WEBVTT - E!'s Adam Stotsky on Taking Over the People's Choice Awards 0:00:05.920 --> 0:00:09.719 Welcome to another episode of the Variety podcast Strictly Business, 0:00:09.800 --> 0:00:12.160 where we talk shop with some of the brightest minds 0:00:12.200 --> 0:00:15.560 working in media today. I'm Variety co editor in chief 0:00:15.600 --> 0:00:20.040 Andrew Wallenstate when The People's Choice Awards returns to TV 0:00:20.200 --> 0:00:23.919 on November eleven for its fourth year, we'll have a 0:00:23.960 --> 0:00:27.080 new home on the E Network. How this award show 0:00:27.160 --> 0:00:29.560 made the move after all those years is what we'll 0:00:29.600 --> 0:00:32.960 talk about with my next guest, E President Adam Stotsky. 0:00:33.280 --> 0:00:35.199 It's well as a number of the latest developments at 0:00:35.240 --> 0:00:41.120 the Comcast owned brand. Thanks for coming in out, Thanks 0:00:41.120 --> 0:00:44.040 for having me, brightest mind that is, that's a that's 0:00:44.120 --> 0:00:46.080 that's a stretch, but it's a lot to live up 0:00:46.120 --> 0:00:50.479 to it. You're gonna be just fine. Um. So, when 0:00:50.479 --> 0:00:53.600 I saw the headline about you getting People's Choice about 0:00:53.600 --> 0:00:58.480 a year ago, I understood it to some degree. It's entertainment, 0:00:58.560 --> 0:01:03.760 People's Choice E. On the other hand, awards shows. Live 0:01:03.960 --> 0:01:08.360 programming certainly has its value, but awards shows are tough, 0:01:08.440 --> 0:01:12.800 tough roads. Sometimes ratings could be tough, cluttered atmosphere. What 0:01:12.880 --> 0:01:17.480 did you see in this particular franchise? Sure, well, for us, 0:01:17.600 --> 0:01:19.520 it was a it was a bang on opportunity for 0:01:19.640 --> 0:01:23.320 us UM. I was sitting in my office about sixteen 0:01:23.400 --> 0:01:27.360 seventeen months ago, and I took a call from one 0:01:27.360 --> 0:01:29.839 of our AUNT sales colleagues in New York who said 0:01:29.840 --> 0:01:32.679 to me, I just took an even stranger call from 0:01:32.760 --> 0:01:35.920 a lawyer deep inside Procter and Gamble. Do you have 0:01:36.000 --> 0:01:39.800 any interest in acquiring the People's Choice Awards? How does 0:01:39.840 --> 0:01:42.320 Proctor and Gamble even come to own an awards show? 0:01:42.560 --> 0:01:46.559 Procter and Gamble actually created the People's Choice Awards forty 0:01:46.600 --> 0:01:49.560 three years ago as a media property to sell their brands. 0:01:49.600 --> 0:01:53.080 You know, they have had UM a long and very 0:01:53.120 --> 0:01:58.080 successful history of UM media development and production. Soap operas 0:01:58.080 --> 0:02:02.200 are called soap operas because of Procter and Gamble. They 0:02:02.280 --> 0:02:06.200 created the format to sell soap and UM in addition 0:02:06.240 --> 0:02:09.079 to soaps and Movies of the Week. Forty plus years ago, 0:02:09.160 --> 0:02:12.120 they created their own award show event. They partnered with 0:02:12.200 --> 0:02:16.480 CBS and UM for the past four decades have built 0:02:16.560 --> 0:02:23.400 the franchise into a a legitimate reflection of what audiences 0:02:23.440 --> 0:02:26.200 and fans are are really excited about in the pop 0:02:26.200 --> 0:02:29.960 culture landscape. And so for US as a brand, we're 0:02:30.080 --> 0:02:33.800 focused on entertaining and exciting the pop culture fan and 0:02:33.840 --> 0:02:36.600 all of us. That's our mission statement. That's you know, 0:02:36.680 --> 0:02:39.400 emblazoned on our T shirts and in the halls of 0:02:39.480 --> 0:02:43.040 the But were you in the marketplace looking for award shows? 0:02:43.040 --> 0:02:45.440 Because when I think of the I think red carpet, 0:02:45.480 --> 0:02:48.960 your companioned the awardship. That's true, you know, our our 0:02:49.000 --> 0:02:52.280 head of communications, Sarah Sarah Goldstein likes to say, you know, 0:02:52.560 --> 0:02:54.840 for the past two decades, we've we've built a business 0:02:54.880 --> 0:02:58.519 off of filming people walking through a parking lot and UM. 0:02:58.520 --> 0:03:01.560 And that's true. That's a that's a great UM legacy 0:03:01.680 --> 0:03:04.320 for us. UM. It's part of our brand, UM, it's 0:03:04.360 --> 0:03:06.320 part of our identity. It's a great it's a great 0:03:06.360 --> 0:03:09.120 part of our business. But we have always had these 0:03:09.160 --> 0:03:12.799 ambitions of getting into UM, into the building UM as 0:03:12.840 --> 0:03:16.280 it were, and UM and so over the course of 0:03:16.320 --> 0:03:19.760 the past several years, we had had UM discussions about 0:03:20.240 --> 0:03:23.000 acquiring some of the smaller shows that would come up 0:03:23.040 --> 0:03:26.720 for UM come up for discussion. We had talked about 0:03:26.760 --> 0:03:29.720 starting one from scratch, which feels like it feels like 0:03:29.760 --> 0:03:32.399 a very very tough lift. And so when this call 0:03:32.480 --> 0:03:35.800 came into me, I sat back and thought, she's well 0:03:35.800 --> 0:03:38.280 that that couldn't be any more perfect for us. He 0:03:38.520 --> 0:03:41.520 is an egalitarian brand where a populist brand, and I 0:03:41.560 --> 0:03:45.000 mean that with a small p. In today's political climate, 0:03:45.480 --> 0:03:48.440 and um, you know, we are all about reflecting the 0:03:48.520 --> 0:03:52.000 current tastes and interests and and and and passions of 0:03:52.040 --> 0:03:55.080 our audience and the People's Choice awards for forty three years, 0:03:55.720 --> 0:03:58.720 UM has always been about that. I get it. On 0:03:58.760 --> 0:04:01.800 the other hand, award show there's just so many of them, 0:04:01.800 --> 0:04:05.080 and People's Choice I agree as a brand, but I 0:04:05.120 --> 0:04:07.720 don't necessarily I wouldn't say I saw it coming off 0:04:07.760 --> 0:04:10.320 sort of a peak. So what did you see in 0:04:10.400 --> 0:04:12.840 it that you thought you could take it to the 0:04:12.840 --> 0:04:16.560 next level? Well, we saw, we saw forty years of equity, 0:04:16.640 --> 0:04:19.320 we saw forty years of history, UM. And we saw 0:04:19.720 --> 0:04:22.559 an idea, a concept, this idea of for the people 0:04:22.600 --> 0:04:27.359 by the people that felt really decidedly and so UM. 0:04:27.680 --> 0:04:30.560 When we sat down with the Procinant Gamble team who 0:04:30.600 --> 0:04:32.719 had done it, just a great job. And you know, 0:04:32.760 --> 0:04:35.560 their business, like all of our businesses, changing and so 0:04:35.600 --> 0:04:39.640 they were looking to to exit broadcast production. UM, we 0:04:39.720 --> 0:04:43.919 thought this is a relatively modest investment for us, to 0:04:44.040 --> 0:04:48.640 take a swing into UM an ownership position. Whereas historically, 0:04:48.680 --> 0:04:50.919 if you think about our red carpet business, which is 0:04:51.160 --> 0:04:53.360 you know, we do eight to ten of these red 0:04:53.400 --> 0:04:55.680 carpet events a year. Uh, you know, we're more of 0:04:55.680 --> 0:04:58.200 a renter or in some cases of squatter. We sort 0:04:58.200 --> 0:05:00.440 of show up on the show, up on the red 0:05:00.440 --> 0:05:03.039 carpet with our with with our cameras and UM and 0:05:03.120 --> 0:05:05.640 we build that into you know, into a great story 0:05:05.680 --> 0:05:08.200 for E. This is an opportunity for us to take 0:05:08.240 --> 0:05:13.280 that experience, that exposure, UM, that expertise UM and and 0:05:13.320 --> 0:05:15.600 really drive it all the way from the red carpet 0:05:15.680 --> 0:05:18.200 into the main awards show in a in a relatively 0:05:18.480 --> 0:05:22.240 UM cost efficient way. And so UM strategically made a 0:05:22.240 --> 0:05:25.480 lot of sense for us. Live viewership is something that 0:05:25.600 --> 0:05:27.919 you know, many of us in the AD supported linear 0:05:27.960 --> 0:05:31.719 TV space, covet and UM. You know, even even in 0:05:31.760 --> 0:05:35.560 the face of a challenging competitive dynamic for award shows, 0:05:35.839 --> 0:05:39.480 felt like a smart, strategic UM and and really focused 0:05:39.520 --> 0:05:41.800 investment for us. But how do you spruce it up 0:05:41.839 --> 0:05:44.440 and make it your own? Because I think there's expectations 0:05:44.440 --> 0:05:47.479 when you move from say CBSDE we're going to see 0:05:47.480 --> 0:05:52.600 a slightly different better property hopefully will be will be better. 0:05:52.680 --> 0:05:56.520 It will certainly be different. UM. We've spent Jen Neal, 0:05:56.600 --> 0:05:59.719 who's our chief marketing officer and also the executive producer 0:05:59.720 --> 0:06:03.000 of our live events business. UM will share Studios, which 0:06:03.040 --> 0:06:08.800 is our in house unscripted producing facility have long history 0:06:08.800 --> 0:06:11.800 producing our red carpet business. UM and Den of Thieves, 0:06:11.839 --> 0:06:15.800 who's our external producing partner. UM, most famous for producing 0:06:15.839 --> 0:06:18.960 the MTV v m as for the past decade or so, 0:06:19.480 --> 0:06:21.720 have spent the better part of the last year kind 0:06:21.720 --> 0:06:24.760 of stripping the franchise down to the studs as it 0:06:24.800 --> 0:06:28.440 were UM and reimagining it through the lens of E. UM, 0:06:28.480 --> 0:06:32.400 reimagining it for UM where we think award shows are going, 0:06:32.800 --> 0:06:36.359 and and reimagining it for global audience. Uh. You know. 0:06:36.440 --> 0:06:38.520 This will be the first time that the franchise has 0:06:38.520 --> 0:06:43.920 been broadcast globally. UM E distributes our Channel two D 0:06:44.000 --> 0:06:46.640 and sixty countries around the world, so this would be 0:06:46.680 --> 0:06:49.640 a global broadcast. It's also going to be a UM 0:06:49.680 --> 0:06:54.279 A multi platform UM production for US, so not only 0:06:54.320 --> 0:06:57.360 will E broadcast, it will also be simulcast across the 0:06:57.440 --> 0:07:02.160 USA network, Sci Fi Network, Bravo Roadblock as they say 0:07:02.200 --> 0:07:06.520 the road the roadblock across the entire portfolio. And so 0:07:06.680 --> 0:07:08.919 you know, we we spent the better part of a 0:07:09.000 --> 0:07:12.480 year just looking at the category as a whole um 0:07:12.600 --> 0:07:15.720 and really trying to take the best of what's performed 0:07:15.880 --> 0:07:18.960 in um the category and and really bringing it to bear, 0:07:19.080 --> 0:07:22.240 to reimagine it, reimagining the people's choice for for e 0:07:22.400 --> 0:07:24.200 and for a new audience. And that's what you'll see 0:07:24.200 --> 0:07:27.400 on November eleven. It seems to me that what works 0:07:27.480 --> 0:07:30.880 for award shows is when and I think of how 0:07:31.040 --> 0:07:34.800 MTV does this. This is I think analogous because they're 0:07:34.840 --> 0:07:37.880 a cable network. It's their own show that they own. 0:07:38.680 --> 0:07:42.040 It's really about concocting these viral moments, things that people 0:07:42.080 --> 0:07:44.560 are gonna be talking about minutes after they occur on 0:07:44.680 --> 0:07:48.480 social media. We is People's Choice, gonna maybe unbuttoned the 0:07:48.520 --> 0:07:51.400 top collar and get crazy because that's my only way 0:07:51.440 --> 0:07:54.720 of seeing viral happen. Yeah, I think, you know, we'll 0:07:54.720 --> 0:07:56.640 do We'll do a lot of things that will be different, 0:07:56.960 --> 0:08:00.840 certainly from the show's history and different from other award shows. 0:08:00.840 --> 0:08:03.560 I think, first and foremost, I'm given our two decades 0:08:03.720 --> 0:08:08.360 worth of red carpet expertise. We're gonna take that experience 0:08:08.680 --> 0:08:11.360 red carpet for two hours and drive it right into 0:08:11.400 --> 0:08:13.800 the main show. So they're gonna it's gonna feel like 0:08:13.840 --> 0:08:16.480 a connected hole between the red carpet show, which is 0:08:16.480 --> 0:08:19.600 our legacy UM, and this new expression of the People's 0:08:19.680 --> 0:08:23.200 Choice Awards. So historically, if you think about the way 0:08:23.600 --> 0:08:28.400 UM other award shows UM exist visa vi their red 0:08:28.440 --> 0:08:30.760 carpet experience, they feel like too two very separate and 0:08:30.800 --> 0:08:34.080 discrete things. This is going to feel like a connected whole, UM. 0:08:34.120 --> 0:08:36.080 And right out of the gate, we know that our 0:08:36.120 --> 0:08:38.280 main job is to connect with our audiences and to 0:08:38.400 --> 0:08:42.760 drive those um, those those those moments UM that will 0:08:42.920 --> 0:08:45.360 get people talking. And so we've got a lot of 0:08:45.360 --> 0:08:47.600 things planned UM, a lot of things that I'll wait 0:08:47.679 --> 0:08:51.520 to surprise your viewers with on November eleven. But we 0:08:51.800 --> 0:08:55.079 understand what it is we're up against and have planned accordingly. 0:08:55.840 --> 0:08:58.000 And I'm curious about the Procter and gamble of all this. 0:08:58.280 --> 0:09:02.960 What was that acquisition sess like, were they looking for 0:09:03.120 --> 0:09:06.640 you know, tough, very competitive bids. Were there are other 0:09:06.679 --> 0:09:10.360 people in there? We do know there were other people involved, UM, 0:09:10.400 --> 0:09:14.679 some household names to your viewers to your listeners, UM, 0:09:14.720 --> 0:09:17.880 they'll remain nameless. But you know, I think, I think 0:09:17.920 --> 0:09:23.040 what we proposed to UH, to Procter and Gamble was 0:09:23.360 --> 0:09:26.440 an environment that would would would care and nurture this 0:09:26.520 --> 0:09:29.680 baby that they had birth and developed and had grown 0:09:29.800 --> 0:09:33.560 into a sizeable franchise across Barty three years. UM. It 0:09:33.640 --> 0:09:37.199 wasn't just simply the acquisition of an asset UM. We 0:09:37.280 --> 0:09:41.600 really made a pitch to them for UM strategically, why 0:09:41.760 --> 0:09:45.560 the brand and the franchise made sense at E how 0:09:45.600 --> 0:09:49.000 it could be an outgrowth of our entertainment news offering 0:09:49.080 --> 0:09:52.320 and our live events offering UM, and so I think 0:09:52.520 --> 0:09:55.680 for them, UM it made financial sense. We put together 0:09:55.800 --> 0:10:00.480 a financial package that that that was UM that solid 0:10:00.600 --> 0:10:04.640 and obviously UM good for them, but it was also 0:10:04.720 --> 0:10:08.240 a strategic presentation that that we wanted them to understand 0:10:08.240 --> 0:10:10.000 how we were going to use what they had built, 0:10:10.040 --> 0:10:13.720 because you know, in addition to marketing scope and and 0:10:13.720 --> 0:10:16.440 and Crest and oil of l A and lots of 0:10:16.480 --> 0:10:18.720 other products, this was this was one of their brands 0:10:18.760 --> 0:10:21.480 and and and something that they cared for and nurtured 0:10:22.120 --> 0:10:24.440 over you know, over the course of decades, and so 0:10:24.880 --> 0:10:29.640 UM articulating that their baby would have a comfortable home 0:10:29.840 --> 0:10:32.199 at E. U was also part of the pitch in 0:10:32.200 --> 0:10:34.960 addition to the financials. And there's a lot going on 0:10:35.000 --> 0:10:37.480 at e and we'll we'll get into that. But I'm 0:10:37.559 --> 0:10:42.439 curious what this means in terms of the brand identity 0:10:42.520 --> 0:10:46.240 of EID as it tell us something new your brand. 0:10:46.320 --> 0:10:50.920 It's been how long now has it been years? And 0:10:50.960 --> 0:10:54.400 it's never there's there's never a time, it seems, even 0:10:54.400 --> 0:10:57.480 for networks that are a lot older. Uh, you can't 0:10:57.520 --> 0:11:00.559 rest on your laurels. There's always this constant read definition 0:11:00.600 --> 0:11:04.120 of going on. So what does this addition tell us 0:11:04.160 --> 0:11:06.719 about the brand? Yeah, yeah, it's a great question. You 0:11:06.800 --> 0:11:09.240 know what, We're focused on three things at e We 0:11:09.559 --> 0:11:13.440 create pop culture, uh in the form of the franchises 0:11:13.440 --> 0:11:16.880 that we built, Kardashians obviously being noteworthy, some of our 0:11:16.920 --> 0:11:21.840 scripted efforts, Royals Arrangement, Christian Cavalary, Uh, you know, new 0:11:22.080 --> 0:11:25.120 sort of runaway hit for us. We report pop culture 0:11:25.480 --> 0:11:27.160 um in the form of the news, and we do 0:11:27.240 --> 0:11:29.120 that multi platform. I know you and I have spoken 0:11:29.160 --> 0:11:32.400 about that in the past. UM. And then we celebrate 0:11:32.440 --> 0:11:34.800 pop culture, and we celebrate pop culture at these sort 0:11:34.840 --> 0:11:37.600 of seminal pop culture moments throughout the year, whether it's 0:11:37.640 --> 0:11:41.400 the Oscars, the Grammys, the Golden Globes, UM, what have you, 0:11:41.640 --> 0:11:45.280 and the People's Choice Awards. Is really sort of bridging 0:11:45.760 --> 0:11:49.040 those two, those two strategic pillars for us of reporting 0:11:49.040 --> 0:11:51.480 pop culture at the seminal moments of the year and 0:11:51.520 --> 0:11:56.000 the and the events of of pop culture and so UM. 0:11:56.040 --> 0:11:59.400 You know, it says to us that if you're interested 0:11:59.400 --> 0:12:02.599 in what's happening UM inside the pop culture landscape, E 0:12:02.760 --> 0:12:06.760 is the brand UM for you. You know. Actually, just uh, 0:12:06.800 --> 0:12:10.480 just this week, we've taken a dive back into topical 0:12:10.480 --> 0:12:14.079 talk in a fairly sizeable way. You know. UM. Joan 0:12:14.160 --> 0:12:17.320 Rivers is, you may recall, passed away about four years ago, 0:12:18.000 --> 0:12:21.440 UM and UM with Joan passing away with Chelsea Handler 0:12:21.520 --> 0:12:24.760 leaving us for for her her efforts elsewhere, and we 0:12:24.800 --> 0:12:27.439 had gotten out of the topical talk space in UM 0:12:27.480 --> 0:12:31.480 in any significant way and UM on Monday part of me. 0:12:31.520 --> 0:12:34.600 On Sunday night, we launched Busy Tonight, which is hosted 0:12:34.600 --> 0:12:37.480 by Busy Phillips, produced by Tina Fey, which is a 0:12:37.480 --> 0:12:41.120 four night a week topical talk show. UM. Really bringing 0:12:41.160 --> 0:12:44.640 Busy Phillips unique perspective and only on the world, but 0:12:44.720 --> 0:12:49.040 on Los Angeles and the the Hollywood ecosystem. Um uh 0:12:49.160 --> 0:12:52.480 at its uh you know, in its fullest um. But 0:12:52.559 --> 0:12:56.160 which interesting about Busy is sure she's an actress, but 0:12:56.200 --> 0:12:58.760 I think more people know her nowadays from She's got 0:12:58.800 --> 0:13:02.080 a pretty robust in Degram president. She does, she does, 0:13:02.160 --> 0:13:05.480 she's she's done a great job of cultivating a really authentic, 0:13:05.559 --> 0:13:09.040 unique point of view through her Instagram stories. And that's 0:13:09.080 --> 0:13:11.720 really what caught us. I mean, we had been familiar, 0:13:11.760 --> 0:13:13.760 we had known Busy for quite some time. She'd show 0:13:13.840 --> 0:13:16.960 up on the Red carpet with Michelle Williams um and 0:13:17.000 --> 0:13:19.080 you know, sure, certainly she's a she's an actor in 0:13:19.120 --> 0:13:21.440 her own regard Cougar Town to to e r tow 0:13:21.800 --> 0:13:24.480 to Dawson's Creek and so um, you know, for us 0:13:24.520 --> 0:13:26.840 to have, um, you know, a real sort of working 0:13:26.880 --> 0:13:30.120 member of the Hollywood community who also has a real 0:13:30.240 --> 0:13:33.839 strong point of view on the world and um an 0:13:33.840 --> 0:13:37.400 authentic voice that has done a great job of connecting 0:13:37.400 --> 0:13:42.560 with millions of followers via Instagram, we thought that that 0:13:42.559 --> 0:13:45.000 that needs to come to come to eat. So in 0:13:45.040 --> 0:13:48.280 addition to Busy tonight, also on Sunday we launched Lady Gang. 0:13:48.400 --> 0:13:53.599 Lady Gang is a podcast uh topical um pop culture podcast. 0:13:54.000 --> 0:13:56.440 Entertainment Weekly called it the podcast of the Year. It 0:13:56.520 --> 0:14:00.679 was actually nominated for People's Choice Award. UM we had 0:14:00.760 --> 0:14:03.960 nothing to do with that. That was all fan driven. UM. 0:14:04.040 --> 0:14:06.760 And then last night we actually launched a third topical 0:14:06.800 --> 0:14:09.960 talker UM called Nightly Pop. We have a daytime strip 0:14:10.440 --> 0:14:14.600 um talk show called Daily Pop, which is uh nine 0:14:14.679 --> 0:14:17.360 am here on the West coast, noon on the East coast, 0:14:17.360 --> 0:14:20.280 and it's a it's a topical um sort of gossip show. 0:14:20.320 --> 0:14:24.160 And Nightly pops the sort of edge your version, edge 0:14:24.160 --> 0:14:27.520 your sister to two. Daily Pop so a fairly significant 0:14:27.560 --> 0:14:31.080 return into topical talk. And so for us People's Choice Awards. 0:14:31.200 --> 0:14:34.240 Along with with Busy Tonight with Lady Gang, Nightly Pop 0:14:34.640 --> 0:14:37.400 just works to reinforce UM, you know, our point of 0:14:37.480 --> 0:14:40.720 view that pop culture matters, and it matters significantly to 0:14:40.800 --> 0:14:45.320 our audience, and UM, we want to make sure that anywhere, 0:14:45.480 --> 0:14:50.480 um and anytime pop culture is happening, uh, anything's happening 0:14:50.480 --> 0:14:52.840 inside that space. This this brand needs to be there. 0:14:52.880 --> 0:14:55.840 In addition to those sort of um big sort of 0:14:55.840 --> 0:14:59.200 seminal moments which will capture in into People's Choice Awards 0:14:59.200 --> 0:15:02.680 this year. But talk shows are just as challenging a 0:15:02.760 --> 0:15:06.720 place to play as awards shows. I think, particularly we're 0:15:06.720 --> 0:15:09.880 talking about Busy and Late Night. I guess there's a 0:15:09.920 --> 0:15:12.880 two part question, what makes you think late night needs 0:15:12.920 --> 0:15:18.480 another voice? And number two? You know, I think there's 0:15:18.480 --> 0:15:20.520 a special challenge, a challenge that I think he has 0:15:20.560 --> 0:15:23.720 dealt with in the past about taking a digital I 0:15:23.720 --> 0:15:26.360 don't want to call her a digital native star digital 0:15:26.440 --> 0:15:30.160 native ish maybe she might appreciate that and transplant that 0:15:30.440 --> 0:15:35.160 into TV. So how do you make these things work? Yeah? Well, look, 0:15:35.320 --> 0:15:37.840 the entire business is challenging. That's what makes it, That's 0:15:37.840 --> 0:15:42.560 what makes it interesting, and that is what really works. Uh, 0:15:42.600 --> 0:15:44.720 you know, challenges us to raise our game each and 0:15:44.760 --> 0:15:47.720 every time out. Um. You know, I think we didn't 0:15:47.720 --> 0:15:50.560 really set out to get back into back into late 0:15:50.640 --> 0:15:53.480 night per se. Um. We were introduced to Busy and 0:15:53.520 --> 0:15:55.520 just kind of fell in love with her. Um. We 0:15:55.680 --> 0:15:58.440 love her voice, we love her authenticity. She's so fun. 0:15:58.520 --> 0:16:01.240 She's like that friend that every girl wants to have 0:16:01.400 --> 0:16:03.440 and wants to hang out with with a with a 0:16:03.480 --> 0:16:06.320 margharita and uh, you know, a pair of comfortable pants. 0:16:06.320 --> 0:16:08.800 I think she calls him. Um. Actually, she's got this 0:16:08.840 --> 0:16:11.600 thing on her show. She calls it Mr. Knightgown. Um. 0:16:11.640 --> 0:16:14.880 She gets into Mr. Knightgown to close every show because 0:16:14.920 --> 0:16:17.520 she knows that our audience is sort of settling into 0:16:17.560 --> 0:16:19.200 bed for the night, and so she wants to be 0:16:19.280 --> 0:16:22.800 that sort of last last moment um for our for 0:16:22.880 --> 0:16:26.080 our audience before they before they kick off for the night. UM. 0:16:26.200 --> 0:16:28.760 And so you know, I think we follow the talent 0:16:28.880 --> 0:16:32.800 and we follow the um. We follow the opportunity more 0:16:32.840 --> 0:16:36.160 so than we look at the competitive dynamic. UM. Busies 0:16:36.160 --> 0:16:39.840 on at ten o'clock. Um, So it's late night adjacent, 0:16:39.960 --> 0:16:42.240 we'll call it. Maybe it's late night for some folks, 0:16:42.320 --> 0:16:45.280 actually late night for me the father to probably late 0:16:45.360 --> 0:16:48.720 night for you as a father one. UM so UM. 0:16:48.760 --> 0:16:51.040 A little bit of a zig against the against the 0:16:51.120 --> 0:16:54.840 pure late night zag of eleven thirty and twelve thirty 0:16:55.240 --> 0:16:58.480 across the rest of the linear ad supported networks. UM. 0:16:58.520 --> 0:17:00.960 But I think it's it's really about out. Anytime you 0:17:01.000 --> 0:17:04.879 have an opportunity to find um and collaborate with a 0:17:05.040 --> 0:17:09.280 unique voice, whether it's Busy Lady Gang, the team at 0:17:09.359 --> 0:17:11.439 Nightly Pop. You know you have to find a venue 0:17:11.440 --> 0:17:15.800 for it. UM. Uh competition be damned and UM we 0:17:15.840 --> 0:17:19.760 feel really bullish about UM our dive back into topical 0:17:19.800 --> 0:17:22.560 talk with these these three franchises, and UM, you know 0:17:22.640 --> 0:17:28.280 we know from experience with Chelsea, UH, my experience at 0:17:28.400 --> 0:17:31.960 NBC with Seth Meyers and Jimmy Fallon. Uh, these kinds 0:17:31.960 --> 0:17:35.520 of shows are marathons. They're not sprints. UM. The first 0:17:35.560 --> 0:17:39.119 shows bear very little resemblance to the tenth show or 0:17:39.200 --> 0:17:42.240 the thirtieth show. And UM, you know, we've got to 0:17:42.240 --> 0:17:45.800 create an environment where UM, a voice like Busy, UM, 0:17:45.840 --> 0:17:48.200 a voice like the Lady Gang can can can play 0:17:48.359 --> 0:17:52.240 and can really innovate and try some new things and 0:17:52.520 --> 0:17:55.400 UM not be worried about about performance. And so we'll 0:17:55.440 --> 0:17:58.080 look at certainly, we'll look at ratings performance that that 0:17:58.240 --> 0:18:00.879 is a key driver for us. We'll also look at 0:18:00.920 --> 0:18:05.920 engagement um both uh linearly UM and socially and digitally, UM, 0:18:06.000 --> 0:18:09.040 we'll look at retention, you know, week to week, episode episode, 0:18:09.560 --> 0:18:13.000 We'll look at flow vertically horizontally across across the east. 0:18:13.000 --> 0:18:16.600 So lots of metrics that we can um evaluate our 0:18:16.640 --> 0:18:20.960 success UM through. It sounds like you're really drawing on 0:18:21.040 --> 0:18:24.960 as you eluded your days at NBC when you were there. 0:18:25.400 --> 0:18:27.280 Talk about what you were doing when I first got 0:18:27.320 --> 0:18:32.240 to know you were running marketing then, But are what 0:18:32.320 --> 0:18:36.080 you is? What you did then it was just ten 0:18:36.440 --> 0:18:41.480 fifteen years ago applicable to today's environment. Sure, Uh, it 0:18:41.520 --> 0:18:43.960 was just about ten years ago. So I spent I 0:18:43.960 --> 0:18:46.240 spent three years at NBC as the as the president 0:18:46.240 --> 0:18:49.720 of marketing. UM. You know. During that during that tenure, 0:18:49.880 --> 0:18:56.399 we UM had some terrific late night successes. UM, we 0:18:56.480 --> 0:18:59.440 had some some challenges migrating at late night franchise and 0:18:59.560 --> 0:19:02.000 Jay Land know to uh to ten o'clock, which was 0:19:02.440 --> 0:19:08.800 very disruptive, very challenging and ultimately and ultimately um uh 0:19:08.880 --> 0:19:11.560 not something we look back on all that, all that 0:19:11.640 --> 0:19:15.119 fondly from a ratings perspective. For me, UM, it was 0:19:15.160 --> 0:19:17.760 a great opportunity to learn how to how to how 0:19:17.760 --> 0:19:22.560 to deal with really interesting, strong talent voices like Jay Leno, 0:19:23.160 --> 0:19:25.960 like Jimmy Fallon Um, like Conan O'Brien. You know, we 0:19:26.040 --> 0:19:29.240 launched Conan at thirty to take over the tonight show. UM. 0:19:29.320 --> 0:19:32.879 And so a great opportunity for uh, for someone like 0:19:32.960 --> 0:19:35.520 me to see a new category. I grown up in 0:19:35.520 --> 0:19:38.400 the cable space, Sci Fi and Discovery. Prior to that 0:19:38.720 --> 0:19:41.840 had never spent any time in the broadcast ecosystem. So 0:19:41.920 --> 0:19:45.119 that was that was learning. UM. But I think most importantly, 0:19:45.240 --> 0:19:49.480 these are incredibly strong voices with very very strong executive 0:19:49.520 --> 0:19:54.240 producing partners behind them, and UM, our job really is 0:19:54.280 --> 0:19:57.040 to create an environment within which they can they can flourish, 0:19:57.080 --> 0:19:59.880 and their voices can thrive, UM, and they can tell 0:20:00.040 --> 0:20:03.920 stories and they can connect with an audience. And I think, UM, 0:20:03.960 --> 0:20:08.000 you know, creating uh some some some guardrails within which 0:20:08.040 --> 0:20:11.440 that exploration, that innovation, that creativity can happen is really 0:20:11.480 --> 0:20:14.320 the job of the network. And that's something that UM 0:20:14.320 --> 0:20:18.240 that I learned with uh some exposure to the folks 0:20:18.280 --> 0:20:20.600 who were running Late Night at the time. Rick Ludwin 0:20:20.800 --> 0:20:23.720 actually was this the head of Late Night um at 0:20:23.920 --> 0:20:27.800 an NBC really legend in the industry, UM. And just 0:20:27.880 --> 0:20:30.399 watching the way that he dealt with talent like Conan, 0:20:30.520 --> 0:20:34.520 like Jimmy, like Jay Leno was UM, you know, kind 0:20:34.520 --> 0:20:36.400 of worth its weight in gold and just a great 0:20:36.400 --> 0:20:38.840 experience for me that I draw on really on a 0:20:38.880 --> 0:20:41.640 on a daily basis, UM. And now more than ever 0:20:41.680 --> 0:20:43.840 as we sort of dive back into it, now that 0:20:43.880 --> 0:20:46.159 I've asked you this deep in the weeds TV question, 0:20:46.240 --> 0:20:48.679 I want to go in the other direction. Really the 0:20:48.680 --> 0:20:50.760 most macro question I could ask you of all, which 0:20:50.840 --> 0:20:54.400 is how much day to day are you thinking of 0:20:54.680 --> 0:20:58.280 the beyond just being a programmer of a linear network, 0:20:58.320 --> 0:21:01.720 but of really a multimedia brand. And I actually think 0:21:01.720 --> 0:21:06.160 there are a very few cable networks that could really 0:21:06.280 --> 0:21:09.680 claim to have the history as a multimedia brand. E 0:21:09.960 --> 0:21:13.840 being pretty robust as a website for quite some time. Yeah, yeah, 0:21:13.880 --> 0:21:17.080 So four years ago, uh, when when I, along with 0:21:17.119 --> 0:21:19.719 Francis Barrett came into came into E, we made a 0:21:19.760 --> 0:21:25.080 fairly sizeable UM investment in UM, growing our digital business. 0:21:25.080 --> 0:21:28.760 We had a as you mentioned, UM, a fairly sizeable website, 0:21:28.760 --> 0:21:32.360 you online dot com UM, and it's content set mirrored 0:21:32.600 --> 0:21:35.440 what we were producing on a daily basis for our 0:21:35.480 --> 0:21:39.680 E News linear show at seven o'clock. The content looked 0:21:39.720 --> 0:21:42.800 shockingly similar, but they were run as two separate operations. 0:21:43.280 --> 0:21:49.240 Understanding that news and information was increasingly becoming mobile first 0:21:49.680 --> 0:21:52.840 UM and social first, in particular especially for ease audience 0:21:52.840 --> 0:21:56.359 of young women, we made the decision to collapse the 0:21:56.400 --> 0:21:59.800 two organizations into one, and in some ways actually in 0:22:00.200 --> 0:22:03.200 the focus. So for young women UM getting their news 0:22:03.200 --> 0:22:07.000 and information in our case about pop culture and entertainment, 0:22:07.320 --> 0:22:09.960 UM is really a mobile first kind of experience. And 0:22:10.040 --> 0:22:13.040 so what we produce, what we publish, as it were 0:22:13.480 --> 0:22:18.199 two platforms like Snapchat, platforms like Instagram stories, UM, is 0:22:18.240 --> 0:22:21.160 it as important, if not more so UM in terms 0:22:21.160 --> 0:22:26.360 of engagement than UM what we produced nightly to our 0:22:26.440 --> 0:22:30.119 linear platform at seven o'clock UM. And so you know, 0:22:30.160 --> 0:22:32.080 when we think about the brand on a on a 0:22:32.119 --> 0:22:34.480 macro level, we think about engagement, and we think about 0:22:34.480 --> 0:22:38.000 total engagement. UM on a monthly basis, he will do 0:22:38.040 --> 0:22:42.879 about a about about a billion digital engagements and that's 0:22:43.040 --> 0:22:47.000 a a post, a tweet, a comment, a like, a view, 0:22:48.160 --> 0:22:51.080 about a billion engagements across all of our platforms. And 0:22:51.119 --> 0:22:54.480