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Speaker 1: Welcome to Strictly Business, Variety's weekly podcast featuring conversations with

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Speaker 1: industry leaders about the business of media and entertainment. I'm

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Speaker 1: Cynthia Lyttleton, co editor in chief of Variety Today. My

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Speaker 1: guest is Craig Erwick, President of Disney Television Group. Craig

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Speaker 1: has been a buyer and a seller and a big

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Speaker 1: presence in the creative community for several decades. He worked

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Speaker 1: in programming at Fox, he helped craft shows at Warner

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Speaker 1: Horizon Television, and ten years ago he joined Hulu as

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Speaker 1: Head of Content. Today at the top of Disney Television Group,

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Speaker 1: he oversees Hulu Originals, Disney Branded Television, Preform, and ABC Entertainment,

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Speaker 1: from Kidbid to documentaries to The Golden Bachelor. Erwick's group

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Speaker 1: commissions and produces television at a scale that wouldn't have

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Speaker 1: seemed possible at the time he joined Hulu. I enjoyed

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Speaker 1: this candid city down with Craig as he talked about

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Speaker 1: managing the quote pot luck dinner of content that his

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Speaker 1: group needs to serve up to Hulu, Disney Plus, ABC,

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Speaker 1: Freeform and other hungry mouths. We get into the nitty

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Speaker 1: gritty of what it takes to open a show these days,

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Speaker 1: how the TV marketplace has rebounded after the strike, and

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Speaker 1: what the industry learned from the strike. He gives insights

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Speaker 1: into Hulu's push into stand up comedy and what its

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Speaker 1: priorities are for other genres. A deep dive with a

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Speaker 1: TV veteran is coming up right after this break, and

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Speaker 1: we're back with industry insights from Disney Television Group President

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Speaker 1: Craig Erwick. Craig Erwick, President Disney Television Group, thank you

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Speaker 1: so much for inviting me over today.

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Speaker 2: And thank you for coming over Synthing. It's good to

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Speaker 2: see you.

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Speaker 3: Last year, twenty twenty three was by all accounts, a

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Speaker 3: tough year for the business. There was sort of a

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Speaker 3: call it a man made natural. I'm sorry, I'm going

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Speaker 3: to call it a person made natural reset in the

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Speaker 3: strike for a business that we'll talk about that had

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Speaker 3: been kind of you know, I think everybody would agree

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Speaker 3: it was going a little bit overheated. We had that moment.

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Speaker 3: We've now come back. Things are in full swing Hulu.

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Speaker 3: I cannot believe you know your brands have big new priorities,

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Speaker 3: big new shows premiering every week. How do you now

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Speaker 3: that things are back and running. How would you sort

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Speaker 3: of assess the reset content marketplace of twenty twenty four.

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Speaker 2: Sure, well, you know, it's certainly not optimal to have

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Speaker 2: any kind of disruption of work. I mean, it has

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Speaker 2: an impact on people's personal lives or professional lives, and

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Speaker 2: it's certainly disrupted the pipeline, you know. That said, and

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Speaker 2: I would say this kind of across the company. It's

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Speaker 2: certainly the areas that I oversee. You know, our strategy

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Speaker 2: has never been about volume. It's always been about curation

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Speaker 2: and doing things well and focused. And that's not just

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Speaker 2: in the kind of development and production, but also in

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Speaker 2: the launching and the marketing of these shows. You know,

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Speaker 2: we really believe in marketing. So having a few things

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Speaker 2: to focus on is kind of our mantra. So to

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Speaker 2: the extent that fewer things were getting made, it didn't

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Speaker 2: have an overall impact to our strategy. Yes, the pipeline

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Speaker 2: was disrupted, for sure, and well it was difficult. We

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Speaker 2: tried to make the best of it, and I think

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Speaker 2: we did find certain opportunities. In particular at ABC. You know,

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Speaker 2: we had anticipated last year that there could be a

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Speaker 2: disruption in work, and you know, we kind of got

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Speaker 2: ahead of it and planned for a year of as

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Speaker 2: much or unscripted programming as possible. We ended up the

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Speaker 2: year number one in eighteen to forty nine for I

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Speaker 2: think the third or fourth consecutive year.

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Speaker 3: A measure that may have not as much influence as

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Speaker 3: it did years ago, but it is still an important

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Speaker 3: metric to me.

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Speaker 2: It's an important metric, and it's also a real point

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Speaker 2: of pride for us. You know, everybody who works at

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Speaker 2: ABC takes tremendous pride in what they do. You know,

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Speaker 2: Dana Walden really cherishes and celebrates the work that goes

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Speaker 2: on here. And one of the things that was a

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Speaker 2: real point of pride that was celebrated kind of from

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Speaker 2: the top of the company down last year was Golden Bachelor,

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Speaker 2: which is a show that was had been a long

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Speaker 2: time in the making, but I think the strike presented

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Speaker 2: the perfect opportunity for us to launch it, and that

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Speaker 2: became not just something that was celebrated here because it

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Speaker 2: was certainly successful, but I think became one of the

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Speaker 2: bigger cultural phenomenons of at least the television world last year,

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Speaker 2: and I think came along at the right time. It

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Speaker 2: was a show that I think, like many of the

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Speaker 2: best ABC shows had heart and humor at its core,

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Speaker 2: and it was aspirational and fun, and I think gave

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Speaker 2: everybody something to watch together, and it came together in

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Speaker 2: kind of a surprising way. Nobody was really sure what

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Speaker 2: to expect of it. So there were certainly moments last

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Speaker 2: year that we were able to pick ourselves up from

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Speaker 2: what could have been distracting and have things to have

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Speaker 2: things be successful and have things to celebrate, which is important.

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Speaker 3: How did you find it?

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Speaker 2: You know?

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Speaker 3: It's well with Golden Bachelor is a good example in

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Speaker 3: that in that moment of the necessity being the sort

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Speaker 3: of mother of that invention, were there moments of where

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Speaker 3: you found innovations or you found efficiencies because of because

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Speaker 3: things were so strained.

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Speaker 2: Yes, and I would We really tried to look at

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Speaker 2: everything through the lens of opportunity, which is generally how

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Speaker 2: I like to look at things. I just think it's

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Speaker 2: a more productive way to look at even the biggest challenges.

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Speaker 2: And so again, one of the opportunities last year was

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Speaker 2: for us to take season one of only murders in

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Speaker 2: the building because we did have a gap in programming.

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Speaker 2: As robust as our unscripted lineup was and we had

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Speaker 2: a perfect place and time to bring season one of

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Speaker 2: Only Murders to the building to ABC. It is Only

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Speaker 2: Murders is one of our most cherished and beloved shows,

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Speaker 2: sort of our successful shows. So it wasn't something that

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Speaker 2: we wanted to kind of just slap dash and kind

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Speaker 2: of just throw on the network. We wanted to treat

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Speaker 2: it like we were launching a new series because quite frankly,

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Speaker 2: for many people on ABC, it was a new series.

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Speaker 2: As popular as the show was, many people hadn't seen it,

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Speaker 2: and we're so proud of it. We wanted as many

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Speaker 2: people to see this well as well as to continue

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Speaker 2: to service our broadcast viewers with with original programming and

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Speaker 2: high quality programming.

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Speaker 3: And as I think about it, there's not that there's

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Speaker 3: very very little if anything, and Only Murders that could

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Speaker 3: not air on ABC exactly.

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Speaker 2: I mean the show is it's that tonally joyful, quirky

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Speaker 2: you know, it's it's accessible but incredibly specific and unique,

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Speaker 2: and it's.

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Speaker 3: Very recognizable faces with some.

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Speaker 2: Very recognizable faces. And I think there's I think Steve

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Speaker 2: and Marty and Selena portray their characters in a very

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Speaker 2: celebratory way because I think at the heart of it,

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Speaker 2: even behind the camera. They all really love each other

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Speaker 2: and cherish the opportunity to do great work. So and

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Speaker 2: that joy bleeds through. So Yes, ABC is an aspirational

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Speaker 2: brand in it's a place where hey, people come to

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Speaker 2: watch shows that make them feel good. So perfect Only

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Speaker 2: Murders was really a perfect show for that.

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Speaker 3: Did you see a correlation? Can you see a bright

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Speaker 3: line between it aired on ABC and a big uptick

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Speaker 3: in previous episodes and seasons on Hulu?

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Speaker 2: Absolutely, that's got to warm your heart.

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Speaker 3: It does.

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Speaker 2: It warms your heart because it warms your heart anytime

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Speaker 2: good work is seen and recognized by the audience, and

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Speaker 2: when your strategy pays off, it's very validating. And so

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Speaker 2: for sure it was. It was one of the things

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Speaker 2: we were really happy with last year. People, you know,

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Speaker 2: actors want their work to be seen. Absolutely, and I'm

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Speaker 2: just thinking as we're talking, you know, only Murders in

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Speaker 2: the building, Golden Bachelor, these are nowhere on paper? These

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Speaker 2: do these things scream hit even only Murders with Steve

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Speaker 2: Martin and Martin short like making that tone work, I

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Speaker 2: don't have to tell you, getting threading that needle and

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Speaker 2: making it work, not just for a great six episodes,

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Speaker 2: but an ongoing you know, this is a renewable resource

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Speaker 2: for you, I know, incredibly valuable. But none of them,

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Speaker 2: none of them.

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Speaker 3: Are like cookie cutter, you know, let's you know, going

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Speaker 3: for this demo or you know, this hot trend. And

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Speaker 3: I think that's that says a lot about what stands

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Speaker 3: out in this market.

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Speaker 2: I agree, And they're all highly execution dependent, and the

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Speaker 2: only way you can execute is if you run class

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Speaker 2: in business with best in class talent. And in the

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Speaker 2: case of Only Murders, with Dan Fogelman, who we are

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Speaker 2: very fortunate to have a deal with. He's busy, he's

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Speaker 2: busy and very talented and a joy to work with.

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Speaker 2: But exactly, you know, we have Paradise coming up with him,

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Speaker 2: which is a show we're really really excited about. But

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Speaker 2: Dan and John Hoffman and Steve had a vision and

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Speaker 2: I think in the case of that show, it's it's

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Speaker 2: a good example of one of the things that makes

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Speaker 2: a hit show, which was everybody was making the same show.

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Speaker 2: They all, all of the parties involved, had a real

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Speaker 2: strong vision of what they wanted it to be. It

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Speaker 2: was very clear, and our job was just to support them.

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Speaker 2: And in the case of The Golden Bachelor, just as

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Speaker 2: with any form of programming, you know, it's these things

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Speaker 2: are you make or break these shows by casting, and

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Speaker 2: we found we had an incredible cast for that show

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Speaker 2: and producers who were really dedicated to finding the romance

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Speaker 2: of that show, which is at the heart of that franchise,

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Speaker 2: as well as kind of celebrating people of a certain age,

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Speaker 2: which in a very non cynical way, which hadn't really

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Speaker 2: hasn't not done enough.

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Speaker 3: Oh I think exactly.

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Speaker 2: I won't. I't want to give anything away, but I was.

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Speaker 2: Over the weekend I watched the first episode of The

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Speaker 2: Golden Bachelorette, and what was so great about it was

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Speaker 2: because obviously, this time it's the men competing for the

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Speaker 2: woman's hand, and the men are at an age and

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Speaker 2: the show where they all know who they are, they're

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Speaker 2: there to have fun, they've all accomplished what they need

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Speaker 2: to accomplish, that they're all rooting for each other and

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Speaker 2: they're also rooting for her, So it does not have

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Speaker 2: the insecurities that while they make for good television in

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Speaker 2: a lot of unscripted programming, you know, it gives it's

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Speaker 2: really the whole show is gives you something to root for.

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Speaker 2: It's just something that puts a smile on your face

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Speaker 2: from start to finish. I'm very excited about the launch

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Speaker 2: of that.

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Speaker 3: And you talked about marketing. Obviously marketing, and you know,

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Speaker 3: Disney is renowned for its marketing and in this environment,

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Speaker 3: how much my sense is that it's like almost like

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Speaker 3: a military operation of tacticalness. Okay, we dropped this teaser,

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Speaker 3: we dropped this photo. Is it that really involved? I

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Speaker 3: know it's certainly not the We're going to buy this

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Speaker 3: many billboards in this many spots, and.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, not that it ever was easy, but you know,

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Speaker 2: Shannon Ryan and her team are the best in the

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Speaker 2: business I think that we have. And the tone starts

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Speaker 2: at the top with Dana Walden, which is, you know,

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Speaker 2: there's just always an emphasis on execution here and quality

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Speaker 2: and that's not just the shows, but the marketing has

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Speaker 2: to be as creative as possible. And I think again,

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Speaker 2: I'm going to use the Golden Bachelor. That was one

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Speaker 2: of the best marketing campaigns I've ever seen. You know,

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Speaker 2: we just started with the Golden Roses and the teasers

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Speaker 2: and we have the premiere party at you know, a diner,

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Speaker 2: which is where Gary Intresa had their first d aids.

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Speaker 2: So it requires tremendous precision, a tremendous eye to innovation.

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Speaker 3: And do you coordinate on the programming side, like are

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Speaker 3: you in touch with them about this will be a

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Speaker 3: good beat?

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Speaker 2: Yeah? I mean we You know, Shannon Ryan has her

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Speaker 2: office next to mine here at this building.

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Speaker 3: Reason.

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Speaker 2: You know, the marketing and programming have to work. They

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Speaker 2: inform each other, they have to work hand in hand,

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Speaker 2: have to be incredibly coordinated a for the marketing to

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Speaker 2: work and the ship launches of the shows to be successful.

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Speaker 2: But also because one of the ways that we try

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Speaker 2: and stand out in a crowded marketplace when it comes

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Speaker 2: to top talent is by saying this is something that

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Speaker 2: we're good at and that we believe in. Because these

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Speaker 2: creators work on these shows tirelessly and it's not just

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Speaker 2: a product to them, it's very personal. So you are

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Speaker 2: handling their baby and it needs to be handled with

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Speaker 2: care because we want repeat business from the creative community.

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Speaker 3: You're overseeing so much programming strategy for different brands, whether

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Speaker 3: it's you know, aiming at younger kids or free form

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Speaker 3: audience or entertaining adults of all ages on Hulu. How

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Speaker 3: stepping back once again sort of from the big picture,

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Speaker 3: how post strike people, I'm hearing a lot of you know,

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Speaker 3: producers and talent have even kind of downscaled the ambition.

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Speaker 3: Maybe this doesn't have to be one hundred million dollar

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Speaker 3: sci fi series. But what would you say are sort

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Speaker 3: of the cross currents in the market in terms of

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Speaker 3: what's coming in the door, what you guys are looking

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Speaker 3: for you is there a sense that there's a bit

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Speaker 3: more cost consciousness in the community right now?

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Speaker 2: Well, all our brands have separate lanes and strategies and

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Speaker 2: reasons for being. Disney Junior, for instance, which is run

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Speaker 2: by Iode Davis has a critical mission in the company,

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Speaker 2: which is it's her io and her team's job to

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Speaker 2: introduce the next generation of Disney fans to our beloved

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Speaker 2: characters and stories. That's where we're creating lifelong characters there.

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Speaker 2: And it goes, you know, by attitude and demographic all

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Speaker 2: the way up to ABC and the Golden Batcher, which

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Speaker 2: we just meant a lot of time talking about. So

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Speaker 2: we're set up and this is something Dane Wilder and

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Speaker 2: I talk a lot about, and to be very efficient

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Speaker 2: with our resources so that everybody knows their role, and

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Speaker 2: their role is to serve the consumer. The consumers have

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Speaker 2: our director to consumer. Customers have a very wide array

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Speaker 2: of tastes, and it's not it's it's easy to talk

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Speaker 2: about in terms of demographics because that you know our

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Speaker 2: sean because in a way that's the clearest, but it's

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Speaker 2: often based on mood, and we have to have something

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Speaker 2: for everybody, not just a type of person, but the

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Speaker 2: mood they're in. So somebody might be in the mood

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Speaker 2: for their Kardashians and then they might want to tackle

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Speaker 2: something more challenging and perhaps the handmad'stal So by not

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Speaker 2: by making sure that every brand is a little bit

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Speaker 2: in its own lane, make sure that we can spend

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Speaker 2: our money and spread that across Again, the kind of

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Speaker 2: the pot luck that we're a dinner that we're throwing

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Speaker 2: for our customers on a daily and tastes, it's just

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Speaker 2: as much as demographic.

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Speaker 3: Do you see I'm curious, just from that top level,

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Speaker 3: do you see viewing you know, sort of basically mirroring

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Speaker 3: what you would see, say, if you looked at the day,

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Speaker 3: you know, a day long for w NBC or WNYW

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Speaker 3: in in New York and looked kind of you know,

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Speaker 3: you see a burst around the morning when people are

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Speaker 3: watching news, and then the daytimes a little. Do you

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Speaker 3: see those kinds of patterns in like on your online platforms,

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Speaker 3: like yes, you in your Disney Plus.

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Speaker 2: Yes, you see certain periods throughout the day spike obviously

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Speaker 2: at nighttime people go home, and there are certain hours

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Speaker 2: that are the more viewing, as well as certain days

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Speaker 2: of the week or times of the year, and we

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Speaker 2: try and program accordingly, although at the end of the

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Speaker 2: day we have to have something for everybody twenty four

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Speaker 2: hours a day if you were to sixty five days

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Speaker 2: a year. Anecdotally, I always thought it was interesting that

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Speaker 2: you would see for certain kids shows like when we

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Speaker 2: had Adventure Time and Gumball on the service, like you

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Speaker 2: would see like a lot of watching at like eleven

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Speaker 2: o'clock at night. And I think our theories those are

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Speaker 2: always like college kids who were maybe relaxing, so adult

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Speaker 2: swim relaxing we euphemistically at the end of a hard

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Speaker 2: day of study.

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Speaker 3: That's funny. Yeah, I'm I'm always interested in the patterns

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Speaker 3: and how they replicate and how they how they differ.

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Speaker 3: And you said that Obviously volume for volume sake is

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Speaker 3: not the goal. But with so many brands and much go,

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Speaker 3: so many mouths to feed in terms of your own networks,

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Speaker 3: how do you track it? How do you make sure Okay,

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Speaker 3: we have at least you know, a couple of good

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Speaker 3: things coming this quarter for do you do you look

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Speaker 3: at it by quarter? By month?

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Speaker 2: We look at it. I mean, we're organized by quarter,

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Speaker 2: but that's really just that's as much a financial toll,

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Speaker 2: and it's an easy system to understand, you know, it's

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Speaker 2: just four quarters. We look year round. We know there

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Speaker 2: are certain types of year, type times of year that

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Speaker 2: provide opportunity. We try and schedule some shows closely together

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Speaker 2: because we think that audience will benefit from having a

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Speaker 2: lot of things to watch it once. And there are

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Speaker 2: certain shows we try and space out from each other.

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Speaker 2: But we between the brands that I oversee, as well

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Speaker 2: as John Langraf and the brands he oversees and Deuble

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Speaker 2: Connell on ABC News again, and as well as acquired content,

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Speaker 2: which you know plays a big role in engagement. We

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Speaker 2: try and have something on all the time time, but

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Speaker 2: each show tries to get its own We want to

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Speaker 2: make sure it gets its own Spotlight. And I think

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Speaker 2: one of the things that our creators and our shows

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Speaker 2: and our executives are very lucky working at Disney is

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Speaker 2: you know, we have this Disney Spotlight and there's a

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Speaker 2: couple of times a year for a couple of shows

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Speaker 2: that when we turn that on, you feel the difference.

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Speaker 3: Shogun definitely you could tell I was watching ESPN, but

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Speaker 3: watching Jeopardy, Like every Shogun was definitely a corporate priority.

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Speaker 2: You could feel it deservedly. So I think the results

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Speaker 2: speak speak for themselves.

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Speaker 1: Don't go anywhere. We'll be right back with more from

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Speaker 1: Disney Television Group President Craig Erwick. And we're back with

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Speaker 1: more from Disney Television Group President Craig Erwick.

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Speaker 3: Obviously, in this election year, we can all use some laughs,

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Speaker 3: and depending on what happens, we're really going to need

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Speaker 3: some laughs next year, regardless of what happens. Tell me,

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Speaker 3: I know who losing investing Hulu in particular, is investing

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Speaker 3: more in stand up comedy. Tell me about like, you

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Speaker 3: know what drives that and what that brings to you

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Speaker 3: that with all the other genres of content, that what

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Speaker 3: that connect kinecticness of stand up comedy brings.

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Speaker 2: To you sure well, I mean, who just feels like

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Speaker 2: a very fertile place for it. We have, between our

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Speaker 2: original programming and acquired content, a world class offering of comedy,

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Speaker 2: whether it's literally stand up specials, because we actually have

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Speaker 2: a fairly healthy library of acquired stand up specials or

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Speaker 2: adult animation or original original programming. So it felt like

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Speaker 2: it was time to put another piece into that puzzle,

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Speaker 2: which was stand up comedy, and we kind of went

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Speaker 2: back to the playbook that we followed with our other

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Speaker 2: original programming endeavors, which is about being in best in class,

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Speaker 2: being business with best in class talent and curation, and

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Speaker 2: creating an event for each of these. So we'll have

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Speaker 2: one a month, and we have a mix of medians

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Speaker 2: from Jim Gaffigan and Bill Burr to some more undiscovered

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Speaker 2: voices that we're excited to launch. So it just feels

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Speaker 2: like a natural progression of our comedy efforts. It's called hilarious,

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Speaker 2: and I think that's just a good way to distinguish it.

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Speaker 3: Let me ask you, though we've all seen pretty eye

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Speaker 3: popping paychecks as attached to these stand up comedy specials,

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Speaker 3: Can you do it? Can you be in this business

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Speaker 3: being best in class and still make it make sense financially.

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Speaker 2: I think so. I mean it's with any endeavor, it's

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Speaker 2: always about, uh, you're managing a portfolio. Some are going

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Speaker 2: to be more expensive than others, but overall, I think

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Speaker 2: as we kind of round it out, I think you

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Speaker 2: can absolutely have discipline, and we've had discipline. You have

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Speaker 2: to be able to walk away. And there's some some

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Speaker 2: you may pay a little more for, but that'll be

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Speaker 2: worth it. I think it's it's we're doing it on

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Speaker 2: behalf of our customers, and if we're going to do it,

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Speaker 2: you have to do it well. Otherwise it kind of

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Speaker 2: becomes a self fulfilling prophecy of an experiment that didn't work,

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Speaker 2: and that's not where we're all in. And I think

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Speaker 2: the market was a little ripe for disruption because if

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Speaker 2: it had been dominated by one player. And I think

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Speaker 2: it's good for the creative ecosystem and again for our viewers.

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Speaker 3: This is an age old question, but how you know,

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Speaker 3: I mean, television obviously can be very quick turnaround, and

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Speaker 3: things like Shogun can take you know, a decade or

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Speaker 3: the better part of a decade to come to How

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Speaker 3: do you balance the kind of in terms of what

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Speaker 3: you're interested in, what you're buying that. You know, the

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Speaker 3: challenge of writing about something that may be a trend

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Speaker 3: right now, but by the time you get on the

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Speaker 3: air might feel dated.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, how do you balance that? Well, Look, I think

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Speaker 2: these shows are only successful at to the extent that

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Speaker 2: they're timeless, and I think that's more than ever. And

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Speaker 2: I think timeless is often not just a subject matter

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Speaker 2: of theme, but about a character. So for instance, Gray's Anatomy,

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Speaker 2: which at this point, you know, the first episode premiered

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Speaker 2: somewhat twenty some years ago. The story, that pilot story

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Speaker 2: of Meredith Gray in her first day of work is

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Speaker 2: still resonating with audiences because it wasn't about what was

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Speaker 2: going on that day or that month of that year,

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Speaker 2: but it was a story about a young woman in

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Speaker 2: a very relatable situation that was highly entertaining and aspirational

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Speaker 2: and deeply romantic. That still is capturing people's imaginations twenty

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Speaker 2: some years later. See the same thing with The Rookie.

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Speaker 2: You know, the Rookie has generated hundreds of millions of

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Speaker 2: hours of engagement. Half of those have been in the

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Speaker 2: last year because there's just because of Hulu and our

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Speaker 2: ability to drive audiences to new episodes on both the

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Speaker 2: ABC and Hulu and then and drive people to catch

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Speaker 2: up that show and that character. Nathan Fillion is a

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Speaker 2: TV star who will be on television probably for the

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Speaker 2: rest of our lives. Hopefully he's our Andy Griffiths.

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Speaker 3: Just not to equate the two personalities, but that it

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Speaker 3: just in terms of he will be on TV until.

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Speaker 2: Yes, he's a guy that who's not just talented, but

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Speaker 2: everybody wants him in their living room, particularly maybe after

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Speaker 2: a hard day of work. And I hear this all

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Speaker 2: the time from people whose kids are starting to watch

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Speaker 2: The Rookie. So I think these shows have to be timeless.

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Speaker 2: If you're just trying to kind of catch a wave

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Speaker 2: of something. We have a news division that does that

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Speaker 2: very well, right than anything unscripted now, and we do

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Speaker 2: a lot of unscripted and our unscripted shows while we

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Speaker 2: are hoping to either catch or create a cultural wave. Ultimately,

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Speaker 2: these have to be subjects that people have an insatiable

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Speaker 2: curiosity about. So, for instance, we just did We had

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Speaker 2: two wildly successful documentaries last year. One was Freaknick, which

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Speaker 2: is about the Freaknik Festival of the nineties in Atlanta,

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Speaker 2: and that was a show that even though those events

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Speaker 2: were many years ago, people just brought had such a

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Speaker 2: joy and visiting them. And now with all these years later,

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Speaker 2: have the opportunity to not just say, God, that was fun,

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Speaker 2: but to now let's start to understand, Wow, what did

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Speaker 2: that actually mean? Which I think is a very good

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Speaker 2: formula for a Hulu documentary. And we just had our

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Speaker 2: Massive Crime true crime documentary and The Perfect Wife, which

436
00:24:19,080 --> 00:24:23,240
Speaker 2: is about Sherry Peppini and this woman who was supposedly kidnapped,

437
00:24:23,280 --> 00:24:27,359
Speaker 2: who had the perfect life, the perfect kids, but engineered it.

438
00:24:27,400 --> 00:24:32,000
Speaker 2: And I think people had a insatiable curiosity about what

439
00:24:32,080 --> 00:24:33,879
Speaker 2: kind of person would do that? Would you do that?

440
00:24:34,040 --> 00:24:38,639
Speaker 2: And hopefully what is what we bring to those stories

441
00:24:38,720 --> 00:24:42,640
Speaker 2: that can stand the test of time is one level

442
00:24:42,640 --> 00:24:46,760
Speaker 2: of filmmaking and innovative storytelling, but also exclusive access and

443
00:24:46,800 --> 00:24:49,320
Speaker 2: exclusive footage so that you can kind of get to

444
00:24:49,359 --> 00:24:52,240
Speaker 2: the place where you start to understand how and.

445
00:24:52,200 --> 00:24:54,560
Speaker 3: Why they did this, And I think things like you

446
00:24:55,280 --> 00:24:57,560
Speaker 3: there's a certainly there's no shortage of true crime, but

447
00:24:57,640 --> 00:25:01,240
Speaker 3: the best of it, like the Sarah Lawrence series that

448
00:25:01,440 --> 00:25:04,200
Speaker 3: absolutely just you know, as a mother of a college student,

449
00:25:04,240 --> 00:25:08,520
Speaker 3: thank god, one that's more grounded. But the more you

450
00:25:08,600 --> 00:25:11,679
Speaker 3: show that that it's that this can happen even to

451
00:25:11,800 --> 00:25:13,600
Speaker 3: seem you know, very intelligent kids.

452
00:25:13,840 --> 00:25:17,280
Speaker 1: Let's talk about something more pleasant, the return of procedurals.

453
00:25:18,040 --> 00:25:20,119
Speaker 3: My sense coming off of the strike that there was

454
00:25:20,160 --> 00:25:22,480
Speaker 3: so much talk on picket lines of kind of older,

455
00:25:22,640 --> 00:25:25,719
Speaker 3: more seasoned members talking about the days of working thirty

456
00:25:25,720 --> 00:25:27,720
Speaker 3: five weeks a year and that, you know, so that

457
00:25:27,800 --> 00:25:30,840
Speaker 3: there might be that there would be interest in that

458
00:25:30,920 --> 00:25:33,400
Speaker 3: younger generation took to develop those skills.

459
00:25:33,640 --> 00:25:35,960
Speaker 2: One thing I don't think that these shows get enough

460
00:25:35,960 --> 00:25:39,400
Speaker 2: credit for is just how well executed they are. I mean,

461
00:25:40,040 --> 00:25:42,960
Speaker 2: and I'll take Will Trent and nine to one one

462
00:25:43,000 --> 00:25:46,080
Speaker 2: is two examples. I mean, there's been you know, thousands,

463
00:25:46,760 --> 00:25:49,960
Speaker 2: thousands of cop shows and thousands of medical shows on

464
00:25:50,560 --> 00:25:53,760
Speaker 2: the air since the you know, the dawn of the

465
00:25:53,800 --> 00:25:58,680
Speaker 2: programming grid Ragnet literally on radio. These two are two

466
00:25:58,720 --> 00:26:02,280
Speaker 2: of the best, and that's why they work. I mean,

467
00:26:03,200 --> 00:26:06,080
Speaker 2: my career itself is littered with you know, attempts and

468
00:26:06,119 --> 00:26:08,000
Speaker 2: failures of ones that we didn't get it right. So

469
00:26:08,000 --> 00:26:15,000
Speaker 2: they're deceptively simple and speaking of timelessness, you know, these

470
00:26:15,000 --> 00:26:17,720
Speaker 2: are shows that actually are really are reflecting the world

471
00:26:17,760 --> 00:26:20,480
Speaker 2: that we're in. You know, it was only the broadcast

472
00:26:20,520 --> 00:26:23,880
Speaker 2: shows when you think about it, that we're dealing with

473
00:26:24,080 --> 00:26:27,080
Speaker 2: the effects of the pandemic and the frontline workers. Those

474
00:26:27,080 --> 00:26:28,919
Speaker 2: were broadcast shows. We're doing that. That was you know,

475
00:26:29,000 --> 00:26:34,159
Speaker 2: Gray's Anatomy nine one shows a Good Doctor. We're dealing

476
00:26:34,160 --> 00:26:37,200
Speaker 2: with those and showing in real time telling the stories

477
00:26:37,200 --> 00:26:40,359
Speaker 2: of the heroes. The streaming shows kind of existed in

478
00:26:40,359 --> 00:26:42,080
Speaker 2: a vacuum and weren't really doing that. I don't think

479
00:26:42,080 --> 00:26:44,560
Speaker 2: those shows got enough credit or continue to get enough

480
00:26:44,600 --> 00:26:48,400
Speaker 2: credit for that. They play a very important role in

481
00:26:48,480 --> 00:26:52,239
Speaker 2: the lives of people, not just for entertainment sake, but

482
00:26:52,320 --> 00:26:54,159
Speaker 2: for people being able to turn on the TV and

483
00:26:54,160 --> 00:26:59,560
Speaker 2: see themselves. So procedurals continue to be a priority here

484
00:26:59,680 --> 00:27:03,000
Speaker 2: and and everything is a balance. It's not about running

485
00:27:03,040 --> 00:27:04,800
Speaker 2: to the right side of the ship and saying we're

486
00:27:04,800 --> 00:27:08,159
Speaker 2: doing all this and we're not doing this. It's just

487
00:27:08,280 --> 00:27:10,880
Speaker 2: a balance and ultimately about excellence.

488
00:27:11,520 --> 00:27:14,520
Speaker 3: We can sometimes be kind of doom and gloom about TV.

489
00:27:14,640 --> 00:27:16,719
Speaker 3: Oh my god, this is a melting you know, linear

490
00:27:16,760 --> 00:27:19,720
Speaker 3: is a melting ice. Cuban direct to consumer of the numbers.

491
00:27:19,760 --> 00:27:21,679
Speaker 3: We see the numbers every quarter, and we know what

492
00:27:21,720 --> 00:27:26,040
Speaker 3: we know. But in it you sound extremely hopeful about

493
00:27:26,040 --> 00:27:29,320
Speaker 3: the future, and extremely hopeful about with ABC's future. And

494
00:27:29,720 --> 00:27:32,199
Speaker 3: who lose future? I mean when in the thick of

495
00:27:32,240 --> 00:27:34,240
Speaker 3: it you see a path forward?

496
00:27:34,600 --> 00:27:37,840
Speaker 2: Absolutely. I mean, first of all, I'm passionate, as is

497
00:27:37,960 --> 00:27:41,679
Speaker 2: everybody at ABC about the quality of the shows that

498
00:27:41,720 --> 00:27:46,159
Speaker 2: we're making. We're passionate about the enthusiasm that those shows

499
00:27:46,240 --> 00:27:51,000
Speaker 2: generate on behalf of their audience. There are remarkable creative

500
00:27:51,000 --> 00:27:54,760
Speaker 2: achievements Abbot Elementary for instance, you know, which is a

501
00:27:54,800 --> 00:27:59,960
Speaker 2: show that you know has ushered in a generational voice

502
00:28:00,480 --> 00:28:03,000
Speaker 2: and has been recognized as such thank you by the

503
00:28:03,000 --> 00:28:06,520
Speaker 2: press as well as the awards, and is destined to

504
00:28:06,600 --> 00:28:08,760
Speaker 2: be one of the classic shows of all times. So

505
00:28:09,440 --> 00:28:15,040
Speaker 2: the excellence is there. And our advantage here is that

506
00:28:15,520 --> 00:28:18,800
Speaker 2: we can probably in these days serve broadcast shows better

507
00:28:18,840 --> 00:28:21,360
Speaker 2: than we ever have, because we can put these shows

508
00:28:22,000 --> 00:28:23,840
Speaker 2: where people want to watch them, when they want to

509
00:28:23,840 --> 00:28:25,800
Speaker 2: watch them. There are people who still want to watch

510
00:28:25,840 --> 00:28:28,600
Speaker 2: a show live when they come home from work that day,

511
00:28:28,640 --> 00:28:30,760
Speaker 2: and we're there for them. But there are people who

512
00:28:30,800 --> 00:28:33,240
Speaker 2: want to watch a show a day later, a week later,

513
00:28:33,840 --> 00:28:36,520
Speaker 2: two weeks later, and they can watch that on Hulu

514
00:28:36,800 --> 00:28:41,120
Speaker 2: or on Hulu through Disney Plus. So there are certain

515
00:28:41,160 --> 00:28:44,200
Speaker 2: types of shows that are also just best advantage by

516
00:28:44,320 --> 00:28:48,120
Speaker 2: being born and launched on broadcast television because we can

517
00:28:48,160 --> 00:28:50,880
Speaker 2: make an event out of them, and those are the

518
00:28:50,960 --> 00:28:54,240
Speaker 2: kinds of shows people expect, and it all aggregates audience

519
00:28:54,720 --> 00:28:58,160
Speaker 2: to one bigger pie. And that's really where I think,

520
00:28:58,200 --> 00:29:00,800
Speaker 2: that's the really kind of the pulse of our operation

521
00:29:00,920 --> 00:29:06,000
Speaker 2: and our strategy, and the creators recognize that and they

522
00:29:06,200 --> 00:29:09,120
Speaker 2: have given us the shows to promote. I mean, one

523
00:29:09,160 --> 00:29:11,160
Speaker 2: of the really fun things for me last year was,

524
00:29:11,480 --> 00:29:13,640
Speaker 2: you know, we brought nine to one one over from

525
00:29:13,640 --> 00:29:17,560
Speaker 2: Fox ABC. It was obviously a privilege for us, it's

526
00:29:17,600 --> 00:29:20,640
Speaker 2: the number one drama on television. But what Ryan Murphy

527
00:29:20,640 --> 00:29:23,040
Speaker 2: and Tim Meneir did, and again you talk about a

528
00:29:23,080 --> 00:29:25,280
Speaker 2: lost art, you know, you and I have known each

529
00:29:25,320 --> 00:29:27,160
Speaker 2: other a long time, was we kicked it off with

530
00:29:27,200 --> 00:29:30,880
Speaker 2: a good old fashioned three episode event of you know,

531
00:29:31,280 --> 00:29:33,880
Speaker 2: a cruise ship, you know, emergency on a cruise ship,

532
00:29:34,360 --> 00:29:36,800
Speaker 2: and we were just able to create a big television

533
00:29:36,840 --> 00:29:41,280
Speaker 2: event cliffhangers or cliffhangers work. This year, you know, Ryan

534
00:29:41,440 --> 00:29:45,400
Speaker 2: and Tim have risen to the challenge once again. It's

535
00:29:45,480 --> 00:29:48,680
Speaker 2: ben Ato this year. You know, you know, good old

536
00:29:48,680 --> 00:29:52,840
Speaker 2: fashioned significant events in the lives of our characters. Give

537
00:29:52,920 --> 00:29:55,400
Speaker 2: us something to promote, and we'll promote it. So I

538
00:29:55,600 --> 00:29:57,680
Speaker 2: when I see those spots when I'm at home watching

539
00:29:58,000 --> 00:30:01,880
Speaker 2: you know, you know, Bachelor are to me. Broadcast TV

540
00:30:02,000 --> 00:30:04,880
Speaker 2: is alive and well, and you know the same for

541
00:30:06,920 --> 00:30:11,080
Speaker 2: you know, limiteds in movies. You know, at the at

542
00:30:11,120 --> 00:30:13,920
Speaker 2: the at Io Davis's group on the Disney Brander TV,

543
00:30:14,000 --> 00:30:18,480
Speaker 2: we just had a huge success with Descendants. There was

544
00:30:18,520 --> 00:30:22,120
Speaker 2: a global phenomenon and set us up really well for

545
00:30:22,160 --> 00:30:24,640
Speaker 2: next summer when we have Zombies. So I think there

546
00:30:24,680 --> 00:30:26,600
Speaker 2: is a there is something in these kind of one

547
00:30:26,600 --> 00:30:30,600
Speaker 2: time events that the whole company can rally around that

548
00:30:30,640 --> 00:30:31,720
Speaker 2: we've had a lot of success with.

549
00:30:32,160 --> 00:30:34,720
Speaker 3: Is that thinking about all of these kind of considerations,

550
00:30:34,720 --> 00:30:38,160
Speaker 3: as you said about the importance of of AO Davis's division,

551
00:30:38,200 --> 00:30:41,560
Speaker 3: because it is that it enters people into that the

552
00:30:41,640 --> 00:30:45,600
Speaker 3: larger Disney ecosystem. Is that for you a challenge that's

553
00:30:45,600 --> 00:30:48,960
Speaker 3: a different muscle than being a programming executive in the

554
00:30:48,960 --> 00:30:49,960
Speaker 3: past you have in the past.

555
00:30:50,040 --> 00:30:55,720
Speaker 2: I mean, it requires for sure a certain expertise with

556
00:30:55,840 --> 00:31:01,680
Speaker 2: a young audience, for sure, but at the same time,

557
00:31:02,240 --> 00:31:04,600
Speaker 2: you're dealing with a lot of the same opportunities and

558
00:31:04,640 --> 00:31:06,600
Speaker 2: challenges as you would if you were working in any

559
00:31:06,640 --> 00:31:09,320
Speaker 2: other platform, Which is this is the right show for

560
00:31:09,360 --> 00:31:12,800
Speaker 2: our platform? Do we have the right people executing the show,

561
00:31:12,840 --> 00:31:15,000
Speaker 2: do they have a vision? Is this a show that

562
00:31:15,080 --> 00:31:18,000
Speaker 2: we can and will support? And do we think our

563
00:31:18,040 --> 00:31:19,760
Speaker 2: audience is going to love this? And is it the

564
00:31:19,800 --> 00:31:22,320
Speaker 2: best version of what we're setting out to be? That

565
00:31:22,440 --> 00:31:26,880
Speaker 2: part goes across everything that we do here. But for sure,

566
00:31:27,120 --> 00:31:32,160
Speaker 2: you know, young people, although there's many similarities between generations

567
00:31:32,200 --> 00:31:34,480
Speaker 2: from generation to generation, they were watching TV differently this

568
00:31:34,560 --> 00:31:35,800
Speaker 2: year and we have to kind of meet them where

569
00:31:35,800 --> 00:31:39,720
Speaker 2: they are. And we've also been really aggressive about or

570
00:31:39,920 --> 00:31:43,240
Speaker 2: you know, programming on YouTube because we know that a

571
00:31:43,280 --> 00:31:44,240
Speaker 2: lot of our audience is.

572
00:31:44,200 --> 00:31:47,200
Speaker 3: There putting clips and seed clips its.

573
00:31:48,240 --> 00:31:52,280
Speaker 2: Past episodes, and we have a whole team that's dedicated

574
00:31:52,280 --> 00:31:56,360
Speaker 2: to that. And you know, I think the Disney Channel

575
00:31:56,440 --> 00:31:59,080
Speaker 2: YouTube channels, you know, probably one of the biggest ones

576
00:31:59,120 --> 00:32:01,960
Speaker 2: on all of YouTube. So it's a place that we

577
00:32:01,960 --> 00:32:03,640
Speaker 2: we think about and talk about a lot.

578
00:32:04,040 --> 00:32:07,440
Speaker 3: Here's my real last question for you, great what because

579
00:32:07,480 --> 00:32:09,240
Speaker 3: I know you again you warn't a lot of hats

580
00:32:09,240 --> 00:32:12,360
Speaker 3: and had so much experience. What would you say, what

581
00:32:12,360 --> 00:32:15,920
Speaker 3: what experiences early in your career, whether whether it was

582
00:32:15,960 --> 00:32:19,440
Speaker 3: your first job or you're an early early entertainment job,

583
00:32:19,520 --> 00:32:22,880
Speaker 3: what experiences early in your career have really helped you

584
00:32:23,280 --> 00:32:24,560
Speaker 3: in the job you have now?

585
00:32:26,120 --> 00:32:28,800
Speaker 2: Well? I think early in my career there were things

586
00:32:28,840 --> 00:32:31,800
Speaker 2: I had to do not well to learn how to

587
00:32:31,800 --> 00:32:36,280
Speaker 2: do them well. You know, learn more from mistakes sometimes,

588
00:32:36,320 --> 00:32:39,640
Speaker 2: you know, So even when you talk about giving notes

589
00:32:40,640 --> 00:32:44,520
Speaker 2: to writers and communicating with talent, you know you have

590
00:32:44,600 --> 00:32:47,560
Speaker 2: to step in it a few times to learn how

591
00:32:47,560 --> 00:32:51,600
Speaker 2: to not do that. But I think ultimately, you know

592
00:32:51,840 --> 00:32:55,360
Speaker 2: you want to first and foremost just try and treat

593
00:32:55,400 --> 00:32:59,040
Speaker 2: people with respect and dignity, your employees as well as

594
00:32:59,080 --> 00:33:03,040
Speaker 2: the partner you have creatively. I think you know, early

595
00:33:03,120 --> 00:33:06,600
Speaker 2: on I realized it's always going to be about quality,

596
00:33:07,240 --> 00:33:11,200
Speaker 2: not quantity. And I'm still learning lessons and how to

597
00:33:11,200 --> 00:33:14,560
Speaker 2: do this job better. It's it is I don't know somebody.

598
00:33:14,560 --> 00:33:15,840
Speaker 2: I think somebody you can be very good at. I

599
00:33:15,880 --> 00:33:18,120
Speaker 2: don't know you can ever master and say, you know,

600
00:33:18,440 --> 00:33:21,720
Speaker 2: check don moving on to now being a brain surgeon

601
00:33:21,840 --> 00:33:25,080
Speaker 2: or something. So it continues to be a learning experience

602
00:33:25,080 --> 00:33:26,800
Speaker 2: it which is what keeps it exciting and interesting.

603
00:33:27,240 --> 00:33:29,920
Speaker 3: Well, we're glad that you are wielding the scalpel here

604
00:33:29,960 --> 00:33:32,960
Speaker 3: at Disney Television Group. Greg.

605
00:33:32,960 --> 00:33:35,080
Speaker 2: Thank you so much, Thanks to much appreciate it.

606
00:33:38,600 --> 00:33:41,520
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening. Be sure to leave us a review

607
00:33:41,680 --> 00:33:45,280
Speaker 1: at Apple Podcasts or Amazon Music. We love to hear

608
00:33:45,320 --> 00:33:48,440
Speaker 1: from listeners. Please go to Variety dot com and sign

609
00:33:48,560 --> 00:33:52,560
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610
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611
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