UP Entertainment celebrates its 20th anniversary in October with a large footprint for its family-friendly content across cable (UPtv, which launched in 2004, and Aspire TV), subscription streaming (UP Faith & Family and AspireTV Plus) and free, ad-supported TV (FAST) services (Aspire TV Life and Cine Romantico). In addition, the brand has recently expanded to include acquisitions GaitherTV Plus, featuring country, gospel, bluegrass and Christian-music content, as well as a partnership with Christian-themed, kids-targeted SVOD service Minno.

Spearheading UP Entertainment’s business operations is CEO Charley Humbard. The cable veteran has steered UPtv to a top-50 Nielsen ranking among cable networks in households thus far in third-quarter 2024 — up 10 spots from the second quarter.

Humbard, the son of late television evangelist Rex Humbard, spoke to B+C Multichannel News senior content producer R. Thomas Umstead about UPtv’s successful two decades within the entertainment industry, as well as the continued expansion of the brand across multiple platforms. An edited transcript follows.  

As you approach 20 years at UPtv, how has the brand evolved compared to when you initially launched the service? While the brand has evolved from music — when it was originally the Gospel Music Channel — to now with general-entertainment content, it has stayed consistent in the genre of providing uplifting content. As I look back now to where we were then, we have been the creators and definers of uplifting entertainment over the past 20 years of our journey. 

Given today’s crowded television environment, is there a place and audience for uplifting, family-friendly entertainment? I think so, now more than ever. I hate to say it, but the general environment today is supercharged and full of a lot of negativity. People really need a refuge and a place to go and get away from it all and get good stories that inspire them and remind them that faith, family and relationships are still so important. I think that speaks to why we are having the success that we’re having in experiencing the greatest growth in revenue and profitability for our services. It’s the perfect storm for us right now. 

How do you see AspireTV developing as an outlet for African-American viewers looking for programming catered to them? We wanted to stay true to what [AspireTV founder] Magic [Johnson] really wanted to establish for the network, which was a place for Black and urban viewers to see themselves in a positive light. We’ve added lifestyle programming such as cooking and travel to the network’s lineup. We recently launched AspireTV Plus, and we’re seeing really great success with that. 

How aggressive will you continue to be in expanding the UPtv brand into the streaming arena, as well as through content acquisitions? We’re looking at opportunities constantly to acquire things that I think can really help serve this audience. We recently completed a partnership with Ovation where we now represent [both companies] to advertisers and to cable operators and distributors. It’s a great addition for us. But with anything we always want to remain a reliable place that people can trust and know that the content is going to be right for them and their family. That philosophy works great for our distributors, advertisers and viewers.

Why is it important to you to extend the UPtv brand beyond television through community initiatives like “UPlift Someone,” which promotes acts of kindness and social responsibility? Nothing makes your brand more real than putting your sweat, blood and tears and personal time into it. I think that the kind of people we hire and the culture that we have built up at UPtv makes our people eager to go out and uplift others and do these things. Being uplifting to others is a core value of our company, and I think it’s really important that you live your brand. 

Lifetime this year marks its 40th anniversary with a continued focus on operating as the premier programming destination for women. Leading the network’s charge is senior VP of unscripted development and programming Brie Miranda Bryant, who has developed several successful and buzzworthy documentaries showcasing high-profile personalities while shining a light on important, women-centric social issues. 

Since joining Lifetime in 2017, Bryant has served as executive producer of such culturally-defining documentaries as the 2019 Emmy Award-nominated series Surviving R. Kelly, exposing violence against women and reaching more than 26 million viewers, and Where Is Wendy Williams?, this year’s docuseries about the controversial former talk-show host’s attempted return to TV amid physical and mental obstacles. 

This month, Bryant will oversee the launch of The Life & Murder of Nicole Brown Simpson, in recognition of the 30th anniversary of her infamous death and in collaboration with the National Domestic Abuse Hotline. The network also plans several public service announcements for its “Stop Violence Against Women” initiative during the two-night event. 

As Lifetime celebrates four decades on the air, Bryant spoke to B+C Multichannel News senior content producer, programming R. Thomas Umstead about the A+E Networks-owned network’s commitment to serving its target audience amid a crowded television marketplace. An edited transcript follows.  

Why is it significant for you and the Lifetime brand to profile the stories of high-profile women? It’s always an honor to feature real stories about high-profile women. At Lifetime, we also make a concerted effort to amplify the voices of lesser-known women, as we find their stories to be equal in value.

Are you surprised that Lifetime shows such as Where Is Wendy Williams? and Surviving R. Kelly have become such cultural touchpoints that extend beyond the subjects that are profiled? I am floored. It’s completely unimaginable how many people both projects have affected and inspired. It’s a privilege to have worked on them. 

How important is it to you for Lifetime to support organizations dealing with such women’s issues as domestic violence, mental health and breast cancer? We try to be a genuine reflection of the everyday challenges women encounter. As most of our stories are rooted in the real lives of real women, all of these issues are a natural reflection of what women face every day. Inspiring change through entertainment is very powerful.

How does inclusion in front of and behind the camera factor into Lifetime’s overall programming strategy? It is paramount. Diversity in our subjects, their stories and our approach — in front and behind the camera — are paramount to our programming strategy. We cannot be successful otherwise.

How does Lifetime continue to remain relevant in a very crowded television marketplace?  Our team continues to look for really remarkable women with extremely compelling stories to tell. When we find them, we work on creating the most authentic vehicles with which to tell those stories. We’re sticking to that — and it’s been working well. 

Will Trent, about a special agent with a troublesome background, including being abandoned at birth and enduring a rough childhood in foster care, debuts on ABC January 3. Ramón Rodríguez portrays Trent, who works for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. 

Of her 23 novels, Karin Slaughter has written 10 with Trent as her main character. Her novel Pieces of Her was adapted into a series on Netflix last year. 

Slaughter is an executive producer on Will Trent, and spoke with B+C about the challenge of adapting a book to television, what makes the show timely and what Rodríguez brings to the title role. An edited transcript follows. 

Where did the idea for Will Trent initially come from? I was looking to write about a detective who was more like the guys I grew up with. A lot of them were raised by single moms. Will was raised in a children's home by a woman, and he’s been guided through his life by many strong women. He listens to women, which is a very sexy thing for guys to do. And he’s very tuned into reading the room. Because he has a reading disability, he has to pick up on cues. He has to look for changes in tone. He's much more tuned into that, which is what makes him a great detective. 

What’s the biggest challenge in adapting a novel to television? They’ve taken the first two Will Trent books, Triptych and Fractured, and melded them together in a way that I had never anticipated would work so well.

Did you work on the screenplays? I didn’t. I gave my notes and the little thoughts that I had. But the book is the book and the show is the show. 

What makes the show relevant in 2023? [The producers] really picked up what was important to me in the books, which is, the plot has to be as interesting as the characters, and the characters have to be as interesting as the plot. So you’ve got Will, who has a lot of baggage from his childhood. You’ve got his situation with Angie. You’ve got Faith, who has this underlying hatred for him because he investigated her mother in the Atlanta Police Department. And then you’ve got a very mysterious relationship that Amanda has with Will that we don’t know quite that much about yet. So there’s a lot of emotional stuff that resonates in addition to a really cracking seat-of-your-pants kind of thriller.

What does Ramón bring to the title role? First, he’s very sexy. That has to be said. 

When he plays Will, you get the sense that this is a really smart guy. He understands what he’s doing. He’s aware that sometimes his personality can be a little off-putting. But he’s made a choice as an adult to do the right thing. 

A lot of kids who grow up in foster care get caught up in the system, and that horrible trap of not having any support. Will has been able to right himself and make a choice that he's going to do the right thing and try to help other people. I think Ramón is amazing at conveying that. ▪️

Fox drama Monarch, about the family that rules country music in America, debuts September 11. Country star Trace Adkins plays Albie, the patriarch of the Roman family, who is known as the “Texas Truthteller.” Susan Sarandon portrays his wife, Dottie, the queen of the country scene, who has some issues with her husband’s Truthteller moniker.  Fox calls the show “a Texas-sized, multigenerational musical drama about America’s first family of country music.” 

Monarch was to launch after the NFC Championship game in late January, but was pushed back amid COVID-19-related delays. 

 Adkins’s debut album was Dreamin’ Out Loud in 1996. His hits include “(This Ain’t) No Thinkin’ Thing,” “Honky Tonk Badonkadonk” and “Ladies Love Country Boys.” He spoke with B+C Multichannel News senior content producer, programming Michael Malone about Monarch, country music and working alongside Sarandon. Asked if he offered any singing tips to his co-star, Adkins was unequivocal. “No, no, no,” he responded. “No.”

An edited transcript of the conversation follows. 

How did you end up getting involved with Monarch? I don’t know, somebody called me and asked me if I want to be on a TV show. I did an audition thing with them on Zoom and two weeks later I was on the set. It happened very quickly — there wasn’t a lot of time to think about it too much. 

Tell me about your Albie character. Albie is the patriarch of this very successful country music family that’s somewhat of a dynasty — at least they think that’s what it is. He’s herding cats — that’s his job. He tries to keep a lid on some of the drama. He keeps the family together while at the same time he tries to enjoy life and play a little music here and there. 

How did you and Susan Sarandon build your chemistry and get to know each other? We didn’t have a chance to, really. We were thrown into the fire together. I was very nervous going in, of course, working with a legend like Susan Sarandon. I was terrified! But I quickly realized that it’s the easiest acting gig I ever had [because] she’s such a pro. All I gotta do is swim in her wake and just try to hang on. She does the heavy lifting. All I do is hang on.

If you heard someone say, ‘I’m not going to watch Monarch because I don’t like country music,’ what would you say to them? There’s a lot of different kinds of music going on. It’s not just country. Albie’s grandchildren are not really into country music that much. They’re singers and he tries to participate, tries to be part of their lives. So he gets in there with them and gives it a try. That gave me the opportunity to do some things I don’t normally do. So it’s not all country music.

Will your music be featured at all in the show? No. But as Albie, I went into the studio and recorded classic country songs — standards that I otherwise never would have touched: “Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys” [Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson]; “A Country Boy Can Survive” [Hank Williams Jr.]; “I Think I’ll Just Stay Here and Drink” [Merle Haggard]. 

I just wouldn’t have [recorded them]. But as Albie I can. ■

Lifetime and LMN executive VP of scripted content Tanya Lopez is not afraid to experiment with industry programming models. While traditional one-hour episode scripted series and limited miniseries continue to dominate the lineups of many cable, broadcast and streaming services, Lopez is looking to blend the programmer’s core of two-hour original movies into a miniseries format she believes will appeal to its loyal and passionate female audience.  

From the upcoming Fallen Angels Murder Club series of movies debuting in April to the Flowers in the Attic: The Origin four-part limited series premiering this summer, Lifetime under Lopez’s tutelage is looking to rewrite the script for the traditional miniseries genre.

If successful, this will add another feather to the cap of Lopez, who has guided the A+E Networks-owned outlets’ programming fortunes since 2007. During that time, she has overseen the development of such Emmy-nominated projects as Robin Roberts Presents: Mahalia, Flint and The Trip to Bountiful while attracting some of the biggest names in the entertainment industry to star in and helm Lifetime projects, including Roberts, Mary J. Blige, Toni Braxton, Janet Jackson and Queen Latifah. 

Lopez outlined Lifetime’s strategy for serving its core female audience in today’s ever-changing TV landscape and shared her thoughts on the industry’s diversity and inclusion efforts in an interview edited for space and clarity.  

Where does Lifetime’s female-targeted brand fit in a very crowded TV marketplace? I think what's happened in all this craziness is that we've become an even stronger brand. I think as people look to see what they can count on and what they know is true, signature brands like Lifetime, History, Disney and A&E give viewers some comfort in knowing that when they turn it on they know what they’re going to get. In that sense, we are still the highest-producing network for movies on television, and our viewers know they can come to us for that. 

What is Lifetime’s strategy behind focusing on original movie franchises rather than traditional scripted series? What we are doing are limited scripted series broken out in two-hour blocks. For instance, we have coming up Flowers in the Attic: The Origin, which is going to tell you all about how Flowers in the Attic started, but we're doing it in two-hour blocks over four nights. If we were a streamer or even a network, you would call that eight episodes. We're calling it a limited series of movies. Our scripted content is flexing — we probably do more scripted television than anyone. We’re doing this with [April’s] The Fallen Angels Murder Club, where we’ll air one movie one week and then another in the franchise the next weekend. That's going to feel, in quotation marks, like a series. Later this year we’re doing another with Angie Harmon starring in Buried in Barstow. That's what we’re calling our scripted anthology of movies: It’s a series of movies that feature continuing characters, but in a two-hour format. 

What’s been your secret to attracting major talent to your original movies both within the television space and from other entertainment media? We go to them and say, we want to tell the story you want to tell and we want to hear what your point of view is on whatever subject matter we’ve decided to tell. What we really want is their passion for the material they’re in to come through. We also depend on them to partner with us to promote these projects — we’re not Marvel, so we need to know that our talent is passionate enough about their projects to get out there and scream about it from the rooftops. 

How important is inclusivity to you in terms of your programming decision-making, and how do you view the industry’s overall diversity efforts? It’s always been part of the Lifetime DNA because we were always trying to be inclusive of all kinds of women. If you think of Strong Medicine and other past Lifetime shows, it's always been a big deal. As we all have become more aware, our company decided that it should be a bigger initiative. It really empowered us to say it's not just what Lifetime should be doing, but what we all should be doing. There’s not a person in this company that doesn’t put it on their priority list. For the industry I think it's like turning around a cruise ship: it’s happening, but not as fast as everyone wants or can do. I do feel positive and optimistic, but it’s not without intent every day.  

How do you see the industry trending in terms of the quality and quantity of content creation and distribution? I think we're all going to have to be more creative, innovative, patient and aggressive — all these things need to come into play. What I've already noticed within our own company is every day you‘re pivoting, because it's moving so fast that in order to be successful, you really have to be open. Those that survive are going to be the ones who are the most flexible and the most willing to give up some things that worked for a long time but that just don’t work now. ■

Steve White has had a storied career in the cable industry, including 11 years as president of Comcast’s West Division, where he managed 30,000 employees and drove annual revenue past $18 billion. But he cites helping his single mother clean hotel rooms as a young boy as the turning point in his life and business philosophy. White said his mom’s fierce determination to provide for her family (he has three brothers) drove him to excel in a business career that has spanned three decades. Currently president, special counsel to Comcast Cable CEO Dave Watson, White has written a book about that philosophy — Uncompromising — that was released on February 22. He spoke recently with B+C Multichannel News senior content producer — finance Mike Farrell. An edited transcript follows. 

Your book, Uncompromising: How an Unwavering Commitment to Your Why Leads to an Impactful Life and a Lasting Legacy, came out February 22. What made you decide to write it? I’m inspired by the quote often attributed to Mark Twain. ‘The two most important days in your life are the day you’re born, and the second is when you find out why.’ Through hardship, I was able to answer the second question. My why is to create a table of prosperity for as many people as possible. Sharing my life’s lessons — my successes and failures — is in service of my purpose.

You obviously had a great role model in your mother, but have there been other mentors that helped you realize your potential in other parts of your career? Certainly, my wife Barbita should be included. I have more mentors than most people, but my ‘trick’ is that most of these folks don’t know that they’re mentoring me. I identify leaders that I admire from afar and I study them. If I get an opportunity to meet them, I ask them all the questions time will allow. I believe you can learn from everyone, so don’t limit yourself. 

You also say that learning from mistakes is as important as learning from successes. What do you consider to be your biggest mistake and what did you learn from it? My biggest mistake was putting myself ahead of my team, and I was fired as a result early in my career. My why became clearer to me while I reflected on that life event. If I wanted to enjoy any level of success, I had to become a servant leader. When I’m faced with fear around a decision or direction, I always ask the question, ‘If I knew I couldn’t fail, what would I do?’ The decision becomes very clear, and I go with it.

One of the things under your purview as president, special counsel to the CEO at Comcast Cable is diversity, equality and inclusion. What do you think the industry’s top priorities should be on that front? We have a terrific team leading our efforts. From my perspective, the priorities around DE&I are as follows:

Engaged leadership: Commit to these initiatives from the highest levels of the organization.

Investment and empowerment: Provide a ‘hand up’ rather than a ‘hand out.’

Accountability: There should be rewards and consequences for creating an inclusive culture with increased representation of people of color.

Impatience: As an example, this industry created broadband. When we commit, there is nothing that will stop us.

Vulnerability: Recognize and admit we can do better. Ask for help and start with your employees. 

The pandemic has caused a lot of people, particularly younger people, to re-evaluate their career priorities. Is this good or bad?  It is good. And one correction: it isn’t just younger people. All leaders are re-evaluating their career priorities. The winning companies will have a clear purpose for existing. I go back to the earlier quote: ‘The two most important days in a company’s life is the day it is born, and the second is when they know why.’ If your company can answer that second question with clarity, then your chances of surviving for years to come increase dramatically. ■

Danny McBride is the creator of The Righteous Gemstones, and plays Jesse Gemstone as well. Season two of the dark comedy, about a famous family of not-so-pious televangelists, begins on HBO Sunday, January 9. 

John Goodman, Edi Patterson and Adam Devine also play Gemstone family members. 

The Righteous Gemstones represents McBride’s third comedy on HBO, along with Eastbound & Down and Vice Principals. He spoke with B+C/Multichannel News, and sat for the podcast Series Business, discussing what viewers can expect in the new season, where his ideas come from, and his obsession with TV and film as a kid, which saw him accompany his parents to the cable company storefront to pay the bill, thinking he might get to see some TV being made. 

“I was always fascinated by movies and television,” McBride said. 

A lightly edited transcript follows. 

How much research do you do into the whole televangelist thing to get that right? We definitely do our research. One way I’ve found that has been an interesting way to do research, whether it’s writing about vice principals or mega-pastors, is to look for message boards that are moderated by, and have people participating in them, that actually work in that industry. I can find out what people get annoyed about in that industry. What are the trivial things that wouldn’t make a headline, but would ring as authentic to people in that field? That’s a fun way to get into the mindset of it a little bit. 

Where did the initial idea for the show come from? I grew up going to church and my family is very involved in church. I moved to Charleston, South Carolina, and was just driving around and saw how many churches were here. That got me thinking, ‘What is church like now? It’s been a while since I’ve been, how has it changed?‘ I started to do dives on megachurch pastors and saw what a business this stuff had become, and it just felt interesting to me. It’s nothing really against religion at all, but just this idea of when capitalism meets religion and how sometimes the growth of things can outweigh what the original intention was. It just felt like that was a cool place to tell a story, about a family who had a mission, and now the growth has superseded everything they stand for and believe in. 

Have you gotten much pushback from the uber-religious community? I haven’t really. That could just be because I don’t think religious people watch the shit that I make. My aunt is a minister and my parents still participate with church. They don’t like these kinds of grifters either. It’s a very sacred thing. I think it turns off anybody who is religious, when they see people who use their beliefs to enrich their personal finances. 

How did you get John Goodman on board? We sent him the script and I had no idea that he would respond to it, but I thought, why not? Who’s better than John Goodman? I got a call back that said he was interested in doing it. 

It’s been a complete treat to not only get to work with someone like him but to get to know him as a friend. He’s someone whose career I’ve always admired and it's awesome to have him as part of the show. 

What can viewers expect in the new season? We do a deep dive on [Goodman character] Eli and show where Eli came from and, most importantly, how far he’s willing to go. We get to know a little bit more about this family history — where they came from and how they got here. It’s still a front-row seat to the dysfunction that is front and center with this family.

After 23 years as a top executive at Viacom (now ViacomCBS), helping to launch groundbreaking networks like Logo TV and overseeing operations at iconic brands like MTV and VH1, Kristin Frank switched career gears in 2019, becoming president (and then CEO) of customer intelligence platform AdPredictive. AdPredictive helps clients better navigate the ever-complicated media landscape, even more relevant as the current shift toward streaming video and on-demand content has blurred the lines between advertising and programming. Frank spoke with B+C/Multichannel News senior content producer, finance Mike Farrell. An edited transcript follows. 

What drew you to this company? I was drawn to AdPredictive by the energy and the culture. We create more with less, fast and with laser focus on impact, while staying ahead of the needs of the industry. What hooked me was how the company solves the industry’s hard problems with solutions that I had wished for in a partner when I was at MTV. 

Discovery has been an early supporter. Will that continue and expand once their merger with WarnerMedia is complete? Discovery has committed themselves to a strong, open and reciprocal relationship with their viewers, and that is evident in the work they do to understand and connect with their audiences with the help of AdPredictive intelligence. 

We’ve had the right solution, were ahead of the industry [and] worked really hard to grow the company and increase profitability. At this juncture, it’s about scaling and accelerating with the right solutions in the marketplace. We’re increasingly seeing our clients extend the use of our intelligence beyond marketing into all areas of their business, from cross-department insights to informing a CFO’s messaging to shareholders. And amid all of that, we’ve started to extend platform access to a broad base of industries including sports, retail, automotive and finance.

Ad measurement has become a hot-button issue as streaming and online have taken over traditional ways to deliver ads. How do you see things playing out? From my perspective, it’s quite simple. To drive real business growth and impact business outcomes — ROAS [return on ad spend], cost per sale, cost per tune-in, etc. — you have to know who your customers are and understand what media they engage with. AdPredictive takes a modern approach to this with our customer intelligence and attribution methodology. A great example of that is an attribution study that is in progress for a major entertainment client. In addition to tracking exposure and viewership conversions across linear TV and digital, we’re also adding their CRM data from email outreach into the attribution mix and looking at the crossover of their linear audiences with their streaming subscribers.

Does it matter to AdPredictive which platform wins out — Nielsen, Comscore, a combination of those or others? The short answer is no. What matters to AdPredictive is a business model that works for business. There is a tipping point at which it is cost-prohibitive to access data. Trying to solve for a broken business model really needs to be focused on a new structure. AdPredictive is not stuck in the old way. Brands should own their data and IDs without the restrictions that prevent enough trust to activate, optimize and drive growth. 

You’ve been on both sides of the table on this issue. How does that unique perspective help your clients? As a Viacom executive and now the CEO of AdPredictive, I oversee our business with an entrepreneurial spirit. I’ve been where my clients are and was super-excited to come to AdPredictive because we are solving the industry’s hard problems —  leveraging data intelligence and machine learning to drive stronger business outcomes, customer understanding and media effectiveness. ■

With seven years, seven seasons and 68 episodes in the can, the seminal Amazon Prime Video original series Bosch will wind down this summer. 

Hardboiled titular character Harry Bosch will end his highly productive, albeit somewhat polarizing, run as an LAPD Hollywood Division homicide detective, moving on to become a Mr. Gadget for power attorney Honey Chandler. This isn’t a spoiler. We already know that star Titus Welliver and his character—inspired by the novels of Michael Connelly, living by his own rules, and answering only to the call of justice from high atop Laurel Canyon in his swanky, panoramically situated, smooth-jazzimbued bachelor pad — is being spun off into an as-yet-untitled spinoff on Amazon’s ad-supported IMDb TV platform. 

Bosch bolting the LAPD was in the announcement. As Amazon gets set to upload the final eight episodes of Bosch on June 25, what we don’t know is what happens to Bosch’s longtime loyal partner, the stylishly able Jerry Edgar, played by actor Jamie Hector. When we last saw J. Edgar, as he’s most often called in the cubicles of the soon-to-shutter Hollywood Division, he was uncharacteristically taking justice into his own hands, offing Haitian drug kingpin Jacques Avril (Treva Etienne) in a shoot that internal affairs would definitely deem less than “good,” had Detective Edgar not — also uncharacteristically — lied about the details. 

We caught up with Hector to ask him what the heck is going on with the usually so steady J. Edgar. And what’s he gonna do now?

It was definitely a shock the way Detective Edgar took down Avril at the end of Season 6. What got into him?

What got into Jerry was the need for justice. Avril was about to commit another murder, and he had the protection of the government to do it. It was also personal — he killed Jerry’s uncle. It was that deep pain in Jerry’s gut that the world was going to lose with Avril in it because of the atrocities he committed in Haiti, the murders in the U.S. and the murders he would commit in the future, still under the protection of the government. 

Your character on "Bosch" is definitely guided by a basic sense of humanity, which is very different from the more pathological Marlo Stanfield (of "The Wire"), a role you’re also really well-known for. Can you describe the key differences in approach?

The key difference in my approach was the sum total of their lives at the point in which we met them. Not just the moments before or the day before—it was their lifetime before that led up to the moment their stories began. They were created by their environments: Marlo saw his mother sleeping with a different man every night, and he slept on the floor. Jerry slept in his own bed, and he had the protection of his family who sang “Happy Birthday” to him and made sure he had everything he needed. Marlo’s life was built on lack and survival—he’s going to get what he needs by any means necessary—if that means respect, money, whatever he needs at that time, so be it. Jerry’s was built on access, protection and service.

How influenced is your performance by the Michael Connelly books? Obviously, those novels must impact the character development to an extent. But there seems to be a lot of you in J. Edgar. 

In season 1, I read the books that the season was based on, and I felt as if I was playing the role with the knowledge of what was going to happen next. In life, it doesn’t work like that, so after season 1, I stopped reading the books beforehand, especially since the scripts were not written exactly like the books. When that would happen, it would throw me off when what the book and scripts said were different. It would be funny sometimes—for example, I am a runner, so when we would do a scene where a little running got Jerry winded, now that was difficult for me. 

How challenging was shooting Season 7 of "Bosch" in the middle of a pandemic? 

It was very challenging because pre-pandemic, the set of Bosch was a very comfortable, friendly set, where everyone was close, from the actors to the crew to the producers. Everyone spoke every day, and we ate together. So after six seasons of this comfort, when COVID-19 hit and we had to distance ourselves, that was challenging. 

Any chance Jerry Edgar collides with Harry Bosch working a case for Honey Chandler in the IMDb TV spinoff? 

You never know. I am excited to know that the work we did together was able to lead to a spinoff, and I’m happy about that whether I make an appearance in it or not. 

Michael Bair knows his way around a sports network. The longtime media executive worked at ad firm Ogilvy & Mather, Showtime, HBO, Cablevision Systems and Rainbow Media before a nine-year stint as president of Madison Square Garden Media Group and two years as CEO of streaming startup Bleachers Corp. He joined Charter Communications in 2016, after the merger with Time Warner Cable, to run Spectrum Networks. Now in charge of 30 sports and news channels, including the iconic NY1, Spectrum SportsNet and SportsNet LA in Los Angeles and local sports channels in Kansas City and Hawaii (as well as a 27% stake in SNY, the TV home of the New York Mets), Bair is guiding the channels through one of the industry’s most disruptive periods ever. He discussed the changing landscape with Multichannel News/B+C senior content producer, finance, Mike Farrell. An edited transcript follows.

With vaccines more widespread and MLB planning a 162-game schedule this season, are you optimistic sports may finally be on its way back? Sports took a pause but never fully went away. While I am optimistic that as the vaccine continues to roll out across the country, more and more stadiums and arenas will be able to safely welcome fans back, I am equally confident that fans will continue to tune in to SportsNet and SportsNet LA. Last season, Dodgers telecasts on SportsNet LA recorded the network’s highest-
ever household rating (2.63) and A25-54 rating (1.43), while Lakers live game broadcasts on SportsNet recorded the highest household rating (2.99) and A25-54 rating (2.03) since the 2012-13 season.   

You have four regional sports networks. Do you see that programming differently than some of your peers, as more of a retention tool? With all of our networks, sports and news, we focus on engagement. On the news side, who we are and what we do is entirely community-based. Our goal is to add value to the customers’ services and to be essential to their everyday lives. For sports, our goal is also to provide value — in this instance, by eliminating the middleman, which often increases the cost of sports programming. 

SportsNet LA, home of the current World Series champion Dodgers, signed a carriage deal with DirecTV owner AT&T last year. Are you close to other deals? We announced our carriage agreement with AT&T last April, and now SportsNet LA is available to 100% of homes in Las Vegas and Hawaii. We do not have anything to report on negotiations with other distributors, but it should be noted that Spectrum and AT&T are available to the vast majority of potential viewers in the Dodgers in-market area. 

You have news channels in markets as diverse as New York, Los Angeles and Bowling Green, Kentucky. How important is local news to the overall strategy? Local journalism is as essential to communities as are schools, parks and libraries. Over the past year, the pandemic has accentuated the critical need for reliable local news that informs and empowers communities. Yet, local news organizations are shutting down, cutting costs and reducing coverage. We’re largely going in the other direction, even launching new networks in Dallas, Texas, and Asheville, North Carolina, in the middle of the pandemic. 

What are your plans for those news channels? Over the past few years, we have launched networks in California, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Ohio and Wisconsin. In 2020, we expanded our networks in North Carolina and Texas, and we launched the Spectrum News App to better enable Spectrum customers to access our news and content to our video and our internet-only customers. Our plan is to constantly increase and improve on our local coverage.  Going forward, as news consumption habits continue to evolve, our goal is to ensure that our customers can always access our news anytime and anywhere, whether they are watching, listening or reading.

Game of Talents, a variety series that showcases the hidden talents of mystery performers, premieres on Fox Wednesday, March 10. It follows the season five premiere of The Masked Singer, and is hosted by Wayne Brady, who won season two of Masked Singer. 

On Game of Talents, contestants guess the talent of the performer — say, comedy, dancing or fire-throwing — before they perform. Produced by Fremantle, the show offers more than $200,000 in prize money each episode. “Can the contestants spot the fire dancer from the spider wrangler or the gospel singer from the contortionist?” said Fox. “Can you??”

Brady, who also hosts daytime’s Let’s Make a Deal, shared his thoughts on Game of Talents. “If [viewers] want a good time and want to escape and want to cheer some people on and see some ridiculous yet awesome acts, tune in,” Brady said. He spoke with MCN senior content producer Michael Malone.

What drew you to Game of Talents? Fremantle said they had a property that was part talent show and part game show, and they wanted my take on the talent piece. Helming Let’s Make a Deal for them for 12 seasons, I think they trust my taste and the fact that I know what I’m doing as a host. I’m a big fan of talent — I like to push people to the forefront. So it seemed like a really great fit. 

Who do you consider an influence among game show hosts? I never set out to be a game show host, so I don’t have an influence — I just do what I do. In my book, a great host is someone good at being a version of themselves instead of putting on the this-is-my-host persona. That rings very false to me. That’s why, even in the beginning, I was [hesitant] to even accept the job because I didn’t want to step into the Guy Smiley/game show host pattern. 

Any hosts you watch where you say, they’re doing a great job? Like all of America and the world, Alex Trebek. Alex, God bless him, was the standard in terms of what he brought to that position and the respect he had. I always felt that Alex Trebek knew all the answers; I always thought he didn’t even need to look at the card. He just filled you with ease. I think that’s the best thing about a host. 

What makes Game of Talents right for 2021? It’s a day and age when people need to feel good about what they’re viewing. You can turn on the TV and news channels or any social media channels to hear the bad news and see the horrible crap happening. But to be able to see people win money, which is what I enjoy doing on Deal.
On Game of Talents, we give people the opportunity to change their circumstance for a second and that’s a beautiful thing.
We give talent a chance to show themselves off and that’s another beautiful thing. Talent should be rewarded and should be high-fived. 

What’s your hidden talent? The ability to not cook well is my superpower. Don’t get me wrong: I can cook, for a bachelor. If there was one thing my mom made sure I could do before I left her house, it was, you will be able to cook for yourself. I can cook eggs. I can cook steak and eggs. I’m very good at peanut butter and jelly sandwiches — I’m super-adept at that. 

Since 2015, Raney Aronson-Rath has served as executive producer of Frontline, PBS’s flagship investigative journalism series, overseeing production of more than 20 in-depth documentaries each year on critical issues facing the country and the world. As if stepping into the shoes of Frontline’s founder and seminal EP, eight-time Emmy winner David Fanning, during a post-Trump era of public trust headwinds blowing in the opposite direction of exactly the job she’s trying to do wasn’t tough enough? Aronson-Rath is also trying to transform Frontline for a new generation of news consumers, adapting the series into formats they pay attention to. Here’s what she told B+C senior content producer, technology Daniel Frankel recently, in a conversation edited for space and clarity.

What is the process for selecting a Frontline story? There are many different kinds of Frontline stories. Often, they are ones we’d consider the ‘biggest’ or most important of the year. But sometimes they are less well-known or understood — and literally might not get told if we don’t do it. The stories take different forms; they can be first-person, reporter-led, narrated or cinema verité. 

The common thread through whatever we do though is rigorous journalism brought to life in cinematic, narrative form. We’re always looking at the reporting, at the accountability, the questions being asked, the diversity of perspectives, and not just the present conflict but the context of whatever subject we are investigating.  

What Frontline stories are you most proud of? I always say that is like asking a parent who their favorite child is. I like them all! But I am most excited when our journalism is shining, when we are asking the tough questions of the people who should be held to account, when we reveal things that people hadn’t seen before or expose injustices or inequities. 

This past year, I have been especially proud of the early decision we made to focus on those who have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19. In light of the attack on the Capitol, I am also really focused right now on our years-long commitment to reporting on right-wing extremism and white supremacist and hate groups. This dates back to our “Documenting Hate” films with ProPublica, where we identified Charlottesville assailants — and there is much more we are doing in this territory. 

That reminds me: I am really proud of our collaborations with other news organizations. This has been a top priority for me at Frontline and our partners are just amazing. In the past year, we worked with the Associated Press, ProPublica, Univision, NPR, the Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal and the Marshall Project. I hope I didn’t forget anyone! 

Are there important stories you think you’ve missed? As an editor and the executive producer, I believe there are always so many more stories than we can tell. We do a lot of international reporting as it is, but I feel there are so many more stories to be told around the world. 

How has the anti-press climate perpetuated by the Trump administration affected your job? In this climate, we have redoubled our attention to security, both physical security and on the digital security front. We’re accustomed to being vigilant with security protocols in the field internationally, but now we find ourselves more and more applying protocols to our reporters who are working domestically. 

Can you tell us about some of the new storytelling formats being explored under the Frontline brand? I love this question, as it’s one of my biggest passions. We’ve been implementing multiple new ways to tell stories — from podcasts, interactive films, short films and feature films — all with the goal of reaching a new generation of viewers. We are also now the fastest-growing
PBS series on YouTube, where millions of people sought out Frontline films, subsequently quadrupling our streaming numbers in 2020.

John Chachas started his own boutique investment bank — Methuselah Advisors — with Lazard colleague Louis Zachary in 2010, soon after falling short in a bid to unseat then-U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in his home state of Nevada. (He placed fourth in the Republican primary, losing to Sharron Angle, who was later defeated by Democratic incumbent Reid.) For the longtime financial executive, with decades of experience as an investment banker with Lazard, Merrill Lynch and First Boston, it was a blessing in disguise. Methuselah carved out a niche in broadcast deals, most recently advising E.W. Scripps in its $2.65 billion purchase of Ion Media. The boutique bank was instrumental in bringing Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway in as an equity participant. In part to ensure regulatory approval of that deal, Chachas bought 23 Ion stations, creating Inyo, which reaches about 16% of U.S. TV households. He spoke with Multichannel News about the television industry and his plans for the broadcaster. An edited transcript follows. 

How did Methuselah come about? About 11 years ago, I had done something nuts and ran in the Republican primary for the U.S. Senate. When I lost in that primary back in my home state of Nevada, rather than returning to a larger firm, I decided I wanted to do something that was a little more entrepreneurial. Today, Methuselah is a small place, but we punch above our weight. I have a great team in place. My partner Louis Zachary and I have been together for 35 years, starting back to First Boston in the early 1980s. Whether it’s selling Rolling Stone or the New York Daily News, which we did, or working on bigger deals like Ion, now we are putting our own money to work in things like Inyo.

How did you get Berkshire involved in the Scripps deal? Some years ago, I got to know one of the key people at Berkshire Hathaway, a really terrific guy named Ted Wechsler [Berkshire’s investment manager], and I talk to Ted actively about deals. Having known Scripps for 40 years and knowing Ted like I did, I felt the two of them would get along pretty well from their history, roots and value systems. Frankly the credit goes to [Scripps CEO] Adam Symson and Ted. I had a good hunch and the hunch worked out, but it was really their work that turned it into a deal. 

ALSO READ: Burgess Ponders What He’ll Do After Selling Ion Media

Why did you think it’s a good time to get into broadcast? I think there is a reckoning on the horizon, which is going to be very positive for over-the-air television and for people that have good creative content. Big tech in this country has financially benefited disproportionately from the content created by others. I think there's a big comeuppance that is about to happen and personally I think, notwithstanding how great it is to have all these choices for streaming, the American consumer wants good content and wants it preferably free. We made a tactical bet that the over-the-air station ecosystem was going to be healthy and grow. 

Scripps has said it will not seek retransmission-consent fees for the Ion stations it bought. Will Inyo do the same? We will do the same. I think the retrans fee marketplace is suitable for certain kinds of local over-the-air broadcast assets. In this instance we’re best served by preserving our channel position and making sure that we’re carried, that the multicast channels that all these stations have are carried. I think we are better off focusing on the continuation of that model than we are trying to extract money out of the MVPDs that feel already burdened. 

How do you compete with other larger network-affiliated broadcasters? Is there a big enough niche? People don’t realize Ion makes a lot of money. It is a very successful, genre-specific entertainment asset. The management team did a great job building awareness of Ion as a destination for specific kinds of content. Our relationship is that as long as Ion is successful, we’ll be successful. We’ll just continue to ride in that wake for now. Might we do something else in other broadcast areas in the future? I don’t  know. Maybe, if we see attractive things to add, but in the near term we intend to be a supportive partner of that asset. 

Colorado native and marketing executive Charlotte Bockstahler is leading the effort to change the former Rocky Mountain Cable Association, much as the pay TV industry has evolved, to include streamed video platforms, satellite and telco providers and other media and tech categories. The RMCA began in 2012 in Denver and succeeded a local CTAM chapter, mostly keeping membership within companies in the cable TV business.

Now, the rebranded Media+Tech Collective will welcome new members to join the existing core of 300 members in the still-vibrant cable community. Bockstahler, who worked at HBO and Altitude Sports before founding the boutique marketing agency Vérité Strategies, wants to expand programming, too, while maintaining popular events including a case-study competition (formerly “The Cable Apprentice”) and a golf tournament. Go to mediatechcollective.com for more details. Her conversation with B+C content director Kent Gibbons was edited for space and clarity.

In expanding RMCA beyond cable, what are the categories you hope to bring into the mix? The cable industry is evolving, and so we're really trying to evolve with the cable industry. It's video, it's streaming data, voice, IoT, any of those players that are involved. In the past, I think a lot of people looked at RMCA as an extension of CTAM. And there was a big emphasis, in the early days, on sales and marketing. Now we really want to be more inclusive of people of all different disciplines, whether that's finance, HR, product teams.

Was there encouragement from within the group for this expansion? Was this expansion encouraged by your existing members? Yes, starting in 2017, the feedback from members was that the industry is changing. We talked with our members, we talked with our member companies and our sponsors, and said, ‘What do we need to do to best serve?’ This expansion is part of the answer to that question. We’re hoping to see people from all different disciplines, and really connect people of all levels of their careers as well.

Over the past year, have you been gathering virtually and how has that worked out? We’ve been getting our toes wet with doing virtual events. We actually did a drive-in event as well. We rented out a big screen, and did a screening of The Goonies to try to socially distance but still bring everybody together. Everyone was able to stay in their cars but still get together. We're going to kick that in the higher gear this year. We've also planned our annual golf tournament, always one of the biggest events of the year. It’s slated for Aug. 12. Fingers crossed, we can move forward as we’re hoping.

What are the plans for expanding or evolving the former Cable Apprentice competition? We’ve been able to expand beyond just working with one university —historically, the University of Denver, Daniels College of Business. Last year, we started creating more of a competition between local universities. We’ve got the University of Colorado, Denver, involved, as well as the University of Colorado Colorado Springs. Historically, there have been dozens of students that participated in this case competition and then have gone on to have internships and careers in the cable industry. The competition will be kicking off here at the end of January. Students will start working on cases that they'll present on March 5.

Is cable still a big part of Denver’s identity? I absolutely believe so. You've got companies like WOW! and Dish, and Comcast and Charter have a huge presence here. We are also seeing a lot more with digital advertising happening locally. There’s tons of growth in Denver in the tech sector just in general. We had Google move to Boulder, Amazon has a huge presence here. So it’s just continuing to grow and, unfortunately, making the housing prices go up.

Like everything else, syndication is changing due to the pandemic and the flight to streaming, but local TV stations’ need for programming remains. Filling that need for the Fox Television Stations, which operate as duopolies in many large markets, is the job of Stephen Brown, executive VP of programming and development at the station group. He chatted with Multichannel News contributor Paige Albiniak about how syndication has changed in the past year, and how he and his team are planning for the post-pandemic future. An edited transcript follows.

How has your job changed since the Disney acquisition in March 2019, which left Fox relatively stripped down? It’s shifted quite a bit, because 20th Television was the entity that sold our properties and now we self-sell. One of the side benefits of COVID is that all of our pitches now, instead of a team that had to travel around from market to market, are done virtually. With the pitch for Jay Leno and You Bet Your Life [premiering on TV stations around the country this fall], we got the groups on a Zoom call with Leno and the executive producers and pitched the show. We got through them in a couple of weeks. This Disney divestiture made us create our own entity, Fox First Run, and that has made us more efficient and effective. 

What does the business of syndication look like for Fox now that you no longer have your own studio and big studios, such as Warner Bros., seem to be reducing their plans to produce shows for syndication?  Even when we were at Twentieth Television, we were a separate entity that produced our own stuff. Our process has always been the same: We develop, we do run-throughs, we may do mini-pilots and we always do summer tests. Those summer tests inform us what we’re going to launch the following year.

Fox First Run is a hedge against the failure of other studios or distributors to produce. Our stations — and especially because we have duopolies in many of our markets — need product. If Warner Bros. or Disney or CBS or NBC or anybody else can’t fill those holes, we need to be able to produce for our stations. 

Why didn’t you do a test for You Bet Your Life?  We were in the process of putting together a test for it when COVID struck. We were fortunate in that it is a well-known format with a well-known host that didn’t require a summer test. But we remain 100% behind the strategy to test shows. I’m praying that COVID will be behind us enough to shoot in [a] studio by July or August. 

FTS just renewed three shows — 25 Words or Less, Divorce Court and Dish Nation — for two more years. To put it not that delicately, none of them are super high-rated. Why did you choose to renew them and how much does the ratings level matter to Fox as a business? The ratings continue to decline, but I think that you can find revenues through ancillary viewing, like Hulu, YouTube, etc., that can fill in some of the holes. As a producer, you think,   ‘I have to make up the money that I’m not getting from advertising for declining ratings while not killing the primary source of income, which are those ratings.’ So I’m always trying to hedge my bets. The smart thing for us is we have never been a studio that has had bloated budgets. We’ve always been very lean. 

You mentioned doing pitches via Zoom for TV stations. What else has COVID changed that you think won’t change back once the pandemic ends? One thing we stumbled on in COVID is that we used to have a live audience for Divorce Court and now we have a virtual audience of 30 or so fans. It’s worked so well that we’re not going back to a live audience. Being in the audience is now really a reward for being a superfan.

Bonus Five

What TV shows are you bingeing? Just finished The Undoing. LOVED The Great and Belgravia. 

All-time favorite TV shows? Game of Thrones, Downton Abbey

What books are on your bedside table/Kindle? Howard's End by E.M. Forster; The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell with Bill Moyers; and The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin

Bucket-list travel destinations? New Zealand and Australia.

Last great memorable meal? Pace in Laurel Canyon the weekend everything shut down, with my son and best friends.

Favorite podcast? Pod Save America

Mickey Down and Konrad Kay burst on the scene in 2014 with their black comedy Gregor, snagging a British BAFTA nomination for their first feature film. This year the duo tapped into their past lives in the finance world for the HBO series Industry, focusing on a diverse group of young investment bankers in London. While the show is steeped in finance, don’t expect any long insider-trading arcs, a la Billions. The pair spoke about the show, which premieres Nov. 9, with Multichannel News senior content producer – finance Mike Farrell. An edited transcript follows.  

Investment banking isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when you think of series topics. What drew you to this?

Mickey Down: It sounds like a cliché, but we’d always call this show a ‘people show’ more than a ‘finance show.’ The starting points were always the characters rather than some overarching plot about insider trading, or banks failing or any similar, well-trodden territory. We were always more interested in the micro-politics and relationship dynamics in places like these and what they looked like through what we feel is a unique vantage point  — their youngest and least powerful people.

Konrad Kay: One of the more prominent themes of the show is the role mentors play during the formative stages of a career. These are incredibly hierarchical institutions which pretend not to be by flattening the playing field — managing directors sat next to baby-faced graduates — but in truth, somebody’s always watching and assessing you. … We wanted to crack open the black box of high finance — much talked about, little understood — and give the viewer a peek inside, taking them on a roller coaster through the highs and lows of a graduate’s first year on the floor. 

Did you watch and/or read a lot of finance-themed shows/movies/books while you were writing this? 

MD: We didn’t purposefully steer clear of all other ‘finance-themed’ art while writing this, mostly because we’ve probably already seen and read all the classic stuff. In fact, a lot of it was (and remains) the reason many people go into finance in the first place. The literature, film, television, whether it’s trying to do this or not, remains a recruitment tool for these institutions. 

Why set this in London and not New York? Is it because of all the potential LIBOR jokes?

MD: Haha! We’ve both worked and lived in London our entire lives and the show speaks to our experiences both professionally and personally. We always try to write from a place of authenticity so it just made more sense to set it in the space we have firsthand knowledge of.

In the trailer, Harper Stern (Myha’la Herrold) says the reason she’s there is because it’s ‘the closest thing to a meritocracy there is.’

MD: We were interested in the idea of meritocracy and what constitutes a true meritocracy, or whether that concept even truly exists. A crucial idea that these places sell on entry to their young recruits is that they are meritocracies, blind to socioeconomic background, gender, race, class. We wanted to try and unpick this idea and what it means in 2020.

KK:  While there have been steps taken to open the doors to transparency and end the cult-like opaqueness of these places, the underlying methodology of evaluating people by productivity or P&L and compensating them accordingly hasn’t really changed. The insecurities of people who measure their status and worth by what their boss hands them in an envelope in February still very much exists.

Lena Dunham directs the pilot. You both said you were fans and were going for a bit of a Girls vibe with your feature film Gregor. Is that what you were hoping she would bring to Industry? 

MD: That’s good detective work! We were huge fans of Girls. The show had been out a few seasons when Konrad and I started writing together and we were blown away by it — by its frankness, humanity, humor, naturalism, its deeply flawed but deeply human characters in their twenties. It achieved things on TV we didn’t think were possible until then. These are all things we wanted to emulate with Industry. λ

Chris Davies is the executive responsible for overseeing the marketing, audience insights and distribution divisions for BBC World News and BBC.com. The BBC World News 24-hour channel, and programs such as BBC World News America, distributed to PBS stations, have seen gains in the United States that led to 32.5 million weekly viewers, up 50% year over year, according to the U.K.-based broadcaster. BBC World News reaches 112 million viewers worldwide, part of a massive audience of 438.4 million accessing BBC News weekly. Davies, based in London, joined BBC Worldwide in November 2010, coming from British Airways, where he was head of digital marketing. He chatted with B+C content director Kent Gibbons about BBC World News and news consumption trends in general. 

BBC World News has been growing in the U.S., but can that continue with the problems for networks of cord-cutting? To be honest, I think live news TV is relatively resilient, because people want to be able to access a live news channel on a TV when they need it, at that particular moment. There are certain parts of the industry that will probably be affected more by cord-cutting and catch-up TV and OTT. But for us, as a live news service, it’s additive at the moment rather than reductive. 

That leads to my second question, which is, where have you been gaining U.S. subscribers and viewers? What are the platforms that are doing that for you? We’ve seen a big spike and increase in audiences across PBS, to start with. We also saw a 50% increase in audiences basically across all TV, so that's PBS and our own channel, in the last year. A lot is down to the news cycle. The coronavirus story has been huge for everybody, of course, and we saw internally record upon record for audience numbers. The really good news for us is that, if you compare our situation now versus the situation last year, we’re still holding on to that big spike of audience.

Are any new programs on the channel especially clicking with viewers? Well, we have been really pushing Outside Source, which is a program which PBS takes and is also on BBC World News. Basically, Ros Atkins is standing in front of a live TV screen, showing stories as they come up on social media and discussing them. That show's proven very popular. And we’ve recently redesigned and rebooted our Washington bureau. It looks fantastic. We’ve got BBC News with Katty [Kay] and Christian [Fraser], which is looking really smart. 

The U.S. elections: Has that been good for distribution and viewing of your channel? We are seeing lots of global interest in it. It’s a huge story that everyone's interested in, wherever you are.

In the U.S., you’re growing, but not at a mega level. Is it still a good
U.S. business for you, this channel? Yeah, it absolutely is. It obviously isn’t
as big as the CNNs and the Fox Newses, we all know that. But it performs a unique role. What's really good for a U.S. audience is to have the option to come to an impartial news service that has a global perspective, that tells a story that you can make your own mind up about. Backed up, then, with really good distribution by PBS. And then of course, we’ve got our website, bbc.com. We’re doing a whole lot of podcasts. Put it all together, it's actually quite a good reach story across all of our different platforms.

Bonus Five

What current TV shows are on your DVR? If that includes SVOD then I’m just finishing Ozark and onto AMC’s The Terror.

All-time favorite TV show? Band of Brothers

Which apps do you use the most? Naturally the BBC News app!

What books are on your nightstand? I’ve just started Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood.

Tell us about a recent memorable meal — where and what did you eat? My first post-lockdown meal treat was at the excellent Gymkhana restaurant in Mayfair, London.

Detavio Samuels assumed the reins of hip-hop cable network Revolt TV in June, in the midst of a pandemic and protests. Samuels, 39, helped spearhead the network’s focus on social justice-themed original content that seeks to inform, enlighten and empower the Sean “Diddy” Combs-founded network’s millennial and Generation Z viewers with such shows as Revolt Black News and election-themed special Black Voices on Mute.

Samuels spoke with Multichannel News senior content producer, programming R. Thomas Umstead about the network’s brand and its distribution prospects, including a carriage expansion agreement with Comcast. Here’s an edited transcript of that conversation.

How have you managed operations during this difficult time?  As I was coming in we had conversations about planting a flag in the ground around social justice, and then George Floyd hit and the world changed. We recognized that this moment was like any other moment, so on May 25 we went from producing 0% social-justice content to 100% social justice content by my very first day on June 3. It’s become embedded in our brand. 

Who is Revolt’s target audience? Our audience is the hip-hop gen — that’s how I labeled them. Hip-hop is driving global culture, and even though we talk about them as a niche audience, in reality hip-hop is the No. 1 music (genre) in the world. So the hip-hop gen is our audience, but our design target audience is young, gifted, black viewers. 

Does the Revolt brand reflect the vision of its founder, Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs? I couldn’t be more excited about the Revolt brand right now, and it’s been on a journey to get to this very moment. I don’t know if [Combs] could see into the future, but when he launched the brand in 2013 and gave it the name Revolt, he was basically building a brand to do one thing — to lead a revolution. It took us a couple of years to figure out what that revolution was going to be, but now we live at the intersection of hip-hop and social justice. 

How will Revolt’s recent Comcast deal impact how the network gets its message out? Comcast has increased Revolt’s distribution, which means that we can reach more of our people wherever they are. For us, that means increased scale and engagement, which is going to be huge. I would be lying if I didn’t say that it also means increased revenue, which allows us to create more content for our audience.

Do you see Revolt’s future growth more in the traditional space than in the digital space? Linear is important to us, and we’re not fully penetrated. While most networks are going to experience a loss in cable homes on the linear side as the industry evolves, we still very much believe that there’s an opportunity for growth. That said, we also know the future is digital and we also know that this audience is heavily digital, so you will absolutely see us making a very strong push into the digital and social spaces . λ

The News with Shepard Smith has launched on CNBC. Smith joined CNBC after a 23-year run at Fox News Channel, where he was chief general news anchor. The live, hour-long program starts weekdays at 7 p.m. Smith described it as “a full-plate newscast” that will not have pundits or opinion. “There’s plenty of that — I don’t hate on anybody for it,” he said. “But it’s not what we’re going to do.” 

He spoke with Multichannel News senior content producer Michael Malone about launching a newscast during COVID, and what he offers that viewers can’t get elsewhere. An edited transcript follows.

Tell me about launching a show during a pandemic. It’s not something that I needed to prepare for a few months ago. It didn’t come with a road map. I have launched a number of shows but never anything like this. 

I’d met only one person at CNBC in person before COVID and that was [chairman] Mark Hoffman. We’d had many conversations to make sure this is what I wanted to do. Once we reached that conclusion and I was positive and ready to go, by then we were in lockdown. Every decision, everyone I met, has been by Zoom or Teams. Every discussion about sets, about correspondents, about editorial, about philosophies, about history, about the future, everything, by Teams.

We had more than 2,000 applicants for 27 positions. We took that as an enormous compliment and an enormous challenge to find the very best ones in the bunch. 

What will viewers get from your show they don’t get anywhere else? We seek the truth, find the truth and tell the truth and let chips fall where they may. We speak truth to power. We cover all the big stories that are part of our lives right now. Most fit into politics, COVID, information age, social justice, income inequality and climate. We want to go a little deeper and report a little harder on stories that really impact people’s lives. 

What’s a 2020 story that isn’t getting enough attention? Lake Charles, Louisiana. People were decimated by the storm. Those stories aren’t being told nationally and they should be. There are towns in the west that have been removed from the face of the earth by fires. People are looking for shelter in a pandemic. Their stories deserve to be told. 

What are you watching for fun? [Bravo’s] Million Dollar Listing Los
Angeles. [Netflix’s] The Home Edit for reasons I can’t describe to you. Two hilarious people rearranging people’s closets is somehow entertaining to me. I spend a lot of time watching the Yankees. I like football on Sunday, but I really love football on Saturday. 

For those who go to CNBC at 7 p.m. for Shark Tank reruns, what do you say to them? [Laughs.] Wait an hour! I love Shark Tank. We have Jim Cramer on at 6 and after us is reality/aspirational money shows. There’s a place for a newscast in there. This is a loyal audience. It’s influential. To the degree that they’ll come watch us, we welcome them. 

There are people who’ve been watching me in times of great happiness and great sadness for decades. If they want to come check us out at 7 o’clock, we’d love to have them, too.

A year after Anthem Sports and Entertainment purchased AXS TV from entrepreneur and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, the music channel is looking to hit all the right distribution and content notes under new general manager Frank Tanki. 

The Viacom vet assumed operations of AXS TV and HDNet Movies in June, and is positioning AXS TV to fill a void for music programming with shows such as documentaries Coldplay: A Head Full of Dreams, which tells the band’s history through interviews, archival footage and performances from its global Head Full of Dreams tour; and Hype!, profiling the 1990s grunge music scene; and with the return of such brand-defining shows as The Big Interview with Dan Rather. Tanki spoke with senior content producer, programming R. Thomas Umstead. Here’s an edited transcript of that conversation.

As an independent network, how do you see AXS TV navigating an evolving television environment? The industry is evolving … it feels like every day, there’s a new dynamic and a new challenge. But we feel that the music category is still very, very valuable to a linear audience. I feel like that white space plus the investments that we’re making in original content has us well-positioned for growth. We’ve had a lot of good conversations on the linear side — we just did a recent renewal with the NCTC [National Cable Television Cooperative] that I think is a sign that we’ve got good things to come. On the digital side, we’re talking to literally every player and we’ve received a lot of great feedback while we continue shoring up our linear distribution. 

How does AXS TV differentiate itself in a very crowded TV environment? I feel like there is definitely a white space that is underserved in linear cable TV and in the music space. We like to offer great music storytelling, whether that be through live concerts or more behind the scenes stories. That’s the heart of who we are and where we want to be. I think we’re just going to sharpen it a bit more.

Where does HDNet Movies fit in Anthem’s cable network strategy? It’s got a very loyal core base on linear TV. If you look at movie ratings on some cable networks, they’re higher than they’ve ever been. So we think it plays a really important part of our portfolio. We've got a great lineup of movies from the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s, and we’re going to look at different opportunities to pitch and catch content between the two brands. 

AXS TV also televises Impact Wrestling. Do you see the service getting more involved in live sports in the future? The answer is a firm yes. AXS has a long history with pro wrestling and MMA, and I also have a little background with MMA given my days at Spike TV and Bellator, which is still a very important part of ViacomCBS today. I think we’ll have a defined enough home for music that we can put a couple of other things under our roof. Working with Anthem, which owns the Fight Network, we’ll look for ways to be really smart about what we can add to the sports side of our portfolio. 

What’s the key for brands that want to survive the current evolution of the television industry? There's a major evolution happening right now. I remember a moment in time earlier in my career where we were debating, is [digital] an evolution or a phase? Now we know it’s an evolution, so we have to embrace that and be more nimble with how and where we distribute our content. We all have to look for new opportunities. For us, linear is still our bread and butter, but I think it all comes down to the communication that we’re having with our audience. It’s more of a direct, two-way street now, and the brands that will succeed are those that are smartly defined and are laser-focused on what the white space is while continuing to have a dialogue with their audience.

Candi Carter has a long career producing some of daytime’s most popular shows, including 15 years on Oprah Winfrey and five on The View. In March, she was named executive producer of ABC’s Tamron Hall and started her new job just as the pandemic got underway. As a result, she spent her first six months on the job producing the show remotely and just met most of her staff in the past couple of weeks.

Carter is used to managing big talent and celebrity guests, so she’s highly qualified for the job at Tamron Hall, which made a splash in its Sept. 14 season-two debut with an exclusive interview with former Florida Democratic gubernatorial candidate
Andrew Gillum, who broke news when he said he is bisexual. Carter’s got more of the same in store this season, she says in the following conversation with B+C contributor Paige Albiniak.

Where are you guys now in terms of pandemic production? We’re halfway back in the studio. It was really challenging to produce the show from Tamron’s house on an iPad and iPhone — we were literally working around the clock. Now we’ve brought back the minimum amount of people to operate what we need to be in the studio. We are like the NBA: We have created our own bubble. 

What lessons did you take from producing remotely that you are still applying to producing the show? Every little thing matters when you are producing remotely. The things you would normally take for granted, you now have to pay attention to. We just figured out that we have eight Skype channels so we can bring a producer on set remotely.

You guys just secured a second run on OWN, how did that come about? We went to OWN and said we would love to do this partnership. I think it makes sense because Tamron Hall is a show that connects to OWN’s audience [of African-American women aged 25 to 54]. It’s a fantastic opportunity for us and I think it’s a great thing for the show to have a larger footprint.

What do you think the biggest thing you bring to the show is?I think the biggest thing I bring to the show is storytelling. What you are going to see now is it’s all about the multilayered story. Andrew Gillum is a very political story but it will also feel like a very human story. This is Tamron’s sweet spot — she’s a journalist and she’s … very curious about people. 

How would you say Tamron Hall fits into the current daytime landscape? I think we’re in a lane that’s unique right now. We’re telling real people’s stories and doing a combination of cooking, lifestyle, fashion and other features. We’ll have big interviews and a little bit of lifestyle, telling real people’s stories and having fun. 

One of the things I am really excited about is all of the women who are running this show. It’s me, Tamron, the director, co-executive producer, executive in charge and the head of public relations. We’re literally the women running the show.

Parents Television Council president Tim Winter has been pushing for more accurate TV ratings and what the advocacy group sees as more family-friendly programming for almost two decades. He brought the experience of a TV veteran and concerned parent to a job he says he never envisioned himself in. He spoke with B+C Washington bureau chief John Eggerton.

How did you wind up heading this group? I grew up inside the Beltway, but D.C. wasn’t for me.  After college I went as far as I could without getting wet: Los Angeles. I landed an entry-level finance job at NBC in January 1982 and worked at the network for 15 years, serving in financial roles for the studio and broadcast operations and for the entertainment division … I left NBC [in New York] in 1996 and returned to L.A. — Kris and I were newlyweds, but she was working at KNBC and I was at 30 Rock, and a three-time-zone separation isn’t the best way to start a family. I became the CFO for MGM’s digital division, where we published video games based on the James Bond franchise and other studio properties. Then I spent a few years in the dot-com world developing streaming video technologies before starting at PTC in 2003. 

What prompted you to want to head up the PTC? During my 20-plus years in the industry, I never would have imagined myself working at PTC, let alone leading it. But when I became a father, I quickly learned how powerful the media could be at influencing a child’s worldview — oftentimes despite the best efforts of a parent. 

Why do you think the TV ratings need to be overhauled? In recent years, I think our entire nation has learned that oversight of power needs to be accurate, transparent and publicly accountable. The same holds true for an industry-crafted  system that parents are told they must rely upon to protect their children. Twenty-plus years of research (and last year’s FCC Report) demonstrate the need for improvement both to the ratings system and to its oversight. Every single night, explicit content airs on TV that networks rate as appropriate for children to watch.  Oversight of the system is handed to the very same network employees who
rate the content (sometimes inaccurately). Is that really what ‘oversight’ looks like? I’m not suggesting that there is evil intent, but the reality is that the current system is built entirely upon an inherent conflict of interest.  

PTC has taken aim at many Fox shows over the years, and during much of that time your wife was a top Fox TV-station executive. Did that cause any issues at home? During my time at PTC, Kris held senior management roles in local TV newsrooms at KNBC, KTLA and KTTV (their first-ever female news director!). She always disclosed to her employer what her husband did for a living, and she and I were always judicious not to share sensitive business information with each other. We’ve never had any problems at home, but her station management would occasionally press her for info about PTC intentions — especially on FCC-related issues like indecency and KidVid [children’s TV rules]. It was good that she could always answer honestly that she didn’t know.  And the relationship has allowed me to speak with station and network folks directly and privately, resulting in many positive outcomes.

You have said PTC is shifting its focus to streaming, ‘given that children are primarily consuming their media online.’ Do you think COVID-19 has accelerated that shift? For parents, it has never been more challenging than today when it comes to being firmly in control of their kids’ media consumption. And with so many children distance-learning due to COVID-19-related classroom closures, their average daily screen time has spiked through the roof. If the PTC is to faithfully serve its mission, then we must be present and active with our research, education and advocacy programs wherever children are consuming their media. That means less focus on the legacy, linear platforms and more focus on digital platforms. λ

On Oct. 3, stations in 174 cities covering 95% of the U.S. will kick off the eighth season of Raw Travel, the syndicated adventure travel and lifestyle series created, produced by, starring, distributed — and pretty much everything else — by media entrepreneur Robert Rose. 

The former Univision sales executive, along with his independent production and distribution company, AIM TV Group, have become fixtures in first-run weekend syndication over the last 20 years, first with culture/lifestyle series American Latino (2000-2009), before launching the show Rose says “showcases socially and environmentally aware, independent travel.”  

Think of an affable, Gen X version of Anthony Bourdain, with the media-business hustle parts of Byron Allen thrown in, and you get Rose, 53.

When Multichannel News senior content producer, technology Daniel Frankel caught up to him in early August at his New York apartment, he was doing something not that unusual — packing up for a trip. Turns out he was only taking his second sojourn of the pandemic, to visit a friend in the Poconos. 

Indeed, for the Tennessee native and veteran New Yorker, who now calls whatever hammock he’s commissioned “home,” these last few months of mandated quarantine have been particularly austere. Fortunately, for these last five months, Rose has been able to sift through gobs of unaired footage from pre-lockdown sojourns to destinations including Lithuania, Ukraine, Turkey, Colombia, Indonesia, Jamaica, Ethiopia and the Republic of Georgia to craft an eighth season of Raw Travel. “Travelers miss traveling, and viewers need a dose of optimism, love, and hope,” he said.

“I’m so grateful that last year, I said ‘yes’ to so many travel opportunities. 

What was your favorite Raw Travel destination and why? It’s impossible to have one favorite, but my trip to visit the tribes of Southern Ethiopia and the amazing city of Istanbul, Turkey last summer were mind-blowing and life-changing adventures.

I mention the remote tribes of Southern Ethiopia because I hung out with people still living like they have for centuries. I say Istanbul, because they were so warm and hospitable. I was super bummed at the time over a personal situation and travel, as usual, came to the rescue and put things in perspective for me.

What was your least favorite? Again, this is very tough to answer, but I’d say parts of Honduras are kind of “once is enough.” And I’ll also mention Chernobyl, Ukraine. If you’ve seen one disastrous nuclear travesty, you’ve seen them all.

How has the show been able to move forward amid COVID-19? Luckily, I didn’t say no to any travel opportunities in 2018 or ’19. The result was a glut of content to edit. Filming and traveling is the fun part, after all. Now, my choices are easy. Write scripts and edit that glut of content. It is all that we can do right now.

Do you think COVID-19 will permanently impact travel?  Yes, and that’s not a bad thing necessarily. Traveling, whether internationally or domestically, was becoming unsustainable for many ‘over-touristed’ destinations, and the planet needs to heal. Hopefully, this will give us and the planet pause on how we move forward.

Why do you think Raw Travel has connected with its audience for so long?  I was as shocked as anyone when it did, but I just went with my gut. I knew authentic travel was grossly under- and misrepresented on TV. I wanted to address that any way that I could.

BONUS FIVE

What shows are you binge-watching? Thanks to COVID-19, I’m running out of shows! Like everyone else, I binged Tiger King and The Last Dance. Also Netflix’s Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich and HBO’s Welcome to Chechnya and Draining the Swamp.

Which streaming services do you subscribe to? Amazon Prime, Netflix, HBO and YouTube TV. 

What book(s) are you reading right now? The Jakarta Method, Just Mercy, Chasing the Light by Oliver Stone.

What’s your favorite podcast? I’ve been interviewed on a few, but haven’t gotten hooked on any yet.

How many times have you left the house this week? I live in a small NYC apartment, so I leave the house every day to work out, walk, run, etc. Right now, I’m in the Poconos, visiting a ‘safe’ friend’s family, but it’s the first time I’ve been anywhere outside of NYC in over two months … and only the second place I’ve been since March.

As streaming services and direct-to-consumer offerings have grown, keeping a handle on content rights and windows is critical for programmers and content creators. While outdated technology and manual processes have made the path to monetization more difficult in the past, companies like Molten, founded in 2018 by MIT-grad Arjun Mendhi and backed by Twitter co-founder and CEO Jack Dorsey, have emerged to help content owners better navigate the landscape. Denise Denson, a veteran programmer and former executive VP of global content distribution and strategy at Viacom, joined Molten as an adviser in 2019 and earlier this year became chief operating officer. She spoke with B+C senior content producer Mike Farrell about the evolving content business. An edited transcript follows. 

Universal and AMC Entertainment just agreed to narrow theatrical-to-SVOD windows to 17 days from 75 days. Does that present opportunities for content players across the board? It’s a whole new level of complexity. Now, three weeks after release, they’re going to be fragmenting those rights and selling them. I look at the movie theaters as another SVOD opportunity for another niche window. They’ll have to compete with everyone else over time.

With the emergence of streaming and direct-to-consumer, how is the content food chain changing? The emergence of streaming and direct-to-consumer has resulted in an accelerated market shift to new models which reflect consumer preferences for personalized video services and targeted, on-demand content. The new recipe for success is rooted in ubiquitous distribution across devices, formats, platforms, search-engines and territories.

How do you see this shaking out? I do think content will be sold to the highest bidder but this will just create the order of windowing. Today, a new show may launch on the branded channel or a streaming service. There will be content moving in and out of windows, trying to reach different audiences and maximize revenues. Ideally that will extend the revenue life cycle.  That being said, the process of buying and selling content will need to modernize as well.  

Is this especially relevant given that production on new shows is still shut down? Absolutely.  Content demand has never been higher and content companies are sitting on an underutilized asset — their library — provided they know their licensing rights.  Most companies use or sell less than 20% of the rights in their library. There is a huge opportunity to sell content on new platforms and territories.

Is there room for niche companies to eke out a business? I believe both big and small players can win. At the end of the day, quality of content will determine the winners. In some ways, smaller content companies may be more nimble and open to new distribution models which will be the key to growth. Provided companies evolve, the money will follow.

Vicki Lins is president and CEO of CTAM,  a marketing organization focused on the media entertainment and technology industry. One of CTAM’s projects is to organize, twice a year, press tours that bring together members of the Television Critics Association and a range of content companies to talk about network strategies and let critics ask questions directly to show creators and stars. The last such gathering, in January, included sessions with HBO, Discovery, FX, Oxygen, AMC, Hulu and Apple TV Plus, among others. This summer, the tour, like so many other events, is going virtual, with CTAM planning on half days between Aug. 3 and Aug. 7. Participating networks have not yet been announced. Lins, who joined CTAM in 2015 after stints as chief marketing officer at United Way Worldwide and Clear Channel Outdoor, caught up with B+C content director Kent Gibbons about the whys and hows of a virtual critics’ tour.

How do these get-togethers, between critics and show creators and talent, fit the CTAM mission and inform the public more than they would be otherwise? CTAM exists to strengthen the industry business model, build collective brand and market best-in-class consumer experiences including the content they love. The press tour is an opportunity for the networks to bolster their marketing efforts, and for some networks it is an opportunity to expose critics to content they may have otherwise passed over. The immediate coverage during the CTAM portion of this year’s TCA Winter Press Tour secured over 10,000 press mentions in one week. That type of exposure is quite valuable when you take into account the majority of the coverage spans the six months between tours.

Do you think much will be lost by not having the questions and answers be face to face? Not really. When we’re live in the dark ballroom, talent cannot see the critics while sitting on stage with bright lights pointed at them. In all seriousness, the pandemic and cancellation of the TCA tour drove the decision to present virtually. The opportunity at hand for our industry has been to step up and deliver. It’s allowed us to create new opportunities, to reinvent traditional engagement and move forward in different ways. CTAM and our participating networks have had a lot of ideas and this allows us to flex our creative muscles. 

Might there be an upside, that talent will participate who might not have come to a live session? Feel free to name names. Scheduling talent is always a challenge, and there’s a chance that all of us being at home could change the dimension of participation. Currently, we’re not in a position to talk about the details behind the schedule. Networks always try to put their best foot forward. We’re all very enthusiastic about the lineup. 

How has the rise of streaming services affected the TCA tour? There’s more content available to consumers and they are viewing more content than ever before, making it harder to break through. The competitive nature of the environment makes the tour more important during this time of Peak TV. Having a focused forum for programmers to showcase their work and tell their stories becomes more important. The press tour creates opportunities for networks to expose consumers to content where they are and potentially expand their audience or deepen their existing relationship with the consumer. 

Do you have a favorite moment from TCA sessions past? I love the creative energy that flows throughout the tour. I have dozens of favorite moments ranging from learning about shows I want to watch, to hallway conversations with talent, to laughing out loud with the critics about something funny — or sometimes ridiculous — someone said on stage.

When most people think of the Emmys, they think of the Primetime Emmys, which are run by the TV Academy in Los Angeles. But the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) in New York runs a slew of Emmy awards programs for all other types of television programming, including news, sports, technology and daytime, which includes syndication and digital programming. 

So while the show will go on in some format for the Primetime Emmys on Sept. 20, everything has changed for the other Emmys, with those shows going virtual for the rest of the year. One exciting change for NATAS is the return of the Daytime Emmys to CBS, where the ceremony last aired in 2011. 

NATAS president and CEO Adam Sharp joins B+C contributor Paige Albiniak to discuss how the dominoes fell when the shutdowns started and where he expects to end up.

When the stay-at-home orders came down, what was your first thought about the Daytime Emmys? My initial thought wasn’t specific to daytime because we also produce tech and engineering, sports and news and documentary Emmys. When we first started hearing about the shutdown, those were the immediate focus. Across all of our events, it became very clear it was going to be a tough time to be in the large public event business. 

After a few weeks, it also became clear that getting a few thousand people in a room together was not going to happen this year. This is supposed to be a moment of celebration, not one where you should show up fearing for your life. Optimism gave way to practical reality. 

The Daytime Emmys will be virtual and broadcast on CBS but they will be pre-recorded, not live. What does that mean for the show? It’s something that has challenges but also opportunities. There are challenges around maintaining the excitement of the reveal when the show isn’t live.

On the flip side, this is a massive opportunity. We can produce a ceremony that is a lot more intimate. Most awards shows are historically big spectacles. This year, everything has to be small. It also allows for a quicker pace. It’s amazing what you can do when you don’t have to spend half the time watching people walk down the aisles. 

How did the conversations happen about bringing the show back to broadcast and to CBS? That was a conversation that predated COVID by many months. We had started having conversations with CBS last fall primarily around the very traditional ceremony that we do in June. Those discussions had been well advanced by the time COVID came around and were put on hold as we tried to figure out what this new world looked like. But everyone recognized that there was still a viable event here. And daytime remains a priority for CBS — they have the most robust network-owned daytime schedule. 

It seems like there is new excitement around daytime that had been thought to be lost. Do you feel that and if so, why do you think that is? I think there’s a few different drivers for that. Our competitions saw their highest number of entries ever this year, beating the record set the previous year. Part of that is the explosion of content, and not just broadcast dramas. Streaming programming has really opened the floodgates for daytime-style programming. 

For the broadcast dramas, there’s a recognition that the misperceived decline was not a commentary on the quality of the programming so much as it was the changing demographics of our country. 

The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful are among the most successful shows on CBS All Access, outrating much of primetime. The audience is still engaged with those stories. We’ve seen that in a lot of other aspects of programming as well, where patterns in society shifted one way, technology reacted to those patterns and then content caught up with that technology.

What do you see as the silver lining in all of this? It’s the opportunity to experiment with the form and not be tied to the sacred-cow playbook of what an awards ceremony should look like. There are aspects of these shows this year that when we are done, we may keep as part of the form going forward. The real success is not people saying they made lemonades out of lemons, but that this environment let them come up with something cool we want to see again.

As Aereo’s backers found out nearly a decade ago, an entrepreneur is in for the fight of their life when seeking to stream seemingly free over-the-air broadcast signals to consumers. But David Goodfriend, a former deputy staff secretary to President Bill Clinton, an ex-Dish Network attorney and previously an adviser to FCC commissioner Susan Ness, has been girding for this battle seemingly his entire career.

The lawyer’s nonprofit over-the-top service, Locast, is now in 18 U.S. markets, streaming broadcast stations to more than 42 million U.S. homes, covering 37% of the country. Predictably, The Walt Disney Co., NBCUniversal, Fox and ViacomCBS are trying to stop Locast from doing this. Facing the same combatants, Aereo was famously struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2012. Goodfriend recently told B+C senior content producer, technology Daniel Frankel why that’s not going to happen to Locast. 

Also Read: Locast: Everything You Need to Know

How did you get the idea for Locast? I didn’t. Lots of other people had the idea before I founded Locast. I talked about it while teaching my telecommunications law class, but finally, around late 2016, I just thought it was time for me to do something public-spirited and help people who couldn’t receive broadcast signals or afford cable. So I took the law at its word and launched a service under 17 USC 111(a)(5).

What technology is Locast built on? Everything is off-the-shelf, open-source technology. We haven’t patented anything or created any trade secrets. Our technology vendor did a great job of keeping the user interface simple and intuitive, with fast load time and crisp picture quality.

What makes Locast different from the enterprise it’s often compared to, Aereo? The legal basis and consumer offer are totally different. We are relying on a statute that plainly says on its face that a nonprofit may retransmit a broadcast signal. Period. Aereo relied on an interpretation of the performance right that required some complicated engineering. We offer our service for free but ask for a voluntary contribution. Aereo charged a fee. There’s another big difference: Aereo’s founder [Chet Kanojia] was a wealthy entrepreneur and raised millions of dollars from Barry Diller, who was even wealthier. I haven’t made a dime from this project and rely overwhelmingly on small, individual donors.

What makes you confident you’ll prevail in court against the media giants? Two things: First, the law clearly is on our side. We meticulously designed Locast to fit within the letter and spirit of the statute. The fact that plaintiffs waited a year and half before taking action, and even then did not try to get an injunction, speaks volumes about the uphill battle they know they face in court. Second, the public-interest benefit of Locast, especially during the COVID-19 crisis, is crystal clear. Don’t take my word for it. Thousands of Americans have offered personal testimonials about how they couldn’t get critical local news and emergency information without Locast, either because they can’t receive over-the-air signals or can’t afford ever-increasing pay TV fees. Finally, when the Electronic Frontier Foundation offered to represent Locast along with our excellent litigation team, I knew we were on the right side of history.

Are $5 donations going to pay for all of this as it scales? Yes, in fact they already are doing so. User donations are covering the cost of operations and helping us to pay down debt and accounts payable. Even though they represent a tiny fraction of the over 1.3 million people who signed up with Locast, the users who contribute $5 each month cover all of our expenses. Our finances will only improve as we add more users, donors, and markets, enabling us to reinvest in operations.

BONUS FIVE

What are you binge-watching? Money Heist, The Plot Against America, Ozark, Hunters. Even catching old episodes of M*A*S*H* on Locast!

What streaming services do you subscribe to? Netflix, Amazon Prime, Sling, Locast (yes, I’m a monthly donor).

Do you still have a pay TV subscription? Not for long. What a ripoff. Same price, no sports? Thievery.

Favorite podcast? The Daily.

Bucket list destination? Vietnam. I want to bike down the length of the country with my wife someday.

Feeling a bit disoriented these days, stuck at home, with days running together? If you’re in Cleveland, tune into Fox 8 News in the Morning and anchor Todd Meany will help set you straight with his “What Day Is It?” segments. They’ve been featured in The New York Times and CNN, are viral on YouTube and really are helpful, depending on the day. Meany started at Nexstar Media Group-owned WJW Cleveland in 2000 and has been on the morning team for 15 years. Before that, he was a reporter and anchor at WTOL in Toledo, Ohio, and at WOAY in Beckley, West Virginia. Meany and his wife, Joy, a teacher, have three sons. After his April 10 morning shift, he chatted with B+C content director Kent Gibbons, and here’s an edited recap.

The ‘What Day Is It?’ segments are amazing. How did they come about? The genesis of it was something that we’re all dealing with right now. Nobody has any dentist appointments or doctor’s appointments or get-togethers with your friends, so there’s no real need to know what day it is. My news director Andy Fishman called me in, it must have been last Monday, and said, ‘I’ve got a great idea. Nobody knows what day it is. Let’s do something where we just tell people what the day is.’ I said, ‘OK.’ He goes, ‘I picture it like a Letterman bit, where the anchor talks to you and you just say the day and then that’s it, and then it just goes right back to the anchors and nothing else is said about it, just that.’ We got the graphics department on it, the producer picked out the game show music and it was just born from that. I think it all came together within a matter of a couple of hours.

Are you doing them in the studio or from home? Everything is in the studio. All the reporters are home. Our weather people are home. Most of the producers are home. But we’re keeping our four anchors, our main anchors, in the studio and they all feel comfortable enough to stay. Everything is being done in the studio, which I think adds to it because the anchors are right there and they can react and you get that reaction from them, too.

I’m sure they’re popular, but have you had any negative reaction to them? Brian Stelter, the media guy from CNN, put it out there and of course everyone said, ‘It’s a Fox station. Don’t trust it.’ That was the only negative I really saw.

Have you seen anybody copy it or is everyone respecting your originality? I saw one station in Connecticut copy it as of yesterday. But it’s great. If anybody can bring some kind of fun or lightness to the viewers in this situation that we’re in right now, you know, why not? Let’s give them something that they can at least have a little fun with and share with their friends. I think it’s great.

What are you missing most during this societal shutdown? I play in a band here in Cleveland [called Air Molar] and I do miss the music. I miss getting out into the clubs and performing and just being with people, because we play about twice a month. For me, it’s a nice release from being on TV and relaying the news every day. It’s a nice break to get out there and just let loose and play some music and have a beer and see my friends.

BONUS FIVE

What’s on your DVR?Schitt’s Creek. We’re up to season six. My wife and I are hoping to finish that up. I just watched Ragnarok on Netflix because I’m a big superhero fan.
All-time favorite TV show? I’m a big game show guy. If there’s a game show on, I’m probably watching it. I think Match Game is probably my all-time favorite TV show.
Destination on your bucket list? Anywhere outside of my house.
Favorite podcast? The Ricky Gervais Show.
Most-used apps? Reddit. My Yahoo Fantasy Football app or basketball. Microsoft Teams because we have to use it all the time. Twitter. Facebook.

BONUS FIVE

Favorite streamed shows?Bosch, Jack Ryan (Amazon Prime); Mindhunter, Lost in Space (Netflix). Plus a lot of Pittsburgh hockey on the DVR.

Favorite music group? Electric Light Orchestra

Destination on your bucket list? Australia, New Zealand, and the “old country” (Poland and Eastern Europe, or Western Russia, to research my roots).

Book on your nightstand? Anything by Robert B. Parker.

Memorable meal? Bean burritos and french fries at the Wings Olé in Morgantown, W. Va.

Matt Polka, president of ACA Connects, the trade group representing small to medium-sized independent cable companies, made a tough call recently. It canceled its annual Washington, D.C., policy summit, which would have taken place this week, out of concern for members traveling amid the coronavirus crisis. The summit is popular with cable operators partly because it includes visits to Capitol Hill to meet directly with elected officials and committee and regulatory staffers. B+C senior content producer, Washington, John Eggerton caught up with Polka to ask about that decision and about recent big wins for smaller operators.

What was the tipping point in deciding to postpone the summit? It was talking to members and sensing what they were thinking. We started to see more evidence of the seriousness and uniqueness of this virus, including the FCC’s decision to limit attendance at outside events. We also had a lot of intel that offices were going to be closed. It became clear that there wasn’t going to be an opportunity to do what we do, which is lobby and advocate. In a practical sense, it was ‘will there be anyone there to meet with?’ and the answer was ‘no.’

Given the coronavirus, it would seem to be important to be in the business of connecting and entertaining people remotely? We know this virus could change how we do business and how we work and connect, which means putting a premium on the broadband internet service our members provide. If it wasn’t vital before, which we know it was, it is that much more vital now.

Do you have any issues with how the FCC is handling the C-band spectrum auction? The issue became more important to our members than we expected it to be. It has taken a lot of significant advocacy, probably one of our biggest projects in terms of time and expense, at the FCC. But we are very pleased where the FCC came out with a public auction as well as to take into account the transition costs.

What is the effect of the STELAR sunset and associated bills on your members? What was achieved, that we fought for and won, was huge. That [win] was extending good-faith [retrans bargaining] to buying groups, and in this case our members’ buying group, the National Cable Television Cooperative, which means that NCTC will have the ability to negotiate with the top broadcast groups in the country, and if NCTC chooses to negotiate with one of those groups, they can’t say no.

Summarize what you would have told your members at the conference? First, I wanted to say thank you for what Congress did passing the Television Viewer Protection Act to extend good faith to buying groups. And, maybe in a related way, we wanted to say, ‘We’ll keep you posted.’

The current retransmission-consent cycle ends in 2020. By year-end, our members will probably be renegotiating close to three-quarters of their existing retransmission-consent agreements. We were going to pledge to keep them posted throughout the year where problems would be. Third, we wanted to thank them for being mindful of the C-band issue [the FCC wants to sell the C-band spectrum, used by satellite firms to deliver TV networks for 5G wireless use], which is at the FCC, but there has been some movement on Capitol Hill. Finally, we wanted to talk about specifics with members preparing to come with stories about how broadband deployed in their communities is making a difference, underscoring the vital nature of smaller providers. And last, it is all about relationships, making sure lawmakers know who our members are and that they are a resource to be used.

BONUS FIVE

All-time favorite show?Happy Days

Favorite app? Lyft or Barry’s Bootcamp

Destination on your bucket list? An African safari, but it isn’t happening any time soon.

Book on your nightstand? Re-reading David McCullough’s John Adams in preparation for a book tour.

Memorable meal? I’m a big wine person and there is a terrific new restaurant in Manhattan called Pasta Eater. They don’t have a liquor license, so I bought an Ornellaia and a Saxum and had an amazing Italian pasta dinner.

Dan Abrams has become a one-man media conglomerate.

The son of famed First Amendment lawyer Floyd Abrams, he’s moved from reporting on legal issues on Court TV to launching web businesses including Mediaite, producing shows such as the top-rated Live PD and Court Cam on A&E and building the Law & Crime network. He also hosts a daily show on Sirius XM, and he’s the chief legal correspondent for ABC News, which kept him busy during the impeachment of President Donald Trump.

In March, Abrams will publish John Adams Under Fire: The Founding Father’s Fight for Justice in The Boston Massacre Trial.

Working out helps keep Abrams sane. “But when things heat up on my books, I have basically no free time beyond spending time with my son Everett,” he said.

He spoke with B+C business editor Jon Lafayette.

For a lawyer turned TV-news guy, you’ve been very entrepreneurial. What spurred the urge to launch businesses?

I have always been as, or more, interested in the business side of media than the on-air side. When I was on air at MSNBC, I made a pitch to leave my show and run the network. It worked. I eventually realized what I really wanted to do wasn’t to run an arm of NBC News but to start my own media businesses. Media right now is the Wild West with lots of available real estate, so it’s incredibly exciting and fun.

What’s surprised you about the popularity ofLive PD?

I could not have predicted that it would often be the No. 1 show on cable on Friday and Saturday nights. What has been most surprising (and rewarding) about it has been how invested the audience is in the show. #LivePDNation, as we call the community, is so passionate about every detail of the show. They sometimes see little things the police miss, help catch wanted fugitives or find the missing children we highlight on the show.

How many other live or real-life shows —Live Rescue,Court Cam— do you think there’s an appetite for?

People don’t really want fake, scripted reality shows anymore. They want real reality and we can provide that. A lot of it. The genre is really hot and we are now producing programs for five other networks/platforms.

Will digital and streaming technology sustain the type of legal networks like the one where you got your start, Court TV?

I started Law & Crime based on my experience at Court TV in the ’90s, but it’s even more relevant today because media has become so fractured. Law & Crime’s live trial coverage is a niche audience but fortunately it’s a pretty big niche.

Mediaite is in the journalism criticism business. How could the news do a better job covering stories like the impeachment?

I wish media coverage would more often take a step back and present more context and analysis, even if it’s something we didn’t just learn about today. Some do try to do this, but we need to remember that most people aren’t following every detail of ongoing stories. Just because it’s not the first time something has occurred, that doesn’t mean that we should become numb to its significance.

BONUS FIVE

Last great bingewatch? Netflix’s Unbelievable
What’s on your DVR?The Voice, Billy on the Street
Top all-time TV shows?The Office, Mad Men, Sex and the City, 30 Rock
Favorite podcasts?My Favorite Murder, Armchair Expert, To Live and Die in L.A.
Recent memorable meal? At Petit Crenn in San Francisco. A leek and caviar appetizer, followed by butternut squash soup, a dish of mushroom and cannellini beans, another of smoked trout and cauliflower, and Bûche de Noël for dessert.

Alex Duda got her start at E!, producing everything from Talk Soup, starring Greg Kinnear, to Fashion Emergency and Joan Rivers E! Live from the Red Carpet. From E!, she went to Warner Bros.-owned Telepictures, where she created and executive produced such syndicated strips as Elimidate and The Tyra Banks Show.

After executive producing the young-skewing Tyra, for which she won two of her five Daytime Emmys, she moved to NBCUniversal where she executive produced Steve Harvey in Chicago from 2012 to 2017. In September, Duda took on her third major talk show, The Kelly Clarkson Show, which is already renewed for season two.

Duda chatted with B+C contributor Paige Albiniak about how she moved from reality TV to talk and how she gets the very best out of the talent she produces.

You have produced several big talents in daytime — Tyra Banks, Steve Harvey and now Kelly Clarkson. They are all very different people. How do you work with talent to create shows that work both for them and the daytime audience? The secret is to find the honest truth about that talent and then craft the show around that. You have to figure out who they really are and then build a show around them that highlights that. That’s why there’s always room for success for everyone in daytime — every host is different so every format should be different.

What is the honest truth you found about Kelly Clarkson? Kelly is all about connection. When we met Kelly, my team and I had been doing reality TV and talk for a long time. When we went in to meet her, we all had ideas about who she was. We walked into the room and sat with her for what was supposed to be an hour and it turned into a probably a four-hour meeting. We all walked out of there thinking, ‘She’s my new best friend.’ We’re not the only ones who feel that way. She wants to connect with everyone; she can’t help but connect. That is her truth. We built the show around that connection.

What has been one of your favorite moments from the show so far? There already have been so many but one that was fun was when we had on Chrissy Teigen and James Wolk. Chrissy moved down the couch to make room for James, and as she moved she commented, ‘I feel like I’m on Elimidate!’ She didn’t know that I created that show, but I loved the call-back. One of my producers, Gina Sprehe, had a needle-point pillow made for me with that quote on it.

How did you decide to do the song at the top, which you call Kellyoke and which is doing well on YouTube? From the beginning, we wanted to do that based on her live concerts. We loved when she would do audience requests and then sing that song. No other host in daytime can do that. It’s the gift she gives the audience every day and it starts the show in such a fun way.

Why do you think Kelly Clarkson is resonating with the daytime audience? I think it goes back to honesty. Whoever is hosting a daytime show is someone the audience has to want to spend time with. And Kelly is one of us, she’s our Idol, we chose her. The audience feels like they can go up and talk to her; they feel like they know her. When we first met with her, we showed her a word cloud of all the different topics you can do in daytime and asked her which of these subjects she was comfortable talking about. She looked at it and said, ‘I’ve got to tell you, there’s nothing I’m uncomfortable talking about.’ She’s fearless, she’s real and she’s not afraid to be 100% her true self.

BONUS FIVE

What’s on your DVR? Travel Channel’s Expedition Unknown
All-time favorite show?Modern Family and Everybody Loves Raymond.
Destinations on your vacation bucket list? Italy (particularly Tuscany); any Hawaiian island; the Maldives; Southern France.
Books on your nightstand?Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain
Favorite podcast? Bob Goff’s The Dream Big Podcast

Peter Faricy joined Discovery in September 2018 after 13 years at Amazon, the last 10 building its Amazon Marketplace e-commerce business from 35 people when he joined to a global powerhouse with 22,000 employees in 92 locations around the world when he left. As CEO of Global Direct-to-Consumer, Faricy is in charge of Discovery’s digital and streaming video offerings worldwide. After a year of focusing on the technology platform for the streaming business, Discovery launched Food Network Kitchen on Oct. 22 and has several other new products in the pipeline. He spoke with B+C contributing editor Mike Farrell.

What drew you to Discovery?

It was really three things: One is I really do believe that what’s happening in streaming and direct-to-consumer in the media world has a chance to positively change the world for the better. Number two, I really saw this as a company that had an enormous amount of potential. We have a group of brands and a group of networks and shows and talent that consumers absolutely love. Finally, in my view, the winners in the direct-to-consumer world are going to be people who can take the great content, like we have at Discovery, but also build really great products that consumers love. That last piece was something I learned to do at Amazon over my 13 years there. So I also felt like, “Gosh, I have something to offer here. This is a good fit.”

Amazon Marketplace is primarily an e-commerce business. Do you see similarities in what Discovery is trying to do with streaming?

Part of my role when I ran the Marketplace was we kind of became the entrepreneurial engine for Amazon. … It’s not just having the e-commerce experience, but learning how you leverage technology to build products that people end up loving.

Thanksgiving just passed, typically a big day for Food Network. Was it also a big day for Food Network Kitchen?

Absolutely. A lot of the Thanksgiving preparation happens in the weeks before Thanksgiving, so we had an enormous run-up … of people looking for recipes, taking our step-by-step tutorials. I took one on “How to Carve a Turkey” that I actually learned something from even though I’ve been carving a turkey for 30 years.

I know it’s early, but are there any subscriber numbers you could share or goals you have for the service?

The single most important thing I’m looking for is the amount of engagement both for the free users and for the subscribers. The best measure as to if they are going to stay, is how often do the come back, how many different pieces of content do they view, how long do they spend with you when they come back. Those are the metrics and we are really pleased with how well they are performing and how engaged consumers are.

What’s next in the content pipeline?

Last year we did an amazing deal with the BBC where we have exclusive access to all of their great natural history content — Planet Earth, Blue Planet, Serengeti; I could go on and on. When you combine that with the Discovery Channel, Animal Planet and the Science Channel, we have the definitive collection of natural history anywhere in the world. We’ve announced that we plan to pull all of that content together and at some point launch a product around that content and maybe more sometime in 2020. The other thing we’ve announced for next year is a real exciting partnership with Chip and Joanna Gaines. We’re launching a TV network and a direct-to-consumer product around this lifestyle brand called Magnolia. Those are the next two frontiers that we’re climbing, but I will say stay tuned because we’re working on a lot more behind the scenes.

BONUS FIVE

What’s on your DVR?Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, This Is Us
All-time favorite show?The Office
Destinations on your vacation bucket list? Cuba
Books on your nightstand?Greed and Glory on Wall Street by Ken Auletta, The Last Days of Night: A Novel by Graham Moore
Recent memorable meal — where and what did you eat? At Nobu in Malibu with wife Maura, son Jack and daughter Maggie. “I’m an only child. I like to celebrate my birthday.”

Mark Marshall, president of NBCUniversal advertising sales and partnerships, never considered a career other than advertising. His grandfather worked at ad agencies in New York and Chicago, and he got a job as a sales assistant at Family Channel right out of Valparaiso University in Indiana. Marshall joined NBCU from Turner in 2013 and moved from Chicago to New York in 2016. He was promoted to his current post in 2018. Another generation of the Marshall family is seeing the benefits of being in the ad game. Marshall took his 15-year-old son, Jack, to Stamford, Connecticut, to watch NBC’s Sunday Night Football studio show live and spend time with Mike Tirico, Tony Dungy and Rodney Harrison. “That was a fun one to share with my son,” he said. He talked to B+C business editor Jon Lafayette about where the ad business has taken him.

How did moving to headquarters change your job?

Other than having a much longer commute, you get to spend more time directly with the clients and strategy teams, which allows you to have different conversations with clients and affords you the chance to get closer to their challenges and work to help them create solutions.

What was it like being onstage at Radio City Music Hall during NBCU’s upfront in May?

It was probably the coolest honor of my career to do that, and just to have my wife and daughter in the audience as well was great. And I was debating, do I give the crowd my karaoke version of Bon Jovi’s “Wanted Dead or Alive?” That would have made it the last time I will be on stage at Radio City.

NBCU is pushing advanced advertising. Is it gaining traction?

That business has grown dramatically for us overall. We’ll be up this year 30%-plus, in terms of our data products, with about 50% more advertisers participating as well. So we've kind of moved from a test-and-learn to actually, with some clients, dedicating a significant part of their media plan to audience buying.

TV is changing and consolidating. What do you tell salespeople concerned about job security?

The first thing I’d say is, don’t think of us as being in the TV business. We’re lucky enough to work at a company that’s in the entertainment business with theme parks, Universal Pictures, TV networks, as well as a billion-dollar plus digital business, not to mention launching Peacock. We have so many opportunities to do great things. You have to get out of your silo and learn other parts of our company. It will make you more valuable regardless of whatever changes happen in our business.

Peacock [the planned streaming service] is ad-supported. How big of an opportunity is it?

I’ve been on the road for the past couple of weeks, having meetings with clients and agencies. Everyone wants to be part of it because they know how important it is to keep a healthy advertising ecosystem, so advertisers have really leaned into it. If everyone moves to the subscription side of the world and no one is seeing ads, that’s not good for anyone.

Bonus Five

TV shows on your DVR? Watchmen, Peaky Blinders, Succession, Chernobyl, Vida, Better Things, Barry
All-time top TV show? I’m really loving Better Things, Vida and Barry now.
Favorite podcast? This American Life, TED Talks.
What was a recent memorable meal — where and what did you eat? Angelini Osteria on Beverly Boulevard for their branzino.
Books on your nightstand? Maid by Stephanie Land, The Falconer by Dana Czapnik

Season 10 of Shameless starts on Showtime Sunday, Nov. 10. The dark comedy about the hapless Gallagher clan on the South Side of Chicago picks up six months after the season nine finale. William H. Macy’s boozy Frank uses his leg injury to collect prescription drugs. His exploits lead him to an old friend, and the usual Shameless mayhem ensues.

Showrunner John Wells spoke to B&C senior content producer, programming Michael Malone about his highlights of the new season, the keys to hitting 10 seasons and fans’ reactions to the Gallaghers.

How has the show been able to reach 10 seasons?

It’s about a family and we’ve been watching the kids grow up and struggle. It’s about income equality in America and it’s funny. We’re all laughing about hard times that a lot of people are actually going through, and here’s a group of people that, with all their troubles and difficulties, pull together and love each other and look after each other.

Who’s an unsung hero of the Shameless gang?

There are so many on the show. Mike Hissrich, who is [co-executive] producer and makes it all happen. Nina Ruscio, who’s our production designer, who finds a way that, between Los Angeles and Chicago, makes it all look like Chicago. Lyn Paolo, our costume designer, who is just wonderful. We just have a great crew on the show.

What’s your favorite moment from the new season?

There’s an infant crawling race to see which one gets sold. That made me laugh out loud. There’s a wonderful chase where Debbie is trying to chase down her baby daddy’s new girlfriend all through the “el” tracks that Bill Macy shot.

How many more seasons do you see Shameless going?

I could do it forever. The reality is, however long the cast wants to keep doing it with me. I love writing the show. It’s a great way to talk satirically about a lot of the things going on in the country, people just trying to get by. But the cast will really make that decision.

What’s something a fan of the show has said to you that stayed with you?

Many, many people come to me and tell me that Frank reminds them of their own dad. I think they don’t mean literally, but there are things about their dad that are similar — the drinking problem or the narcissism or the lack of concern for their children. That happens kind of regularly, to tell you the truth, people saying, Did you meet my dad?

Bonus Five

What are you bingewatching?The Good Fight, Schitt’s Creek
What was your last great meal and where? Osteria Santo Spirito in Florence, Italy
What places are on your travel bucket list? Seville and Barcelona
What books are on your nightstand?Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari
What’s your all-time favorite TV show? Threeway tie: The Sopranos, Mad Men, Breaking Bad

It’s a little ironic that Harry Friedman is choosing this moment (next year, really) to retire. Both of the shows he executive produces — Sony Pictures Television’s Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! — remain at the top of their games (pun intended) and last spring, Jeopardy! spent several weeks as TV’s top-rated show due to the sensational performance of professional gambler James Holzhauer.

Around that same time, sad news broke: Jeopardy!’s host, Alex Trebek, revealed he had been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. Trebek recently has had to resume chemotherapy but remains back at work taping season 36 of the iconic game show.

Still, Friedman felt the time was right to announce that this spring he will depart both of the shows he has carefully shepherded for so long. In the following conversation with B&C contributor Paige Albiniak, Friedman explains why he’s stepping away and also reveals how he felt about Holzhauer’s run and the incredible fan reaction to Trebek’s diagnosis.

Both of your shows are still operating in top form, and Jeopardy! has generated its most excitement and highest ratings in recent years. Why did you decide now was the time to announce your retirement? Twenty-five years is a hell of a good run. I’m going to find out what it’s like to have very little if any responsibility. In all seriousness, I wanted to have a well thought-out transition. After the first of the year, Michael [Richards, who was named new executive producer of both shows] will start spending more time here.

What was your takeaway from James Holzhauer’s epic run in the spring? I think it really fulfilled the promise of what was possible, of what we envisioned when we dropped the five-win limit, just before Ken Jennings [won 74 games in a row] in 2004.

Some people have said Holzhauer broke the game. Do you agree? No, Holzhauer didn’t break the game. He played it in a way that has never been played before. He’s a professional sports gambler, so he has a gambler’s mentality. He also has an incredibly deep and broad base of knowledge and very fast signaling-button skills.

When did you know that this was a player to be reckoned with? Probably early on when he broke the one-day earnings record. I thought the [way he played] was very smart. If you can play that way and be right as often as he was, you can play like that, starting out at the big-money levels. We discourage that type of play because it’s hard. We think it’s better to start with the smaller amounts and move through the categories. The risk in playing the way James did was that in going for $1,000 off the bat, if you are wrong, you are immediately in the red.

What did you think when he lost to Chicago librarian Emma Boettcher? He didn’t lose; she won. As I recall, she found the Daily Doubles and wagered appropriately. She was leading going into Final Jeopardy!

What do you think having contestants like James and Emma did for the show? It reminded a lot of people what a great show we have and it brought a lot of new viewers to the set. We’re still appointment television for a lot of people. Both shows have pretty high levels of co-viewing, which we love. It does truly bring families together.

What’s been the reaction to Alex Trebek’s cancer diagnosis on set? Alex has been so touched by the fan reaction. On our Jeopardy! stage we have a Hall of Fame area set aside for the cards, letters and gifts people have sent in, like T-shirts, hats and a lot of kids’ drawings. It’s been really, really, really sweet. The outpouring of love and affection has been remarkable. Alex’s doctors have said it has been a real tonic for Alex and contributed to his recovery.

Why do you think Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! have had the long run that they have had? I think they are comfortable and reliable and those are two attributes that you don’t find in shows anymore. It’s not just the frequency that makes them reliable — it’s that you know what you are going to get and yet it’s going to be fun and interesting and you can play along. A lot of TV shows would love to have the viewership that we do. On a lot of stations, we are the top-rated shows from sign-on to sign-off, period. It’s a big deal, especially in major markets.

Our talent has played a huge role in our success. You have to have something special going for you to be welcomed into people’s homes every night for a collective 15,000 hours. Pat [Sajak] and Vanna [White] are the same off screen as they are on. They are all pretty terrific people.

What are you most looking forward to about retirement? Getting my backhand to go from mediocre to just so-so. And it sounds cliché, but spending more time with the family — my grandkids are just so damn much fun.

Bonus Five

What’s on your DVR? Seinfeld, Big Little Lies, The Daily Show
What is your all-time favorite TV show?Six Feet Under
Favorite podcasts?The Daily for news, and Dr. Death for a good story.
What book is on your nightstand?Calypsoby David Sedaris
What is your bucket-list travel destination? Patagonia

HGTV is building a very strong ratings foundation in 2019, based on its focus on the home-renovation genre. It finished July as cable’s third-most-watched network in primetime, averaging 1.2 million viewers — more than the scripted content-focused USA Network, TNT, TBS or FX, according to Nielsen. Overseeing that ratings success is HGTV president Jane Latman, who recently spoke with senior content producer R. Thomas Umstead about the network’s strategy and the appeal of HGTV on-air talent such as the Property Brothers hosts, Jonathan and Drew Scott, as well as event programming like A Very Brady Renovation, which debuts Sept. 9.

What has been the secret sauce to the recent ratings success of HGTV? HGTV is a top-five network for viewers, and for women especially it ranks right up in the top three. I think consistency is part of the secret sauce of the success of HGTV. People know what they’re going to get when they come in — they’re going to get certain beats in every show that will end in a beautiful reveal or a very happy family buying a house.

What strategies are you looking to employ to keep HGTV viewers coming back to the network? We never want to alienate our large core audience, but we also have to propel ourselves into the future, so what I’m trying to do is figure out ways to stretch the brand. We’re doing more event programming, and right now we’re really amping up some really exciting events like A Very Brady Renovation, Rock the Block and next year’s Extreme Makeover Home Edition.

You mentioned A Very Brady Renovation. How does the HGTV brand benefit from being connected to a pop-culture icon like The Brady Bunch?A Very Brady Renovation was one of our big, big swings, and I think we did an amazing job. When America sees that house recreated in all of its detail, they will be so impressed. The goal is to get audiences who have never watched HGTV to the network and out of that, we market other shows that they can get addicted to. We’ve had a billion social media hits already and the show hasn’t even aired. By taking this pop-culture phenomenon and then skinning it the HGTV way, it’s helped us cut through the clutter of television programming.

What is it about the appeal of the home-renovation genre that continues to drive audiences to HGTV? There is something very aspirational about shows on HGTV. We all wish we could design and buy the perfect home. It’s more than just a house — in our shows we’re playing out a dream come true. Lately, we’ve been having success with shows that are more customized for the family, like in Property Brothers Forever Home, where Drew and Jonathan Scott work with the families to determine what is needed to make this your forever home.

What effect has Discovery’s purchase of Scripps Networks Interactive had on HGTV’s success? One of the best things about Discovery’s Scripps acquisition has been to have so many networks that we can cross-pollinate with. For example, with A Very Brady Renovation we’re going to have cross-promotional opportunities with talent through programming on Discovery’s Fast N’ Loud as well as Food Network’s Worst Cooks in America. There are so many opportunities for cross-pollinating talent and promotion across all the networks, which lifts all ships.

Bonus Five

What are your favorite TV shows? Ballers, Billions, Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Below Deck, Power.
Favorite apps? Yahoo Finance, Uber, Tidal, Instagram, text (I consider this an app).
Favorite podcasts?The Breakfast Club, tied with Bill Simmons
What books are on your nightstand?Camino Islandby John Grisham; Connected to Goodness by David Meltzer; The Bible
Memorable meal? Omar at Vaucluse in New York. Caviar, whole fish, drinks, Opus One wine, and it was my wife’s birthday.

If you’re watching TV at the airport, on a screen that you didn’t bring with you, odds are it’s CNN near a gate or ReachTV if you’re in a restaurant or store. The CEO of Reach TV is Lynnwood Bibbens, who owned and worked at several companies in the computer hardware space before launching this one, with media entrepreneur and chief creative officer Ron Bloom, in 2016. The ad-supported service — programmed like a TV network except with most shows only six to 10 minutes long — says it’s in 51 top airports in the U.S. and Canada and is relaunching into 1 million hotel rooms in August. Some shows are produced in the Reach Studios in Los Angeles. Some come from partnerships with outlets such as A+E Networks, Bloomberg, Hearst, Overtime, NBPA and Stadium, among many others. Bibbens spoke about the business with B&C content director Kent Gibbons.

What is Reach TV’s business model, and why airports? Our business model is to entertain travelers. Only positive content — to make the viewing experience laid back. The revenue model is mostly ad-supported. Airports came about because as you look at all the places in the world — we said how do we put our network where people already are? How do we go where the people are and then deliver them something unique? When you look at the airports, it’s the one place with a captive audience that’s predicted to double over the next 10 years.

What genres or shows do you see working best? Genres jump, right? Certain times of the year, especially now, there’s a partnership we did with DraftKings for fantasy sports. You find out that 83% of millennials that travel, they search for fantasy. That’s a popular show. And then of course there’s the food and destination kind of content, like we did a show co-produced with The Hollywood Reporter called Where Hollywood Eats. Extremely popular. And the great part about knowing our demographics and having audience data, we found out that we have the highest-indexing network of people that have second homes. So we co-produced a show with Ben Silverman and Howard Owens of Propagate and A+E Networks. They did a limited series [Working The Room] and we took those same three limited series and made them 12 on Reach TV.

Will Reach TV expand beyond airports and hotels? Yes, we will morph into the entertainment network for people on the go! The minute you leave your home, you must have your Reach TV.

Is there a key to success for short-form content? We believe so. The most important thing is, ‘Great stories.’ The second is something we built ReachTV around: ‘Content Is King, but Distribution Is Emperor.’ At ReachTV, we’re adding great stories to the one short-form linear TV network whose audience will double in the next 10 years as it has in the last 10 years.

Is audience measurement or attribution a problem? The great part about the airport is, if somebody ever questions the number of people, all you have to do is go to the next number, which is how much revenue they generate. Look at our airports that we’re in right now. They generate over $800 million a month just in the concessionaires. Our job is to entertain people so they can buy one more beer. One more beer for 50 million people. That’s a lot of money.

Few executives are more prepared to tackle the intersection of content, news and new technology platforms than PBS chief operating officer Jonathan Barzilay. He has handled First Amendment issues as a lawyer for ABC, oversaw Toon Disney and ABC Kids, was general manager of CBS Interactive, headed up content for Qualcomm’s short-lived Flo TV mobile video platform and even had the imposing title of director, freedom of expression, for the Ford Foundation, where he pondered the future of journalism in a new media world.

Barzilay conversed with B&C senior content producer (Washington) John Eggerton about public television’s evolution in the TV-everywhere era and other topics of interest.

What is your vision for PBS’ digital future and how does your PBS Passport on-demand service figure into that? LIke every media organization, the big strategic challenge for PBS is insuring that we are able to meet our customers on all the platforms where they want us to be. Passport is an element of that around sustainability and membership.

Membership video on demand, which is how we view Passport, is basically a benefit to encourage people to continue to support their PBS member stations. It has been successful in increasing the number of station members who are sustainers, which is to say recurring givers rather than one-time givers, and it has shifted the relationship from being transactional to ongoing.

Engagement is one aspect of the digital future. Another is reach.

Just [last] week, at our annual meeting, we announced the launch of the first PBS app for a Smart TV. The PBS ap will now be available on Samsung Smart TV’s.

So, we view the digital future as a combination of deepening engagement that helps drive membership, ubiquitous reach so we can be found on all these different platforms, and exploration with new kinds of content formats. That is the third piece of it.

For that I would direct you to PBS digital studios, which is our in-house skunkworks studio that works with member stations to offer short-form content such as Sound Field, a music-based series from Twin Cities PBS, or Deep Look, a science-based digital series from KQED San Francisco.

Are you doing anything to promote your digital side as “not your father’s” PBS in the sense of beyond what they traditionally think of the service? Maybe in a subtle way. We haven’t tried to grab the audience by the lapels and say that to them. But there is an older audience that is continuing to visit us on broadcast and a younger audience visiting us on these new platforms.

For instance, already in 2019 the numbers of viewers who connect with PBS children’s content on digital platforms has exceeded the number of people that connect with PBS Kids on broadcast, and that is a trend all across media. The inflection point has passed in our kids business and for general audiences we are continuing to invest in all these platforms so we will be ready as younger audiences find us in different ways.

Are you basically getting ready in case the broadcast side goes away entirely? I don’t think so. We remain dedicated to broadcast. A significant percentage of the country--60 million Americans--do not have broadband to the home. So, it is important to remember that part of our mission is to serve all American homes. We overindex in low income homes; we overindex in Latino and African American homes; and we overindex in rural homes. That is an important part of how the children in those homes are being educated and it’s an important part of how adults get a window on the world.

With so many outlets for video, including arts and education, why does the government need to continue to fund public broadcasting? Let me step back a minute to set the stage. PBS itself doesn’t receive appreciable funds from the government. Those funds go to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which it distributes to stations through a grant process. Stations in large urban markets are likely to receive only a very small percentage of their budgets from government funding. Stations in rural and lower income markets often rely on that government support. That is part of why the policy sphere has been bipartisan. We have always been able to make the case that, first off, we are a public-private partnership. Government funding itself represents only 15%--that’s one five percent--of the total funding for public media. That was baked into the initial conception of it and it is a good value for $1.35 per citizen per year. We are contributing much more than that in delivering educational and high quality programming to every American home.

So, there is the value piece of it. And as I mentioned earlier, the commitment to reach all communities is one that transcends streaming services and pay TV services because we are there delivering this mission-based programming in every corner of the country.

There is bipartisan support now, but it has not always been so, and even now the President wants to defund it. Why do you think that is the case? We have been in the position before where public broadcasting has been zeroed out of White House budgets and each time in the past, and in the first two years of this Administration, Congress has restored the funds because it is perceived by both sides of the aisle as being a very meaningful part of American culture.

There are surveys that show that PBS remains extremely high in value to taxpayers, second only to the Department of Defense. There is also polling that indicates it is the most trusted media brand and among the most trusted brands in the country, period.

I think it is appropriate to have the discussion, but we feel really strongly about our ability to defend the value of what we offer. We remain rooted in mission and that affects everything from story selection to time spent telling stories to the diversity of perspectives that are offered. And I think people appreciate that. When you watch a program on PBS, the difference isn’t merely editorial, it is almost biological. No one is here trying to rile people up. In fact, it is always thoughtful; it’s always paced to encourage exploration of really important ideas, and history, science, the arts. These are all areas that are neglected in the commercial context but that we are committed to.

Speaking of mission, how big a fund-raising plus is it to have all these platforms? That is a really interesting question. The traditional fund-raising model on broadcast continues, which is so-called ‘pledge programming,’ in which certain programs are interrupted by requests for support.

As we talked about earlier, the single biggest innovation we have introduced in recent years is Passport, which gives sustaining members access to thousands of hours of PBS content including all the seasons of Downton Abbey and Austin City Limits.

On the newer digital platforms we are continuously experimenting with new ways to donate and new ways to encourage younger viewers to support the innovative works that they find.

What did you learn from the rise and fall of FloTV and was that a technology ahead of the business model? FLoTV was ahead of its time. It was live TV to mobile phones developed before the iPhone had even launched. Another way to look at it was that it was an early iteration of the skinny bundle. It was a range of programs developed for a reasonable price on a mobile device.

I think that, more than anything else, what I learned from it was that certain programming--news, live sports--does exceptionally well on mobile devices, but other forms of storytelling are going to continue to thrive on broadcast and across bigger screens.

At the Ford Foundation you were clearly thinking about the future of journalism, whose content has gotten beaten up by the President and its business model beaten up by the Web. What is journalism’s future? Journalism is among the most important threads of our civic fabric and organizations like ProPublica and the Texas Tribune have found important ways to continue to do investigative work under an entirely new funding model.

Public media have also continued to invest in journalism through Frontline, which leads through its investigative work and transparency project and through the PBS NewsHour, offering length and depth that are not available elsewhere.

I think as we look to the future, public media along with certain ongoing leadership brands and innovative organizations are all going to play a part in ensuring that there is a vital fourth estate to move forward.

And you still see a way to make that commercially viable, or will it eventually need government support? I don’t think there is a requirement for government funding of journalism. I think certain brands have the scope and resources to continue to be leaders in journalism. I think new models are emerging that also have become leaders in their own right. I think public stations and PBS journalism brands and NPR all continue to offer leadership in unique ways.

I will note as well that one of the concepts that I was involved with in the Ford Foundation and that I am on the advisory board is Report for America, which is Teach for America for local journalism. That is an organization that has raised funds that have allowed journalists to be imbedded in local newsrooms but the newsroom pays only half of the salary. The other funds are raised philanthropically.

We currently have three PBS stations engaged with Report for America, Mississippi Public Broadcasting, West Virginia and Las Cruces, N.M.It is an interesting model.

Anything you wanted to say that we didn’t ask you? We just came off our upfronts without advertisers, rolling out the programming. When you see the range of what PBS offers, from science to history to the arts to thoughtful news and public affairs to independent film, it really is something to be proud of. PBS offers over 200 hours per year of documentary film. That is not necessarily universally appreciated but between POV and Independent Lens and the films from Henry Louis Gates and Ken Burns and others, we are America’s home for documentary.

Bonus Five

What are you bingewatching right now? We just finished Shtisel, an Israeli series on Netflix.

Who is your favorite Star Trek character? Capt. Jean-Luc Picard

Vacation destination on your bucket list? Australia and New Zealand

What book is on your nightstand or tablet?Searching for Stars on an Island in Maine, by Alan Lightman

Favorite songwriter? Neil Finn, best known for the band Crowded House. I have actually written an e-book about his songs.

You can’t step onto the street in cities like Los Angeles lately without seeing billboards and banner ads on city buses for Pluto TV, the ad-supported video-on-demand platform that Viacom just bought for $340 million.

Indeed, it’s heady times for Tom Ryan, co-founder and CEO of the platform, which currently reaches 15 million users a month through more than 30 million smartphones, computers, OTT devices and smart TVs in the U.S. alone.

For a streaming company focused on serving high-quality longform content to 18-to-34-year-olds, getting bought by Viacom — which has been doing the same for decades, and has robust ad-tech resources to boot — spells a pretty good future.

B&C senior content producer, technology Daniel Frankel caught up to Ryan last week following Pluto TV’s NewFront presentation in New York.

How did you get involved with Pluto TV? I moved to L.A. in early 2013 so my wife and I could live near her parents as we had our first child. Ilya Pozin, a former business partner, approached me with an idea. He wanted to curate digital video into a lean-back, TV-like experience. There were so many great web videos out there, but it was hard to find the good stuff.

How has Pluto TV evolved over time? Pluto TV was born of the idea that TV did so many things right over the decades. It allowed you to simply lean back and be entertained. But it was also born of the idea that television needed a remix. It needed to be accessible on any device and easier to use. And, like broadcast television, it needed to be free and ad-supported. Initially, we built a minimal viable product (MVP) with thematic channels utilizing short-form digital content via the YouTube API. That allowed us to prove that great curation would lead to better viewer engagement. However, we quickly realized that long viewing sessions required premium content. We also discovered that true lean-back viewing in the Internet Age happened on the same device it always had — the TV in the living room.

What do you think made Pluto TV attractive to Viacom relative to other streaming platforms? First, we are the leader in free streaming television. We have over 15 million viewers with more than half between the ages of 18-34. Second, Pluto TV recognized early on that building the future of TV meant taking the best of what made television great historically and updating it. While we have a robust on-demand selection, Pluto TV leads with linear, interest-based channels, which no other scaled provider offers. Third, we established key partnerships on major streaming platforms like Roku and Amazon Fire TV, where we are consistently a top free app. And we developed proprietary audience solutions with Pluto TV Built-In where we embed a form of Pluto TV in the leading top smart TV platforms.

Will Pluto TV ever have originals? While we don’t currently have ‘original content,’ we do have ‘original channels.’

How does Pluto TV differentiate itself from other AVOD services? We’re the category leader with over 15 million viewers. We create original, lean-back channels that keep viewers engaged. And we’re not only a top app on all platforms where we compete, but we’re built into top hardware platforms as the default free-TV service.

Bonus Five

What are you binge-watching right now?Black Mirror
All-time favorite TV show?Curb Your Enthusiasm
Favorite podcast?Beats in Space, a weekly radio show on WNYU in New York featuring electronic musicians and DJs
What is your bucket list travel destination? Galapagos Islands
What book is loaded into your e-reader?The Second World Wars: How the First Global Conflict Was Fought and Won by Victor Davis Hanson

You can’t step onto the street in cities like Los Angeles lately without seeing billboards and banner ads on city buses for Pluto TV, the ad-supported video-on-demand platform that Viacom just bought for $340 million.

Indeed, it’s heady times for Tom Ryan, co-founder and CEO of the platform, which currently reaches 15 million users a month through more than 30 million smartphones, computers, OTT devices and smart TVs in the U.S. alone.

For a streaming company focused on serving high-quality longform content to 18-to-34-year-olds, getting bought by Viacom — which has been doing the same for decades, and has robust ad-tech resources to boot — spells a pretty good future.

B&C senior content producer, technology Daniel Frankel caught up to Ryan last week following Pluto TV’s NewFront presentation in New York.

How did you get involved with Pluto TV? I moved to L.A. in early 2013 so my wife and I could live near her parents as we had our first child. Ilya Pozin, a former business partner, approached me with an idea. He wanted to curate digital video into a lean-back, TV-like experience. There were so many great web videos out there, but it was hard to find the good stuff.

How has Pluto TV evolved over time? Pluto TV was born of the idea that TV did so many things right over the decades. It allowed you to simply lean back and be entertained. But it was also born of the idea that television needed a remix. It needed to be accessible on any device and easier to use. And, like broadcast television, it needed to be free and ad-supported. Initially, we built a minimal viable product (MVP) with thematic channels utilizing short-form digital content via the YouTube API. That allowed us to prove that great curation would lead to better viewer engagement. However, we quickly realized that long viewing sessions required premium content. We also discovered that true lean-back viewing in the Internet Age happened on the same device it always had — the TV in the living room.

What do you think made Pluto TV attractive to Viacom relative to other streaming platforms? First, we are the leader in free streaming television. We have over 15 million viewers with more than half between the ages of 18-34. Second, Pluto TV recognized early on that building the future of TV meant taking the best of what made television great historically and updating it. While we have a robust on-demand selection, Pluto TV leads with linear, interest-based channels, which no other scaled provider offers. Third, we established key partnerships on major streaming platforms like Roku and Amazon Fire TV, where we are consistently a top free app. And we developed proprietary audience solutions with Pluto TV Built-In where we embed a form of Pluto TV in the leading top smart TV platforms.

Will Pluto TV ever have originals? While we don’t currently have ‘original content,’ we do have ‘original channels.’

How does Pluto TV differentiate itself from other AVOD services? We’re the category leader with over 15 million viewers. We create original, lean-back channels that keep viewers engaged. And we’re not only a top app on all platforms where we compete, but we’re built into top hardware platforms as the default free-TV service.

Bonus Five

What’s on your DVR?Billions, Killing Eve and Black Monday.
What is your all-time favorite TV show?Being Mary Jane
What’s your favorite podcast?Still Processing, a culture podcast from The New York Times.
What is your bucket list travel destination?Angkor Wat, the Seventh Wonder of the World.
What book is on your nightstand?Becoming by Michelle Obama

BET executive VP and head of original programming Connie Orlando is currently spearheading the African-American targeted network’s most aggressive push into original programming in its 39-year history.

With at least 10 original films, five scripted series and two unscripted series currently slated to air on the Viacom-owned network in 2019, Orlando wants to give BET’s core audience quality, original fare and more shows featuring people of color both in front of and behind the camera.

BET also is gearing up for new scripted projects from such high-profile producers as Will Packer and Tyler Perry, and is focusing on being an advocate for socioeconomic issues through unscripted fare like Finding Justice — which exposes inequality in black communities across America — in hopes of further cementing the network’s place as a leading content brand for African- American viewers.

Orlando recently spoke with senior content producer R. Thomas Umstead. The conversation has been edited for space and style reasons.

What is BET’s strategy for developing original content? I think the strategy is to use iconic IP [intellectual property] that resonates with our audience. We’ve partnered with creative people, including Will Packer and Tyler Perry, for content that’s coming up and we’re synergizing internally and doing things with our sister companies. We’re doing some things in partnership with Paramount [Network], like Boomerang. We’re just trying to mine the field for all of these nuggets and maximize it all.

When you speak about using iconic IP like the 1990s film Boomerang and American Soul — based on Soul Train — is that to draw in older viewers who were familiar with those shows or to introduce younger viewers to the classic titles? Yes to both of those. I don’t think you need to see Boomerang the movie to watch and understand Boomerang the series or have walked down the Soul Train line to appreciate American Soul. When we tell those stories, we’re very mindful of creating storylines that everyone can relate to.

How much of BET’s new original programming strategy is tied to the increased amount of African-American targeted content in the marketplace? I’m a firm believer that there’s enough room for it all. I love looking out in the marketplace at shows featuring African-American talent in front of the front of the camera telling our stories, but we remain the home for our audience. So for us it was not really about the number, but rather creating and telling stories that you may not have heard of, or telling new stories in interesting ways. What we’ve unsettled is that there’s a thirst for it, and I think as long as the content that’s coming is captivating, interesting and relatable, there’s no reason to stop it. There are millions of stories that we can and want to tell.

Why was it important for the network to tackle social-economic issues with unscripted fare? I’m so proud of shows like Finding Justice — that’s what BET is about. It is our responsibility to really shine a light on things that are impactful in our community, but also provide a platform for voices, and to create actionable things that galvanize us and help us impact change. The most important thing about Finding Justice to me is that people will see it and come together to hopefully change some things.

How do you see BET fitting into the overall strategy of parent Viacom? I think BET is a very important part of Viacom — we are a flagship network and they’ve supported us these last couple of years. I think Viacom is excited about BET, and BET is honored and excited to be in the Viacom family.

Bonus Five

All-time top TV Show?Route 66. I watched it on Nick at Nite.

Favorite app? WhatsApp is really helpful, because I have friends all around the world.

Favorite podcast? I love Good Food, because it’s not just about restaurants, it’s about social policy and food. The health issues I’m very passionate about are obesity and HIV prevention.

Books on your nightstand? The novel I’m reading is The Overstory by Richard Powers, about trees and people.

Bucket list vacation? My son has gone to Southeast Asia and I want to go there and do photography.

If you remember Noah Wyle’s character on ER, you are familiar with some of Neal Baer’s experiences as a medical intern. Baer was the first writer-producer-doctor in the TV business.

Baer’s Denver high-school classmate John Wells, the producer, got him his first job on a show, China Beach, but Baer decided he needed a more stable career and went to Harvard Medical School. In his fourth year of med school, Wells lured Baer to provide stories for ER.

After winning numerous awards and showrunning the long-running Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Baer is now in charge of relaunching Designated Survivor, starring Kiefer Sutherland, which after airing for two seasons on ABC will stream on Netflix.

Despite choosing a career in entertainment, “I’ve never lost my passion for telling stories about medicine and the right to treatment,” Baer said.

Baer spoke with B&C senior content producer Jon Lafayette. An edited transcript follows.

Do you ever ask if you had done more good if you’d continued your career as a pediatrician? I made the right decision. It’s certainly wonderfully admirable to treat children, but I’ve had a different kind of impact … [In Survivor], Kiefer talks about the relationship between exposure to cockroaches and asthma, which most people probably don’t know about. I’m able to tell stories that I hope are impactful in ways you can’t do one on one.

You worked with Anthony Edwards on ER and now he’s on Survivor. Is casting something you like? I wanted to work with Sally Field, so I pitched Sally Field playing Maura Tierney’s mother on ER; I wanted to work with Ellen Burstyn, and she won the Emmy on my show. I wanted to work with Carol Burnett, Jeremy Irons, Jerry Lewis, Robin Williams and Alan Alda. Who wouldn’t want to work with Ann-Margret? I wanted to work with Piper Laurie because I wanted to find out what it was like to work on The Hustler with George C. Scott and Paul Newman. I worked with all of them. Many of them won Emmys for my shows. I wrote an episode of SVU for Leslie Caron. We’ve become friends and she’s introduced me to amazing people.

After doing network dramas, what’s it like working with Netflix? It’s been really great to work at Netflix. It’s harder to do the kinds of shows I did when I did ER and SVU because the networks are focused on appealing to as wide an audience as possible as opposed to a subscriber-based approach at Netflix, HBO, Hulu or Amazon. There’s not the creative concern that you dare not off end someone or say something that might not appeal. I’m grateful to Netflix for letting us not play safe. And I love doing 10 episodes instead of 22 because you don’t have to string things along in ways that don’t make sense.

How political is the new Survivor? It’s extremely political. How could it not be? It’s not about Trump. It’s about, can a politician swim in a muddy stream and not get dirty? What’s really wonderful is our lead is an independent, and so we can be equally acerbic and critical of the left and the right, Republicans and Democrats.

Can you tell me about your website Actionlab.org? It’s in beta. If you’re inspired by something that you see or read, then you can find ways to get involved and take actions in ways other than signing a petition or donating money. I used it for a documentary I did called If You Build It and with a book I worked on called Soda Politics.

Bonus Five

What shows are on your DVR?Ray Donovan, FBI, Blue Bloods, Chicago P.D.

Favorite podcast?Pardon My Take from Barstool Sports. Anything politics.

Books on your nightstand? My Amazon Fire remote (lol). The Audacity of Hops by Tom Acitelli.

Recent memorable meal? Spitfire lamb and beef at Sin & Grin in Gaithersburg, Md.

Bucket list vacation? Haven’t been to Italy and need to make that happen.

Under the supervision of Patrick Paolini, Fox-owned WTTG and WDCA Washington deliver content to the nation’s capital on all available platforms. WTTG has a lively podcast strategy, which includes the general manager’s own The Paolini Perspective and several others hosted by staffers.

The D.C. TV stations also have a relentless local news strategy, starting the day at 4 a.m. and continuing through the 11:30 p.m. show The Final 5, which routinely tops the network late-night players. Paolini is also planning a relocation, with WTTG and WDCA moving a couple of miles up Wisconsin Avenue in 2021. “We’re going to have state-of-the-art facilities,” Paolini said. “It’s been a major undertaking and the staff is excited.”

Paolini spoke with senior content producer, programming Michael Malone in January about how WTTG and WDCA connect with viewers, and users, on a range of platforms.

Tell me about the podcasts. I do my own every Tuesday and it comes out Wednesday. Usually, it’s a combination of politics, pop culture, some fun stuff. Whatever is trending for that week is usually what we talk about. I’ve done 40 episodes.

You’re always trying to find ways to reach viewers on different platforms, or maybe attract new viewers. You want to expose listeners, viewers to your talent that may not otherwise be. Our first podcast was called I Still Have a Key Card With Sarah Fraser. It was a behind-the-scenes look at our talent and it was fairly successful.

We did some research about what works in the podcast world. True crime is obviously one of the top genres. Our first news podcast was called The Mansion Murders. It was a family in D.C. that was murdered in their home; it has in-depth interviews, goes behind the scenes. We really got a chance to expand on what you could typically do in a minute, minute-thirty news package.

We built out a podcast studio within our facility. We’re rolling a bunch of them out. Missing Pieces is a murder mystery in D.C. It takes a lot of research, a lot of time, some major investigative, but the payoff is great. You get authentic, in-depth analysis of cold cases. And you see a different side of our talent, which is fantastic.

We’ve morphed into a few different genres. One of our anchors, Wisdom Martin, does Unconventional Wisdom, his take on being a dad with two kids, being a basketball coach. It’s a positive, upbeat podcast. Another one, The Good Word, is a faith-based podcast.

It’s really given our talent a chance to expand their skill sets and do some more in-depth, long-form [reporting]. It’s been received well. And it gives content back to news. One of our Missing Pieces was done by Melanie Alnwick and we’ll bring it up on the evening newscast to hear about what she learned. It’s given us reverse content back to the newscasts.

Is there revenue tied to the podcasts? The scale of the revenue right now is small, but there is revenue tied to it. As we increase scale, the revenue will increase. This year is going to be a big year for us.

How many hours of local news a week do you do? Local news and information, 73.5 hours. That includes Like It or Not (7 p.m. Monday-Friday) and The Final 5, which we do Monday through Friday at 11:30 p.m. That’s both stations combined.

Is there room for more? I think there’s room for more. Every time we’ve expanded, it’s worked. The way people consume news now is on multiple platforms throughout the entire day. People’s lifestyles are evolving, and my philosophy is, we need to be in as many places as possible.

Tell me about a station story you’re proud of from the last few months. We do something called ‘Pay It Forward,’ which highlights people in the community who do great things. We try to pay it forward through them. It’s a really uplifting, inspirational weekly feature. We did one on a woman who is retired, who gets out of her house and hands out candy and is just there for the kids. She did a lot of positive things for the community, so we highlighted her.

We live in a time when there’s a lot of negative stories in the news and social media, so I think it’s important to showcase positive stories. It’s what we should be doing as local news organizations — it shouldn’t always be about the negative story.

Bonus Five

Last great binge watch? Keller:Shark Tank on Hulu; Noll: The CW’s The Flash

What’s on your DVR? Keller:America’s Got Talent: The Champions, Watch What Happens Live.Noll:Shark Tank, The Big Bang Theory

What books are on your nightstand? Keller:Educated by Tara Westover; Noll:When I Stop Talking You’ll Know I’m Dead by Jerry Weintraub

What places are on your travel bucket list? Keller: Anywhere that’s not L.A. or NYC. Noll: All the islands.

What are your favorite apps right now? Keller: David Bowie Is, SongPop2. Noll: I literally just joined Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. #welcometotheparty

Cleve Keller and Dave Noll — the creators of Food Network’s global hit, Chopped, among many other shows — found each other as so many people do: because of a shared passion.

Both Keller and Noll got their start working for cable networks — Noll for Viacom’s MTV and VH1 and Keller for NBCUniversal’s Oxygen. While both had other jobs at those networks, they found that what they truly loved and excelled at was creating new shows.

“After seven years of doing that, I finally thought, ‘Maybe this is what I should do,’ ” Noll said. He opened his own shop and took literally thousands of pitches. The one that stood out, of course, was Keller’s.

“One day this woman came in and pitched one show and I thought, ‘That was the smartest pitch I’ve heard all year,’ ” Noll said. “I thought it could have been a fluke but then her second pitch was even better. Everyone has ideas but she’s like Mozart — she’s the best in the business when it comes to creating shows. It took five years for me to talk her into just working with me exclusively.”

Since then, Keller and Noll have worked together to create such formats as Chopped as well as America Says on Game Show Network and syndication’s Face the Truth, starring Vivica A. Fox.

Keller and Noll talked to B&C contributor Paige Albiniak on the eve of NATPE in Miami about where they see the business of television headed.

What makes a good pitch?
Noll: You need to bring the show to life in the pitch and make sure that everybody in the room comes as close as possible to seeing the same show. That means having a great title and a clear, concise concept.

Keller: There are two types of pitches. One is a game show. We work for months on the format to make it as perfect as possible and to make sure it is indestructible. We’ll play a bunch of rounds with executives and when we come in they say, ‘Oh, you are the fun people, we get to play games.’ They really get to feel the actual show. When we’re pitching a non-game show, we work to paint the story of the show so that it’s something they will love and get right away. Usually, the format has a simple structure but with a twist that they’ve never seen before.

What was the best piece of advice you’ve ever gotten?
Noll: Early on, we worked for Barry Diller. Of the top 10 things we’ve ever learned, he said eight of them. He focused us on stopping trying to sell docusoaps, or what I call ‘bearded men’ shows, to cable networks. He said, ‘Don’t sell anything unless you see a clear, concise path to $100 million around the world.’

He also told us that we were best at were these blue-sky, big-tent, age-8-to-88 shows. That’s been our focus.

You guys have recently been working in first-run syndication. What do you think are some of the near trends in first-run?
Noll: It is the perfect time for game shows in syndication. They are relatively inexpensive. You can get a high-end looking production because you can shoot six episodes in a day, and spend money on a high-end set and a great host. In five weeks, you’ve got a whole season.

As a country, we want things that are high-end but brighter, cheerier and fun. There’s a place for shows like True Detective, Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead … but when viewers want to sit back, relax and enjoy themselves, a well-made game show is perfect.

Keller: Look at the most valuable TV shows globally in the past 10 to 20 years and at the top of that list is Wheel of Fortune, Family Feud, Jeopardy! and The Price Is Right. You can gamble on trying to find the next Oprah or Ellen and you have the same odds as trying to find the next Wheel or Feud, but production of those games is one-eighth of the cost.

You guys travel around the world selling television shows. What does the world want?
Noll: People want what I call ‘shiny floor entertainment.’ You often hear about it as American entertainment television — they are speaking of American Wheel or Feud. Most countries have the desire to have that shiny floor, bright-colored format where they can plug in their own talent, audience and players.

What do you think is the next big trend in programming, whether in syndication or otherwise?
Keller: Live — day and date — is a huge trend. Also having more sponsorship and incorporating brands into the DNA of the show so that it makes sense for partners who will be funding part of the project.

Noll: Along the lines of live, the other big thing remains sports.

Bonus Five

Book on your nightstand?Inmigracion Las Nuevas Reglas by Jorge Cancino and Armando Olmedo

What are you streaming?Peaky Blinders on Netflix.

Favorite app? Univision Deportes. I have that and ESPN side-by-side on my iPad and my iPhone.

Favorite vacation spot? A little Mexican hippie surf town about a half-hour north of Puerto Vallarta, called Sayulita.

Recent memorable meal? All the many good Latin food options in Miami.

Vincent Sadusky joined Univision in June after a threeyear stint as CEO of Media General, which was sold to Nexstar Media Group in 2017, but he is no stranger to Spanish-language broadcasting. Prior to Media General, Sadusky spent about a decade at Telemundo, serving in several roles including chief financial officer and treasurer, and staying on after its sale to NBC in 2002. In 2006, he became CEO of LIN Broadcasting, remaining in that role when it merged with Media General in 2014. Sadusky came to Univision after CEO Randy Falco had announced his retirement and several top executives had left. Weeks into his tenure, Univision went dark on one of its biggest distributors, Dish Network, and chances are that blackout will be permanent. Sadusky spent his first few months focusing on internal issues and that focus is starting to pay off. Univision had success in the November sweeps and new shows aimed at younger Hispanics are beginning to gain traction. He spoke with contributing editor Mike Farrell.

What drew you to Univision?
When this opportunity came along, I spent a long time thinking about it. When I really got into it, I realized that there were some strategic issues associated with the company. Maybe an overreliance on Televisa programming, not quick enough to change and recognize the shifting tastes and behaviors of Hispanics in the U.S., a company that probably wasn’t as able to be flexible in this new world of competitiveness. But at its core, still the best place to be in media. A guy like me who has been around the business for a long time, I thought I could apply my learnings from a decade at Telemundo and NBC, and 15 years of building one of the largest Big Four affiliate station groups and digital marketing companies. Take those experiences and learnings over to a really unique set of assets in Univision. That’s why I’m here.

Univision has invested a lot in local news and programming. How does that fit into the strategy?
We had a super-strong November sweeps. We won November sweeps despite not having carriage on Dish. We’re getting programming from other sources other than Televisa, coupled with Televisa producing new and different stuff from outside producers. Early signs are good. On the local side, when I came here I was pleasantly surprised to see that Univision [stations] in the largest markets in the U.S. are No. 1 or No. 2, English or Spanish, in local news.

How are you getting the word out about this?
This is the first conversation I’ve had, to be honest. For me it was: spend the first 100 to 120 days talking to literally hundreds of people inside the company [and] outside the company, make changes in the management team and focus 100% internally and hopefully get some good results, which we’re getting, and then go out there and evangelize. I’m devoting December and January to getting out and speaking to our advertisers and folks who don’t advertise with us, industry things like CES. There is a lot of interest about talking to us about our data-gathering capabilities.

The Dish blackout is now entering its sixth month. How are you coping?
We’ve had our distribution team meet with them many many times; I’ve met with [Dish chairman] Charlie [Ergen] several times. I am truly at a loss for their view of the world, dropping us and then dropping HBO. Some folks have told me he drops almost everybody, that’s kind of the beginning of the negotiations for him. He saves a little money in the process, assuming he doesn’t lose a lot of viewers. We know we’re reasonable, based on having entered into agreements with other major distributors, many of which are bigger than Dish, over the last six months. I know our value.

What do you see as the biggest opportunity in the Hispanic market?
To me, it’s really all about focusing on the content, focusing on the marketing solutions and working with our distributors. Within the ecosystem of television, live TV, that’s where we compete. We have some things in the works for some incremental sports properties that we think will be really fun and exciting, but within our distributor universe; we’ve got a very large database that we keep building that is available for monetization. We’re doing things on the digital side, doing things with our distributors and marketing partners and advertisers. Ultimately, it’s really the basics of the business, being the best at Spanish-language content, Spanish-language marketing.

While subscription video-on-demand platforms disrupted cable programming, networks focused on live content like news were largely safe.

Not so much anymore.

Zeroing in on the next-generation news consumer, digital programmer Cheddar has become a prominent prototype for what happens next to cable news. The platform is ubiquitous — carried by leading virtual multichannel video programming distributors, distributed through social media, and embedded into traditional platforms like Comcast’s X1.

As its audience grows, Cheddar — which exists only on the internet and not as a traditional satellite feed — is offering operators an irresistible deal: free carriage, with the programmer collecting 95% of its revenue through advertising.

The man leading the team of 130 Cheddar staffers is former Google and BuzzFeed executive Jon Steinberg, founder and CEO of the New York-based startup, which has raised $54 million to date. Steinberg recently exchanged email with B&C senior content producer, technology Daniel Frankel to discuss Cheddar’s business.

What brought you into the digital news market?

I started playing with computers when I was 10 or 11. I went on dial-up bulletin board systems as a kid and then the internet soon after, and was hooked. I spent a few years at Google, and then did my term as president and COO of Buzzfeed, and there was no going back.

How does Cheddar make its money? Only through advertising? What’s the business model in a nutshell?

We sell large, branded content integrations to advertisers looking to reach a young business audience. All of our advertisers are in six- to 12-month deals that run in excess of $1 million. CNBC has an average viewer that is 60-plus. We are the only game in town to reach a young audience in its 20s and 30s.

From what platforms does Cheddar get most of its audience? Can you break down the numbers?

We do hundreds of thousands of live viewers an hour across Sling TV, Hulu, YouTube TV, Twitter, Twitch, Facebook, etc. We also have our CheddarU network with 1,600 TVs on 600 campuses. We do hundreds of millions of video views a month on LinkedIn, Snap, Facebook too.

What are Cheddar’s audience demographics? (Looking for the key demo numbers here.) How does that compare to cable news? Does Cheddar even see itself competing with cable news?

Our audience is young professionals in their 20s through 40s that make substantial annual incomes and have large savings.

What are the most important stories Cheddar has reported? What are you most proud of?

I think our getting a hold of Evan Spiegel’s 2019 strategy memo was our most recent big exclusive. It moved the stock. All the traditional news sources had to cite us.

Bonus Five

What shows are on your DVR? I use Sling and YouTube TV … DVRs are dead. I watch cable news and Netflix, Amazon Prime, Showtime and HBO.

What are you binge-watching? Succession

Favorite type of music? Alternative Rock. Steely Dan. Neil Diamond.

Best recent meal? A sandwich on a JetBlue flight from L.A. to NYC that landed at 1 a.m. last night. It exceeded my expectations.

Vacation destination on your bucket list? I like going to my apartment in Palm Beach, Florida.

While subscription video-on-demand platforms disrupted cable programming, networks focused on live content like news were largely safe.

Not so much anymore.

Zeroing in on the next-generation news consumer, digital programmer Cheddar has become a prominent prototype for what happens next to cable news. The platform is ubiquitous — carried by leading virtual multichannel video programming distributors, distributed through social media, and embedded into traditional platforms like Comcast’s X1.

As its audience grows, Cheddar — which exists only on the internet and not as a traditional satellite feed — is offering operators an irresistible deal: free carriage, with the programmer collecting 95% of its revenue through advertising.

The man leading the team of 130 Cheddar staffers is former Google and BuzzFeed executive Jon Steinberg, founder and CEO of the New York-based startup, which has raised $54 million to date. Steinberg recently exchanged email with B&C senior content producer, technology Daniel Frankel to discuss Cheddar’s business.

What brought you into the digital news market?

I started playing with computers when I was 10 or 11. I went on dial-up bulletin board systems as a kid and then the internet soon after, and was hooked. I spent a few years at Google, and then did my term as president and COO of Buzzfeed, and there was no going back.

How does Cheddar make its money? Only through advertising? What’s the business model in a nutshell?

We sell large, branded content integrations to advertisers looking to reach a young business audience. All of our advertisers are in six- to 12-month deals that run in excess of $1 million. CNBC has an average viewer that is 60-plus. We are the only game in town to reach a young audience in its 20s and 30s.

From what platforms does Cheddar get most of its audience? Can you break down the numbers?

We do hundreds of thousands of live viewers an hour across Sling TV, Hulu, YouTube TV, Twitter, Twitch, Facebook, etc. We also have our CheddarU network with 1,600 TVs on 600 campuses. We do hundreds of millions of video views a month on LinkedIn, Snap, Facebook too.

What are Cheddar’s audience demographics? (Looking for the key demo numbers here.) How does that compare to cable news? Does Cheddar even see itself competing with cable news?

Our audience is young professionals in their 20s through 40s that make substantial annual incomes and have large savings.

What are the most important stories Cheddar has reported? What are you most proud of?

I think our getting a hold of Evan Spiegel’s 2019 strategy memo was our most recent big exclusive. It moved the stock. All the traditional news sources had to cite us.

Bonus Five
Shows on your DVR?Rick & Morty and the National Treasure movies with Nicolas Cage. “That’s just got to be there.”
All-time favorite TV show? Bugs Bunny and Road Runner in the original Looney Tunes cartoons.
Books on your nightstand? Ron Chernow’s Titan, on the life of John D. Rockefeller Sr.
Favorite app? The Economist app.
Most memorable meal? With my mom and dad at the Jules Verne restaurant in the Eiffel Tower. I was 13 or 14. It was a three-star restaurant and with the city lights, it’s pretty special.

John Piccone, president and chief revenue officer of Simulmedia, a data-driven ad targeting pioneer, obviously loves tech startups. He’s been with more than a few, including HealthNation, Blackarrow, 24/7 Real Media and Publicitas Advertising Services.

“Taking an idea and putting it into the market and watching it develop is exciting,” Piccone said. “There’s nowhere to hide. It’s either ‘it launched’ or ‘it didn’t.’ That’s so nice and binary.”

Piccone has spent a chunk of his career in Europe, but prefers the U.S. entrepreneurial culture. “It doesn’t really care if you succeed or fail,” he said. “But it sure as hell gives you a lot of opportunity to do both.”

Originally from Larchmont, N.Y., Piccone takes photographs as a hobby. He also likes to bike and fish. He goes on walks with his three sons, two in high school and one in elementary school. He spoke with B&C senior content producer Jon Lafayette. An edited recap follows.

Why were you attracted to ad tech?
When I started in the game, the internet was just starting to become commercialized and it was understood that for it to be monetized through advertising, you would need a software platform and technology that could convince advertisers that it was worth their money. I like that macro approach of having that upside need and, within that, leveraging those needs against what’s practically possible through technology. The tech will say, ‘hey, we can do this,’ but the marketer is not ready or the seller or the agency and vice versa. That’s a really interesting paradigm to juggle.

Has it taken longer than expected for the TV business to adopt automation?
I’m not sure about that. When I started in the television game it was in 2000 in London, and I really set my expectations correctly. I think this is just something that gets forgotten as startups go into market is that human behavior is the hardest thing to change. So I felt that this journey of taking a 70-year-old medium and teaching it new tricks would happen at the pace that we’ve seen. We’re seeing it really start to pick up in the past year, year and a half, now that definitions are getting tighter. We’re seeing more case studies out of the market.

Looking ahead, what technology excites you?
I think it’s not so much a technology, but it’s a process and an illumination of the outcomes and the benefits of technology. And, in that context, I’m excited about the reaction that marketers have when they can have transparency of data to their needs. Marketers will be able to demand more transparency against their business outcomes and we’ll see the media metrics turn into the business metrics. I think that’s the exciting future for me.

Would you encourage your kids to go into tech?
They’re naturally attuned to the business just from having Dad come back, and [they] ask questions about what he does when he’s not home. I think the connected generation — they’re 17 and 15 — they’re just so much more dynamic and in tune with the impact of media and its impact on politics and social dynamics.

Why do you take pictures with an old-school Rolleiflex?
The most striking thing for me when the digital camera age came is, in those first microchips and processors, how flat the images were. When you’re actually printing on a piece of emulsified material the depth is infinite. That’s something that resonates with the viewer that you can’t replicate in digital ones and zeroes. When you’re shooting photos of loved ones, people are infinite as well. There’s a beautiful longevity that digital can’t capture.

Bonus Five
Shows on your DVR?
The Big Bang Theory, Young Sheldon, Fear the Walking Dead, Grey’s Anatomy, 48 Hours
All-time top TV show?
Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Star Trek
Books on your nightstand?
Bruce Springsteen’s autobiography
Best recent meal:
Arbour in Pasadena — seared tuna on crispy rice with bok choy
Vacation destination on your bucket list?
Australia and New Zealand

Mark Pedowitz took over as president of The CW in 2011, following 19 years at ABC, including five as ABC Studios president. Across his run, The CW has spawned several acclaimed series, including Jane the Virgin, The Flash and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. It is hoping for a few more this fall, as All American, Legacies and Charmed prepare to launch.

The network starts programming on Sundays for the first time in a decade. That begins Oct. 14 with Supergirl and Charmed.

Pedowitz spoke with B&C senior content producer Michael Malone about The CW’s new shows, how many more reboots the network might roll out and how much longer viewers will watch commercials. An edited transcript follows.

How does The CW get the word out that it’s on Sundays?
It’s a question probably best suited for [executive VP, marketing and digital programs] Rick Haskins, but I’ll try to take it. It’s an expensive proposition of getting a lot of paid media out there. The good news is the social media reach based on the programming we have enables us to reach people beyond what paid media gives us. It’s a very concentrated effort. That’s why we use Supergirl and Charmed to help launch Sunday nights — properties that have a strong presence enable us to have a conversation with everyone out there. It’s a cross between what our corporate communications group is doing, what Rick is doing in paid media and what everyone’s doing on social media platforms.

Which new show has the best chance to break through?
I think all five have a shot. Legacies lives off the strength of Julie Plec and The Vampire Diaries and The Originals. All American will speak for itself. A terrific job was done by Greg Berlanti and the creative team there. Charmed has the advantage of a name and a good Sundaynight time period.

Midseason, we’re very excited about Roswell and In the Dark, which I think is the most unique thing we’ve done in a long time, since Crazy Ex.

How is Charmed different from the original?
It’s a contemporary take in the hands of [exec producer] Jennie Urman. The three women [leads] will give it their own flavor, given that it’s a multicultural cast. If the fans of the old Charmed give this one a chance, they’ll grow to enjoy it.

When do you see the reboot trend ending?
It’s always been a part of TV production. Twenty five, 30 years ago, reboots came from theatrical films. Good titles can lead to good storytelling. It all depends on the auspices, on how the story is told. You see what Ron Moore did with Battlestar Galactica, changing it to a very different series. Under great hands, you can have some really interesting storytelling. I don’t think it’s ever going to end. There are so many things out there. To have something where people say, ‘I wonder what that looks like, let me give it a try,’ gives you a little bit of a leg up.

In this age of streaming, how much longer will viewers sit through commercials?
A long time. It’s free! CWTV. com has over 40 million downloads of its apps. We have a unique position on OTT platforms. The consumer does not have to pay to download our app. They don’t have to pay for a subscription. So there is an advantage. Are they thrilled to get it with commercials? No. Are they thrilled get it for free? Yes.

Bonus Five

Shows on your DVR? Insecure, Younger, Catastrophe

What are you currently binge-watching?Atlanta,Barry

Favorite type of music:Short by Goldberg Sloan, Female Persuasion by Meg Wolitzer, The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Best recent meal: Anthony’s Coal-Fired Pizza in Florida, with my dad and my kids.

Vacation destination on your bucket list? Greece

When you think syndication, you don’t necessarily think Endemol Shine North America (ESNA). But the production company has been ramping up in the space since 2012, when it produced daytime talker Steve Harvey for NBCUniversal and then in 2016, when it launched Page Six TV for Fox — first as a summer test and then as a nationally distributed strip last fall.

Now ESNA is expanding its plans for syndication, with several projects in the works, including one in development with Essence magazine and another with New York-based radio personality Angie Martinez.

Syndication is well known to be a challenged space in television, but that’s not daunting ESNA. Michael Weinberg, the company’s executive vice president of syndication, joined B&C contributor Paige Albiniak to talk about why.

What brought you into the syndication space?

If you cobble together my resume, it really does all lead to syndication. I worked in daily comedy and variety on Conan O’Brien and that late-night audience is very similar to syndication. Then, I did other shows in syndication, such as To Tell the Truth, which is all about play-along engagement and keeping the audience’s attention during that half-hour, and then went into talkers with Queen Latifah’s first talk show with Telepictures.

Daytime audiences really demand dialogue that’s different from other types of programs. The daytime audience is there every day. They want to be with their best friend for a half-hour or an hour. They want to be entertained, informed and they want escape. They don’t want anything fake.

Can you can bring the buzz late-night is currently experiencing into daytime?

It’s all about respecting the audience. The late-night audience has been through their day and now they want to laugh at the news. In daytime, that audience is going through their day; they are looking for topics that are part of their regular day, but they are also looking for levity. In daytime, the host is more in the fan role, the viewer role — in late night, the host is more in the challenging role.

What is Endemol Shine North America working on for syndication?

We are just finalizing the deal with Essence magazine. We are excited about developing a show with them because of their brand and their global reach and because of the way that magazine tells stories. It’s so much more than a magazine. The Essence Festival is the biggest music festival in the country and Essence is a place where everyone is welcome.

What else are you working on?

Earlier this year, we signed a talent deal with Angie Martinez, who is known as the voice of New York. She’s got the No. 1 radio show on Power 105 and she also has a bestselling book called My Voice that’s a New York Times bestseller. What we are excited about with Angie is that the daytime audience is right in her demographic sweet spot at the center of pop culture and hip hop. She knows these people in an intimate and personal way and she has a way of relating to them in a way that’s very real, authentic and honest. She deals with Jay-Z in the same way she deals with callers on her radio show.

We also plan to take out formats from our international library into syndication. We are just figuring out how that might lay out from season to season. On the flip side of that, our development team is coming up with new [intellectual property] to bring product to the marketplace that we can then sell into international markets.

We all know syndication is a challenged business model. Why does it interest Endemol Shine North America?

We think about it from all those perspectives I just talked about: first-run, cable, second window and, finally, international, where we have a very strong distribution team. Each one serves as promotion for the other. For example, Page Six is also on Hulu. We’re excited about that and see that as a way to reach people on Hulu and also as a way to promote the show.

We’ve added syndication to everything else that we’ve done as a company. We already have multiplatform sales and international distribution built in — we are dedicated to that to begin with. For us, it’s not an afterthought.