Speaker 1: Welcome to another episode of Strictly Business, the podcast that
Speaker 1: goes deep with some of the brightest minds working in
Speaker 1: media today. I'm Andrew Wallenstein, co editor in chief of Variety.
Speaker 1: With her long running daytime talk show, Ellen Degenerous is
Speaker 1: known primarily as a TV star, but the multi platform
Speaker 1: empire she has built around herself in recent years has
Speaker 1: made clear she is a powerful brand as well in
Speaker 1: online video, social media, even gaming apps and to run
Speaker 1: all that from her business. The Generous turns to our
Speaker 1: next guest, Michael Riley, General manager of Ellen Digital Ventures. Michael, Welcome,
Speaker 1: Thanks Andrew, and thanks very much to you and a
Speaker 1: Variety for having me here today. Excellent. Uh, what I
Speaker 1: want people to understand off the top is people might
Speaker 1: think when I read that kind of set up, oh,
Speaker 1: that's cute, she's got a website and a Twitter account,
Speaker 1: just like everyone else on Earth. But it's so much
Speaker 1: more than that. So can you lay out really what
Speaker 1: Ellen Digital Ventures. I started over a year ago now,
Speaker 1: but Ellen and her show have been going now for
Speaker 1: sixteen years, and what's amazing is really to see over
Speaker 1: that sixteen year period how they've transitioned and how now
Speaker 1: we are transitioning sixteen years in the television space into
Speaker 1: these billions of views in the digital world. And exactly
Speaker 1: to your question, it's sort of in a what we
Speaker 1: call the Ellen Digital network is is is an amazing
Speaker 1: amalgamation of not only across platform followers and subscribers. Were
Speaker 1: fortunate to actually just recently have achieved we have over
Speaker 1: two hundred million cross platform subscribers and followers across all
Speaker 1: of the you know, the key uh platform social media space.
Speaker 1: So that is just remarkable when you think of you know,
Speaker 1: obviously there's brands out there like I don't know of
Speaker 1: uz feed or Revice that have millions and billions of
Speaker 1: views and all that. But you're building this and I'm
Speaker 1: even sure what to say here. Are you building it
Speaker 1: on the back of Ellen the celebrity or Ellen the
Speaker 1: show or is that the same thing? It's it's not
Speaker 1: the same thing, and it's really what it is. It's
Speaker 1: it's building an organic brand that at its core is
Speaker 1: about comedy and fun and kindness. And for the most part,
Speaker 1: it's really about authenticity. And if there's anything that Ellen
Speaker 1: really celebrates, it's being authentic. And this whole idea of
Speaker 1: belonging this and if you think about her voice over
Speaker 1: sixteen years, her voice continues to get louder. And all
Speaker 1: of this started as an hour in the daytime world,
Speaker 1: and I feel I I think that the genius of
Speaker 1: the alchemy that we have is really the basis of
Speaker 1: the sixteen years of experience in this amazing daytime show,
Speaker 1: and it's how are we taking the talent, how are
Speaker 1: we taking the I P and the franchises that have
Speaker 1: been built over sixteen years, And that is just a
Speaker 1: moment in an hour a day. We can take all
Speaker 1: of that I P and explode that out into the
Speaker 1: digital space available twenty four hours a day, three hundred
Speaker 1: and sixty five days a year, and to your point,
Speaker 1: it generates over a billion views a month. The only
Speaker 1: thing that I could think of that sort of comparable
Speaker 1: is and it's different. A pretty key way is remember
Speaker 1: Oprah Winfrey was a daytime personality who didn't build that
Speaker 1: kind of empire online, although she did some stuff there
Speaker 1: as well, but she turned all this into a cable network.
Speaker 1: You guys are really doing the same thing. You just
Speaker 1: don't have a linear cable now. And I think that's
Speaker 1: obviously we're thrilled to be in the same category as Oprah,
Speaker 1: who is obviously one of you know, you know, one
Speaker 1: of the best brands here in the US. I think
Speaker 1: that being in that category, Ellen is unbelievably passionate about
Speaker 1: not only the digital space, but obviously who she is
Speaker 1: and the show that she's old in the show and
Speaker 1: you know, the world that she's created, and exactly to
Speaker 1: that point, what I love about this space, and particularly
Speaker 1: over the next few years, I'm very fond of talking about.
Speaker 1: You know, in the seventies and the eighties, there were
Speaker 1: basically four networks where you could put all of your
Speaker 1: content and all of the advertising was there. In the
Speaker 1: nineties and the two thousands, a place that I existed
Speaker 1: in in the cable world that those four networks turned
Speaker 1: into four hundred networks, and it was about how are
Speaker 1: you adapting your content and your advertising to be to
Speaker 1: understand the environment that you're in and just to stop
Speaker 1: you there, what were you in the cable world? Sure?
Speaker 1: So I started my media career with Turner Broadcasting, working
Speaker 1: in the business development on corporate strategy team building out
Speaker 1: the Turner Digital brands across Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
Speaker 1: So that's CNN International or Cartoon Network t n T.
Speaker 1: And then I moved to the Walt Disney Company to
Speaker 1: work both for Disney Channels worldwide and then for ABC Family.
Speaker 1: Now free Form is the as event of ABC Family,
Speaker 1: Got it Um? And so for me, it's this world, uh,
Speaker 1: you know, four networks where you're building brands, and it
Speaker 1: becomes much more about the environment in the twenties. This
Speaker 1: opportunity now becomes about these wonderful brands that are being established.
Speaker 1: And how are we actually taking Ellen, not only the
Speaker 1: show and the digital brand into this limitless space. How
Speaker 1: are we creating what is what we call the Ellen
Speaker 1: Digital network. How are we creating franchises and I P
Speaker 1: and bringing talent in there and really connecting in different
Speaker 1: ways with the consumer across all of these emerging platforms.
Speaker 1: And well, but there's a question in the in the
Speaker 1: Oprah comparison, could you argue that Ellen might have been
Speaker 1: better off going the opera channel route that maybe you
Speaker 1: don't get billions of views, but there's some cable companies
Speaker 1: probably willing to pay a lot of money. Why not
Speaker 1: have gone that route? Sure? And I think the real
Speaker 1: opportunity over the next three to five years is looking
Speaker 1: at what the future holds and placing that. I mentioned
Speaker 1: this UH when we were talking to different groups, this
Speaker 1: idea of how are we making sure to be placing
Speaker 1: these bets in these emerging spaces because we don't know
Speaker 1: what platforms are going to exist. What we know is
Speaker 1: the platforms today are going to change into platforms of tomorrow.
Speaker 1: And where we feel fortunate is how are we working
Speaker 1: with this strong brand in order to place that's across
Speaker 1: all of these different platforms today that doesn't preclude us
Speaker 1: from making decisions in the future. And I think that
Speaker 1: is as we look at the changing consumer habits today,
Speaker 1: as we look at the seismic changes of how people
Speaker 1: are actually consuming content on these different platforms. We're thrilled
Speaker 1: to be working with YouTube around getting our content not
Speaker 1: only from the show, but also developing new and original
Speaker 1: I P. We have an amazing show UH called Mom's
Speaker 1: Planning led by Kristen Bell, who is a new mom
Speaker 1: who is just absolutely amazing, generated over a hundred and
Speaker 1: sixty million views. We're actually looking in the digital space
Speaker 1: to find new talent. We have UH somebody emerging with
Speaker 1: us in our in our digital stable called Kaalen Allen,
Speaker 1: who is actually on the cusp of generating four hundred
Speaker 1: and fifty million views across all of his different platforms.
Speaker 1: And these are new voices and new storytellers that we
Speaker 1: would not always have have been able to get access to.
Speaker 1: And these digital platforms are allowing us to serve that
Speaker 1: up and allowing us to work with them, and then
Speaker 1: working with those platforms to make those bets in the future.
Speaker 1: I would also think that making Ellen digital first really
Speaker 1: helps in terms of demographics, because my guess is, your
Speaker 1: daytime audience is probably a lot older than the one
Speaker 1: watching online. I think one of the things that we're
Speaker 1: fortunate about is obviously the strength of Ellen and the
Speaker 1: strength of her brand. And so as we look at
Speaker 1: the changes in daytime television, Ellen still really is treading,
Speaker 1: you know, a great path in the daytime space. But
Speaker 1: where what we love about that digital spaces exactly to
Speaker 1: your point is how are we bringing on these new
Speaker 1: audiences gen Z, millennials, millennial moms. And we're really looking
Speaker 1: to develop Ellen as this broad national and international brand,
Speaker 1: and these new platforms allow access to that. I mean,
Speaker 1: it's interesting if you didn't take that approach, I might
Speaker 1: say that daytime TV almost could become a graveyard for
Speaker 1: what would otherwise be a great brand, and now you're
Speaker 1: sort of realizing the full vision of that brand outside
Speaker 1: of daytime. Sure, and I actually think it's both together.
Speaker 1: So to me that when what we see the strength
Speaker 1: around such a great brand is all boats rising. So
Speaker 1: when we have great talent or great guests on the show,
Speaker 1: or we're right in the midst of twelve days that
Speaker 1: giveaways right now, which is is a key time for us,
Speaker 1: we see not only our ratings rise, but we also
Speaker 1: see all of the boats rise across the digital space.
Speaker 1: So it's not one platform cannibalizing another platform. What we
Speaker 1: see is when we are geting it correctly, we see
Speaker 1: all of our audiences going up. And we're building out
Speaker 1: ellen Tube as our owned and operated site, which we've
Speaker 1: had for five or six years. Now, what we're seeing
Speaker 1: is not only great audience happening on ellen Tube, but
Speaker 1: we're also seeing those traditional audiences. And when I say traditional,
Speaker 1: I mean the traditional audiences on YouTube and on Facebook
Speaker 1: and on Twitter, on Twitter still continuing to really engage
Speaker 1: with our content. And one of the benefits we have
Speaker 1: as part of the scale that we deliver content at
Speaker 1: as we have great relationships across all of those platforms,
Speaker 1: and every day, every month, every year, we're looking to
Speaker 1: really understand that consumer on that platform and engage them
Speaker 1: in a way that makes sense and tell stories that
Speaker 1: make sense for that platform. You mentioned YouTube. Obviously that's
Speaker 1: a place where Ellen has a big presence, But how
Speaker 1: do you manage sort of the cross platform digitally speaking thing.
Speaker 1: Do you put her out there on Facebook, Instagram, Snap
Speaker 1: all the rest? Uh, just as much or as is
Speaker 1: more of a YouTube centric play. No, we we are
Speaker 1: absolutely looking across all of the platforms. Actually, interestingly enough,
Speaker 1: we're one of only two content providers that generate over
Speaker 1: two hundred million views across all three of the key
Speaker 1: social media platforms. And so for us that and I
Speaker 1: believe that the other one is actually the NFL. What
Speaker 1: it means is we're developing very close relationships with those platforms,
Speaker 1: and the way we do it is by looking at
Speaker 1: our content, and I think it at its core, it's
Speaker 1: really being in business for sixteen years with the show
Speaker 1: that's allowed us to extend that. When you see how
Speaker 1: we produced the show, how we produce digital content, it's
Speaker 1: one ecosystem and I think that's the strength of Ellen
Speaker 1: our ability to leverage what we've learned over sixteen years
Speaker 1: with true experts in their field, with a brand and
Speaker 1: a talent in l and that is passionate and authentic.
Speaker 1: And what it allows us to do is will look
Speaker 1: every day at which platforms, which stories go where, making
Speaker 1: sure that we see all of those boats rise. And
Speaker 1: as I mentioned, having worked in television for for twenty years,
Speaker 1: I think that the part of the secret sauce of
Speaker 1: the Ellen Digital network is it's it's tied to the
Speaker 1: show itself. And I think that's a real strength for us.
Speaker 1: And I think one of the things is for us,
Speaker 1: it's leveraging the strength over sixteen years and bringing that
Speaker 1: to the space, curating that audience. Testing We're allowed to
Speaker 1: test and innovative in a much quicker way. In that
Speaker 1: digital space we're led we can engage that audience in
Speaker 1: a much more sophisticated way. Um So to me, it's
Speaker 1: actually all together, it all works as one ecosystem. And
Speaker 1: I think that's the power of the Ellen bread And
Speaker 1: does that brand extend even globally because I wouldn't even
Speaker 1: have stopped to think of Ellen is more than an
Speaker 1: American phenomenon. But I guess digital is the very thing
Speaker 1: it allows you to look beyond that. I think that's
Speaker 1: exactly Obviously, the show is distributed all across the world,
Speaker 1: so Ellen is very well known and recognized in most
Speaker 1: places across the world. What the digital opportunity allows us
Speaker 1: to do is break those barriers down even faster, and
Speaker 1: it allows us to touch those consumers in a number
Speaker 1: of different ways and really bring the global power of
Speaker 1: Ellen in the digital space. And it's not just about
Speaker 1: video content. It's also about how are we launching games?
Speaker 1: You know games obviously across both Apple and the Android platforms.
Speaker 1: Those are global initiatives, and we're in a fortunate situation
Speaker 1: where we're looking at learning from what we know and
Speaker 1: then really extending those tentacles everywhere. Before we get to
Speaker 1: the games, one question though, before I get hyped up
Speaker 1: on all the sort of digital global goodness of it all,
Speaker 1: let's not forget that even other properties that have hundreds
Speaker 1: of millions and billions of views are facing some pretty
Speaker 1: steep challenges when it comes to monetization. It's not easy,
Speaker 1: uh too make a lot of money. So how are
Speaker 1: you guys dealing with that? Are you insulated in some
Speaker 1: way that say, a vice or a BuzzFeed is not well,
Speaker 1: I think we're inside. And one of the reasons we
Speaker 1: talked about this ecosystem with both the show, all of
Speaker 1: the digital platforms are owned and operated and our apps
Speaker 1: that we're launching is each of those have different monetization opportunities,
Speaker 1: and as we build a portfolio of assets called the
Speaker 1: eleven Digital Network, we're also testing and innovating different monetization models.
Speaker 1: And one of the things that we talk about is
Speaker 1: branded content in the future. And the reason I used
Speaker 1: the example of you know, back in the seventies and
Speaker 1: the eighties, the advertising was in one was in these
Speaker 1: four places, and they had a particular form. Here we
Speaker 1: are in the twenty tents and coming into the twenties,
Speaker 1: advertising and integration is in a much different form. And
Speaker 1: we spend a lot of time working with brands that
Speaker 1: we've had on our show for ten years. How do
Speaker 1: we innovate with them around branded content, around stories that
Speaker 1: they want to tell. We again back to Mom's Planning.
Speaker 1: We were fortunate to have the new Johnson's Johnson and
Speaker 1: Johnson be integrated into the Mom's Planning episodes with Kristin
Speaker 1: bell in very innovative in different ways. We recently launched
Speaker 1: a show with Total Wireless UM called Fearless led by
Speaker 1: or Champion by Ashley Graham, and part of that was
Speaker 1: how are we bringing these advertisers into this new space.
Speaker 1: So one is we're working with advertisers across all of
Speaker 1: the different platforms, which really allows us to be slightly
Speaker 1: insulated against the change in algorithms, whether Facebook changes their
Speaker 1: algorithm or YouTube changes their algorithm. We're actually working across
Speaker 1: all of the social media platforms and so that allows
Speaker 1: us some protection around making sure that our views whether
Speaker 1: they come from our own and operated site, whether they're
Speaker 1: coming from YouTube, whether they're coming from Facebook or Twitter
Speaker 1: or Instagram. All of that allows us to be somewhat
Speaker 1: protected in that way. And then as we look to
Speaker 1: innovate around different types of opportunities, we also are looking
Speaker 1: to produce exclusive content for for platforms as well, which
Speaker 1: is a different model. We had a show with YouTube
Speaker 1: which we were very proud of. We've just recently done
Speaker 1: a show with Leo Michelle and Twitter which was exclusive
Speaker 1: to Twitter UM. So we're really testing different models as
Speaker 1: we move forward. And then we want to lean into
Speaker 1: the models that are working. And because again this whole
Speaker 1: idea of being in the business for now sixteen years
Speaker 1: season sixteen, we look at all of our different platforms
Speaker 1: and make sure all the boats arising, which insulates us
Speaker 1: over you know, different industry chanses. By the way, can't
Speaker 1: all these shows that you're developing, couldn't you be selling
Speaker 1: them back into TV? Why? Why isn't you know Ellen
Speaker 1: in Daytime? Followed by Ashley Graham one hour later. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you're exactly right. It's it's such one of the things
Speaker 1: that I love talking about and as I said, I
Speaker 1: just joined a year ago, is the genius of the
Speaker 1: format of this show, which really is just all all
Speaker 1: of the different team members that put it together is
Speaker 1: exactly what you're talking about. There is a pipeline of
Speaker 1: talent and content that we've curated over fifteen years, and
Speaker 1: it's how do we take that talent and do different
Speaker 1: things every year? And to your point is how do
Speaker 1: we then work with new emerging platforms. Take the ike
Speaker 1: that we own, the stories that we are telling, and
Speaker 1: then how do we turn those into longer form pieces
Speaker 1: of content. Absolutely, we would love to look at that
Speaker 1: in the future. Right now we're focused in the branded
Speaker 1: content space and working with platforms UM. But what we
Speaker 1: are always making sure is that we call us you know,
Speaker 1: the Ellen Digital Studio piece of that, which is we're
Speaker 1: very much about making sure that as we move forward
Speaker 1: that R I P can take different forms. So let's
Speaker 1: get into gaming. Why. I mean, it's not the most
Speaker 1: intuitive move, So what are you doing in more? Why
Speaker 1: are you doing? Sure? Actually, it's as sort of as
Speaker 1: you look at the sixteen years of l in throughout
Speaker 1: the seasons in her DNA, it fundamentally is gaming. So
Speaker 1: there's always, um these amazing games that are played, and
Speaker 1: it's much more of a casual gaming style. UM. So
Speaker 1: five or six years ago, UM, we were in a
Speaker 1: fortunate situation where we developed the mobile app called heads Up,
Speaker 1: which is now has forty six million downloads later or
Speaker 1: just over forty million downloads later, has been hugely successful.
Speaker 1: It's a game that lots of people globally absolutely love playing.
Speaker 1: And we've followed that up by looking at games basically
Speaker 1: that we play in the show that we want to
Speaker 1: make sure, uh that we can move into that digital space.
Speaker 1: And the whole idea is about how are we taking
Speaker 1: casual game. How are we using the Ellen brand, which
Speaker 1: is steeped in casual gaming, and how do we introduce
Speaker 1: that in a world that clearly is emerging, whether it's
Speaker 1: mobile games, whether it's licensed games that we work with ailans.
Speaker 1: We just launched a game called Ellen's Road to Riches,
Speaker 1: which is basically a slots game that has been hugely successful,
Speaker 1: and we're on the verge of launching a new app.
Speaker 1: Actually uh in uh partnership or excuse me, So we're
Speaker 1: launching a new app in coordination with her primetime show
Speaker 1: Game of Games. So the clue is in the title
Speaker 1: where Ellen loves playing games and we're thrilled to be
Speaker 1: launching a companion app where that will be a standalone
Speaker 1: app that will have a collection of mini games and
Speaker 1: that that feels and looks both like the show as
Speaker 1: well as what we do on the Ellen Degenera show.
Speaker 1: You know, feeding all this, It must be Ellen herself
Speaker 1: as a social media presence. It's obviously, you know, a
Speaker 1: very big one. How key is it to sort of
Speaker 1: supporting all the different pieces of the Ellen puzzle it,
Speaker 1: I would say it's critical, um and I think that
Speaker 1: part of the success of not only Ellen Digital network,
Speaker 1: but all of the cross platforms, followers and subscribers, at
Speaker 1: its core is about Ellen being authentic to to her audience.
Speaker 1: And I think one of the things that this two
Speaker 1: way communication delivers is an ability to bring that authenticity
Speaker 1: much closer to the consumer. And clearly social media has
Speaker 1: been a very very successful tool in order to do that.
Speaker 1: And I think one of the things people and newer,
Speaker 1: newer generations as well as older generations, all of them
Speaker 1: in the social media space can sense in authenticity. And
Speaker 1: I think at its core what has made Ellen you know,
Speaker 1: successful in that space is her authentic voice in that world. Hm.
Speaker 1: Is she the kind of person who is able to
Speaker 1: really absorb all the kinds of things we're talking about
Speaker 1: her business today? She hands on has vision or is
Speaker 1: it like, hey, I'm the talent. Absolutely not thing happens
Speaker 1: that she's not aware of, and that she she is
Speaker 1: the core. She's the core of everything that we do.
Speaker 1: And one of the things that you see every day
Speaker 1: coming into work is the passion, the enthusiasm, the authenticity
Speaker 1: not only about her, but the team around her delivers
Speaker 1: every single day. And I think that's part of the
Speaker 1: success of the brand is that sixteen years later. It's
Speaker 1: an operation that really is I think UM looking to
Speaker 1: be innovative, looking to really drive new business models and
Speaker 1: to really you know, take what has been developed over
Speaker 1: sixteen years into these new spaces. I mean, from a
Speaker 1: pure revenue perspective, is the state of this digital business
Speaker 1: anywhere near as lucrative as the TV property. It's what
Speaker 1: we're thrilled about is we see deeper engage more and
Speaker 1: more people with deeper engagement, with revenue on the rise.
Speaker 1: And I think for us that's the exciting part is
Speaker 1: can tinuing to invest in this world. Clearly the future
Speaker 1: is in these spaces. We don't know. It goes back
Speaker 1: to one of your original questions. We don't know what
Speaker 1: the future looks like. What we know is we want
Speaker 1: to take this innovative brand into these new spaces and
Speaker 1: we want to lean into what's being successful. We want
Speaker 1: to figure out, you know, how to make sure that
Speaker 1: we are residing at at Any brand's core is about
Speaker 1: how are you telling stories that engage the audience UM,
Speaker 1: and whether that's through technology today or whether that's daytime
Speaker 1: fifteen years ago. All of it is about understanding who
Speaker 1: you are and how you want to communicate and really,
Speaker 1: you know, you know, bringing a little kindness to every day.
Speaker 1: You know, you say kindness and you say authenticity and
Speaker 1: comedy those are it sounds like the three stool, the
Speaker 1: three legs of the ellen Brand stool. I hear that.
Speaker 1: It says to me wholesome pg um. Is that really
Speaker 1: the essence of Ellen's success, in the sense that she
Speaker 1: represents a certain very brand safe kind of comedy. I
Speaker 1: don't think p G is the right word because I
Speaker 1: think actually one of the great things through her authenticity
Speaker 1: is that she gets permission for her to be who
Speaker 1: she is. And I think that's one of the things
Speaker 1: and I don't think PG we don't ever really use
Speaker 1: the term PG because I think part of her is
Speaker 1: the realness that comes through. Obviously she's had an amazing career,
Speaker 1: but it's the real illness that the you know, and
Speaker 1: there's no other word than authentic. She is who she is,
Speaker 1: and I think that has allowed her voice to shine through.
Speaker 1: So as you go forward into anything that we should
Speaker 1: keep an eye out for from the ellen Brand that
Speaker 1: will sort of represent an interesting shift and interesting expansion. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think it's really it's we're leaning into the successes
Speaker 1: we've had in and before that. So, as I just mentioned,
Speaker 1: we're on the cusp of launching a new mobile gaming
Speaker 1: app that has an augmented reality feature attached to it,
Speaker 1: and we're excited to see how that works and how
Speaker 1: we'll work with the Game of Games primetime show. So well,
Speaker 1: that means like I can have Ellen look like she's
Speaker 1: standing in fact, no, not quite. So it's about how
Speaker 1: can you use the content that you see on the
Speaker 1: initially in the television space, but how are we actually
Speaker 1: developing content and games that use augmented reality to move
Speaker 1: the gaming business forward? Um So hopefully in the future,
Speaker 1: but not right now. Um. And then it's really about
Speaker 1: how are we leaning into our content studio and our
Speaker 1: branded content bringing telling stories, telling bigger stories, not only
Speaker 1: relaunching season three of Mom's Planning with Kristin Bell or
Speaker 1: a second season with Ashley Graham, but continuing to mind
Speaker 1: the digital space to find new storytellers that would not
Speaker 1: get a voice. And I think that's one of the
Speaker 1: things that's really exciting about that digital space and Ellen
Speaker 1: at her core is really about using the show as
Speaker 1: a platform to bring new talent to new audiences. You
Speaker 1: define the brand, you define the business. I'm curious, are
Speaker 1: there things where, let's say, virtual reality that's not Ellen.
Speaker 1: This is what you know, whether it's a technology or
Speaker 1: a content format or something that represents something that Ellen
Speaker 1: is just not her thing. There's so much I would say,
Speaker 1: there's never really a moment of no, or since I've
Speaker 1: been there and it's only been a year, I've never
Speaker 1: really seen a moment of no. What it's really about
Speaker 1: is how would we translate our brand into these new
Speaker 1: worlds or how is it that we're using this new
Speaker 1: technology or any new opportunities. How do we translate that
Speaker 1: into you know, an Ellen world? And I think it
Speaker 1: has to be organic, it has to be authentic, and
Speaker 1: at our core, we were always looking to be innovative,
Speaker 1: to be cutting edge um and we're always open to everything.
Speaker 1: We actually just launched a podcast in September, and we
Speaker 1: did it in a slightly different way. We actually have
Speaker 1: the executive producers of the show as the hosts of it,
Speaker 1: giving a much more behind the scenes opportunity for to
Speaker 1: get a deeper engagement into the show that people have
Speaker 1: known for sixteen years. And it's been a really fun
Speaker 1: combination of not only Ellen experiences, but now the people
Speaker 1: around that as well, and it allows real Ellen fans
Speaker 1: and actually broad fans of just you know, what we're
Speaker 1: doing to get a much better understanding. And that's just
Speaker 1: a different spin on something. You know. Obviously, podcasts are
Speaker 1: an important medium as it continues to grow. I think,
Speaker 1: you know, we're excited to be in that space and
Speaker 1: tested out and lean into you know, these new opportunities. Well,
Speaker 1: it sounds like you've got a lot of irons in
Speaker 1: the fire. Appreciate you walking me through every piece of
Speaker 1: the Ellen Empire. It's a really exciting for us to
Speaker 1: be here. It's exciting for me to tell the story
Speaker 1: because I really do. I love this idea of limitless opportunity.
Speaker 1: Having been in cable for fifteen years, this is something
Speaker 1: that's exceptionally new and I think that if we can
Speaker 1: be a part of this growth, we're going to take
Speaker 1: this brand into you know, uncharted territory and I think
Speaker 1: I'm pretty excited. Terrific, Thanks again for your time. Great,
Speaker 1: Thank you, Andrew. Thanks for tuning into another episode of
Speaker 1: Strictly Business. Come back next week for another podcast and
Speaker 1: Trees sit down with some of the brightest minds and
Speaker 1: entertainment