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Speaker 1: Welcome to a very special episode of Strictly Business, Live

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Speaker 1: on tape from ce S in Las Vegas. I'm Cynthia Littleton,

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Speaker 1: Business editor of Variety, and I'm Andrew Wallenstein joining Cynthia

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Speaker 1: Littleton for the very first time. Can you believe, Cynthia,

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Speaker 1: as long as we've been doing this podcast, we've never

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Speaker 1: done this on the same episode. It's long overdue, and

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Speaker 1: what better place for our first joint effort than c

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Speaker 1: e S, which is pretty much the epicenter, reflects the

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Speaker 1: epicenter of everything that's going on in the entertainment, media

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Speaker 1: and entertainment space right now. Yeah, we've felt that as

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Speaker 1: we've walked around this space today and for our listeners,

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Speaker 1: we've actually checked in with a number of really a

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Speaker 1: who's who of some of the great leaders in this space.

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Speaker 1: We're talking about Jeffrey Katzenberg, Meg Whitman, Mark Cuban and

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Speaker 1: a whole lot more who check in with us on

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Speaker 1: this episode. So please join us as we go on

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Speaker 1: a journey of roaming the halls of Las Vegas hotels

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Speaker 1: looking for insights and innovators and fun stuff, and we

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Speaker 1: hope you enjoy we Our idea here is to take

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Speaker 1: you on the ride at c e S. Well, Andy,

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Speaker 1: here we are for the very first ever strictly business

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Speaker 1: remote segment. We are in the epicenter of the media

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Speaker 1: business right now C E S in Las Vegas, absolutely,

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Speaker 1: and we're standing here not in the main convention center,

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Speaker 1: but in something called the C Space, which is very

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Speaker 1: relevant to us and strictly business because it's the part

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Speaker 1: of the show where entertainment and technology come together. And

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Speaker 1: we're just standing near some pretty massage signs for HBO.

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Speaker 1: Max Peacock tells you everything about where we are right

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Speaker 1: now in this business. You have been covering ce S

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Speaker 1: a lot longer than I have, from the time that

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Speaker 1: you first started coming here to today. I mean, can

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Speaker 1: you could you imagine when you first started coming that

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Speaker 1: you would see some of the oldest names in Hollywood

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Speaker 1: having a big display like we're right now looking at

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Speaker 1: the Warner Media Innovation Lab. Yeah. Well, it's not entirely

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Speaker 1: unprecedented for media companies have a big presence at C

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Speaker 1: E S. We've seen it and fits and starts over

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Speaker 1: the years. But I think this year, riding the wave

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Speaker 1: of the streaming wars and so many other things where

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Speaker 1: technology and content are coming together in a big ways.

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Speaker 1: I think you feel it at this show in a

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Speaker 1: way that we haven't in a very long time. One

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Speaker 1: of the things that's interesting we have as we've talked

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Speaker 1: about the streaming wars, we you know, certainly propriety, We

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Speaker 1: have focused so much on the content, on the impact

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Speaker 1: on the creative community. But one thing that you you

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Speaker 1: notice here talked to anybody for five minutes, and it

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Speaker 1: really is a lot of it is about the technology stupid,

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Speaker 1: and I think one of the things that's kind of

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Speaker 1: underappreciated is just the innovation that it takes to make

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Speaker 1: something like a Disney Plus or a Netflix, you know,

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Speaker 1: stream as seamlessly as it as it does. Um, are

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Speaker 1: you seeing anything here that looks to you like kind

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Speaker 1: of the way of the future in terms of the

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Speaker 1: technology that enables all of this content to fly through

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Speaker 1: the air? Well? I you know, I think if there's

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Speaker 1: one technology that bears some real attention that maybe isn't

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Speaker 1: as obvious to say, the streaming wars. You're seeing a

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Speaker 1: lot of innovation with regard to digital assistance and smart speakers.

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Speaker 1: And I am a big believer that voice is going

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Speaker 1: to come into the content business in a big way

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Speaker 1: that instead of using clunky, multiple remote controls, you're gonna

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Speaker 1: be talking to your TV and other objects in a

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Speaker 1: bigger way. And you're gonna see Google and Amazon, not

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Speaker 1: necessarily with regard to the entertainment world, but they're gonna

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Speaker 1: be talking about voice assistance and smart speakers in a

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Speaker 1: big way. And I think it's only a matter of

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Speaker 1: time before you see all that and entertainment come together

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Speaker 1: in a very good way. Please tell me I will

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Speaker 1: never have to search for a show by tapping out

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Speaker 1: a title on my remote control, because that is so

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Speaker 1: that is so annoying and cumbersome that I will watch

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Speaker 1: on demand shows on my phone rather than try to

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Speaker 1: get it on my you know, nice big TV because

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Speaker 1: the hassle factor is just too much. Yeah, you and

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Speaker 1: me both, Well, you know how technology works. Though it's

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Speaker 1: never a flip of the switch where all of a

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Speaker 1: sudden what doesn't work suddenly works for everyone. These things

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Speaker 1: are always about a gradual rollout, about consumers embracing things

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Speaker 1: that really were not intuitive just a few short years.

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Speaker 1: But I do think we're on the way to that

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Speaker 1: where hopefully you will never be tapping things out as

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Speaker 1: I've done myself, and it drives me nuts too. Why

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Speaker 1: is quimby using yes as the place to sort of

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Speaker 1: get a message out about and where your business stands.

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Speaker 1: Because there's a long history in Hollywood of technology enabling

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Speaker 1: new ways to tell stories. And I think that's exactly

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Speaker 1: what we've done by creating a new platform that makes

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Speaker 1: viewing viewing video on your mobile extraordinary. We're creating a

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Speaker 1: whole new canvas on a whole new tool set for creators.

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Speaker 1: And this is where you always launched, you know, new

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Speaker 1: technology platforms, and so we thought we'd talked about it

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Speaker 1: at CES. Jeffrey, you are no stranger to be entertainment patures.

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Speaker 1: What has been what has been the unexpected hardest thing

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Speaker 1: of launching of getting pretty free? Um well, I think

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Speaker 1: it was sort of getting uh, getting every getting the

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Speaker 1: Hollywood community to understand what the opportunity was, what the

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Speaker 1: tools were, what this new technology. Um it requires shooting

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Speaker 1: content in a completely unique and different way. Um And

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Speaker 1: but what's been rewarding is, you know, once we sort

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Speaker 1: of kind of got over the peak, you know, sort

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Speaker 1: of pushed the boulder over the top of the hill.

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Speaker 1: It's like a snowball. And now today I think Meg mentioned,

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Speaker 1: you know, there are a hundred hundred and fifty projects

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Speaker 1: per week being submitted to for the you know, across

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Speaker 1: the Hollywood, you know, creative community. So getting that started

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Speaker 1: I think was the hard part. The beauty of it

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Speaker 1: is once we got it started, it's just fueled itself

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Speaker 1: up in a in an incredible way. So the quality

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Speaker 1: of the quantity of filmmakers and storytellers and you know,

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Speaker 1: in front of the camera, behind the camera is really exceptional.

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Speaker 1: And I think when you see it all on the

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Speaker 1: big screen tomorrow there it is like a oh my

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Speaker 1: gosh moment. Okay, Andy, Well for a podcast called Strictly Business,

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Speaker 1: we can't get out of c e s without talking

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Speaker 1: going a little deeper on the streaming work we have

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Speaker 1: seen now. We've seen the launch of Disney Plus two

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Speaker 1: great acclaim. Can't wait to hear what those subscriber numbers

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Speaker 1: they'll disclose in early February and their earnings will be.

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Speaker 1: We've seen the launch of Apple TV plus. Uh. Now

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Speaker 1: we're at the top of the year. Coming up in

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Speaker 1: April is Peacock from NBC Universal. Quimby that Jeffrey Catsford

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Speaker 1: through sheer force of will is getting off the ground

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Speaker 1: with Meg Whitman, and in May is another very highly

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Speaker 1: anticipated HBO Max, which really has a seemingly going to

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Speaker 1: shape a lot of the direction of not only Warner Media,

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Speaker 1: but also a T and T in the long run.

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Speaker 1: What do you what, what have we learned from what's

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Speaker 1: launched so far and what what is that telling us

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Speaker 1: about what's what's to come in the first half of

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Speaker 1: this year. Well, what we've learned so far, I think

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Speaker 1: is you gotta come out of the gate with a

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Speaker 1: lot of noise. Disney did that brilliantly. Apple did that

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Speaker 1: to some degree, and that's why I think you're here

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Speaker 1: at CS seeing these next streaming launches well represented. It's

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Speaker 1: no mistake that you've got Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman

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Speaker 1: here that are gonna be doing some serious tough thumping

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Speaker 1: for Quimby. It's no mistake that we're standing right underneath

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Speaker 1: a giant sign Friends Us Universal right now, as they

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Speaker 1: will be on our own variety stage at our conference tomorrow,

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Speaker 1: as well as some of their own events talking up

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Speaker 1: their own Peacocks service, particularly with regard to how it's

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Speaker 1: going to appeal to advertisers and that's gonna be a

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Speaker 1: whole new, uh dimension to the streaming wars competition. That is,

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Speaker 1: you know the fact that Peacock is going to be

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Speaker 1: unabashed lee advertising friendly, advertising supported. That's a definite zag

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Speaker 1: where everyone else is zigging. How do you think, especially

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Speaker 1: you've been spending a lot of time studying the market,

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Speaker 1: and you know audience demographics, and you know just how

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Speaker 1: people are. You know what the subscription potential is for

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Speaker 1: all of these services. The convention on the wisdom is

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Speaker 1: that people won't sit still for commercials. How do you

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Speaker 1: think that's gonna work for Peacock? Well, I think if

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Speaker 1: Peacock plays their cards right and rewrites a lot of

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Speaker 1: the rules of TV, such as no not too many

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Speaker 1: thirty second ads, not excessive adloads in exchange for allowing

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Speaker 1: viewers to come to quality programming for free, well that

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Speaker 1: could be a very big deal. But you've got to

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Speaker 1: really play those cards right. Unfortunately, I think a lot

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Speaker 1: of these subscription services like Netflix and Amazon are training

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Speaker 1: a good portion of the audience to enjoy not having

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Speaker 1: any at interruption. However, you need to pay for those

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Speaker 1: services regardless of whether you pay for advertising or not.

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Speaker 1: I'm just wondering is there going to be room for

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Speaker 1: how many of these services, say, by the end of

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Speaker 1: I do think we're gonna see a shakeout that may

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Speaker 1: not It may happen a lot sooner than people think,

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Speaker 1: because so much investment is going into all looks, so

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Speaker 1: much investment and so much um, you know, almost realignment

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Speaker 1: of how companies. Companies the size of Disney and A

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Speaker 1: T and T are moving huge pieces on the board

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Speaker 1: to get themselves ready for a kind of this new

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Speaker 1: era of competition. I've heard some people speculate that in

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Speaker 1: five years time we could be looking back in the

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Speaker 1: TV business. It's a whole lot more like two thousand

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Speaker 1: and ten than than we would have expected for what

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Speaker 1: do you think. I do agree with that. I think

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Speaker 1: we're at a really interesting but very temporary state of affairs.

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Speaker 1: I just don't think that you're gonna see six or

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Speaker 1: seven different massive streaming services trying to kill each other.

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Speaker 1: I don't think that's sustainable. And I do think we'll

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Speaker 1: see here's a good buzzword, a rebundling in time. Maybe necessary,

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Speaker 1: uh to sort of go through this interim phase of

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Speaker 1: having all these giants streaming services. But I think it

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Speaker 1: ultimately will end up somewhere that will feel exactly like

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Speaker 1: a blend of the Let's talk a little more specifically

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Speaker 1: about Quimby, because you literally wrote the very first major

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Speaker 1: story you sat with Jeffrey. You've kind of you've kind

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Speaker 1: of been on this journey with him, which he said

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Speaker 1: to us just a little bit ago, very complimentary. Um,

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Speaker 1: that is a real swing, and it's an interesting swing

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Speaker 1: in a little different because when you think about it,

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Speaker 1: you know, Netflix, FULU, Apple TV plus it's a new

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Speaker 1: way of delivering what is essentially traditional television content high

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Speaker 1: in big stars, big production budgets. The Quimby seems to

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Speaker 1: be like something that is truly trying to take the

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Speaker 1: medium a new medium that people are watching on their

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Speaker 1: smartphones and integrate the the technology of the capabilities of

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Speaker 1: a smartphone into the storytelling. Although I know we have

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Speaker 1: none of us have seen anything form would be after

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Speaker 1: sitting with Jeffrey just a little bit ago, what do

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Speaker 1: you what do you make do you think that this

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Speaker 1: really has a shot. I think it's fascinating, I think

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Speaker 1: it's audacious. I think you just made the right point

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Speaker 1: where it's like, to some degree, we need to see

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Speaker 1: this product in action, and I'm going to reserve full

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Speaker 1: judgment until then. But let's be honest, there's a lot

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Speaker 1: of skepticism out there. In a way, it's almost too audacious.

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Speaker 1: I think, though, There's something about Jeffrey himself being behind

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Speaker 1: this that adds such a layer of intrigue, because this

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Speaker 1: is a man who has succeeded time and again in

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Speaker 1: this business. He's practically a historic figure in Hollywood. So

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Speaker 1: to see him take this what could be his last

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Speaker 1: big swing, it's just it's too fascinating, and it's the

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Speaker 1: kind of thing you can't easily root against someone who

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Speaker 1: has such an unbelievable tracker, and it's it's it's really

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Speaker 1: true that you know you don't you know you you

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Speaker 1: you you miss of the shots that you don't take.

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Speaker 1: To pull out a hockey cliche, and the fact that

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Speaker 1: I'm referencing hockey is kind of crazy because I literally

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Speaker 1: I think that that is a very apt h that's

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Speaker 1: that's sort of an apt saying for this crowd. And

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Speaker 1: one thing that I'm sensing after having not been here

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Speaker 1: for many years is just the sense of possibility and

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Speaker 1: the sense of sort of entrepreneurship, even just even overhearing

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Speaker 1: The amount of people that come here with an idea,

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Speaker 1: an idea for a better chip, for a better speaker,

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Speaker 1: and the you know, and you think about the history

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Speaker 1: of technology. So many of these things started in garages,

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Speaker 1: They started in college dorm rooms. You know that that

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Speaker 1: sense that spark of wonder is really kind of infectious

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Speaker 1: when you're here. I'm so great to be able to

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Speaker 1: re experience c S through your eyes. I have been

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Speaker 1: coming for ten plus years. I'm a bit jaded. Now

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Speaker 1: I'm going to try to keep my ears open to

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Speaker 1: the wonder factor because I love that you're you're feeling it,

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Speaker 1: and uh, I think I need to sort of keep

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Speaker 1: my ears open. We forgot to talk a little bit

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Speaker 1: more about HBO Max, and I know that that must

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Speaker 1: be dear to your heart because the Max part is

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Speaker 1: as strictly as as avid listeners of strictly business now

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Speaker 1: is you're adorable, precocious and future world leader wallenzing your

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Speaker 1: eleven year old son. But more seriously, HBO Max. The

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Speaker 1: interesting thing about that is it will have it will

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Speaker 1: have an impact on an existing asset that is no

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Speaker 1: small thing. Under the Warner Media and a T and

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Speaker 1: T umbrella HBO, which for decades has been the gold

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Speaker 1: standard of TV, not only for the content, but you know,

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Speaker 1: for a company that was known for decades for just

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Speaker 1: churning out earnings, that juggernaut has slowed like most of

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Speaker 1: traditional TV, but it's still the golden goose. And you know,

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Speaker 1: the extreme skeptics say that if HBO Max doesn't work,

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Speaker 1: it could it it somehow tarnished the HBO brand. Do

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Speaker 1: you think that there is that you know, that there's

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Speaker 1: that much on the razor's edge. Yeah, you know. I

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Speaker 1: don't think Quimby has cornered the market on skepticism. I

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Speaker 1: think HBO Max has gotten some as well. And I

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Speaker 1: think it does go back to that core HBO brand

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Speaker 1: from the very beginning, once a T and T sort

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Speaker 1: of put their myths on it and made clear their

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Speaker 1: intent to sort of broaden out beyond this sort of

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Speaker 1: prestige play to something that can be programmed more aggressively

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Speaker 1: with a lot more volume of content. There's been I

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Speaker 1: think some rightful skepticism that that brand could sort of

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Speaker 1: widen its aperture to do more and not lose quality

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Speaker 1: on the way to quantity. But I think also they've

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Speaker 1: got some great executives there, Robert Green, black Case and Bloys,

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Speaker 1: Kevin Riley. These are some of the smartest people you

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Speaker 1: and I have been interviewing, I think for the past

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Speaker 1: ten twenty years. If they can't do this, I don't

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Speaker 1: know who can. And so I'm not going to call

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Speaker 1: myself a skeptic for HBO Max, but I understand the

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Speaker 1: skepticism that's out and I do understand even though it

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Speaker 1: has been hard, I think for the very the the

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Speaker 1: long serving HBO employees, I think I do understand that

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Speaker 1: it is. It sounds harsh, but HBO clearly has plateaued

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Speaker 1: in terms of subscriber levels. I think that, and just

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Speaker 1: from just looking at the sheer business and the numbers

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Speaker 1: it has. The reel sixty four thousand dollar question here

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Speaker 1: is will this be? You know, will this really? Can

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Speaker 1: this really lift HBO subscribers significantly above that thirty five

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Speaker 1: to thirty six million range that they're that they've been in. Now,

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Speaker 1: if this can't be the thing that gets them out

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Speaker 1: of that range, what will? Because I think we can

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Speaker 1: agree doing what they had already been doing and just

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Speaker 1: continuing along that path that simply was not an option.

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Speaker 1: And in terms of their options of really cranking things up,

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Speaker 1: I like what they're doing. We've seen their content. I

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Speaker 1: think they've got some great things in store for the audience.

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Speaker 1: And that's why I'm not going to call myself a skeptic.

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Speaker 1: The one thing I love about all of this transition

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Speaker 1: and disruption and what if and what's going to happen

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Speaker 1: is it feels like full employment for you and me.

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Speaker 1: That's the beauty of being on the sidelines, no skin

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Speaker 1: in the game, but plenty to just keep talking about it,

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Speaker 1: because it really doesn't get more interesting. There is so

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Speaker 1: much to talk about at CES This year, Mark Cuban

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Speaker 1: didn't contain his bullishness on the potential of AI during

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Speaker 1: his keynote address at Variety's Annual Entertainment Summit at c

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Speaker 1: e S. Walking around the floor, Andy and I sought

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Speaker 1: out a cross section of interesting people to offer insights

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Speaker 1: on disruption, convergence, and how to navigate c S. In

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Speaker 1: this next segment, you'll hear from Mark Cuban, U t

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Speaker 1: A S. Brent Weinstein, producer, David Tuckerman, Pluto TV chief

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Speaker 1: Tom Ryan and Bleacher Report president Howard Mittman. Take a listen.

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Speaker 1: If you don't know AI, you're the equivalent of somebody

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Speaker 1: in saying, yeah, I'm sure this internet thing will be okay,

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Speaker 1: but I don't give a ship, right, you know, if

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Speaker 1: it's the same thing. And so each and every one

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Speaker 1: of you in the business world like what what I did?

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Speaker 1: I mean, it's not like we intuitively know what AI is.

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Speaker 1: I'm on a w S and I'm taking their tutorials.

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Speaker 1: I'm taking Coursera classes, and I'm, you know, learning how

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Speaker 1: to do a three letter, three layer neural network in JavaScript,

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Speaker 1: you know, using pytors. It's just all these things. It's

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Speaker 1: the blocking and tackling that if you want to be

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Speaker 1: relevant in business and understand all this discussion about AI,

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Speaker 1: you have to do or you will be a dinosaur

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Speaker 1: very quickly and you will find yourself being there's gonna

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Speaker 1: be a I have and a I have nuts, And

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Speaker 1: if you are an A I have not, you might

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Speaker 1: you might as well just rip out all the computers

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Speaker 1: in your office and throw away your phones, because that's

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Speaker 1: how impact. Talking to Brent Weinstein of U t A

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Speaker 1: and wanted to get a sense from you you've been

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Speaker 1: coming to CS for a long time, how central to

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Speaker 1: this whole big extravaganza is media and content, because it's

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Speaker 1: been here for a while too. I've been coming to

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Speaker 1: CS since two thousand four, but we started working officially

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Speaker 1: with c e S in two thousand ten in anticipation

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Speaker 1: of the two thousand eleven show, and at the core

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Speaker 1: of our mission and our partnership with then the Consumer

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Speaker 1: Electronics Association now c t A was to make c

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Speaker 1: S a place that individuals, companies, creators from the content

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Speaker 1: and the marketing worlds that they wanted to be, and

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Speaker 1: more so, a place that they felt they needed to

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Speaker 1: be making a critical event on their calendar each year.

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Speaker 1: And when we started there weren't a lot of people

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Speaker 1: from those communities that came to CS. You may have

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Speaker 1: seen executives that had digital somewhere in their title, like me,

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Speaker 1: but generally speaking it was not a place where the

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Speaker 1: broader media marketing communities came to the show. But through

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Speaker 1: a lot of fantastic work by a lot of people

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Speaker 1: and a real vision from Karen Schipka and Gary Shapiro

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Speaker 1: at c t A and UH, we built programs that

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Speaker 1: you know now almost a decade later. Uh, media and

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Speaker 1: marketing is really one of the cornerstones of the show,

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Speaker 1: and it's exciting. Is there more to go though? I mean,

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Speaker 1: can we see a time where entertainment companies like a

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Speaker 1: Comcast or Sony are going to be presenting on the

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Speaker 1: on the exhibition floor alongside the Samsungs of the world. Uh?

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Speaker 1: I think so. I mean you're seeing that at a

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Speaker 1: smaller scale right now. There's some amazing exhibitors this year

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Speaker 1: who are not your typical historical CS exhibitors. You know,

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Speaker 1: Delta Airlines has an amazing experience in Central Hall, which

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Speaker 1: I encourage you to check out, all about the future

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Speaker 1: of airports and it's really innovative stuff and not just

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Speaker 1: futuristic stuff, stuff that's actually gonna be beta tested in

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Speaker 1: the detroitor of it this year. Um. And you see

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Speaker 1: here at c Space companies like ww E and Warner

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Speaker 1: Media and Pluto having you know, physical exhibit and meeting space,

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Speaker 1: and that's great and I think that will grow. Uh.

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Speaker 1: I think that we've seen a huge influx of marketers. Certainly.

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Speaker 1: I think that some of the biggest partners to see

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Speaker 1: Space are large scale ad agencies and media publishers like

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Speaker 1: Google and others. And I think that we'll see more

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Speaker 1: of the content side as we push forward, especially if

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Speaker 1: you think of some of the verticals that are just

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Speaker 1: starting to explode, like e sports and other aspects of

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Speaker 1: gaming where there's just a lot of connectivity to the

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Speaker 1: tech mission at c S. Does it feel like this year,

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Speaker 1: with the streaming wars starting and you know, major major

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Speaker 1: entertainment companies realigning their operations like Disney and A T

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Speaker 1: and T around direct to consumer streaming, does it feel

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Speaker 1: like kind of a full flowering of the entertainment and

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Speaker 1: tech and content worlds that you have been trying to

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Speaker 1: bring together and navigate for so long. Uh. It certainly

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Speaker 1: is an exciting time. You know, if you look at

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Speaker 1: some recent analyst reports, Disney plus just what sixty days

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Speaker 1: after launch is worth a hundred billion dollars according to somebody.

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Speaker 1: I have no clue if that's true or not, but

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Speaker 1: it's certainly doing well and it's valuable. And in order

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Speaker 1: for that to happen, they're not only needs to be

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Speaker 1: extraordinary content, which of course Disney can supply in droves,

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Speaker 1: but there has to be an amazing technology experience at

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Speaker 1: the center of it, and I think that, UH, you're

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Speaker 1: gonna see and hear a lot about that stuff here.

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Speaker 1: Warner Media UH was had a session today where they

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Speaker 1: spent a lot of time talking about how they're thinking

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Speaker 1: about the exsumer consumer experience and specifically making it very,

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Speaker 1: very mobile friendly. UH. They view a lot of the

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Speaker 1: director consumer UH offerings as something that we're really designed

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Speaker 1: for streaming television on larger screens horizontal, and they think

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Speaker 1: that a vertical environment is something where a lot of

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Speaker 1: this stuff is going to be consumed, and they're very

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Speaker 1: focused on that. And again I'm not here to ref

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Speaker 1: for me and say whether that's the right thing to

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Speaker 1: do or not. But I think it's interesting that a

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Speaker 1: big media company seems to be focusing as much on

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Speaker 1: the technology as they are on the content. David Tuckerman, producer,

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Speaker 1: longtime industry executive. What brings you out here this year? Well,

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Speaker 1: it's important, I think learned about all the changes in

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Speaker 1: the industry. Can you give me for instance, UM, there's

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Speaker 1: a company UM that got started UM called Observatory UM

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Speaker 1: that was financed by Stagwell in d C and c A,

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Speaker 1: and they'll be doing some really interesting stuff for a

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Speaker 1: number brands, and I'm also here to see what people

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Speaker 1: are doing. Yeah, is this a place for you for

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Speaker 1: like discovery or networking or it's both. And as I said,

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Speaker 1: if you're gonna build cars for a living, it's important

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Speaker 1: to be in Detroit every now and then. Tom Ryan

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Speaker 1: a Pluto TV. Thanks for stopping then talking to us

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Speaker 1: for a little bit. I feel like you must be

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Speaker 1: looking around at the landscape now and going. I was

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Speaker 1: in streaming before streaming was cool. What has it been

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Speaker 1: for your business to have pretty much everybody in media

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Speaker 1: talking NonStop and thinking NonStop about the direct consumer business

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Speaker 1: and how to reach consumers with video in a different way.

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Speaker 1: Thanks for having me. Um. We certainly were in a

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Speaker 1: supported streaming before ed supported streaming was cool. I'll give

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Speaker 1: credit to some of the other pioneers on the paid side,

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Speaker 1: but UM, what we found UM when we launched Pluto

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Speaker 1: TV was that UM, you know there we were really

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Speaker 1: living in a world where everyone thought that everything was

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Speaker 1: moving towards on demand paid and add free UM, and

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Speaker 1: we took free contrarian bets UM first being the power

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Speaker 1: of curated linear was going to be big in the

431
00:24:52,480 --> 00:24:56,040
Speaker 1: future streaming UM. And second, uh and third, I guess

432
00:24:56,119 --> 00:25:01,600
Speaker 1: given everything that has been done in add supported television

433
00:25:01,600 --> 00:25:04,399
Speaker 1: over the years, it's funded so much great content UM

434
00:25:04,440 --> 00:25:07,400
Speaker 1: as well as in broadcast which has been free, that

435
00:25:07,960 --> 00:25:11,639
Speaker 1: a free ad supported service could be really big. So UM,

436
00:25:11,720 --> 00:25:16,520
Speaker 1: it's certainly fulfilling to see the industry now appreciating the

437
00:25:16,520 --> 00:25:19,800
Speaker 1: potential of AT supported streaming. We think it's the largest

438
00:25:19,840 --> 00:25:24,399
Speaker 1: single addressable opportunity in streaming, and we're excited to be

439
00:25:24,480 --> 00:25:26,959
Speaker 1: the leader in the space. UM just building on our

440
00:25:27,000 --> 00:25:31,040
Speaker 1: momentum to actually be the global leader, and free should

441
00:25:31,040 --> 00:25:34,359
Speaker 1: be television. PAP does the fact. So NBC Universal is

442
00:25:34,400 --> 00:25:37,080
Speaker 1: coming in with their Peacock service, which they have said,

443
00:25:37,320 --> 00:25:40,040
Speaker 1: you know, is definitely going to be AD supported. That

444
00:25:40,200 --> 00:25:42,720
Speaker 1: is they're different. That is their effort to differentiate from

445
00:25:42,920 --> 00:25:46,000
Speaker 1: other some other little things you might have heard heard about.

446
00:25:46,400 --> 00:25:49,160
Speaker 1: Is that a rising tide liftsalt boats? Is that good

447
00:25:49,160 --> 00:25:51,639
Speaker 1: news for you being in this marketplace? Or d or

448
00:25:51,720 --> 00:25:53,600
Speaker 1: is this now a little more is it a little

449
00:25:53,600 --> 00:25:56,200
Speaker 1: more zero sum in terms of the competition for AD knowledge,

450
00:25:56,920 --> 00:26:00,280
Speaker 1: I think the AD supported streaming space, free at accorded

451
00:26:00,320 --> 00:26:03,120
Speaker 1: streaming space is still in its infancy, so I think

452
00:26:03,200 --> 00:26:07,560
Speaker 1: there's massive growth ahead. I think the so called streaming

453
00:26:07,560 --> 00:26:10,160
Speaker 1: wars are going to be great for Pluto TV's business.

454
00:26:10,720 --> 00:26:14,840
Speaker 1: We know that consumers tend to only be willing to

455
00:26:14,880 --> 00:26:19,640
Speaker 1: pay for a handful of paid services UM. But consumers

456
00:26:19,640 --> 00:26:22,359
Speaker 1: are creating their own bundles and now rather than getting

457
00:26:22,400 --> 00:26:25,240
Speaker 1: their TV from one moneli, they providers. So if they're

458
00:26:25,320 --> 00:26:27,760
Speaker 1: using a handful of apps, they're willing to pay for

459
00:26:27,800 --> 00:26:31,720
Speaker 1: a few UM, then the way to expand their bundles

460
00:26:32,160 --> 00:26:35,480
Speaker 1: cost effectively is by working with Pluto TV, where you

461
00:26:35,520 --> 00:26:38,560
Speaker 1: can get hundreds of premium channels and thousands of TV

462
00:26:38,640 --> 00:26:42,399
Speaker 1: shows and movies on demand all up no extra expense. UM.

463
00:26:42,440 --> 00:26:44,679
Speaker 1: I think there's gonna be a huge amount of growth

464
00:26:44,760 --> 00:26:47,919
Speaker 1: in a supported streaming UM. We're leading the charge in

465
00:26:47,920 --> 00:26:53,160
Speaker 1: that respect UM, and content partners, distribution partners and advertisers

466
00:26:53,160 --> 00:26:55,720
Speaker 1: are all flocking to the platform. I think there will

467
00:26:55,760 --> 00:26:58,520
Speaker 1: be multiple winners, but we think we're going to be

468
00:26:58,800 --> 00:27:03,000
Speaker 1: the undisputed way to winner. We've got a huge head start.

469
00:27:03,600 --> 00:27:07,280
Speaker 1: We've now that VIIC on CBS behind us, and we're

470
00:27:07,280 --> 00:27:09,920
Speaker 1: going global in a big way, and I think it's

471
00:27:09,920 --> 00:27:19,400
Speaker 1: gonna be a massive messa. Howard Mitman, CEO of bleacher Report,

472
00:27:19,600 --> 00:27:23,800
Speaker 1: a digital brand that my son really enjoys. Tell me

473
00:27:24,000 --> 00:27:28,199
Speaker 1: what brings you to c e S. This is I

474
00:27:28,240 --> 00:27:31,280
Speaker 1: think my eighteenth year at c S. I started out

475
00:27:31,440 --> 00:27:36,439
Speaker 1: years ago covering technology space and seeing this evolved. Um,

476
00:27:36,480 --> 00:27:38,679
Speaker 1: for me this year, it's probably a little less about

477
00:27:39,000 --> 00:27:41,879
Speaker 1: technology and more about the folks who are you know,

478
00:27:42,000 --> 00:27:44,720
Speaker 1: using media to package and create ideas, whether they be

479
00:27:45,119 --> 00:27:50,359
Speaker 1: content or ads across increasingly wide spectrum of devices and

480
00:27:50,440 --> 00:27:53,000
Speaker 1: so uh, coming to c S feels like one of

481
00:27:53,000 --> 00:27:55,720
Speaker 1: those places that you have to start the year off

482
00:27:55,720 --> 00:27:59,040
Speaker 1: at because ultimately, um, everyone you need to speak to

483
00:27:59,280 --> 00:28:02,680
Speaker 1: is here. Tell me talk a little bit about um,

484
00:28:02,720 --> 00:28:05,000
Speaker 1: you know, bleacher Report. To me, it's really seems like

485
00:28:05,320 --> 00:28:08,320
Speaker 1: a really a great digital success story for the for

486
00:28:08,400 --> 00:28:11,639
Speaker 1: the Turner and Warner Media brands. You really, you know,

487
00:28:11,760 --> 00:28:15,960
Speaker 1: you're an organic growth story for the for the company.

488
00:28:16,440 --> 00:28:18,560
Speaker 1: What is it? Bleacher Report has been around for a while,

489
00:28:18,600 --> 00:28:20,320
Speaker 1: but it seems like in the last year or two

490
00:28:20,400 --> 00:28:23,840
Speaker 1: it's really elevated as a brand. What do you what

491
00:28:24,000 --> 00:28:27,199
Speaker 1: do you attribute the kind of the What would you

492
00:28:27,200 --> 00:28:29,959
Speaker 1: say is the catalyst for the growth of bleacher Report

493
00:28:30,040 --> 00:28:33,600
Speaker 1: as a brand and a destination for sports fans. I

494
00:28:33,640 --> 00:28:35,680
Speaker 1: don't know that it's one thing specifically. I think there's

495
00:28:35,680 --> 00:28:37,480
Speaker 1: a couple of different things that we would focus on.

496
00:28:37,520 --> 00:28:41,120
Speaker 1: You know, Primarily, our mission is that we exist to

497
00:28:41,160 --> 00:28:43,800
Speaker 1: make it as easy as possible to be a sports fan.

498
00:28:44,080 --> 00:28:46,959
Speaker 1: And so wherever it is you want to consume sports

499
00:28:47,040 --> 00:28:49,400
Speaker 1: or sports culture content, whatever it is you want to consume,

500
00:28:49,840 --> 00:28:52,080
Speaker 1: we have a sort of need to be there to

501
00:28:52,560 --> 00:28:54,720
Speaker 1: again make it as easy as possible for consumers to

502
00:28:55,120 --> 00:28:58,720
Speaker 1: engage in and around the sports content they love. UM.

503
00:28:58,800 --> 00:29:04,840
Speaker 1: For us, UH of our sales and our UM content

504
00:29:04,880 --> 00:29:08,040
Speaker 1: consumption happens on our app. So our app has twenty

505
00:29:08,040 --> 00:29:10,560
Speaker 1: million downloads, we have nine and a half million users

506
00:29:10,560 --> 00:29:13,719
Speaker 1: opted in to receive alerts on a daily basis, multiple

507
00:29:13,800 --> 00:29:17,320
Speaker 1: times a day. UH. That drives a pretty big chunk

508
00:29:17,480 --> 00:29:19,920
Speaker 1: of the usage in a pretty big sort of part

509
00:29:20,000 --> 00:29:22,800
Speaker 1: of how we remain not just a daily but a

510
00:29:22,880 --> 00:29:26,560
Speaker 1: sort of multiple time of day UM point of contact

511
00:29:26,560 --> 00:29:29,200
Speaker 1: and connection with consumers. On the other end of the spectrum,

512
00:29:29,240 --> 00:29:33,760
Speaker 1: we we've built a really successful UM social network and UH,

513
00:29:33,800 --> 00:29:37,000
Speaker 1: you know, across a variety of different channels. We on Instagram,

514
00:29:37,040 --> 00:29:41,640
Speaker 1: We I think in nine we Bleach Report created eight

515
00:29:41,640 --> 00:29:47,080
Speaker 1: of the top ten UH most engaging branded content experiences

516
00:29:47,120 --> 00:29:50,240
Speaker 1: on the entire platform, not just in sports. On Twitter,

517
00:29:50,600 --> 00:29:53,040
Speaker 1: UM with the number two most engaging handle across all

518
00:29:53,040 --> 00:29:56,640
Speaker 1: of Twitter. Second fine only you know the president. So

519
00:29:57,000 --> 00:30:00,240
Speaker 1: we UM we we We've built a really nice business there.

520
00:30:00,240 --> 00:30:01,920
Speaker 1: And I think what that does is it allows us

521
00:30:01,920 --> 00:30:04,720
Speaker 1: to sort of extend our brand, mission, our name, and

522
00:30:04,760 --> 00:30:07,840
Speaker 1: then also created somewhat of a feedback loop back into

523
00:30:08,200 --> 00:30:11,240
Speaker 1: our app. And so as we're thinking about content and

524
00:30:11,240 --> 00:30:15,000
Speaker 1: content experiences UM, we think about them in a variety

525
00:30:15,040 --> 00:30:17,560
Speaker 1: of ways in order to serve the different kinds of

526
00:30:17,600 --> 00:30:20,600
Speaker 1: content consumption habits that our consumers have across all the

527
00:30:20,680 --> 00:30:26,760
Speaker 1: various platforms. How have you integrated you know, the specific

528
00:30:26,840 --> 00:30:30,960
Speaker 1: technological abilities of being on a digital platform. How have

529
00:30:31,040 --> 00:30:33,640
Speaker 1: you integrated that into the content that you serve up

530
00:30:33,680 --> 00:30:41,320
Speaker 1: to users. I think technology is invariably a part of

531
00:30:41,920 --> 00:30:45,920
Speaker 1: not just how you UM create content. It's a part

532
00:30:45,960 --> 00:30:50,840
Speaker 1: of how you conceptualized content. And so the technology inherent

533
00:30:50,880 --> 00:30:54,840
Speaker 1: in the distribution, which for us is really ultimately the

534
00:30:54,840 --> 00:30:58,640
Speaker 1: primary factor that we think about UM, has to be

535
00:30:58,680 --> 00:31:01,200
Speaker 1: a part of of what we do in the earliest phases,

536
00:31:01,440 --> 00:31:05,000
Speaker 1: and I think ultimately UM that shows out in the

537
00:31:05,040 --> 00:31:08,560
Speaker 1: way that we are able to create different kinds of

538
00:31:08,560 --> 00:31:11,640
Speaker 1: content experiences for different kinds of fans on different kinds

539
00:31:11,640 --> 00:31:14,040
Speaker 1: of platforms. But one thing that we pride ourselves on

540
00:31:14,120 --> 00:31:16,640
Speaker 1: is that wherever it is you log on um or

541
00:31:16,840 --> 00:31:20,200
Speaker 1: view or experience our content, it looks it feels like

542
00:31:20,240 --> 00:31:22,760
Speaker 1: Bleacher Report, and you know that it is part of

543
00:31:22,760 --> 00:31:26,000
Speaker 1: a broader, holistic universe that is, you know, there to

544
00:31:26,360 --> 00:31:30,880
Speaker 1: help you big. Bleacher Report is a digital native brand,

545
00:31:31,200 --> 00:31:33,760
Speaker 1: but you also do have the benefit of of as

546
00:31:33,840 --> 00:31:37,040
Speaker 1: part of turners on air coverage of of NBA and

547
00:31:37,080 --> 00:31:40,160
Speaker 1: other sports. They do reference, they do reference Bleacher Report.

548
00:31:40,320 --> 00:31:43,480
Speaker 1: Do you ever see a causal link if Charles Barkley

549
00:31:43,480 --> 00:31:46,440
Speaker 1: talks about Bleacher Report when he's coming in an NBA

550
00:31:46,680 --> 00:31:48,800
Speaker 1: you know, in covering the NBA, do you see a

551
00:31:48,840 --> 00:31:55,800
Speaker 1: spike in you in in users? If the foundational element

552
00:31:55,800 --> 00:31:59,280
Speaker 1: of your question is does TV work? Yes, the short

553
00:31:59,320 --> 00:32:03,920
Speaker 1: answers it works really well. Um. We benefit from a

554
00:32:04,360 --> 00:32:10,040
Speaker 1: you know, recipital relationship with our friends on the linear side. Um.

555
00:32:10,080 --> 00:32:13,760
Speaker 1: We helped give them social and digital distribution. They helped

556
00:32:13,800 --> 00:32:16,960
Speaker 1: give us scale. And you know there is just always

557
00:32:17,200 --> 00:32:20,880
Speaker 1: inevitably something about television is the probably forever and always

558
00:32:20,920 --> 00:32:23,440
Speaker 1: the lingua franco of our business to do a large degree,

559
00:32:23,720 --> 00:32:26,320
Speaker 1: and well said, yeah, so the way that they work

560
00:32:26,400 --> 00:32:31,640
Speaker 1: together in concert, Um, I don't know very many uh

561
00:32:31,880 --> 00:32:36,160
Speaker 1: success stories in terms of acquisitions that have integrated as

562
00:32:36,200 --> 00:32:39,840
Speaker 1: well into a host organization organization as Bleacher Report has.

563
00:32:40,160 --> 00:32:42,880
Speaker 1: And so the way that we work together, um, you

564
00:32:42,880 --> 00:32:46,880
Speaker 1: know is probably should be a case study somewhere. It

565
00:32:46,920 --> 00:32:49,719
Speaker 1: sounds like a project for Variety Howard. Thank you so

566
00:32:49,800 --> 00:32:51,960
Speaker 1: much for your time, Thanks for having me enjoy the show.

567
00:32:54,840 --> 00:32:57,920
Speaker 1: I surely did enjoy my first visit to ce S

568
00:32:57,960 --> 00:33:01,000
Speaker 1: in many years. I found it very in lightning and

569
00:33:01,480 --> 00:33:05,040
Speaker 1: very inspiring. I hope you did. I felt like Cynthia

570
00:33:05,120 --> 00:33:07,640
Speaker 1: being with you and able to see this show anew

571
00:33:07,760 --> 00:33:11,680
Speaker 1: through your eyes. My jaded self was re awoken to

572
00:33:11,840 --> 00:33:15,240
Speaker 1: how great this show can be in terms of demonstrating

573
00:33:15,560 --> 00:33:19,360
Speaker 1: what's coming for this business. Thanks for listening, everybody. Please

574
00:33:19,520 --> 00:33:22,240
Speaker 1: join us next week for another episode of Strictly Business