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Variety's Entertainment & Technology: Shaping the Future of Entertainment
Join us for insightful keynotes, engaging panel discussions, and exclusive networking opportunities with the top executives, creators and disruptors shaping the future of Hollywood and beyond.
This one-day event will explore the trends, tools and strategies revolutionizing the way we experience entertainment from advancements in AI and gaming to creator marketing.
Join us for insightful keynotes, engaging panel discussions, and exclusive networking opportunities with the top executives, creators and disruptors shaping the future of Hollywood and beyond.
This one-day event will explore the trends, tools and strategies revolutionizing the way we experience entertainment from advancements in AI and gaming to creator marketing.
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00:00Next up, TV Industry Transformed, moderated by Jenny Moss, Senior Business Writer, TV and Video Games, Variety.
00:14Hello, everyone. Welcome back.
00:17So now we're going to start our TV Industry Transformed panel, and it is a big one.
00:23So I'm going to go through and introduce, and then we'll get started.
00:26We have Julian Franco, President, Operations and Strategy, Fox Entertainment.
00:32Wave, Julian.
00:34Amy Reiner, President, Advertising Netflix.
00:39Lisa Siskin-Belgry, Global Head of GTM and Content Programming, Google TV.
00:48Evan Edelman, Executive Vice President, Commercial Sales and Revenue Operations at AMC Networks.
00:56Sean Booker, Head of Media and Entertainment Sales, Vizio.
01:03And Gina Reduto, EVP of Strategy, Advertising and Partnerships at NBC Universal.
01:09Thank you all for joining us.
01:13I'm going to start off with if each one of you can just talk us through how you're approaching leading advertising business growth across your companies.
01:20Yeah, I think, you know, the way that we're thinking about it is sort of how do we lean into where consumers are going and how do we sort of democratize access to our content across the platforms and the places where consumers are consuming?
01:37Because ultimately, that's what delivers for advertisers, right?
01:40So if we think about cross-platform as an opportunity and really sort of leaning into and leading that, that's what's an advantage for advertisers, right?
01:50That's what gives them incredible scale.
01:51And it's really about, if you think through linear and sort of the scaled emotional engagement paired with the precision innovation available in streaming, that's what delivers impact.
02:04But what we're trying to do now is make it easy for clients to buy and really make it easy for clients to measure.
02:10Because ultimately, if the clients can't measure it, then it really doesn't matter, right?
02:14Yeah, so we're just about three years into our advertising journey, obviously a little bit of a late mover in the space.
02:23But we are really focused on, now that we just launched our Netflix ad suite over the summer, we are really focused on that intersection of really fantastic content, content that we know is very engaging, that our audiences are very attentive to, which we believe delivers results for advertisers.
02:41That intersection with technology, right?
02:44And being able to launch our own ad tech server, now really leaning in on the innovation aspect.
02:50So we're really excited later this fall to release some of our modular architecture around our ads.
02:57And we believe that that's going to unleash kind of the next phase of innovation for us.
03:01And we're really just focused on continuing to build off of that and build our story with advertisers.
03:05We're trying to really figure out how to just get in front of the most amount of viewers as we can with viewership so fragmented today.
03:18None of us in this room are watching the same show at the same time on the same platform ever.
03:23And I think what AMC Networks is known for is the incredible content that we create, the series that we promote, and the fandoms that follow them.
03:34So the last five years, we've built out a lot of technology in-house to be able to combat this fragmented moment that we have here in television.
03:46And the way that we're trying to capitalize that on is to make it easier for clients and advertisers and our partners to understand what true fandom is versus passive viewing.
04:01And passive viewing doesn't really – it doesn't exist as much as it used to.
04:05It still exists somewhat in sports.
04:07But with the rise of streaming and CTV, the new currency is a fan, we feel, and that's really what we deliver in large audiences when aggregated across all the different endpoints that we deliver our programming to.
04:28Yeah, so I'll offer – I have a little bit of a different perspective because I actually sit on Google – I work on Google TV, which is an operating system.
04:35So it's a bit different than coming from the content side.
04:39We are an aggregator of all of the content.
04:41So we're content agnostic in the sense that we actually don't have our own content.
04:46We show all the likes of all of these folks, making sure that users can find their content.
04:51And so as far as advertising, Google obviously isn't new to advertising, but Google TV is relatively new to advertising.
04:58And how are we telling that connected TV story in addition to how we can partner with YouTube as well?
05:06So really exciting.
05:08It's a – like I said, it's a relatively, you know, few years new space for us.
05:11And we're just really looking how to innovate.
05:14Everyone's going to mention measurement.
05:16I think we can all just hold up signs of, like, what is important to advertising is measurement.
05:20And we want to make sure that we're offering that to both our advertisers and then obviously on the user side, making sure that they're seeing ads that make sense for them when they're turning their TV on.
05:30For us at Fox, we think about how advertisers can access news, sports, entertainment, and digital content with over 100 million users a month on Tubi via OneFox.
05:42I would say specifically for us at Fox Entertainment, what we think about is outside of the broadcast time on the linear network, we actually then think more like a studio and become platform agnostic, right?
05:57We care deeply about our content, but we care less outside of Fox platforms where it might happen.
06:02So we're okay with viewing that might happen on Hulu, let's say, for a day after broadcast, for – if it happens on Netflix with the season one premiere of Doc on Netflix, which is top two show.
06:17So we're super happy about that.
06:19And then we think about, like, our partnership with the world's number one food influencer in Gordon Ramsay and knowing that that viewership happens across Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, et cetera.
06:30And what we do for advertisers is then aggregate that.
06:33So when an advertiser knows that what works for them is advertising that's in the green with premium adjacency to food, we give them the full menu of options, no pun intended, where they can buy and engage with whatever type of ads might work for whatever campaign they're trying to activate.
06:50Yeah, and for me, I'm really focused on being the biggest cheerleader for the home screen and just delivering scalability, right?
07:01I mean, Evan, you mentioned just bringing, you know, mass viewers.
07:05That's what we do.
07:05I mean, the home screen truly is the beginning for every Vizio consumer who turns on their TV for search and discovery.
07:13And we're building big, bold innovation on the home screen from, you know, click to trailers to animation.
07:22We continue to push the limits with our product team, always keeping at the forefront the Vizio customer and the content and entertainment discovery service.
07:33So really, as linear is the headline as it continues to erode and SVODs continue to deal with the challenges of retention and churn, truly, the home screen is the new linear replacement.
07:49Your brands can be front and center in front of millions of TVs.
07:53We have a footprint of 25 million ACR-opted in television.
07:57So that's what we're focused on, just continue to bring scalability for the home screen.
08:01Is there a major trend, such as the decline of linear ad spending combined with the rise in digital and connected TV, that might be impacting your work priorities right now?
08:14Again, I'd say, and I think we've all sort of touched on it, but just this idea that showing up in the formats and on the platforms where consumers are consuming actually creates an opportunity, right?
08:26You know, when you think about harnessing all of those different, you know, we have 200 digital endpoints, that's 286 million people each month.
08:34And so I actually think that's foundational to an advertiser, right?
08:37That immediate reach is sort of the key part of the performance equation.
08:42So I actually think in some ways being able to show up in the format or on any sort of screen and in a way that the consumer likes is an opportunity.
08:54I would just talk, I would say, yes, it's the same way we think about it, because while there has been a decline in the way that you talked about it, where we're not all watching the same thing, the way that folks might have been 10, 15, 20, or 40 years ago.
09:13So I'm listening to an audio book right now where at one point there was 120 million people all tuned into a Norman Lear show in the same time, in the same night, and that's crazy, right?
09:24Like, so we don't even have that many people on a singular platform or probably even half a dozen or a dozen at any one time.
09:32So what you end up thinking about and what we think about is just in aggregate, where do they view it?
09:37And the total time spent with our brands and franchises and pieces of IP is a lot more than they would have spent with our brands and franchises 10 years ago had they just consistently watched that show every single week, every single Tuesday night at 8 p.m.
09:53or whatever it might have been.
09:55And ultimately, that creates a ton of opportunity, because what it is is advertisers approach everybody a bit differently in the market.
10:02Some folks sell audience and a bunch of data that enriches that audience and that profile, and then others like us that are leaned into content sell premium adjacency to big brands and franchises at AMC or big storytellers, big IP, big creators at a place like Fox or at NBC, and it's very different.
10:21I think it's a good thing.
10:25I do.
10:26I think, you know, with all of the content that's out there, whether it was premiered yesterday or it was released a year ago or it was a franchise that was released 15 years ago, anytime somebody sits down, searches for something, and presses play, that's a premiere to them.
10:45And that's their first interaction with that program.
10:49And I think when, you know, at AMC and really many of the content owners on stage here, when you combine, like, the amount of premieres that are happening every day of every week of every month, you have those large audiences that are aggregated and watching incredibly engaging premium content.
11:10I think we all, who make the show, still try to thrive for that water cooler talk, right?
11:17But I don't know.
11:19I think we'll never all be watching the same thing at the same time again outside of, you know, major, major moments in consumer moments.
11:30What do you think brands want to get out of media advertising now, and how might that measure of success be evolving?
11:37Measurement?
11:39Measurement.
11:39I mean, measurement, measurement, measurement.
11:41I think that is just so key.
11:42I mean, we, any advertiser that comes to us, the first question is, how can they measure their media and make sure that it's working for them, and they're getting the return on investment that they're looking for?
11:53The other big piece, too, I would say, is customization.
11:56So we see a lot of that.
11:58Obviously, there are certain units, we talked about, like, the homepage and the home screen that, you know, advertisers continue to come back to, but what we're seeing also is a lot of advertisers wanting to do something custom.
12:09And how do they wrap the content that's on the screen to reach their users?
12:13But also then also ask for measurement on top of that.
12:16So I think that's just going to be a key piece that we're always going to have to be able to offer.
12:20I think, yes, and if it leads to their business outcomes is always important.
12:25I think for us on the content side, it becomes a matter of why brands advertise in media and in entertainment to begin with.
12:33And ultimately, what we believe is that what brands crave outside of measurement and proofs and ROI that it's leading to their business outcomes is they want the emotive response that our stories and stories create in the audience to be projected onto their brands.
12:51That's why they pick content that's in the green for them.
12:54That's why they stay away from certain types of content.
12:56They know that, as an example, on broadcast, it's broad, it's four quadrant, it's the family, we're keeping the family together.
13:04It's more than one or two sets of eyeballs in the household.
13:06And it's a certain emotion that certain types of shows, like, generate in that household.
13:11And when that brand comes on, they hope that that emotion is then projected onto their brand.
13:15And that's what we try to do.
13:18And I also think they're all looking, brands are looking for partners to deliver their audience at the right time, at the right moment, in the right environment.
13:27I mean, they're very much focused on our platform because, obviously, with the owner of the hardware, software, and the data, we know devices that really resonate to, let's say, comedy creatives.
13:36So they're really pushing the boundaries towards advanced measurement with us and advanced sort of technology and dynamic creative optimizations, those things where, if we know that device one, two, three, four really resonates to comedy creative and is going to deliver meaningful business metrics, like longer session duration, acquisitions, they'll subscribe to a promo offer.
13:59Let's make sure that we're, let's make sure that we're, let's make sure that we're dynamically serving that subset of devices, creative, that resonates with them, and we'll achieve those outcomes.
14:06So we're constantly getting pushed to tap into what we know as the owner of the hardware.
14:12Go ahead.
14:15I think the other thing, just, you know, the same way consumers have more choice, advertisers have more choice in terms of the platforms, the channels, the formats.
14:25And I think one of the challenges that they're trying to solve for is understanding how each tactic contributed to their overall investment, right?
14:34And sort of related to that is how do you balance sort of like short-term returns with long-term brand growth?
14:41And I think that's where incrementality comes in, and we're talking to brands about that a lot because ROAS is important, but it doesn't necessarily tell you who wouldn't have bought if it weren't for the media, right?
14:53There's, there's those that were in market anyway and going to convert, but were you effective at actually driving incremental sales, creating awareness with those who maybe weren't in market yet?
15:03And so incrementality is like a big topic for us now.
15:07Yeah, I think, you know, obviously advertisers are interested in outcomes.
15:11And so those outcomes can be across a wide spectrum of, you know, ways that we're measuring that.
15:18For us, we feel like we have a lot of discussions around brands want to obviously be really close to the content.
15:24So whether that's our live events that are driving these zeitgeist moments, we see a lot of interest in that.
15:30We obviously see a lot of interest in the personalization and the data that we have in terms of the discovery and serving up consumers the content that they want to watch.
15:39So for us, we're really trying to marry that intersection between fantastic content, really great analytics and data to serve ultimately whatever outcome we want to match and meet them kind of where they're at and what they're interested in.
15:52We've talked about this a little bit already, but it bears repeating that brands have tremendous choice of where to buy across a multitude of business models.
16:02There's ad supported, video on demand, free ad supported, live events, sports and more.
16:08How are you guiding clients on where to make the best decisions within what you all have to offer?
16:13I would say, oh, God, I was just I mean, for us, again, again, coming from the perspective from a platform standpoint, a lot of it is just educating advertisers that how they can buy on Google TV and why they should be buying on Google TV.
16:31So and it's a part of their connected TV story and making sure that we're providing that for them.
16:38So I think, like, to your point, they have a lot of choice again because we're newer to the field in that sense.
16:44We're just really making sure that we're educating advertisers and brands that so they understand how they can buy connected TV at Google and on Google TV.
16:53And then I kind of mentioned also from a YouTube perspective, too, the better together story.
16:58And, you know, that's kind of the narrative that we have when we're going out and talking to advertisers.
17:03Yeah, I mean, I was going to say pretty much the same thing, educating, but educating from not to beat a dead horse, but from data and measurement.
17:12I love the better together story.
17:13That's something I continually evangelize.
17:16I started this off with I'm a huge cheerleader for the home screen.
17:19I love it, that big, bold, innovative first impression unit.
17:23But there is a story when you combine it with video.
17:27There's nothing more powerful than the storytelling of a 15-order, 30-second brand messaging.
17:33There's only so much that a banner unit can do.
17:35Obviously, it's great for direct response, drive them into app, drive them into click to trailer.
17:40But when you have the storytelling of a 30-second spot combined with that powerful home screen,
17:45we see two times left when we're talking about any KPI, whether that's an app acquisition,
17:50whether that's our own sort of box office attribution report.
17:53We know that the better together story really packs a one-two punch.
17:58What innovations in media advertising are most exciting to you and your teams?
18:04How might AI help brands reach desired audiences more successfully and efficiently?
18:08Yeah, I talked a little bit about it before, but in terms of the personalization aspect,
18:14so obviously on the platform side, we're serving up artwork and content that we believe is very personalized
18:20for the end user in terms of content that they're interested in.
18:25We see that same opportunity in the advertising space, being able to serve up creative,
18:30being able to serve up ad loads that are personalized,
18:33being able to serve up frequency caps that are personalized.
18:35So we see a huge opportunity also in terms of just the vast amounts of content that we're producing
18:43and those high-fidelity assets being able to serve up really robust and creative advertising
18:50in a scalable fashion.
18:52So that's what I'm really excited about because it feels like there's a lot of innovation going on in the space,
18:57and every week you see the advancement in terms of these capabilities.
19:01I think there's a lot in terms of what AI is doing for our capabilities.
19:07You know, you take something like contextual.
19:09Contextual is nothing new, but I think given the advancements in AI,
19:14the level of granularity you can achieve in terms of contextual relevance without sacrificing scale is pretty remarkable.
19:22Or then there's new things that we're doing, and if you think about NBC's content,
19:26we have things like the Olympics, the Super Bowl, really getting further upstream using AI.
19:33And so we're doing things like, you know, scanning tens of thousands of creatives
19:36to understand how the presence or absence of certain elements in a creative correlate to certain KPIs.
19:44So does a logo drive search, or does this placement of this athlete better help with brand awareness?
19:49And I think having that capability helps us give advertisers insight into how their campaign is going to do,
19:56even before it launches, right?
19:58So I just think there's a lot of innovation, both once the campaign is running and optimizing,
20:04but also being able to get further upstream and sort of maximize the ROI on the investment
20:09and the creative for the advertiser.
20:10Yeah, I'll just add to, so we just launched actually Gemini on TV this week, actually, with TCL,
20:18one of the OEMs that we work closely with.
20:20And so we believe, obviously, Gemini is very important to Google and what we're trying to do,
20:25and how do you bring that to the users?
20:28We think, you know, the TV is the heart of the home.
20:31And so combined together with surfacing content and what are people using the TV for,
20:38and then obviously making sure that the advertising is there as well is just the trifecta that is really important for us.
20:45I think the ability to now insert an ad into an already pre-produced piece of content dynamically
20:54based on what you know about either the device that is being watched on,
20:59some of the third-party data about who that viewer may be, I think that's really interesting.
21:04I think the other thing for us that has really been cool to build out is the ability to use all of these different data sources
21:14that an advertiser is building into a single segment for targeting
21:18and then optimize the delivery of that campaign in real time based on their outcome.
21:24It sounds rudimentary.
21:26It's kind of what we did way back in digital where you'd follow that simple click-through rate,
21:32and that's how you'd optimize, but I feel like as an industry we've gotten so complicated in how to do something like that.
21:39If you pull it back and you just look at what are you using the data for,
21:44let's go back to that same data set and see if it's changed based on a campaign that's ran.
21:48And, you know, those products are out there to do that.
21:51We're seeing enormous change throughout the industry.
21:57I wonder if there's any ways that you see there being opportunities in the disruption
22:01and the transformation for advertising.
22:06I mean, we're experiencing it right now, just being acquired by Walmart.
22:11So we think there's huge opportunities to shake up the CTV directed device space.
22:16I mean, just can speak to things that have been in the trades where, you know,
22:20we'll become a private label brand for Walmart.
22:23So that will mean, you know, not just marketing in-store in the electronic section,
22:28but on end aisles throughout the store.
22:31The ability to competitively price to ensure that our TVs are truly the everyday low price.
22:38We've also put out that, you know, starting in this fall,
22:41we'll start to have the Vizio operating system in the on-televisions,
22:46which is the number one selling TV at Walmart.
22:49It's their house brand.
22:49So I think there's going to be a huge disruption just in that the scalability of directed device.
22:56We're really excited about that.
22:57I mean, beyond that, the ability to take Walmart shopper data onto the television.
23:03You know, who knew that Wicked had over 400 themed IP merchandise last year within 3,000 plus stores.
23:10The ability to take those audiences now and then target them on the home screen
23:15with in theaters coming XYZ date, I think it's Thanksgiving, Black Friday weekend, something like that.
23:21But yeah, it can be Black Friday.
23:24Yeah, it's super powerful.
23:26So truly, like, the sky's the limit with Walmart.
23:29So there's massive disruption that's, you know, on its way.
23:32They sell more TVs than anybody else.
23:34So they're just getting started.
23:35Mr. Bentonville right here.
23:36He's scooping me on everything Bentonville.
23:38It's going to be fun to watch these guys.
23:40I think, you know, another thing, and I'm going to say it again, is measurement.
23:45But I do think there's finally opportunity to better evidence sort of everything we've collectively known about premium video,
23:52which is that it's performant, right?
23:54And that advertisers have an opportunity to finally see that in more real time.
23:59We're actually building what we're calling Performance Insights Hub,
24:02which is actually meant to bring in first and third party data to be able to give advertisers insights in real time.
24:09Advertisers of all sizes, full funnel impact, because I think a big challenge with premium video historically was that it was all post-campaign measurement, right?
24:18And in a world where marketers are being tasked with doing more with less, reacting in real time,
24:24the need for results, you know, in flight or immediately is becoming more critical.
24:28And so I think that is, like, a huge opportunity for all of us sort of in the premium video space.
24:35I feel like disruption is probably some similar things and also different answers for each of us on the stage.
24:45I think one part of our business that would be disruptive is if we just broke away and broke the ceilings and all the walls down
24:52and all the silos between what is an SVOD and an AVOD, a fast, linear CTV,
24:59and just got the advertiser, the client, as educated as possible to challenge them to change the habits
25:08that they've become so used to in transacting across any one of our businesses
25:14to make sure that they're doing it the way that the viewer is watching TV.
25:20And I think that's...
25:21Google TV.
25:22Google TV, yeah.
25:23That's what we do.
25:24Or Netflix.
25:24Or Vizio.
25:25So I, um, or Vizio, too.
25:27Um, we, so it's interesting because I sit on my team, actually, one side does monetization,
25:33and then I actually run the content programming team, which is really interesting.
25:36So, and obviously there is a component that is algorithmic.
25:39We're Google, right?
25:40So we have that component.
25:41But I actually have a team that does human curation.
25:45And so they're looking at the zeitgeist.
25:47They're looking, obviously, and with all the disruption that's happening,
25:49they're really making sure that we are serving the right content to the right user
25:55and also just showcasing new content that users may not even know about
25:59that they're talking about and water cooler, right?
26:02Um, and making sure that we're surfacing that.
26:04And then how are we using some of that component to then also marry with monetization?
26:08So it's really interesting sitting on both of those teams in the sense that, you know,
26:12depending on the meeting that I'm going to, putting my hat on,
26:15but then how are we bringing that all together to make sure that we're bringing it to the advertiser
26:19and then obviously I always, I keep saying the user.
26:23Julian, did you?
26:24Well, I was just going to say, like, because I'm on the content side,
26:27so I, although I grew up on the advertising side
26:30and having built some of the APIs that are hanging around Bentonville on the TV side,
26:35one of the things that I think I get excited about as a consumer
26:38is that ultimately you want, and most people like advertising
26:43if it introduces you to products that make your life better and make your life easier.
26:47Um, and if we think about how time constrained we are,
26:50I don't know about anybody else in this room,
26:51but I don't really like spending time in stores, right?
26:55So when I think about as a consumer what that could mean,
26:59and, uh, when I think about the opportunity ahead of you guys at Google
27:02is ultimately 95% of America will shop with Walmart every single year.
27:08And they always say if you buy a pregnancy test and a set of diapers,
27:14they can predict the next 20 years of your life, right?
27:18So then when you think about that type of data
27:20and the things that they could introduce you to via commercials
27:24to be able to just stock your pantry,
27:26because that's really what you're trying to do, right?
27:29Aside from looking for, like, mealtime solutions,
27:31what you're really trying to do is like,
27:32oh, yeah, that'd be nice to have around.
27:34Um, and if you could take that five-way remote,
27:36like, QR is like, you know, QR codes on TVs,
27:39like, that's trying to, like, make fetch happen, right?
27:42So it's one of those things, like, where, uh,
27:44what you really want is you really just want to take that five-way remote
27:48and go, huh, yeah, click OK and just have it be in your shopping cart.
27:52You don't want to deal with the checkout process.
27:55You don't want to go through cart and checkout
27:56while you're trying to watch something,
27:58but sure, stock my pantry, add it there,
28:01and then I'll decide or save for later.
28:02Like, yeah, I'm excited as a consumer.
28:05Like, make my life even easier,
28:07because my work's hard enough.
28:08Not me, Walmart people.
28:10Because my work's hard enough, right?
28:11But if you can make the life easier,
28:13like, it's great as a consumer,
28:14and it's a super exciting time.
28:16Shoppability will be huge in the future,
28:18especially, you know, not just for us,
28:20but I think across all the OEMs.
28:22I mean, as you said, truly the home,
28:24that the TV is the heartbeat of the home.
28:26So the ability to transact,
28:27the ability to check your ADT security camera on your TV,
28:32things like that, I think,
28:33will clearly come to the forefront,
28:35you know, in the near future.
28:37By the way, also, if I shop at home,
28:39I'm not taking my kids to the store.
28:40I have two teenage boys.
28:42Like, the shopping carts are twice the size
28:43if they're in the store.
28:44That is very true.
28:47What are current pain points for you in your work today,
28:50and what do you hope continues to be refined and improved?
28:53We've talked about measurements a lot here,
28:55so agreed upon measurement metrics?
28:57Yeah, I think to further elaborate on measurement, though,
29:01what we've seen, and as we get into the live space,
29:04the pain point being the inability to measure
29:07across different platforms, right?
29:09I think which is really,
29:11when you think about all of the opportunities
29:13and thinking about we're such at an early stage of development,
29:18and there's so many opportunities to come,
29:20that not knowing how the viewership lines up
29:23between all these new and emerging platforms
29:25and ways of watching,
29:27I think there's still a lot of work to do there,
29:30and I would say that's absolutely,
29:31I agree with Gina.
29:32It's the most difficult pain point for us, for sure.
29:36I don't know if there's been a disruption
29:39in how measurement is defined
29:42in probably 20 years in television.
29:45I'll admit, I'm only six years into television,
29:47and I still can't believe we haven't figured it out yet.
29:49But just the idea of so much measurement done
29:55on such a finite amount of people in a panel,
29:58which I get,
30:00but today you're looking at 50 million different homes
30:04that have devices coming in and out of the home
30:06every single day,
30:08whether you're buying a new phone,
30:09whether you're resetting your television,
30:11because the power went out.
30:12All of this contributes to what we're trying to figure out,
30:15and there's, I just wish there was more of a baseline
30:19that we could all come together as an industry
30:21to begin with, right?
30:22Like, here's the new baseline of measurement,
30:25and let's start transacting on that
30:27and then understanding that it's never going to be perfect
30:30until it may not.
30:35You said pain points, and I looked at the clock,
30:37and I'm like, there's only 10 minutes.
30:39There's definitely not enough time.
30:40I think for us, what we think about at Fox,
30:46what our challenge is,
30:47is we don't get to score many points at Fox
30:49for, like, managing our business.
30:51That's like table stakes.
30:53We get points for growing our business
30:55and thinking about, like,
30:56how is it that we grow the business?
30:58What opportunities are there,
30:59and what are we working on?
31:01And I think disruption across advertising,
31:04we've been dealing with massive disruption
31:07in distribution.
31:07I think what we spend a lot of time thinking about,
31:11which will likely ultimately impact advertising
31:14as much as other areas,
31:15is that next wave of disruption
31:18that will ultimately be how content is created, right?
31:21And then how quickly that will accelerate
31:24and how personalization will ultimately impact that, right?
31:28So the types of stories that we want to engage with,
31:31the, I mean, if we remember back to,
31:34I'm instantly going to age myself when I was a kid,
31:36but choose your own adventure books.
31:37Right?
31:38And you'd be like, turn to page 83.
31:40And it's one of those things where if you can just,
31:43and it's not the gamification of content,
31:45but ultimately the ability to accelerate
31:47the type of content that's created
31:49so that you can take different journeys through a story.
31:52I think we spend some time thinking about that
31:54and try to look a little bit further out
31:56than just the next one to three years
32:00and think about what it looks like three plus five
32:02and with as much clarity as possible,
32:06knowing that we're all wrong,
32:08but we just hope to be directionally accurate.
32:12What is a highlight in your work over the next year?
32:15And you're speaking of the future and looking ahead.
32:17Is there anything that will impact the way
32:19you look to do business in 2026 and beyond
32:21that you have coming up?
32:22For us, the next two years as it relates to content
32:27is, you know, the most incredible thing.
32:30You think about Legendary February,
32:31we have the Super Bowl,
32:33we have the NBA All-Star Game,
32:34we have the Olympics,
32:35and then later in the year we have the World Cup.
32:38I think the content itself is so amazing,
32:40but sort of the breadth and diversity of the consumer
32:43that comes in with that content
32:45is an incredible learning experience for us.
32:48And we learned so much about viewing behavior.
32:51It's an opportunity to really test ad innovation
32:54and lean in.
32:55And so it's really the perfect testing ground
32:58for us to figure out
32:59how do we create the best user experience
33:01and ultimately the best advertiser impact,
33:04you know, after that.
33:06Yeah, I think the thing that I'm excited about
33:07is we may think that we know
33:09what the next couple of years are going to hold.
33:11And certainly for us, it's still early
33:13and so much innovation rolling out.
33:15But going to the consumer research panels
33:19or getting consumer insights,
33:20and it's that one spark that may pivot your strategy
33:23or things that you're focused on,
33:26I think that's what's so exciting to me
33:28because the space is so dynamic
33:29and changing so quickly.
33:31So I'm just excited to learn
33:33what we don't know right now.
33:36I think that was perfectly said.
33:38Really, I dig.
33:39We have no idea what's going to come,
33:42and for me in my career,
33:44that's what's always been exciting
33:46about the job that I've done,
33:47which has always been backed with technology
33:50and media and technology and that intersection.
33:52So I think I'm going to go with what Annie said.
33:56Yeah, I'll add just innovation.
33:58So I sit in a unique spot within Google
34:02in the sense that I actually sit in the product org
34:04and work very closely with the ads org.
34:07But because I sit so closely with product,
34:10I can go to my PMs and say,
34:12you know, this is what we're hearing from advertisers,
34:14this is what they want,
34:15or this is what we're just hearing in general
34:17in the zeitgeist that we need to build.
34:19And they go and they build it for us, right?
34:22I go and I talk to the PMs and to the engineers,
34:25and we build prototypes and things like that.
34:27So for me, that's just really exciting
34:29that I have access to that on a regular basis
34:31and that we're continuing to build and innovate.
34:34For 26, I think ultimately the big challenge
34:41of trying to make sure you extend it from our perspective,
34:45brands and franchises to wherever the customer is watching,
34:48because that's going to continue to get fragmented
34:50as people spend more time with different types of content
34:54and different types of apps on their phone.
34:57So we think about how do those brands and franchises come to life,
35:01ideally in a way that we meet at the intersection
35:04of monetization and audience, which is also a challenge.
35:08And I think for 26, from an events perspective,
35:11at Fox, we'll be celebrating the 250th birthday
35:14of this fine country, right?
35:17So the 250 America for us,
35:19and then we think about the World Cup next summer.
35:23So it'll be fun.
35:24Yeah, I'm really excited, and a highlight for me
35:27is sort of the merging of our hardware
35:30with brand marketers.
35:32I mean, we did something really cool last year
35:34with Warner Brothers for Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice,
35:36where we asked Vizio customers
35:38to use our enhanced voice activation on our remotes.
35:42And when you spoke,
35:43Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice in the remote,
35:45a collection page popped up on the television,
35:48just automatically opened with trailers
35:50and sort of themed carousels,
35:53really dynamic, really fun, really whimsical,
35:55all the things I love to get behind.
35:57Things like our Mic Me, which is our soundbar,
36:01where it's very Apple-esque in its product development,
36:04got all the bells and whistles with lights, shows,
36:06and you literally can just stick it under your TV
36:09and you can karaoke away.
36:10I hate karaoke.
36:11You won't find that machine in my house,
36:13but apparently people love karaoke,
36:15but K-pop demon hunters.
36:17I mean, come on.
36:18Karaoke parties all day long
36:20where literally the soundbar, like,
36:22connects to apps on the television.
36:23You can just karaoke to your heart's desire.
36:25So I'm really excited about that sort of emergence
36:28of the hardware and incorporating brands into it.
36:33For the Beetlejuice one,
36:34what happened if you said it a third time?
36:38You just had to do it twice.
36:40You got to wait for the third movie.
36:42That's the big reveal.
36:43I know this one's going to be a tough one to end on
36:46because we've talked about how much it's hard to predict,
36:48but is there anything that you really think brands
36:51will be expecting out of media advertising
36:53within the next years or two that you're working on?
36:57I would say more and more and more
36:59because it's always more measurement, more clarity.
37:04Tell me more about the customer.
37:05Can I bring my data?
37:06Can I just...
37:09First to market.
37:09Yeah, quicker, faster, need it now, immediate.
37:13I need to optimize in real time, all that stuff.
37:18So just more, main thing.
37:20The main takeaway is brands are going to work.
37:22We're going to be very busy.
37:25Well, thank you all so much for your time today.
37:27I so appreciate it.
37:28Thanks for having me.
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