:02:55.600 --> 0:02:58.960 around the world. It's an intriguing kind of network that 0:02:59.000 --> 0:03:02.360 you've built. I'd love kind of the thirty thousand foot 0:03:02.440 --> 0:03:07.400 view of Samsung TV Plus. What encouraged Samsung, which is 0:03:07.400 --> 0:03:11.040 a very established name in consumer electronics, what encouraged them 0:03:11.080 --> 0:03:12.800 to go deeper into the content side. 0:03:13.280 --> 0:03:17.079 So it's interesting we started this endeavor. I joined Samsung 0:03:17.120 --> 0:03:21.080 in twenty sixteen and I was originally brought over to 0:03:21.160 --> 0:03:26.080 launch a virtual MVPD. That's when Sling was launching, Direct 0:03:26.080 --> 0:03:29.200 tv Now was launching. So the idea was to integrate 0:03:30.120 --> 0:03:33.840 a video ecosystem into the TV and everything at that 0:03:33.880 --> 0:03:37.440 point was pay. We had modeled it a number of 0:03:37.440 --> 0:03:40.160 different ways, We had talked to partners, and it was 0:03:40.240 --> 0:03:42.960 just a business that was never going to really be profitable, 0:03:43.680 --> 0:03:48.920 and we pivoted from that point. We you know, simultaneously, 0:03:48.960 --> 0:03:52.400 we had launched a transactional vod store in twenty sixteen 0:03:52.440 --> 0:03:56.840 as well. It was it was called TV Plus, and 0:03:57.560 --> 0:04:03.360 interestingly enough, it was a gigantic failure, but we learned 0:04:03.360 --> 0:04:03.680 a lot. 0:04:04.040 --> 0:04:07.720 Sometimes that's the benefits, can you know outweigh the fail. 0:04:07.560 --> 0:04:10.000 Right, you know, we we had a lot of We 0:04:10.320 --> 0:04:13.280 didn't sell many assets, and part of it was execution, 0:04:13.480 --> 0:04:17.720 part of it was market dynamics. Transactions weren't really we 0:04:17.960 --> 0:04:20.520 weren't doing it well. But what we learned was a 0:04:20.560 --> 0:04:23.359 lot of people came in to look, to browse and look. 0:04:23.800 --> 0:04:27.960 And simultaneously, Korea was building this idea of you know, 0:04:28.120 --> 0:04:31.960 Caro selling movie trailers and used in leveraging an impulse pread, 0:04:32.440 --> 0:04:36.000 an impulse pay per view experience to buy and red movies, 0:04:36.960 --> 0:04:39.920 and so they were car selling trailers into a into 0:04:39.960 --> 0:04:43.440 an EPG. And we liked that idea and what we 0:04:43.560 --> 0:04:45.680 ended up doing is bringing that to the US, not 0:04:45.800 --> 0:04:48.360 the transit what we we had a separate transactional element. 0:04:48.560 --> 0:04:51.280 But what we really liked was the fact that you 0:04:51.279 --> 0:04:55.599 can integrate channels essentially content into an electronic programming guide 0:04:55.839 --> 0:05:00.159 without the need of any additional hardware. You just go 0:05:00.200 --> 0:05:03.000 to Best Buy or Amazon would deliver your TV, bring 0:05:03.000 --> 0:05:05.320 it into the house, hang it from the wall, and 0:05:05.360 --> 0:05:08.239 connect to your Wi Fi and you would just get content. 0:05:08.680 --> 0:05:11.960 And that was very interesting and without the need of 0:05:11.960 --> 0:05:16.440 a cable box. We believe integrating content into your electronic 0:05:16.480 --> 0:05:19.279 programming guide was very much akin to what people are 0:05:19.920 --> 0:05:22.320 used to doing. Anyways. Yeah, it used to be called 0:05:22.360 --> 0:05:26.640 cable Yeah, even before that, it was called broadcast TV, right, 0:05:26.760 --> 0:05:29.840 So I think that's what really kind of set us 0:05:29.839 --> 0:05:34.400 down this journey. We didn't have content obviously, we were 0:05:34.440 --> 0:05:36.839 a hardware manufacturer. We were knocking on a lot of 0:05:36.880 --> 0:05:40.920 doors looking for content. Most of it was available, you know, 0:05:41.240 --> 0:05:43.279 most of it was on YouTube, and it was short 0:05:43.279 --> 0:05:48.440 form and it wasn't really situated well for TV. We 0:05:48.440 --> 0:05:50.680 we at that, you know, at that point we had 0:05:50.680 --> 0:05:54.159 a small strategic investment a company called Pluto TV. Heard 0:05:54.200 --> 0:05:57.120 of them, so we had a small minority stake in 0:05:57.200 --> 0:06:02.600 them early days, and we launched ten channels and we 0:06:02.600 --> 0:06:06.560 were off to the races. So it's been an interesting journey, 0:06:06.560 --> 0:06:09.680 and for us, it's obviously evolved from the ten channels 0:06:09.720 --> 0:06:12.840 that we originally launched. We had learned a lot from 0:06:12.880 --> 0:06:16.440 that from those ten channels that have expanded to you know, 0:06:16.839 --> 0:06:20.880 over four hundred channels now here in the US. We're 0:06:20.880 --> 0:06:25.320 available in twenty four countries, thousands of channels around the world. 0:06:25.400 --> 0:06:28.359 It's an interesting it's interesting to see the scale that 0:06:28.400 --> 0:06:31.760 it's grown to and just you know, the all five 0:06:31.800 --> 0:06:32.880 short years. 0:06:33.279 --> 0:06:35.839 Is there are there things that you can do because 0:06:35.880 --> 0:06:39.080 you are a device based network. Are there things that 0:06:39.120 --> 0:06:42.599 you can do for advertisers or content providers that others can't? 0:06:42.839 --> 0:06:45.000 And I know you have such a depth of experience 0:06:45.360 --> 0:06:48.599 in the multi channel world. I'm curious if there are 0:06:48.640 --> 0:06:51.840 like benefits to the kind of uniqueness of the Samsung network. 0:06:51.920 --> 0:06:55.280 Yeah. The ecosystem that we have today is you know, 0:06:55.320 --> 0:06:58.039 it's very much from the outside looking in. From the 0:06:58.160 --> 0:07:01.800 user's perspective, looking at the service, looks like television, right, 0:07:01.839 --> 0:07:06.279 but on the backside it there there and on the 0:07:06.320 --> 0:07:10.000 backside it looks very different. It's very digital, right. And 0:07:10.240 --> 0:07:13.600 when you have a digital ecosystem, you're essentially able to 0:07:13.600 --> 0:07:17.800 send one feed to one device in a unicast model 0:07:17.840 --> 0:07:22.800 around the world. That model has given the ability to 0:07:22.840 --> 0:07:27.040 sell dynamic insert dynamic ads. We're able to have real, 0:07:27.720 --> 0:07:32.679 real life measurement and understand who's watching what in real time. Everything. 0:07:32.840 --> 0:07:36.080 The beauty of digital is all transferred, you know, with 0:07:36.240 --> 0:07:39.200 the simplicity of using television. So I think that has 0:07:39.280 --> 0:07:42.520 really if you take that and see what we can 0:07:42.680 --> 0:07:46.480 continue to do with it. The you know, the world 0:07:46.520 --> 0:07:48.760 is our oyster, and we think that if you have 0:07:48.880 --> 0:07:52.440 access to the hardware you have, you understand what the 0:07:52.520 --> 0:07:55.960 users are doing, and then you understand what the future 0:07:56.000 --> 0:07:58.080 of this content world is going into and you can 0:07:58.080 --> 0:08:02.280 combine all that to think all those things together. Really, 0:08:02.360 --> 0:08:07.240 the opportunity of media and the future is unlimited, and 0:08:07.240 --> 0:08:10.800 that's what's exciting to us right where we're not you know, 0:08:10.880 --> 0:08:13.520 I came from traditional cable. We had we were fighting 0:08:13.560 --> 0:08:17.840 for qualm space essentially. Right we were fighting for a channel, 0:08:18.160 --> 0:08:22.520 trying to get launched with direct TV or Dish or Comcast, 0:08:22.920 --> 0:08:26.800 and that was a billion dollar investment to do one channel. 0:08:27.080 --> 0:08:29.640 Today you can launch a channel for thousands of dollars 0:08:30.120 --> 0:08:34.160 and the dynamics are very different and what you can 0:08:34.200 --> 0:08:37.440 do with that type of economic structure and now the 0:08:37.520 --> 0:08:40.760 scale of being able to deliver content around the world 0:08:41.200 --> 0:08:44.240 because you're not terrestrial based, but you really you live 0:08:44.240 --> 0:08:48.360 in the Internet. That's awesome and we don't. We're exploring 0:08:48.400 --> 0:08:50.640 all the elements of what that looks like in the future. 0:08:51.600 --> 0:08:54.520 It's really when you think about the potential, it can 0:08:54.600 --> 0:08:56.520 kind of blow your mind when you think about it. 0:08:56.760 --> 0:09:00.079 Are you able to see what people are watching, and 0:09:00.160 --> 0:09:03.160 do you have visibility because it's going through the operating system, 0:09:03.240 --> 0:09:05.560 do you have visibility into what people are watching, how 0:09:05.640 --> 0:09:08.640 much they watch, how they how they surf channels. 0:09:08.960 --> 0:09:12.400 Yes and no. Yes, in the sense that we do. 0:09:12.760 --> 0:09:15.560 You know, on a macro level, we understand that. But 0:09:15.800 --> 0:09:19.520 in a micro level, it's not usable in much of 0:09:19.559 --> 0:09:22.560 the In much of the experience, there's just too many 0:09:22.600 --> 0:09:27.480 people consuming too much content to make anything that a lot. 0:09:27.360 --> 0:09:29.120 Of data points to consider. 0:09:29.600 --> 0:09:33.800 It's not actionable in that sense. But you can identify trends, 0:09:33.880 --> 0:09:37.280 you can identify you know, how people are consuming, what 0:09:37.320 --> 0:09:41.680 they're consuming, and why they're consuming, and where they go 0:09:41.840 --> 0:09:45.079 to next, and how these kind of patterns, these macro 0:09:45.200 --> 0:09:49.320 shifts are changing. So it's exciting to see that, you know, 0:09:49.360 --> 0:09:53.480 and I think we're we're learning right every day. It's 0:09:53.600 --> 0:09:56.560 it's it's a learning experience around how content is changing 0:09:56.640 --> 0:10:00.360 and how people are navigating, you know, whether it's sports, 0:10:00.400 --> 0:10:03.480 whether it's news, whether it's general entertainment, why people turn 0:10:03.520 --> 0:10:06.640 on the TV and watch what they do, and it's 0:10:06.920 --> 0:10:09.680 you know, how different parts of the country watch different things, 0:10:09.679 --> 0:10:12.280 how different parts of the world watch different things. It's 0:10:12.320 --> 0:10:15.160 interesting to see that, and it's and it's difficult to 0:10:15.240 --> 0:10:18.400 navigate all of those different points and understand how do 0:10:18.440 --> 0:10:22.080 you take all this data and distill it into you know, actionable, 0:10:22.280 --> 0:10:26.960 forward thinking content decisions. But that's what makes this job 0:10:27.000 --> 0:10:27.480 so exciting. 0:10:27.840 --> 0:10:31.360 That's absolutely the challenge. I mean, again, having come from 0:10:31.440 --> 0:10:35.880 the traditional cable ecosystem, do you think is it is 0:10:35.920 --> 0:10:38.960 it fair to say that fast is the new ad 0:10:39.000 --> 0:10:40.200 supported basic cable. 0:10:41.080 --> 0:10:43.320 I think that was our premise when we started, and 0:10:44.920 --> 0:10:47.360 you know, five years we fast forward now, you know, 0:10:47.440 --> 0:10:51.120 five years later, and there's no question, right, there's there's 0:10:51.160 --> 0:10:54.280 no question that what's happening in the pay TV world 0:10:54.360 --> 0:10:57.880 and I came from that place. I understand that world. 0:10:58.120 --> 0:11:01.520 It's changing, you know, significantly, and it's going to continue 0:11:01.600 --> 0:11:04.400 to change, and how it evolves is going to continue 0:11:04.440 --> 0:11:07.080 to is going to continue to change. But it's the 0:11:07.120 --> 0:11:09.760 way people are going to watch TV. The value proposition 0:11:09.880 --> 0:11:13.680 is just too strong, and we're seeing the growth and 0:11:13.720 --> 0:11:16.920 engagement daily and now when you can mirror that with 0:11:16.960 --> 0:11:20.280 great content together, we see a hockey stick effect. 0:11:21.559 --> 0:11:24.880 How the economics of all of this for the creative 0:11:24.880 --> 0:11:27.920 community have been you know, of this sort of the 0:11:27.960 --> 0:11:31.480 digital transition have been challenging for sure. Can you kind 0:11:31.480 --> 0:11:34.120 of talk through how it works, how your approach to 0:11:34.160 --> 0:11:37.600 the to content owners. Do you do things like largely 0:11:37.600 --> 0:11:40.760 on a rev share basis? Is it different depending on 0:11:40.800 --> 0:11:41.200 the deal. 0:11:41.440 --> 0:11:47.240 Yeah, Our deals vary across the board. You know, it's 0:11:47.280 --> 0:11:50.200 to take all content creators and put them into a 0:11:50.320 --> 0:11:53.640 bucket of where they are, you know, structurally and economically, 0:11:53.679 --> 0:11:59.960 it's tough to do. You got everyone from the biggest 0:12:00.160 --> 0:12:03.520 and the best studios like Warner Brothers and NBC Universal 0:12:03.760 --> 0:12:07.120 in Fox Disney, and then you got YouTube creators and 0:12:07.160 --> 0:12:11.560 then everyone in between. They all have a different need 0:12:11.760 --> 0:12:15.600 and structural requirements for them to continue to succeed. You know, 0:12:15.679 --> 0:12:18.720 I look at fast as the opportunity to bring content 0:12:18.800 --> 0:12:23.320 to millions and millions of people that many that you 0:12:23.360 --> 0:12:27.560 weren't able to do before right outside of YouTube. You know, 0:12:27.679 --> 0:12:29.680 now you can take it just wasn't feasible. 0:12:30.080 --> 0:12:32.560 It was the economic model just wasn't there to even 0:12:32.600 --> 0:12:34.280 put it on Just the cost of putting it on 0:12:34.320 --> 0:12:35.600 TV would have been prohibitive. 0:12:35.720 --> 0:12:39.040 Yeah, and you had, you know, cable networks, broadcasters that 0:12:39.080 --> 0:12:41.240 made decisions on what kind of content would be up 0:12:41.240 --> 0:12:44.959 on the screen at eight PM on a Tuesday, right, 0:12:45.040 --> 0:12:49.160 and that was that was finite. It was one second. 0:12:49.240 --> 0:12:51.640 It's one hour of time during the day, during the week, 0:12:51.720 --> 0:12:54.120 during the month, during the year, and when that's gone, 0:12:54.400 --> 0:12:57.080 it's gone. Now, all of a sudden, you can take 0:12:57.160 --> 0:13:01.920 content that users created, whether it's high production from a 0:13:02.440 --> 0:13:06.240 big studio or it's a high quality you know, someone 0:13:06.280 --> 0:13:10.040 created great content in their garage and now you can 0:13:10.720 --> 0:13:13.600 put that anywhere. Right, you could target that content to 0:13:13.640 --> 0:13:16.000 the right user on your sixty five inch tea and 0:13:16.080 --> 0:13:21.120 sixty five inch TV. It emulates that same breath that users, 0:13:21.360 --> 0:13:24.839 you know, associate with this television and quality television. We've 0:13:25.080 --> 0:13:28.600 we've launched brands that were you know, we just launched 0:13:28.640 --> 0:13:31.800 a channel called Haggardy Media. Right, it's a it's a 0:13:31.840 --> 0:13:35.160 car enthusiast channel. Right, They're an insurance company and now 0:13:35.200 --> 0:13:38.400 they've got they had tons of content for their fans 0:13:38.520 --> 0:13:40.199 and now we've turned that into a twenty four to 0:13:40.240 --> 0:13:43.400 seven linear channel. It's exciting to see this happen, and 0:13:43.440 --> 0:13:47.520 we've it's countless We've seen lots of small creators build 0:13:47.640 --> 0:13:52.360 channels that have really done a great job and facilitating 0:13:52.440 --> 0:13:56.319 and bringing new content forward, and that's what I'm excited about. 0:13:56.360 --> 0:13:59.160 That's exciting for me to see new stuff that that's 0:13:59.200 --> 0:14:02.720 often lost in you know, billions of videos on the 0:14:02.920 --> 0:14:05.920 on the internet to something that's premium on television. 0:14:06.600 --> 0:14:10.080 Is your phone just ringing off the hook from people that, boy, 0:14:10.200 --> 0:14:11.480 do I have a channel for you? 0:14:11.640 --> 0:14:15.240 My team, my team's phones are ringing off the hook, 0:14:15.280 --> 0:14:18.160 they are, and everyone's building channels, and you know, I 0:14:18.200 --> 0:14:22.640 think that yes it is. You know, the channel environment 0:14:22.760 --> 0:14:25.760 is something that's important. But you look at video on 0:14:25.800 --> 0:14:29.760 demand as something that is really a way to look 0:14:29.760 --> 0:14:33.120 at content. That is, you know, where you don't need 0:14:33.240 --> 0:14:36.400 volumes and volumes of hours of content. As you know, 0:14:36.720 --> 0:14:39.360 being in from this business, a twenty four to seven 0:14:39.440 --> 0:14:43.240 channel is hard to program. It's they're voracious, right. You 0:14:43.280 --> 0:14:46.600 have to continue to acquire a new content feed that monster, 0:14:47.240 --> 0:14:51.480 and it's hard to do. You know, we can now 0:14:51.880 --> 0:14:55.960 bring a video on demand experience, you know, forward, curate 0:14:56.040 --> 0:14:59.000 that to the user and all of a sudden, now 0:14:59.240 --> 0:15:03.120 use linear expose video video on demand content and then 0:15:03.200 --> 0:15:05.920 drive that back. So we create this flywheel effect and. 0:15:06.000 --> 0:15:08.680 The user decides when that twenty four hour or whatever 0:15:08.920 --> 0:15:11.120 whatever amount of time they want to spend that the 0:15:11.240 --> 0:15:14.560 user decides when they're two hours with whatever channel starts. 0:15:14.800 --> 0:15:17.560 We're so focused on the user, and I think what's 0:15:17.680 --> 0:15:21.240 really important is whatever we're whatever we're doing, it's how 0:15:21.240 --> 0:15:23.880 do we super serve the user? How do how do 0:15:23.880 --> 0:15:26.560 we provide the best content that they may not have 0:15:26.640 --> 0:15:30.440 seen to, you know, to that audience. In the business, 0:15:30.440 --> 0:15:32.720 we talk about this a lot, and we've been saying this, 0:15:33.160 --> 0:15:35.600 you know since the early days. When I was at Discovery. 0:15:36.040 --> 0:15:38.720 We got one point zero rating on a Sunday night 0:15:38.840 --> 0:15:42.800 and we were extatic it was amazing. And that's one 0:15:42.880 --> 0:15:46.960 percent of the US households watch that content. And today 0:15:47.280 --> 0:15:50.600 we can now take that same piece of content and 0:15:51.000 --> 0:15:53.280 expose it to the ninety nine percent of people that 0:15:53.320 --> 0:15:55.560 have never seen it. And now, all of a sudden, 0:15:55.560 --> 0:15:59.160 the content economics change. Right before, it was the volume 0:15:59.200 --> 0:16:02.880 game where you had to continue to produce content reaching 0:16:02.920 --> 0:16:06.040 that one percent. Now, how do we take content that's 0:16:06.080 --> 0:16:10.680 been created that has amazing, that take amazing IP and 0:16:10.720 --> 0:16:13.160 deliver it to those other ninety nine percent that have 0:16:13.320 --> 0:16:16.440 not yet seen it. That I think is what makes 0:16:16.520 --> 0:16:17.640 this business really interesting. 0:16:18.440 --> 0:16:21.800 Don't change the channel. We'll be right back after this break, 0:16:26.960 --> 0:16:31.680 and we're back with more from Samsung TV Plus's Takashi Nakano. 0:16:32.680 --> 0:16:35.120 Are you surprised at the number I mean, I've seen, 0:16:35.240 --> 0:16:38.240 you know, major brands on your channel lineup? Are you 0:16:38.280 --> 0:16:41.120 surprised that the number of major leagues showbiz brands that 0:16:41.160 --> 0:16:43.280 have come to you and said, oh boy, do we 0:16:43.320 --> 0:16:44.880 want to you know, do we want to work with 0:16:44.920 --> 0:16:47.480 you and package some of our content because they, you know, 0:16:47.520 --> 0:16:49.640 the biggest, have so much that sits on the show. 0:16:50.000 --> 0:16:53.720 You know, I look back five years ago and to 0:16:53.800 --> 0:16:56.200 see the you know, the ground that our team has 0:16:56.240 --> 0:17:00.200 made up between then and now, it's shocking. It's it's 0:17:00.280 --> 0:17:02.560 it's amazing that and I wouldn't have thought that we 0:17:02.560 --> 0:17:04.119 would be at this point this fast. 0:17:04.359 --> 0:17:06.159 Was it a hard sell at first? Did you have 0:17:06.240 --> 0:17:07.960 to like talk people through the concept? 0:17:08.280 --> 0:17:10.600 Yeah? It was. It was you know, I think the 0:17:10.680 --> 0:17:14.560 MVPD world hadn't imploded yet, right, it was starting to. 0:17:15.440 --> 0:17:18.399 It was starting to quake, a little landslide. Starting was 0:17:18.600 --> 0:17:24.800 just just early days. And yeah, no people, we most 0:17:24.840 --> 0:17:27.240 of the answers were no, we're not interested, we don't 0:17:27.240 --> 0:17:31.720 believe in this, and that was fine, and it was 0:17:32.520 --> 0:17:35.639 my team was persistent. They believed in what we were doing, 0:17:35.720 --> 0:17:39.879 and everyone focused on you know, hey, this is a 0:17:39.920 --> 0:17:43.240 new way to watch television, especially with the shifting of 0:17:43.240 --> 0:17:46.120 the landscape, and at that point, s VOD was becoming 0:17:46.240 --> 0:17:50.560 really the place to you know, to be and it's 0:17:50.600 --> 0:17:52.679 still for the for the most part. We you know, 0:17:52.720 --> 0:17:55.080 we love our s FOG partners at Samsung. We you know, 0:17:55.119 --> 0:17:57.840 they're all of our partners as well, so you know, 0:17:57.920 --> 0:18:00.520 it's still a great place to watch premium content. But 0:18:00.640 --> 0:18:04.760 you can't avoid and can't ignore the value of a free, 0:18:04.800 --> 0:18:08.440 ad supported experience. It's it's it's one hundred year old 0:18:08.440 --> 0:18:10.800 experience that we've had in you know, broadcast TV in 0:18:10.840 --> 0:18:13.960 the US, and it's not going away, and we still 0:18:14.000 --> 0:18:14.520 believe in it. 0:18:15.680 --> 0:18:19.400 From Samsung's perspective, do you use Does Samsung see content 0:18:19.600 --> 0:18:22.760 as a you know, growth area, a profit driver in 0:18:22.800 --> 0:18:24.840 the future, I know you have. You know, Samsung has 0:18:24.880 --> 0:18:28.480 far flung businesses in many different, many different pockets, but 0:18:28.560 --> 0:18:30.200 content is still relatively new. 0:18:30.480 --> 0:18:34.040 Yeah, No, content is new, you know. I think that's 0:18:34.080 --> 0:18:36.280 that's the big question for us, like how deep do 0:18:36.359 --> 0:18:41.320 we get into this content game? Are there opportunities? You know, 0:18:41.720 --> 0:18:43.600 if you spoke to our team most of us believe 0:18:43.640 --> 0:18:46.679 that there is right, there is absolutely if we have 0:18:47.400 --> 0:18:51.320 information on what users are interested in watching, if we 0:18:51.400 --> 0:18:55.240 have the ability to tailor and craft, and if it 0:18:55.320 --> 0:18:58.920 makes economic sense to actually make and control and own 0:18:59.000 --> 0:19:02.240 that for the life of the asset and the life 0:19:02.280 --> 0:19:05.960 of our business. Yeah, it may, it may actually make 0:19:06.040 --> 0:19:09.240 sense to do that, you know. And our unique proposition 0:19:09.400 --> 0:19:13.000 is twenty four plus countries and a few more later 0:19:13.040 --> 0:19:15.359 on this year. Right, So now, when you can take 0:19:15.520 --> 0:19:19.760 a global footprint, which most of our competitors can't, and 0:19:20.160 --> 0:19:22.439 you know, and we also can take not just a 0:19:22.480 --> 0:19:25.879 global television footprint, but a global mobile footprint, and you 0:19:25.960 --> 0:19:30.640 combine all that together. We have access to a lot 0:19:30.680 --> 0:19:32.840 of households and a lot of people, and a lot 0:19:32.920 --> 0:19:35.840 of screens in pockets. How do you take that and 0:19:35.840 --> 0:19:39.280 how do you bring content to those experiences? I think 0:19:39.320 --> 0:19:42.040 that's what's exciting. So, yeah, I do see an opportunity 0:19:42.080 --> 0:19:43.959 for us to move into that space. 0:19:44.359 --> 0:19:48.560 Are you able to customize your channel selection by country 0:19:48.640 --> 0:19:50.440 or region at all? We do. 0:19:51.080 --> 0:19:55.560 Every country has you know, country managers that oversee the 0:19:55.640 --> 0:20:01.320 content requirements needs, you know, this decisions that it's managed 0:20:01.359 --> 0:20:05.720 at the country level. There's nuances and rights are very complicated, 0:20:05.920 --> 0:20:07.639 as you know, across territories. 0:20:07.720 --> 0:20:10.280 I'm sure that's a full time job for a small, 0:20:10.359 --> 0:20:12.920 small army of people watching all around the world. 0:20:13.200 --> 0:20:16.240 It's difficult. You know, there's languages, you know, there's languages, 0:20:16.400 --> 0:20:19.000 there's you know, dialects that we need to manage for 0:20:19.560 --> 0:20:22.439 close captions versus subtitles. So there's a lot of nuance 0:20:22.520 --> 0:20:26.600 around operating a global environment, especially both mobile and TV, 0:20:26.720 --> 0:20:29.320 and how do you expose the content in the right way. 0:20:30.200 --> 0:20:33.680 So yes, we you know, it is complicated and is challenging, 0:20:33.760 --> 0:20:36.800 but there is there's an opportunity in that that very 0:20:36.880 --> 0:20:40.720 few companies can you know, take advantage of and move 0:20:40.880 --> 0:20:46.119 business forward. So what's exciting is we could with simplify it, 0:20:46.119 --> 0:20:48.320 but with a push of a button, you can launch 0:20:48.359 --> 0:20:52.520 content around the world. Really that's on a television on 0:20:52.560 --> 0:20:56.879 a mobile phone simultaneously. We've been talking about this in 0:20:57.560 --> 0:21:01.480 cable television forever and it's never been possible until today. 0:21:01.600 --> 0:21:02.320 So it's exciting. 0:21:02.640 --> 0:21:07.440 It's it is the end of geographic borders of being 0:21:07.520 --> 0:21:12.119 the parameters of where a service could go initially and 0:21:12.160 --> 0:21:14.520 then the and then it was so much based on 0:21:14.560 --> 0:21:17.879 the export model of content and it and you know 0:21:17.920 --> 0:21:21.040 that when Netflix at Cees twenty sixteen was a pivotal 0:21:21.119 --> 0:21:25.240 year for the PayTV ecosystem because twenty Netflix at Cees 0:21:25.359 --> 0:21:28.960 twenty sixteen flipped the switch and went global and just 0:21:29.080 --> 0:21:32.239 blew our minds in terms of like, oh thinking and 0:21:32.280 --> 0:21:34.119 to see now you know, where you have like a 0:21:34.200 --> 0:21:36.639 real you know, with the biggest of the big things 0:21:36.680 --> 0:21:39.320 like Game of Thrones and Stranger Things. You now literally 0:21:39.359 --> 0:21:42.919 have a market where you compete globally, yes, which is 0:21:43.040 --> 0:21:45.560 which is fascinating and obviously you all are in there. 0:21:45.640 --> 0:21:47.840 Well, if you look at the content experience that's around 0:21:47.880 --> 0:21:51.280 the world, that's really what's exciting. There's so much content 0:21:51.840 --> 0:21:54.920 that this country hasn't seen from around the world. There's 0:21:55.000 --> 0:22:00.080 brilliant creators that are doing this every day, day in 0:22:00.080 --> 0:22:02.840 and day out around the world. And to be exposed 0:22:02.880 --> 0:22:05.919 to some of those things, you know, the you know, 0:22:06.040 --> 0:22:11.720 the fandom of Korean content has exploded, and not because 0:22:11.760 --> 0:22:15.920 traditional television has brought to popularity. It's really the digital 0:22:16.320 --> 0:22:19.800 you know environment has really brought that and you know, 0:22:20.480 --> 0:22:23.119 we as a Korean company can appreciate what that is. 0:22:23.480 --> 0:22:26.440 But now to see it in mainstream is very exciting 0:22:26.800 --> 0:22:29.440 and what else is out there? And you know, our 0:22:29.520 --> 0:22:32.520 teams are focused on finding that the what else is 0:22:32.560 --> 0:22:35.400 out there because that's untapped and unminded. 0:22:36.920 --> 0:22:39.480 I would imagine that the growth of your fast business 0:22:39.520 --> 0:22:42.879 has also helped build up your VOD business. Are you 0:22:42.920 --> 0:22:43.920 still pursuing that at all? 0:22:44.359 --> 0:22:48.000 Absolutely? You know, we look at VOD as as core 0:22:48.680 --> 0:22:52.480 of our business. You know, the fast business is great, 0:22:52.560 --> 0:22:56.800 it's growing, It continues to grow week after week, month 0:22:56.840 --> 0:22:58.879 after month, year over year over year. The growth has 0:22:58.920 --> 0:23:02.200 been phenomenal, and that engagement does not it hasn't stopped. 0:23:02.840 --> 0:23:06.760 The VOD business is exciting to us because the content 0:23:06.840 --> 0:23:12.000 mix is very different. Right, People watch content in different ways, 0:23:12.160 --> 0:23:15.199 and there's certain types of content that's best situated for VOD. 0:23:15.600 --> 0:23:18.880 There's great content that's best situated for linear. When we 0:23:18.960 --> 0:23:22.879 only had I Rewind twenty five years ago, we only 0:23:22.920 --> 0:23:26.359 had a linear experience. We all waited for, you know, game, 0:23:26.880 --> 0:23:29.480