WEBVTT - Ep7 - Group Nine's Ben Lerer on Breeding New Media Brands 0:00:06.440 --> 0:00:09.600 Welcome to another episode of Strictly Business, the podcast that 0:00:09.640 --> 0:00:11.920 goes deep on the media business with some of its 0:00:11.960 --> 0:00:15.800 most interesting practitioners. I'm Andrew Wallenstein, co editor in chief 0:00:15.800 --> 0:00:18.960 of Variety. For this latest installment, I went one on 0:00:18.960 --> 0:00:22.360 one with Ben Lehrer. He's the CEO of Group nine, 0:00:22.400 --> 0:00:26.239 media holding company with a minority investment from Discovery that 0:00:26.320 --> 0:00:30.040 includes digital brands like now This, the Dodo Seeker and 0:00:30.160 --> 0:00:34.000 Thrill List brand Lehrer started himself. He spoke with me 0:00:34.040 --> 0:00:37.360 in his capacity not just a CEO, but as managing 0:00:37.400 --> 0:00:41.000 partner of venture capital fund Lehrer Hippo. I think you 0:00:41.159 --> 0:00:43.680 learned a lot from our conversation about the current state 0:00:43.680 --> 0:00:46.520 of the digital media world and where it's heading next. 0:00:46.760 --> 0:00:51.959 So without further ado, here's Ben Lehrer. So I want 0:00:52.000 --> 0:00:54.160 to first start with where Group nine is, because it's 0:00:54.160 --> 0:00:57.360 been a year. Just talk about the formation of that 0:00:57.480 --> 0:01:00.760 in the rational several years ago. Started to sort of 0:01:00.800 --> 0:01:02.600 pick my head up a little bit from building thrills 0:01:02.600 --> 0:01:04.400 and just say what else is sort of happening in media? 0:01:04.480 --> 0:01:06.000 What are the companies that were investing, what are the 0:01:06.040 --> 0:01:09.839 trends that we're seeing, And came to this thesis which 0:01:09.959 --> 0:01:13.120 was that we were going to be entering a period 0:01:13.120 --> 0:01:16.240 of consolidation. And when you look back and sort of 0:01:16.240 --> 0:01:19.360 study the history of media, uh, we actually thought that 0:01:19.400 --> 0:01:22.319 what was happening in in digital media in many ways 0:01:22.400 --> 0:01:25.040 mirrored what happened thirty five years ago with cable, where 0:01:25.080 --> 0:01:27.960 you had sort of a new pipe get created and 0:01:28.120 --> 0:01:32.520 a bunch of brands emerge that were uh that went 0:01:32.640 --> 0:01:36.720 deep into specific verticals for specific audiences, um, you know, 0:01:36.760 --> 0:01:38.880 and and in in a in a decade you saw 0:01:38.920 --> 0:01:42.039 the launch of everything from ESPN, HBO two, CNN, MTV 0:01:42.480 --> 0:01:45.560 and all these great big brands got built, but uh, 0:01:45.680 --> 0:01:47.640 it wasn't clear that they were going to be great 0:01:47.640 --> 0:01:50.200 big brands or big successful businesses in the early days 0:01:50.200 --> 0:01:53.080 where there was still lots of questions about the efficacy 0:01:53.080 --> 0:01:54.400 of cable and how big it was going to get 0:01:54.440 --> 0:01:56.960 blah blah blah, and so uh, I think what we 0:01:57.120 --> 0:02:00.120 saw happening in digital media was something similar, were you 0:02:00.160 --> 0:02:03.840 had a new set of pipes, really driven by social media, 0:02:04.320 --> 0:02:07.480 where a whole new generation was consuming content. Differently, there 0:02:07.560 --> 0:02:11.639 was a bunch of startups that were creating uh, new 0:02:11.720 --> 0:02:15.720 brands that were speaking to various specific audiences just like 0:02:15.760 --> 0:02:18.200 the cable networks had done thirty five years earlier, and 0:02:18.960 --> 0:02:21.400 but they were operating independently, and there was lots of 0:02:21.480 --> 0:02:23.519 questions about how big they could get and the business 0:02:23.600 --> 0:02:25.600 model and the money that was existing at the platforms 0:02:25.720 --> 0:02:28.760 versus going directly to the the brands blah blah blah, 0:02:28.840 --> 0:02:32.639 and and said, look, Thrillist is a cable network. It's 0:02:32.720 --> 0:02:37.280 one network, but we need more scale to really matter. 0:02:38.040 --> 0:02:40.400 We think consolidation is gonna be coming to every sort 0:02:40.400 --> 0:02:44.200 of layer of media. And obviously a huge number of 0:02:44.240 --> 0:02:47.280 moves have happened since we put these brands together. But 0:02:48.280 --> 0:02:52.160 through that sort of thesis, we I looked around, I said, 0:02:52.240 --> 0:02:54.880 if I was starting throw us again today, what brands? 0:02:55.560 --> 0:02:57.160 What would I want this company to look like? Who 0:02:57.160 --> 0:03:00.280 would I sort of aspire to be? And very specifically, 0:03:00.320 --> 0:03:02.880 we we saw the Dodo and now This as two 0:03:02.919 --> 0:03:08.320 brands that I thought were being built in a really modern, 0:03:08.520 --> 0:03:13.600 really creative and thoughtful way, truly built natively for the 0:03:13.639 --> 0:03:19.080 social pipes. From day one, Dreaming in Video incredibly um 0:03:19.120 --> 0:03:22.280 intelligent about how they use data to influence the way 0:03:22.280 --> 0:03:24.240 that they thought about content creation. And when you say, 0:03:24.320 --> 0:03:26.840 by the way, Dreaming and Video you mean, Well, so 0:03:27.000 --> 0:03:29.000 I use the word dreaming in video because it doesn't 0:03:29.000 --> 0:03:32.079 mean only creating content in video necessarily. I think about 0:03:32.240 --> 0:03:36.360 somebody who's bilingual, what language do they dream in? Um, 0:03:36.360 --> 0:03:38.920 what is the thing that they feel most comfortable doing? 0:03:39.320 --> 0:03:43.120 And so I believe that content there, every story should 0:03:43.120 --> 0:03:45.360 be told and whatever the best format is for the story. 0:03:45.800 --> 0:03:48.840 And uh, but but I think for us, as we 0:03:48.920 --> 0:03:51.440 sort of think about what Group nine is, we want 0:03:51.440 --> 0:03:53.440 to be a company that dreams in video, that first 0:03:53.520 --> 0:03:56.600 thinks about telling stories and sight, sound and motion, but 0:03:56.720 --> 0:04:01.000 then totally acknowledging that there are amazing and really valuable 0:04:01.000 --> 0:04:04.000 ways to tell written stories and stories through all different 0:04:04.000 --> 0:04:06.200 types of formats. So that's what I mean by dreaming 0:04:06.240 --> 0:04:10.080 and video. Got it. And in terms of this consolidated 0:04:10.400 --> 0:04:14.920 environment that you are putting together, this Group nine entity, 0:04:15.040 --> 0:04:17.960 in has it played out this past year both in 0:04:18.000 --> 0:04:22.240 the marketplace and within Group nine as you thought it would? Yeah? So, 0:04:22.640 --> 0:04:26.359 I you know, I know it's sort of everyone's always 0:04:26.440 --> 0:04:31.440 doing the everything is great, We're crushing it version of entrepreneurship, 0:04:31.520 --> 0:04:36.279 and uh, the reality is, uh, everything has not played 0:04:36.320 --> 0:04:39.080 out exactly the way that I would have like sort 0:04:39.120 --> 0:04:45.560 of projected but the overarching story is, as far as 0:04:45.600 --> 0:04:50.680 I can tell, really best case scenario, we are operating 0:04:50.720 --> 0:04:54.000 like one company. UM, It's taken a lot to get 0:04:54.040 --> 0:04:56.719 there and to figure out how these cultures work together 0:04:56.800 --> 0:04:59.120 and to figure out, you know, building a holding companies 0:04:59.120 --> 0:05:04.360 are really uh it's a tough thing because, um, these 0:05:04.400 --> 0:05:07.320 brands are different, and they stand for different things, and 0:05:07.360 --> 0:05:12.520 they have different workforces and uh, figuring out how to 0:05:12.560 --> 0:05:15.919 build a corporate entity that provides value to them but 0:05:16.040 --> 0:05:19.040 allows them to be themselves is really difficult. And I 0:05:19.040 --> 0:05:21.960 think I underestimated how hard that was going to be, 0:05:22.560 --> 0:05:24.560 uh culturally and how hard it was going to be 0:05:24.680 --> 0:05:26.840 to build trust amongst the brands and to build a 0:05:26.920 --> 0:05:31.080 leadership team that was strong enough and and teams at 0:05:31.120 --> 0:05:33.679 the corporate layer that we're able to provide a level 0:05:33.680 --> 0:05:38.400 of service to the brands that would be greater uh 0:05:38.440 --> 0:05:40.680 then the brands would be able to provide for themselves. 0:05:40.880 --> 0:05:44.000 And so building that infrastructure was really hard. UM. An 0:05:44.000 --> 0:05:47.240 incredible learning curve for me and for our leadership team 0:05:47.240 --> 0:05:50.320 over the last year. But I'm I can genuinely say 0:05:50.640 --> 0:05:53.240 we've done it. We've been we've you know, we've outpaced 0:05:53.240 --> 0:05:57.760 the market We've grown, uh, every in every which way 0:05:57.880 --> 0:06:04.279 from audience to influence to financially um in really spectacular ways. 0:06:04.480 --> 0:06:08.400 And yesterday was our new frontum, which is sort of 0:06:08.440 --> 0:06:12.279 a it's a good moment to take a little barometer. 0:06:12.520 --> 0:06:13.840 It's like, you know, it's a it's a moment to 0:06:13.880 --> 0:06:16.920 take a temperature of where are we And you can 0:06:16.920 --> 0:06:18.320 think back to a year ago where we were at 0:06:18.320 --> 0:06:22.360 our new front and uh, we're we're in a really 0:06:22.440 --> 0:06:25.080 great place. I mean, you know, and that that doesn't 0:06:25.120 --> 0:06:27.960 mean it's easy, it's super hard. Well that's the thing. 0:06:28.000 --> 0:06:31.920 I mean. You hear about companies like Vice and BuzzFeed 0:06:32.440 --> 0:06:35.160 and what they have gone through in terms of the 0:06:35.240 --> 0:06:38.479 challenges and monetization, and I compare that to this sort 0:06:38.480 --> 0:06:41.200 of blue sky version of hey where the new cable networks? 0:06:41.200 --> 0:06:43.440 And I don't know which end of the spectrum we're 0:06:43.480 --> 0:06:46.599 at right now. It feels like this is it's hard 0:06:46.600 --> 0:06:50.279 to imagine these businesses becoming the kind of success that 0:06:50.440 --> 0:06:54.800 cable was given where they're at right now. I fully 0:06:54.800 --> 0:06:57.120 fully get that. I think that up the other side 0:06:57.160 --> 0:06:58.720 of the coin is when you go talk to people 0:06:58.720 --> 0:07:02.440 who work in the cable business US, it's not like 0:07:02.480 --> 0:07:04.919 they're sitting around feeling like they're on top of the 0:07:04.960 --> 0:07:08.599 world because they there's there's pressure coming from all sides 0:07:08.720 --> 0:07:13.200 right now. And so I don't believe that, uh, there's 0:07:13.200 --> 0:07:16.400 a straight line to just going and sort of usurping 0:07:16.440 --> 0:07:20.040 Cable and suddenly having a business that has, you know, 0:07:20.440 --> 0:07:24.440 net revenue margins like the beautiful model that Cable had 0:07:24.560 --> 0:07:27.040 for the last generation. UM. I also don't think that 0:07:27.080 --> 0:07:30.000 the last generation Cable model exists for Cable. And I 0:07:30.080 --> 0:07:36.080 think that the real currency here is attention and obsession 0:07:36.080 --> 0:07:39.440 and building brands that matter. And so I'm a big 0:07:39.440 --> 0:07:43.440 believer actually in the intersection of the last generation media 0:07:43.520 --> 0:07:46.280 model and the new generation media model and sort of 0:07:46.280 --> 0:07:49.160 where those things come together. And actually, when we created 0:07:49.200 --> 0:07:54.920 Group nine UH, we did so with a meaningful investment 0:07:55.480 --> 0:08:00.600 from Discovery, not only financial investment, but also apart partnership 0:08:01.640 --> 0:08:05.680 where the spirit of the partnership was to really help 0:08:05.800 --> 0:08:11.760 one another figure out how to UH thrive in this 0:08:12.000 --> 0:08:15.440 challenging environment. And we've made a lot of progress and 0:08:15.480 --> 0:08:17.640 I think learned a lot from one another, and as 0:08:17.680 --> 0:08:20.720 time goes on, that partnership continues to strength. And really 0:08:20.720 --> 0:08:23.080 excited that they did the script deal as I think 0:08:23.120 --> 0:08:26.760 that creates more opportunity, more free cash flow, there, more 0:08:26.880 --> 0:08:29.800 uh ability to sort of take some risks and try 0:08:29.880 --> 0:08:32.800 some new things, as well as bringing some brands into 0:08:32.840 --> 0:08:36.480 the fold there that aligned with some of our brands 0:08:36.520 --> 0:08:40.960 really beautifully. And so just really thankful for that partnership. 0:08:41.000 --> 0:08:44.560 And and you know, I would be lying to say 0:08:44.600 --> 0:08:47.560 that I know exactly what the future looks like, but 0:08:47.640 --> 0:08:50.200 it amazes me when a company like Discovery and this 0:08:50.280 --> 0:08:54.320 is there far from an anomaly, make significant investments in 0:08:54.360 --> 0:08:59.439 digital publishers given where things are right now. Is Discovery 0:08:59.480 --> 0:09:02.040 doing this but because you guys help them figure out 0:09:02.040 --> 0:09:09.880 the future? I think discoveries doing it because they're they're 0:09:09.920 --> 0:09:16.480 really smart. They can see that how the business is 0:09:16.520 --> 0:09:20.079 working today is not indicative of how the business is 0:09:20.120 --> 0:09:26.240 going to work tomorrow, and that a younger audiences have 0:09:27.440 --> 0:09:32.480 very different behaviors, very different habits, very different interests. And 0:09:32.600 --> 0:09:37.280 to build a multi generational media company today means needing 0:09:37.320 --> 0:09:41.600 to have a deep understanding of all the screens and 0:09:41.640 --> 0:09:47.440 distribution pipes that matter. And while we're still living in 0:09:47.440 --> 0:09:49.600 a world where we may be dealing with you know, 0:09:49.720 --> 0:09:56.000 digital dimes, ah, the pieces are moving and marketers are moving, 0:09:56.160 --> 0:09:58.360 and you know, there's a lot of there's a lot 0:09:58.400 --> 0:10:02.760 of structure around how media dollars transact. There's a lot 0:10:02.760 --> 0:10:06.800 of structure around how digital right now is wired around 0:10:07.640 --> 0:10:12.000 Facebook and Google and Amazon and dollars sort of going 0:10:12.080 --> 0:10:14.280 through the pipes. It's really interesting if you look at 0:10:14.320 --> 0:10:16.280 the cable model, the dollars don't go through the pipes. 0:10:16.280 --> 0:10:21.240 The dollars go through the publishers, and digital has sort 0:10:21.240 --> 0:10:25.320 of been wired differently. And I do believe firmly that 0:10:26.120 --> 0:10:29.679 there is a much better and bigger business model for 0:10:29.840 --> 0:10:34.280 publishers who continue to focus on and take a long 0:10:34.400 --> 0:10:38.720 term view on the value of their relationships with platforms 0:10:38.720 --> 0:10:42.839 like Facebook and Snapchat and uh and Twitter and Instagram 0:10:43.000 --> 0:10:45.880 and YouTube. So so here's the interesting thing about some 0:10:45.960 --> 0:10:49.680 of the relationships with these platforms, which is it is 0:10:49.720 --> 0:10:52.960 maddeningly slow. But if you were to take a pin 0:10:54.400 --> 0:10:57.880 and put it in the publisher business model with Facebook 0:10:58.679 --> 0:11:02.440 two years ago today, you would say, there's not a 0:11:02.480 --> 0:11:05.800 dollar coming from video. Facebook is not paying for any 0:11:05.800 --> 0:11:13.640 content there is. There's essentially no business model whatsoever. If 0:11:13.640 --> 0:11:16.400 you were to put a pin in a year ago, 0:11:16.840 --> 0:11:20.280 you would say, we're starting to monetize video a little bit. 0:11:22.920 --> 0:11:27.719 We are still not really in a bus there's still 0:11:27.760 --> 0:11:30.960 not really buying any content or underwriting any content creation. 0:11:31.559 --> 0:11:34.160 But the revenue is exponentially bigger than it was a 0:11:34.240 --> 0:11:36.199 year ago. And if you were to do the same 0:11:36.240 --> 0:11:40.640 thing today, you would say Facebook is now starting to 0:11:41.600 --> 0:11:45.760 become a larger buyer of content. They've announced that there 0:11:45.760 --> 0:11:48.440 will be a buyer in the news category as well. 0:11:49.240 --> 0:11:52.720 Um with the stuff that Campbell Brown's running. They are 0:11:52.880 --> 0:11:58.199 now testing pre roll. Facebook Watches is growing and there's 0:11:58.200 --> 0:12:01.120 a mid roll product that is not only available for 0:12:01.200 --> 0:12:04.520 publishers to monetize on backfield, but there's a handful of 0:12:04.520 --> 0:12:07.520 publishers who are actually able to sell their own inventory, 0:12:07.559 --> 0:12:12.040 of which we're one of. And do we feel that 0:12:12.080 --> 0:12:14.280 we were being fairly compensated for the value that we're 0:12:14.280 --> 0:12:17.960 creating on Facebook today? No? Do we feel like we're 0:12:17.960 --> 0:12:21.280 better compensated than we were a year ago. Yes. Do 0:12:21.320 --> 0:12:24.360 we feel like we're having more engaged conversations and that 0:12:24.400 --> 0:12:27.280 there is a genuine desire to figure out how to 0:12:27.320 --> 0:12:32.080 make this work for publishers. Yes, I'm a little bit 0:12:32.120 --> 0:12:36.400 of an anomaly because we are one of legitimately the 0:12:36.480 --> 0:12:40.760 one or two largest Facebook premium Facebook publishers that exists, 0:12:41.160 --> 0:12:44.200 and so the relationship that we have maybe on the 0:12:44.280 --> 0:12:47.200 absolute front end or the sort of the cutting edge 0:12:47.240 --> 0:12:50.760 of where uh Facebook is going to participate with publishers, 0:12:50.760 --> 0:12:54.679 and so we get to be partnering with them, and 0:12:54.760 --> 0:12:59.680 not only sort of we're we're the front of the spear, 0:13:00.040 --> 0:13:01.120 not the you know, the tip of the spear and 0:13:01.120 --> 0:13:02.760 not the end of the spear, which is which is 0:13:02.760 --> 0:13:04.560 a good place to be, which is maybe why I 0:13:04.600 --> 0:13:07.040 have more confidence that we're going to get to where 0:13:07.080 --> 0:13:08.840 we get where we need to get to there. But 0:13:09.240 --> 0:13:10.760 this is going to take a long time. And I 0:13:10.840 --> 0:13:12.880 actually think one of the issues that you've seen with 0:13:12.960 --> 0:13:18.120 digital media is as companies forecast growth in their business, 0:13:18.559 --> 0:13:22.280 they assume that changes are going to happen more quickly 0:13:22.280 --> 0:13:26.760 than they do, and they forecast revenue coming from these sources, 0:13:28.000 --> 0:13:32.160 by the way, really high margin revenue, because it's essentially 0:13:32.200 --> 0:13:36.000 against content that right now is being unmonetized, and that 0:13:36.040 --> 0:13:38.920 when it doesn't show up, it really hurts. It's very 0:13:38.960 --> 0:13:41.559 painful when you expect a dollar from Facebook and the 0:13:41.679 --> 0:13:44.280 dollar doesn't show up because you made the content, so 0:13:44.559 --> 0:13:46.560 it just hits your bottom line, and so I think 0:13:46.800 --> 0:13:53.240 what we're being pretty smart about is ah is continuing 0:13:53.280 --> 0:13:56.640 to see growth against our distributed revenue, but also knowing 0:13:56.679 --> 0:13:59.560 that this is a medium and long term play and 0:13:59.559 --> 0:14:05.280 that to day the business model isn't knocking us out 0:14:05.320 --> 0:14:08.640 of our seats. With that being said, we build big reach, 0:14:08.640 --> 0:14:11.120 we build big audience, is we build big influence, we 0:14:11.120 --> 0:14:15.080 build big brand. We're selling amazing, innovative, best in class 0:14:15.080 --> 0:14:18.760 branded content products. We're finding ways to create more scalability 0:14:18.760 --> 0:14:21.840 in those products. In the ways that we seamlessly are 0:14:21.880 --> 0:14:27.680 able to repackage advertisers content and redistribute it. We're able 0:14:27.720 --> 0:14:31.280 to make um really smart decisions around the content that 0:14:31.320 --> 0:14:34.200 we create and distribute for advertisers based on all the 0:14:34.280 --> 0:14:36.840 data that we have around how audiences behave in the 0:14:36.880 --> 0:14:41.280 way that they respond to content. Um I I genuinely 0:14:41.320 --> 0:14:44.560 believe that there will be there is an more and 0:14:44.600 --> 0:14:48.440 more money to be made by publishers on these platforms. 0:14:48.920 --> 0:14:50.640 Um I don't think we're going to get to the 0:14:50.680 --> 0:14:53.080 place that Rupert Murdoch would like us to get to 0:14:53.200 --> 0:14:54.640 and that a lot of people would like us to 0:14:54.680 --> 0:14:57.880 get to, where we're just going to get an affiliate 0:14:57.920 --> 0:15:00.680 fee but I do believe that there will be some 0:15:00.880 --> 0:15:04.200 version of an affiliate fee that will be paid out 0:15:04.200 --> 0:15:07.000 in a meritocracy where the brands that create the best content, 0:15:07.040 --> 0:15:09.600 create the most engagement will be able to share in 0:15:09.640 --> 0:15:12.400 the wealth that Facebook creates. And I think it's because 0:15:12.440 --> 0:15:17.680 Facebook is a Facebook does what's best for Facebook, and 0:15:17.720 --> 0:15:20.560 I genuinely believe what's best for Facebook is creating an 0:15:20.680 --> 0:15:25.920 environment for premium publishers to thrive. So dealing with platforms 0:15:26.400 --> 0:15:31.400 has its challenges, but you're encouraged by progress from year 0:15:31.440 --> 0:15:34.560 to year in the recent years. Where does your pin 0:15:34.760 --> 0:15:36.320 go next? What do you what do you want to 0:15:36.360 --> 0:15:40.160 see happen in beyond? It's a really good question. I 0:15:40.200 --> 0:15:44.080 think it's different for each platform. Um, what I'd like 0:15:44.160 --> 0:15:48.440 to see for Facebook is getting to the point where 0:15:48.440 --> 0:15:53.320 we share in newspeed revenue. Right now, they create interesting 0:15:53.360 --> 0:15:57.960 opportunities for sharing and revenue in sort of ancillary other locations. 0:15:59.480 --> 0:16:03.360 And because Facebook's audience is so enormous that money is 0:16:03.360 --> 0:16:06.480 not irrelevant, particularly to publishers with the scale that some 0:16:06.560 --> 0:16:09.640 of our brands have. That being said, I think we 0:16:09.720 --> 0:16:11.200 get to a point, or need to get to a 0:16:11.200 --> 0:16:14.280 point where Facebook shares news feed revenue. It can be 0:16:14.320 --> 0:16:18.760 based on the quality of engagement that is created, certainly, um, 0:16:18.800 --> 0:16:21.200 but that's where we want to get to. I don't 0:16:21.200 --> 0:16:23.280 know if we'll get there in twenty or twenty nineteen. 0:16:23.320 --> 0:16:25.520 I honestly think it's in Facebook's best interest to do 0:16:25.560 --> 0:16:30.160 it immediately. UM. And I feel that I have a 0:16:30.240 --> 0:16:33.080 venue to actually have those conversations with folks at Facebook, 0:16:33.120 --> 0:16:38.240 which I think is important. UM. At the you know, 0:16:38.360 --> 0:16:40.840 at the same time, there are there are different things 0:16:41.080 --> 0:16:43.360 and different progress that needs to be made on each 0:16:43.600 --> 0:16:49.280 individual platform. UM. The place I would really ultimately like 0:16:49.520 --> 0:16:51.880 to get to, and where I believe we'll get in 0:16:52.040 --> 0:16:56.800 the not too distant future but probably not, is where 0:16:57.720 --> 0:17:01.040 a publisher like Group nine has the ability to sell 0:17:01.200 --> 0:17:05.240 transactional advertising across all of our social channels, and so 0:17:05.280 --> 0:17:07.120 where a brand could come to us and we could 0:17:07.119 --> 0:17:17.639 sell them pre role or mid role across our Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, 0:17:17.680 --> 0:17:22.360 and Snapchat channels. And right now we can sell snap 0:17:23.160 --> 0:17:28.120 we can sell as part of a beta Facebook Watch 0:17:29.040 --> 0:17:35.360 mid role, not pre role. We can sell YouTube, Um, 0:17:35.400 --> 0:17:38.679 there's no monetization to speak of it Instagram yet, um, 0:17:38.720 --> 0:17:42.200 and that will be coming. And we can't sell Twitter yet. 0:17:42.240 --> 0:17:44.159 But I believe that that will be coming. As recently 0:17:44.160 --> 0:17:46.160 as this week it was rumored that it was coming soon. 0:17:46.240 --> 0:17:49.679 And um, we think that the Twitter folks are super 0:17:49.720 --> 0:17:54.600 smart and engaged and asking all the right questions and 0:17:54.680 --> 0:17:57.480 so getting to the point where you start to have 0:17:57.560 --> 0:18:03.120 the ability to turn brand on at scale across your 0:18:03.760 --> 0:18:07.639 premium content on all of these channels starts to feel 0:18:07.680 --> 0:18:12.000 more like TV. And I think that's the future that 0:18:12.040 --> 0:18:15.880 we're coming towards. And I think the smart, big traditional 0:18:15.920 --> 0:18:19.960 media companies can see a world where that happens. And 0:18:20.000 --> 0:18:21.560 if they're not set up for it, and if they're 0:18:21.560 --> 0:18:24.920 not making investments in partnerships and acquisitions in the best 0:18:24.920 --> 0:18:27.879 digital publishers, it's going to be really, really unpleasant for 0:18:27.920 --> 0:18:32.520 them because they're going to have let the massive advantage 0:18:32.560 --> 0:18:34.320 that they have slip away. And that's one of the 0:18:34.320 --> 0:18:36.480 things that I one of the reasons I think Discovery 0:18:36.520 --> 0:18:41.040 is so smart that David is not waiting for Yeah, 0:18:41.480 --> 0:18:45.040 is David as Love is not waiting for the the 0:18:45.200 --> 0:18:48.160 sort of the other shoe to drop. He's seeing where 0:18:48.200 --> 0:18:52.439 the future is going. Um, and you know, he's a 0:18:52.840 --> 0:18:55.600 We're we're really lucky to be in business with him. Well, 0:18:55.640 --> 0:18:59.159 what I'm wondering about is you talk about the monetization 0:18:59.200 --> 0:19:04.080 opportunities these platforms. Is are you also going to David's 0:19:04.119 --> 0:19:06.720 as Love, the CEO of Discovery, and saying, hey, I 0:19:06.800 --> 0:19:09.639 need to sell my shows to television. That's where the 0:19:09.720 --> 0:19:14.600 real money is. June nine, we launch a show called 0:19:14.640 --> 0:19:18.240 Dodo Heroes on Animal Planet. UM so one of our brands, 0:19:18.240 --> 0:19:21.639 the Dodo um we'll be launching a full season of 0:19:21.760 --> 0:19:25.840 linear TV globally in three and sixty million homes in 0:19:25.880 --> 0:19:29.520 partnership with Animal Planet. Will also be launching it digitally 0:19:29.640 --> 0:19:33.439 across all of the Dodo's channels in different formats. But 0:19:33.760 --> 0:19:36.520 I think that is part of the future. Uh So, 0:19:37.560 --> 0:19:39.960 you know, I'm not one of these people who says 0:19:40.440 --> 0:19:44.560 digital is everything. Linear is dead. It's a little bit 0:19:44.600 --> 0:19:48.720 like some of the director consumer retail startups five years ago. 0:19:48.800 --> 0:19:51.239 It's like Director consumers everything. We would never sell our 0:19:51.280 --> 0:19:52.720 product through a third party. And then you get to 0:19:52.720 --> 0:19:53.920 a point whe're like, hey, you know a lot of 0:19:53.920 --> 0:19:56.800 people still go to Walmart. Like there there's some version 0:19:57.000 --> 0:20:00.639 of linear TV still exists. Those companies are not just 0:20:00.640 --> 0:20:02.679 going to roll over and die. The idea that we 0:20:02.720 --> 0:20:08.160 would uh forsake those platforms actually is a little bit, 0:20:08.600 --> 0:20:13.600 uh would be hypocritical of our real philosophy, which is 0:20:14.520 --> 0:20:18.280 to superserve audiences, go to them, go to wherever big 0:20:18.320 --> 0:20:22.040 audiences live. And even though TV audiences are in decline, 0:20:22.920 --> 0:20:25.760 who are we kidding, there's still lots of people watching 0:20:26.080 --> 0:20:31.720 linear television, and so we're I want to be everywhere. 0:20:31.800 --> 0:20:33.320 I want to be on all these platforms. I want 0:20:33.320 --> 0:20:35.719 to build big brands that you trip over that our 0:20:35.760 --> 0:20:39.159 household names. And part of building brands like that means 0:20:40.680 --> 0:20:43.560 not turning your nose up at at linear television. And 0:20:43.600 --> 0:20:46.280 so we're going to be pitching more and more programs 0:20:46.320 --> 0:20:49.760 like that. Yesterday we announced at our new front program 0:20:49.760 --> 0:20:52.800 that we're creating between Seeker and Discovery called The Swim, 0:20:52.800 --> 0:20:59.159 where we're gonna be following an amazing guy who's going 0:20:59.160 --> 0:21:01.479 to be the first person to swim across the Pacific Ocean. 0:21:02.600 --> 0:21:05.320 He leaves next month, and that's a that's a program 0:21:05.359 --> 0:21:08.520 that is going to live across linear and digital channels, 0:21:08.800 --> 0:21:12.160 I think in a really innovative new way. UM So 0:21:12.280 --> 0:21:14.840 I'm all for sort of testing and trying all these 0:21:14.840 --> 0:21:20.399 different formats as long as we're making great stuff. Is 0:21:20.440 --> 0:21:24.520 it easy? Given each platform has its own different creative 0:21:24.640 --> 0:21:29.119 nuances programming in a way where something makes sense on 0:21:29.200 --> 0:21:33.679 Snapchat and Twitter and TV because it does feel like 0:21:33.760 --> 0:21:36.000 more and more, particularly Snapchat where I think you've got 0:21:36.000 --> 0:21:39.000 a new venture going with the now this brand and 0:21:39.040 --> 0:21:42.040 doing a breaking news Uh to talk about how that 0:21:42.119 --> 0:21:46.080 works well, So all the platforms are different, uh, and 0:21:46.119 --> 0:21:50.399 they they sort of reward and incentivized content for driving 0:21:50.440 --> 0:21:54.000 different kinds of behaviors. And obviously you know, everything from 0:21:54.240 --> 0:21:56.840 vertical video to sixteen by nine like there are there's 0:21:56.880 --> 0:22:02.240 also technical differences in the content. Uh. I think the 0:22:02.280 --> 0:22:06.080 strength of Group nine is a really nuanced understanding of 0:22:06.080 --> 0:22:10.040 those different platforms and of the sort of the best 0:22:10.040 --> 0:22:15.800 practices and the ways to be innovative on one platform 0:22:15.880 --> 0:22:22.480 versus another. That being said, really compelling stories have a 0:22:22.520 --> 0:22:25.240 home on all of them. And so you know, let's 0:22:25.320 --> 0:22:28.679 use the swim as an example. It's an amazing story. 0:22:28.720 --> 0:22:33.000 We're doing a bunch of scientific experiments, or about the 0:22:33.080 --> 0:22:40.200 health of sharks, the health of phytoplankton, what the radioactive 0:22:40.359 --> 0:22:45.240 spill in Japan has done to the oceans around there, 0:22:45.280 --> 0:22:49.119 and how far it's had impacted the sea studying the 0:22:49.119 --> 0:22:51.879 physical and mental health of the guy swimming, looking at 0:22:51.880 --> 0:22:55.080 the great garbage patch, all of these interesting studies. There's 0:22:55.119 --> 0:22:58.119 so much content that comes out of this. Will be 0:22:58.160 --> 0:23:01.639 telling stories on staff Chat that will feel totally native 0:23:01.680 --> 0:23:05.119 to and relevant for Snapchat and will be something that 0:23:05.359 --> 0:23:09.119 our audiences there will get to uh to experience and 0:23:09.119 --> 0:23:11.840 will tell a totally different version of that story in 0:23:12.200 --> 0:23:15.920 Facebook through live updates from the boat. But we'll also 0:23:16.200 --> 0:23:20.640 create a Facebook Watch show where we'll do like more 0:23:20.720 --> 0:23:24.840 in depth episodes studying specific themes that are happening in 0:23:24.880 --> 0:23:27.840 the boat. Those episodes may also be able to live 0:23:28.119 --> 0:23:31.280 in that exact format or a slightly different format on YouTube, 0:23:31.920 --> 0:23:36.440 which may not work at all for how we want 0:23:36.480 --> 0:23:39.879 to go and create a listicle on the website about 0:23:40.000 --> 0:23:43.360 the ten scariest things that he encountered this week. So 0:23:43.560 --> 0:23:47.240 I think the point is great stories live in a 0:23:47.280 --> 0:23:53.240 bunch of different way formats and versions and will be 0:23:53.280 --> 0:23:56.240 packaged differently for different platforms. But as long as the 0:23:56.480 --> 0:24:03.000 core is a great story, there are there is life 0:24:03.040 --> 0:24:05.760 across all these places, and so I don't think that 0:24:05.800 --> 0:24:09.159 you have I think that there is. There's sort of 0:24:09.160 --> 0:24:11.440 two schools of thought and neither of them are quite right. 0:24:11.520 --> 0:24:13.640 One of them is every piece of content you make 0:24:13.720 --> 0:24:16.080 lives everywhere, and you just think of them as pipes 0:24:16.080 --> 0:24:18.639 and you make it one place and you distribute it 0:24:18.680 --> 0:24:24.040 everywhere else. That would be really nice. It's just simply 0:24:24.080 --> 0:24:27.320