WEBVTT - Josh Sapan: Small is Beautiful for AMC Networks 0:00:06.280 --> 0:00:10.639 Welcome to Strictly Business Varieties podcasts featuring conversations with industry 0:00:10.720 --> 0:00:15.000 leaders about the business of entertainment. I'm Cynthia Littleton, Managing 0:00:15.160 --> 0:00:18.279 editor of Television for Variety, and today my guest in 0:00:18.280 --> 0:00:22.520 New York is AMC Network CEO Josh say Pen. Josh 0:00:22.640 --> 0:00:25.040 is a cable industry veteran and one of its most 0:00:25.079 --> 0:00:29.160 respected thinkers. He has headed AMC Network since the company 0:00:29.320 --> 0:00:32.120 was spun off from Cable Vision in two thousand eleven. 0:00:32.720 --> 0:00:37.040 In our conversation, Josh details AMC's efforts to diversify during 0:00:37.080 --> 0:00:41.440 the past few years, with investments in international channels, in 0:00:41.440 --> 0:00:45.080 independent streaming platforms, and the build out of the AMC 0:00:45.240 --> 0:00:49.880 Studios ARM. He offers his thoughts on why AMC doesn't 0:00:49.920 --> 0:00:53.360 need to quote dominate the planet, as he puts it, 0:00:53.600 --> 0:00:59.560 to be successful. Jan CEO of AMC Networks, thank you 0:00:59.640 --> 0:01:02.760 so much for stopping by. Great thanks, wonderful to be here. 0:01:02.960 --> 0:01:07.880 We're at a moment when people are re examining, rethinking, reevaluating. 0:01:08.520 --> 0:01:11.720 The headlines have been full of media m and A. 0:01:11.840 --> 0:01:14.679 You run the one of the you know, one of 0:01:14.680 --> 0:01:21.280 the really prestigious collections of great cable channels. AMC, Sundance, TV, WE, 0:01:21.520 --> 0:01:26.000 t v I, f C, BBC America, a really nice 0:01:26.040 --> 0:01:31.000 collection of channels small in the scheme of media that 0:01:31.000 --> 0:01:34.040 that has been making headlines for seventy billion dollar deals 0:01:34.080 --> 0:01:37.520 to bring companies together. How As you look ahead for 0:01:37.600 --> 0:01:40.000 the next three to five years, where do you see 0:01:40.040 --> 0:01:45.440 AMC networks competitive position? Where's your best shot to remain 0:01:45.680 --> 0:01:50.000 a vital and competitive brand. Sure, so I think you've 0:01:50.240 --> 0:01:55.520 actually described, uh, what could either be described as up 0:01:55.560 --> 0:02:02.280 people or a frenzy in the media landscape, UH, perhaps 0:02:02.400 --> 0:02:11.560 being the perception of it being made to seem somewhat 0:02:11.600 --> 0:02:16.320 brighter because of M and A. UH And although fundamentals 0:02:16.320 --> 0:02:21.680 are shifting, the M and A captures everyone's attention and 0:02:20.919 --> 0:02:26.480 UH and lends a level of drama to the actual 0:02:26.600 --> 0:02:33.080 patterns of consumption and economic vitality related to those patterns 0:02:33.080 --> 0:02:35.800 of consumption. So I think it can make the circumstance 0:02:35.840 --> 0:02:40.520 seem slightly exaggerated. So not to say that there aren't 0:02:40.520 --> 0:02:43.760 fundamentals and that M and A isn't undergone transition and 0:02:43.800 --> 0:02:49.600 therefore changing who's on first, so to speak. But so 0:02:49.639 --> 0:02:54.120 the way I would respond to that is that, um, 0:02:54.280 --> 0:02:58.960 we think that people like very good content, and that 0:02:59.040 --> 0:03:03.120 they follow very good content, and they follow it in 0:03:03.280 --> 0:03:07.760 changing patterns of consumption on different interfaces. But it is 0:03:08.560 --> 0:03:13.920 fairly constant. Uh, It's fairly constant that people like what 0:03:13.960 --> 0:03:16.440 they like. If you ask anyone rhetorically, what are your 0:03:16.440 --> 0:03:19.320 favorite things, they could often answer it, it's a limited number, 0:03:19.680 --> 0:03:22.600 and they'll find their way to those favorite things. So 0:03:22.639 --> 0:03:25.560 our point of view and how we've been operating now 0:03:25.720 --> 0:03:28.360 since we separated from Cable Vision spun off, which is 0:03:28.400 --> 0:03:32.160 now about eight years, has been to as a core 0:03:32.960 --> 0:03:38.440 principle focus on excellent content, and I'd like to think 0:03:38.480 --> 0:03:42.920 that we haven't been distracted by some of the very 0:03:43.000 --> 0:03:47.880 very near term rewards that are inherent in the media 0:03:48.000 --> 0:03:52.040 or television business that defy or contradict very very very 0:03:52.040 --> 0:03:54.920 good content. And it's put us in fairly stable instead, 0:03:54.960 --> 0:03:57.840 which I can describe in more pragmatic circumstances relating to 0:03:57.840 --> 0:04:01.440 our manner of distribution and our success and distribution and 0:04:01.480 --> 0:04:05.080 our consumer appeal. While we've been doing that, we have been, however, 0:04:05.160 --> 0:04:08.840 diversifying in a way that we think is meaningful in 0:04:08.920 --> 0:04:12.280 response to the fundamental changes. And I'll be specific. So 0:04:12.920 --> 0:04:15.880 your app description was we're a series of cable channels. 0:04:15.920 --> 0:04:20.080 But today we are also an international company and we 0:04:20.200 --> 0:04:23.360 use investing. Yeah, we spent a billion dollars to buy 0:04:23.600 --> 0:04:27.800 channels overseas, and that is connected to the fact that 0:04:27.839 --> 0:04:31.679 we're also a studio. And so we now have getting 0:04:31.680 --> 0:04:33.880 close to half a billion dollars in revenue or a 0:04:33.920 --> 0:04:37.640 big chunk of our economics coming from the shows that 0:04:37.720 --> 0:04:41.680 we own the underlying rights too, and can place on 0:04:41.680 --> 0:04:46.200 our own channels and ourselves others. So I'd like to 0:04:46.240 --> 0:04:48.080 say that we were a cable we were a cable 0:04:48.160 --> 0:04:51.560 channel company, and today we are a content company that 0:04:51.720 --> 0:04:55.680 is that is relatively smaller and more boutique. I would 0:04:55.680 --> 0:04:59.200 say that with as a strength, with more agility and 0:04:59.240 --> 0:05:05.359 flexibility that has diversified its manner of economic exploitation to 0:05:05.480 --> 0:05:08.719 include what was the United States and is the globe, 0:05:09.400 --> 0:05:15.080 What was cable systems and is now in including the Internet, 0:05:15.720 --> 0:05:20.240 and what was uh an interface that had a channel 0:05:20.240 --> 0:05:23.960 lineup and now is an interface that is as frequently 0:05:24.080 --> 0:05:28.960 an app right and in that world, the focus of 0:05:29.000 --> 0:05:33.000 somebody finding their favorite show or that hot new property 0:05:33.120 --> 0:05:35.720 that they that they've heard about through word of mouth, 0:05:35.839 --> 0:05:41.679 through recommendations through their friends, UM in that in that world, 0:05:43.080 --> 0:05:47.240 that focus on excellence becomes that much more important because 0:05:47.560 --> 0:05:50.360 presumably people are going to run, people are going to 0:05:50.480 --> 0:05:55.760 rise and seek out the premium, the exclusive, the distinctive. 0:05:56.080 --> 0:05:59.040 That's kind of been your your mantra. It has been 0:05:59.040 --> 0:06:01.520 our moentre. Who's an anecdote, and I hope it's not. 0:06:01.680 --> 0:06:04.720 It's not meant to be self serving, but are not 0:06:04.880 --> 0:06:09.920 biggest channel called DBC America UM, which is at Comic 0:06:09.960 --> 0:06:14.560 Con today, parenthetically with Jody Whittaker being the first female doctor, 0:06:14.839 --> 0:06:18.720 which is fun uh and is also today at Comic 0:06:18.760 --> 0:06:23.320 Con talking about Killing Eve a little bit, which is 0:06:23.560 --> 0:06:28.160 a show with Sandra Oh and Jody Comber written by 0:06:28.400 --> 0:06:32.600 Phoebe waller Bridge. But that show premiered on what we 0:06:32.600 --> 0:06:35.440 would call today on a relative basis, a smaller platform, 0:06:35.440 --> 0:06:41.280 BBC America, and it actually either defied odds or even 0:06:41.279 --> 0:06:46.400 defied gravity in terms of attention. Now limited number of episodes, 0:06:46.440 --> 0:06:49.440 but it was excellent television. And so I think it's 0:06:49.480 --> 0:06:55.440 the status that it has been roughly a decade or 0:06:55.520 --> 0:07:00.800 so since one TV show grew its linear ratings in 0:07:00.880 --> 0:07:04.320 every episode of its exhibition, which Killing Eve did. Now, 0:07:04.360 --> 0:07:07.560 admittedly they're relatively small numbers compared to The Walking Dead, 0:07:08.400 --> 0:07:12.280 but that was the trend, and you're in the television 0:07:13.000 --> 0:07:17.640 writing business. Uh. Television critics gave it more recognition than 0:07:17.680 --> 0:07:21.200 they did any other TV show this year. So it's 0:07:21.240 --> 0:07:25.880 just an example of good or excellent finding its way 0:07:25.960 --> 0:07:29.800 because people are paying a lot of attention and actually 0:07:29.840 --> 0:07:33.280 the barriers that used to cause them to only go 0:07:33.520 --> 0:07:36.280 one way, for instance, the channel that they were on 0:07:36.600 --> 0:07:38.320 and the night and the time and the night on 0:07:38.360 --> 0:07:42.200 the time or gone. And And I also think that 0:07:43.240 --> 0:07:49.520 what replaced that paradigm, which is became the almighty algorithm, 0:07:50.040 --> 0:07:53.560 is actually showing signs of somewhere in fact. And I 0:07:53.600 --> 0:07:58.840 think that personal recommendation and curation as it relates to 0:07:58.840 --> 0:08:04.120 Berthal recommendation is becoming more important in the face of 0:08:04.200 --> 0:08:09.000 machines indicating what you might like. That sounds labor intensive. 0:08:11.600 --> 0:08:19.480 I would beg to differ. I actually think that um that. Uh. 0:08:20.520 --> 0:08:24.760 I'll say it rhetorically. I wouldn't tell my friends to 0:08:24.840 --> 0:08:31.040 go watch something unless I really thought they would like it. Uh, 0:08:31.160 --> 0:08:34.600 I wouldn't. But a machine might tell you to watch 0:08:34.640 --> 0:08:38.679 something if it's indications are that you might like it. 0:08:39.160 --> 0:08:45.800 So I think that real people, real humans us are 0:08:46.000 --> 0:08:56.160 relying increasingly more on personal reference and recommendations, and frankly 0:08:56.200 --> 0:09:00.959 to a degree a of course less than watching what's 0:09:00.960 --> 0:09:02.720 on at nine, because you were watching what was on 0:09:02.760 --> 0:09:10.160 at eight, but also a little less uh by watching 0:09:10.200 --> 0:09:13.680 what an algorithms suggests you should watch. And let me 0:09:13.679 --> 0:09:15.160 ask you the question. I don't mean to put you 0:09:15.200 --> 0:09:17.560 on the spot, and I'm supposed to being interviewed, but 0:09:17.720 --> 0:09:20.080 I think you might answer that you pay a little 0:09:20.080 --> 0:09:24.040 bit more attention to what people who you respect and 0:09:24.760 --> 0:09:30.040 like and think have good screen criteria are more than 0:09:30.120 --> 0:09:34.120 what pops up through some and I don't mean to 0:09:35.840 --> 0:09:40.200 make it sound poor, but through essentially a formula. It's 0:09:40.200 --> 0:09:42.120 absolutely true. And I would just like to say that 0:09:42.160 --> 0:09:45.200 I distinctly remember speaking to you a couple of years 0:09:45.240 --> 0:09:47.280 ago and you said, I've just seen this great play 0:09:47.320 --> 0:09:50.640 at the public It's called Hamilton's It's crazy. It's so good. 0:09:50.760 --> 0:09:54.760 So so you're your your recommendations right higher. But to 0:09:54.840 --> 0:09:57.520 your point, yeah, it's so that's you know, it's it's 0:09:57.600 --> 0:10:01.960 it's interesting because uh, you know, just when you thought 0:10:01.960 --> 0:10:04.280 it was safe to go back in the water, Uh, 0:10:04.440 --> 0:10:06.680 just when you thought it was safe to premier a 0:10:06.720 --> 0:10:09.880 show and deliver an audience because it was preceded by 0:10:09.880 --> 0:10:14.360 a big show. Came the emergence of something that made 0:10:15.120 --> 0:10:19.240 everything on demand easily accessible, which put pressure on that 0:10:19.320 --> 0:10:22.560 old system. Didn't go away. And now just when you 0:10:22.640 --> 0:10:28.560 thought you could safely rely onto ubiquitous recommendation algorithm, through 0:10:28.760 --> 0:10:34.640 a good uh development of that sort of machinery, I 0:10:34.679 --> 0:10:37.840 think comes the beginning, I would say, of what might 0:10:37.840 --> 0:10:43.559 be exhaustion with it, and it's enhanced that exhaustion by degrees, 0:10:43.720 --> 0:10:46.320 if you will. I wouldn't call it a suspicion, but 0:10:47.280 --> 0:10:54.080 by degrees of evidence in social media that what you're 0:10:54.160 --> 0:10:58.080 getting is not what you should be getting. And you 0:10:58.200 --> 0:11:03.200 see that. Obviously book Head labored and continues to labor 0:11:03.280 --> 0:11:04.960 under some of the issues related to that, and you 0:11:05.000 --> 0:11:08.800 see in other platforms then beginning to try to adjudicate 0:11:09.559 --> 0:11:14.200 what pleasing they need to do. And I actually just 0:11:14.280 --> 0:11:20.559 think it's the not maybe the beginning of some questioning 0:11:20.679 --> 0:11:24.000 and greater personal authority in the manner in which you 0:11:24.080 --> 0:11:29.000 make your choices and curation. Right now in this world 0:11:29.200 --> 0:11:34.120 a wash in content curation. Good curation is more valuable 0:11:34.120 --> 0:11:36.960 than ever, and that's kind of what you offer people 0:11:37.000 --> 0:11:40.240 through through am C, through Sundance as a brand, I 0:11:40.280 --> 0:11:42.320 think I think the answer is yes, and I wouldn't 0:11:42.360 --> 0:11:44.240 limit it to us. I mean, there are other brands 0:11:44.280 --> 0:11:48.640 that are very trusted for what they do. And you know, 0:11:48.720 --> 0:11:52.319 everyone has their favorites. I won't name mine, but everyone. 0:11:52.440 --> 0:11:58.080 If you said what channel or what frankly magazine, UH 0:11:58.240 --> 0:12:01.200 would you go to just because it's there, everyone would 0:12:01.240 --> 0:12:04.000 come up with their answer. And I do think that 0:12:04.040 --> 0:12:08.120 we've taken pains to establish that if you see something 0:12:08.120 --> 0:12:12.040 on a MC, it's going to be like this. And 0:12:12.120 --> 0:12:16.880 it may be as different from Madmen, Breaking Bed, Walking 0:12:16.920 --> 0:12:21.079 Dead and currently Lodge for You Nine with Wyatt Russell, 0:12:21.240 --> 0:12:25.959 or diet Land with Julianna Margalie's or The Terror with 0:12:26.080 --> 0:12:29.480 Jared Harris, but I think you're gonna see a very 0:12:29.480 --> 0:12:32.600 well constructed drama no much, no matter what the circumstances. 0:12:32.600 --> 0:12:37.000 And I think on BBC America, whether you're seeing Blue 0:12:37.040 --> 0:12:42.240 Planet two or Planet Earth, which you're obviously nonfiction, or 0:12:42.280 --> 0:12:45.680 you're seeing Killing Eve, you're seeing something that stands up. 0:12:45.720 --> 0:12:47.559 And I think on i f C, if you're seeing 0:12:47.800 --> 0:12:53.240 Portlandia or Documentary Now, you're seeing something that is idiosyncratic, 0:12:53.800 --> 0:12:57.560 comedic and reliable in what it delivers you. And there's 0:12:57.840 --> 0:13:03.680 extraordinary benefit a of course in the content standing for itself, 0:13:03.840 --> 0:13:09.120 but also in the frame of reference meeting expectations right, 0:13:09.240 --> 0:13:11.319 and and that I'm sure that puts a that puts 0:13:11.320 --> 0:13:14.040 a bar on your programmers, because that puts a high 0:13:14.040 --> 0:13:18.199 bar for your programmers in terms of meeting those expectations 0:13:18.240 --> 0:13:21.320 set very high by you know, little shows like mad 0:13:21.400 --> 0:13:25.200 Men and Breaking Bad and Rectify on Sunday's TV. Do 0:13:25.320 --> 0:13:29.319 you worry about the future of the linear TV business, 0:13:29.520 --> 0:13:32.240 the future of the you know, getting people to the 0:13:32.400 --> 0:13:36.240 set at Thursday at nine or Sunday at eight. Uh? Yeah, 0:13:36.320 --> 0:13:39.160 I think the answers yes. I wouldn't say worried about 0:13:39.160 --> 0:13:41.680 the future of it. I say that it's undergoing transition. 0:13:42.240 --> 0:13:51.000 And um I think that. Um it's a curious question 0:13:51.559 --> 0:13:54.320 and a rich question and to be a fascinating question 0:13:54.400 --> 0:14:00.800 and an imperfect analog. UM is terrestrial radio, which competed, 0:14:00.800 --> 0:14:05.360 of course with satellite radio, which offered diversity and essentially 0:14:05.400 --> 0:14:09.840 a cable paradigm like alternative first in the automobile, UM, 0:14:09.840 --> 0:14:12.720 where you could have incredible diversity on a vertical basis. 0:14:12.760 --> 0:14:15.960 So you could listen to a political channel and that 0:14:16.200 --> 0:14:20.680 was I would say it wasn't supplanted, but it was 0:14:20.760 --> 0:14:27.280 hugely influenced by um streaming services. Uh so take Pandora 0:14:27.360 --> 0:14:31.640 bad analogy, but Pandora offered you something that was customized 0:14:31.680 --> 0:14:35.320 for you, and then Spotify offered something different, and Apple 0:14:35.560 --> 0:14:39.480 Music offered something different than Amazon offered something different related 0:14:39.520 --> 0:14:44.160 to price and creation. To rest you, radio is hardly dead. 0:14:44.600 --> 0:14:46.360 To rest you, radio is a different animal. And by 0:14:46.400 --> 0:14:51.160 the way, podcasts of course offered talk radio, if you 0:14:51.200 --> 0:14:53.640 want to call it that, in a completely different incarnation. 0:14:53.760 --> 0:14:57.080 So so I hope I'm not going on too much 0:14:57.160 --> 0:14:59.760 length about it, but it's a fascinating subject. So our 0:15:00.000 --> 0:15:04.680 engagement with linear television in the US is mindful of 0:15:04.720 --> 0:15:08.600 the fact that it's taking on different proportion and a 0:15:08.680 --> 0:15:13.200 different nature. But we do think that it has important 0:15:13.240 --> 0:15:16.920 and important place in the world, just a very different 0:15:16.920 --> 0:15:19.040 place in the world, and it will have different characteristics. 0:15:19.560 --> 0:15:22.320 And you really prospered, you know, I know from covering 0:15:22.320 --> 0:15:26.440 your earnings. I mean you've really prospered, prospered through content licensing. 0:15:26.760 --> 0:15:29.400 In the last couple of years, You've seen really meaningful 0:15:29.760 --> 0:15:33.400 revenue coming through Obviously, that's a that's a calculation as 0:15:33.440 --> 0:15:36.440 to how much of your content that you exhibit first 0:15:36.480 --> 0:15:40.960 on linear platforms, how much do you how much do 0:15:41.000 --> 0:15:44.600 you license out into other buyers that want your high 0:15:44.680 --> 0:15:48.920 quality content to bring subscribers and eyeballs to their platforms. 0:15:48.920 --> 0:15:51.400 How do I know? Over the years you've had you've 0:15:51.440 --> 0:15:53.680 gone back and forth a little bit, but in general 0:15:53.840 --> 0:15:57.120 you have made you have embraced the s P o 0:15:57.240 --> 0:16:01.600 D world and made shows available on a season delay basis. 0:16:02.240 --> 0:16:06.040 Is that are those calculations becoming more tricky now that 0:16:06.080 --> 0:16:09.600 you are sort of seemingly kind of tiptoeing into your 0:16:09.640 --> 0:16:12.520 own streaming platforms. So you know, I think you you 0:16:13.160 --> 0:16:16.720 characterized it rather perfectly. I think that, um, we set 0:16:16.720 --> 0:16:19.960 ourselves up to evaluate it on an ongoing basis. Not surprisingly, 0:16:20.320 --> 0:16:24.240 we made a calculation and arrived at sort of a 0:16:24.280 --> 0:16:26.200 protocol if you want to call it that, for how 0:16:26.280 --> 0:16:28.680 to approach that which was just what you said, which 0:16:28.760 --> 0:16:32.920 is to take advantage of the economic reward that allowed 0:16:33.000 --> 0:16:36.680 us to pour more money into production by doing licensing 0:16:36.760 --> 0:16:41.080 to third parties, which continues. We now have a few 0:16:41.240 --> 0:16:45.040 several streaming services which have grown in terms of our 0:16:45.760 --> 0:16:47.680 own the ones that we do at our own hand 0:16:47.720 --> 0:16:51.400 and ones we've invested in external to those, and so 0:16:51.440 --> 0:16:55.680 we now have scale enough for the economic consideration of 0:16:55.720 --> 0:16:58.280 whether the show as we make should go to those 0:16:58.280 --> 0:17:02.160 streaming services. And so it's become a more practical consideration 0:17:02.240 --> 0:17:06.480 economically and so called strategically to place some of that 0:17:06.880 --> 0:17:12.480 content perhaps on those streaming services. So I would call 0:17:12.520 --> 0:17:17.960 it a work in progress. Um I think others who 0:17:18.080 --> 0:17:22.359 have a different media mix and different proportion and perhaps 0:17:22.400 --> 0:17:25.600 different ambitions in terms of size are reacting to it 0:17:25.680 --> 0:17:29.680 somewhere differently. We were earlier to the activity. It's been 0:17:29.720 --> 0:17:35.120 now five years of subscription video on demand services with 0:17:35.520 --> 0:17:39.800 owned contents that we were there before some others were, 0:17:40.480 --> 0:17:43.359 and but that's appropriate for the scale of our business, 0:17:43.400 --> 0:17:47.119 for our size. We actually don't need to dominate the 0:17:47.200 --> 0:17:52.880 planet in order to be extraordinarily successful, and so we've 0:17:52.920 --> 0:17:56.840 also put that into our calculus. But the answer is yes, 0:17:56.880 --> 0:18:01.840 we actually give different consideration to where material that we 0:18:01.920 --> 0:18:05.359 make may go in the future. And you reference your 0:18:05.400 --> 0:18:08.560 investment you've been you bought, you bought a big chunk 0:18:08.600 --> 0:18:13.000 of Robert Johnson's company that has the Acorn streaming platform 0:18:13.280 --> 0:18:16.280 is known as a home for British drama. You own 0:18:16.359 --> 0:18:19.240 BBC America. The map there seems to make a lot 0:18:19.240 --> 0:18:22.240 of sense. Can you talk about what motivated your investment 0:18:22.320 --> 0:18:25.320 in Robert Johnson's company? Sure, so, so yeah. We we 0:18:25.400 --> 0:18:31.080 operate a tow services ourselves that are of one could 0:18:31.160 --> 0:18:35.399 call them niche or decidedly focused editorial area. One is 0:18:35.440 --> 0:18:39.119 Sundance now, which focuses on sundance like material it barely 0:18:39.160 --> 0:18:42.160 needs more explanation to this called Shutter, which focuses on 0:18:42.200 --> 0:18:45.160 what's broadly called genre material, and both have been growing 0:18:45.240 --> 0:18:49.840 very well. We then made an investment in the company's 0:18:50.000 --> 0:18:52.480 Bob Johnson's company. It bears the name r l j E. 0:18:52.600 --> 0:18:56.080 It's publicly traded. It has two streaming services. One is 0:18:56.119 --> 0:18:59.480 called Acorn, focused on British mysteries, and it also owns 0:18:59.520 --> 0:19:04.280 the underlawe assets of Agatha Christie and something called UMC 0:19:04.560 --> 0:19:08.240 or Urban Movie Channel targeted for urban audiences. And they 0:19:08.240 --> 0:19:13.280 have been growing extremely handsomely, and so we had the 0:19:13.320 --> 0:19:18.120 deal was warrants initially, it's all public and we've purchased 0:19:18.119 --> 0:19:20.280 more of the company and we now have a offer 0:19:20.320 --> 0:19:24.240 to to take the company private. So that's actively being 0:19:24.280 --> 0:19:26.480 considered because we'd like being in the streaming business. And 0:19:26.480 --> 0:19:29.640 then we set up AMC Premier, which was the first 0:19:29.800 --> 0:19:35.199 of its kind, uh so called Inside Baseball World in 0:19:35.359 --> 0:19:40.520 ecosystem with Comcast Acfinity subscription video on demand service that 0:19:40.640 --> 0:19:43.480 just launched on YouTube tv last week. So when all 0:19:43.600 --> 0:19:47.000 we have six and that service, just to clarify, offers 0:19:47.720 --> 0:19:52.040 viewers the linear basically the linear streams and on demand 0:19:52.080 --> 0:19:55.679 streams of your five channels, but without commercials. It's actually 0:19:55.680 --> 0:19:58.760 of a MC and then and uh so it's a 0:19:58.880 --> 0:20:03.680 MC and then selectively we have offered because it's sympathetic 0:20:03.760 --> 0:20:08.680 with our m v PD partners, we have ah put 0:20:08.840 --> 0:20:13.200 some series on that are binge able at time of premiere. 0:20:13.760 --> 0:20:17.320 So and that's the calculation that we're making about where 0:20:17.359 --> 0:20:21.600 we and our MVPT partners can experience experience the greatest 0:20:21.680 --> 0:20:25.600 value development. So and we'll do things differently as we 0:20:25.640 --> 0:20:29.360 go forward. Uh and I think we'll see wider distribution 0:20:29.640 --> 0:20:33.240 for that service. But it's nice to say that, and 0:20:33.280 --> 0:20:35.640 I should have perhaps mentioned it earlier. All of those 0:20:35.680 --> 0:20:39.240 subscription video on demand services are experiencing a good pace 0:20:39.240 --> 0:20:44.639 of growth, and we're pretty economically minded about the manner 0:20:44.640 --> 0:20:47.480 in which we invest in them. So it's not only 0:20:48.760 --> 0:20:53.439 linear channels that were are beginning and international exposure and 0:20:53.560 --> 0:20:56.359 studio and owned. It's now subscription video on demand that 0:20:56.400 --> 0:20:59.480 we have equity in. So we like the composition of 0:20:59.480 --> 0:21:03.960 our company. Is the plan with the Robert Johnson Company, 0:21:04.320 --> 0:21:06.920 is the plan to keep Urban Movie Channel and Acorn, 0:21:07.000 --> 0:21:10.320 to keep those as those distinct brands, or might you 0:21:10.560 --> 0:21:13.920 might you rebrand them into a more sort of general 0:21:14.000 --> 0:21:16.400 entertainment service at some point. The plan is to keep 0:21:16.440 --> 0:21:19.600 them as distinct brands. We think that that company and 0:21:19.640 --> 0:21:23.680 the people who operated have done a magnificent job developing 0:21:23.880 --> 0:21:29.000 those as being a top choice of people who like 0:21:30.000 --> 0:21:33.359 that material, and it's evidenced in the numbers and in 0:21:33.359 --> 0:21:35.080 the pace of growth. By the way, I should mention 0:21:35.720 --> 0:21:40.719 not parenthetically, that we're also partners with our friends at 0:21:40.720 --> 0:21:43.679 the BBC in another streaming service called brit Box, if 0:21:43.720 --> 0:21:47.800 I didn't mention it, and so that's a separate flavor 0:21:48.119 --> 0:21:51.920 of British content now streaming commercial free on the internet 0:21:52.240 --> 0:21:54.800 and I t V as a partner in that. So 0:21:55.119 --> 0:21:59.040 when I mentioned six, I was probably didn't count the sixth, 0:21:59.119 --> 0:22:02.040 but that's what makes at six and so we like 0:22:02.160 --> 0:22:04.159 and enjoy the answers. Yes, we think they're doing a 0:22:04.160 --> 0:22:08.800 wonderful job. We think Acorn is perfectly articulated and very 0:22:08.800 --> 0:22:12.720 well developed. And we think Urban Movie Channel is in 0:22:12.760 --> 0:22:19.800 a wonderful position to be the authoritative brand both for 0:22:20.119 --> 0:22:24.880 creative people in that community and for consumers in that community. 0:22:25.000 --> 0:22:29.040 And there has yet to be a declaration and an 0:22:29.080 --> 0:22:35.240 implementation of real creative ambition by and for that community. 0:22:35.280 --> 0:22:38.280 So that's a wonderful ambition that we hold with our 0:22:38.640 --> 0:22:43.120 with Bob is um what what has the uptake been 0:22:43.400 --> 0:22:47.159 on the AMC Premier package? You know, it's still relatively 0:22:47.160 --> 0:22:50.959 early days, but we're very encouraged by what began just 0:22:51.040 --> 0:22:54.520 several months ago and is on the Comcast Exfinity platform 0:22:54.600 --> 0:22:58.600 alone and is experiencing a good number of subscribers. Um 0:22:58.640 --> 0:23:04.560 and was followed raple BYFX doing the same plot, if 0:23:04.600 --> 0:23:07.719 you will, on the Comcast Expenity platform. Has it mean 0:23:07.800 --> 0:23:11.119 Comcast has demonstrated its willingness to experiment? Has it been 0:23:11.119 --> 0:23:13.399 a tougher conversation with other m v p d s 0:23:13.480 --> 0:23:16.040 to get them to offer You know, we we actually 0:23:16.080 --> 0:23:21.320 have been focused fairly, uh somewhat singularly I will say 0:23:21.400 --> 0:23:25.120 with Comcast, because we've been building it with them, uh, 0:23:25.200 --> 0:23:27.560 if you will sort of there in our baby and 0:23:27.880 --> 0:23:31.760 UH and so we have focused our attention fairly specifically 0:23:32.320 --> 0:23:35.960 on and some of the nuances of where you come 0:23:36.000 --> 0:23:39.560 into the system, how you find it, how you connect, 0:23:39.920 --> 0:23:43.720 how you're identified, how you pay, have degrees of complexity. 0:23:43.800 --> 0:23:46.640 So we've been focused on making that a very good experience. 0:23:47.200 --> 0:23:52.720 So we've yet to really commence actively UH seeking wide 0:23:52.720 --> 0:23:57.640 wide distribution Florida. Is it um it costs about six 0:23:57.680 --> 0:24:02.280 bucks a month? And is the split that you do 0:24:02.320 --> 0:24:05.960 with Comcast with your distribution partner, is it commensurate to 0:24:06.080 --> 0:24:08.720 like a pay TV like with like an HBO or 0:24:08.760 --> 0:24:11.760 a showtime. You know, we have our own very happy 0:24:11.880 --> 0:24:17.000 arrangement with Comcast. As you might imagine. The sensitivities on splits, 0:24:17.400 --> 0:24:23.399 as with many things in commerce between business partners get UH, 0:24:23.680 --> 0:24:27.400 are subject to great care of expression. The content business 0:24:27.400 --> 0:24:32.240 and especially you know, the very distinctive and innovative fair 0:24:32.400 --> 0:24:35.600 that has made you know that put AMC on the map. Um, 0:24:35.680 --> 0:24:38.160 that stuff doesn't It never has come cheap. But boy, 0:24:38.359 --> 0:24:41.040 the arms race that people are talking about in content 0:24:41.200 --> 0:24:43.919 right now is so much is fueling a lot of 0:24:43.960 --> 0:24:46.159 the M and A people are trying to, you know, 0:24:46.440 --> 0:24:50.320 ensure that they have big, heavy pipelines of creative people 0:24:50.480 --> 0:24:54.439 writing nine figure checks to lock up to lock up producers. 0:24:54.760 --> 0:24:58.680 Can AMC play in those waters? Yeah? You know. Um, 0:24:58.840 --> 0:25:02.159 the answers are definiti I believe, yes, and if I may, 0:25:01.880 --> 0:25:08.320 I think that um it is it is true that 0:25:08.320 --> 0:25:10.960 that arms race so called that you mentioned is occurring, 0:25:11.680 --> 0:25:16.320 and I think that there's a sort of panic in 0:25:16.320 --> 0:25:22.080 the streets about that. Um. We have been running, I 0:25:22.119 --> 0:25:26.359 will say bluntly, a very different playbook, and so we 0:25:26.440 --> 0:25:31.280 are not seeking to produce a hundred and eighties series 0:25:31.920 --> 0:25:37.600 in a year, and we look carefully when we do. 0:25:37.680 --> 0:25:43.400 The Terror for example, So AMC was a limited series 0:25:43.400 --> 0:25:47.359 called The Terror. It's an anthology series and will reincarnate 0:25:47.400 --> 0:25:49.199 it this I don't know if you saw the last one. 0:25:49.240 --> 0:25:51.520 It was about a ship sailing through the Northwest Passage. 0:25:51.520 --> 0:25:53.119 It was pretty good at the Great ratings, it was 0:25:53.160 --> 0:25:56.520 well reviewed. Um, there'll be a terror too, if you will, 0:25:58.280 --> 0:26:01.080 thank you, thank you for that word. And so we 0:26:01.560 --> 0:26:05.840 so we didn't rush out and deliver a nine figure 0:26:05.920 --> 0:26:10.600 check to someone for that or for diet Land or 0:26:10.720 --> 0:26:14.280 for killing Eve, or for Lodge forty nine, who Paul 0:26:14.320 --> 0:26:18.560 Giamatti and Dan Carry did for us, or for Fear 0:26:18.600 --> 0:26:21.359 the Walking Dead, or for any show that we have 0:26:21.480 --> 0:26:26.880 on the air. We actually operated within I think, very 0:26:26.920 --> 0:26:32.720 reasonable and highly disciplined economic parameters. I'd like to think 0:26:32.800 --> 0:26:38.160 with true, true, true respect for the creative people involved 0:26:38.280 --> 0:26:42.359 and the desire for them to bring to life the 0:26:42.400 --> 0:26:46.719 stories they wanted to tell, uh as well as they 0:26:46.760 --> 0:26:49.679 possibly could. And I hope Marty Knoxon would say that 0:26:49.720 --> 0:26:53.879 we helped her realize diet Land, and I hope that 0:26:53.960 --> 0:26:59.560 Hankers Area would say that we brought rock Meyer to 0:26:59.600 --> 0:27:03.680 life if c a character he's been doing since he's fifteen, uh, 0:27:03.920 --> 0:27:07.879 to life when no one else would. And it's not because, uh, 0:27:07.920 --> 0:27:10.359 we we paid a big check to someone. It's because 0:27:10.440 --> 0:27:12.159 we believed in Funny or Diet, which we own a 0:27:12.160 --> 0:27:15.320 piece of, and we believed in the character, and we 0:27:15.400 --> 0:27:18.600 believed in Hank and we brought it to life. So 0:27:18.840 --> 0:27:24.280 we didn't buy our way into creative excellence. We actually 0:27:24.800 --> 0:27:27.919