Doug Herzog, a former high exec at Viacom (now a part of Paramount) says his alma mater will quickly look quite a bit totally different within the wake of its just-closed merger with Skydance.
“I’d consider that 24 months from now, after we check out Paramount, it won’t carefully resemble what it’s right now,” Herzog stated in a TV of Tomorrow podcast look Friday. “And I actually assume that’s the way in which ahead. These legacy media corporations, in the event that they’re going to outlive – and, by the way in which, survival will not be necessary – I believe they form of need to blow it up and take some possibilities and embrace the tech world in a means that they’ve slowly been doing, which I believe you’ll see at Paramount.”
The dialog was hosted by Rick Howe, himself a cable vet and a former Showtime exec. It touched on quite a few Herzog’s achievements throughout his years at MTV after which two stints overseeing Comedy Central. He rose to the place of President of Viacom’s Music Leisure Group earlier than stepping down in 2017.
Herzog famous the “deep pockets” of Paramount CEO David Ellison, the son of Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison who took the highest job after the $8.4 billion merger lastly closed earlier this month. “As a lot as he, for Wall Avenue functions recently, has positioned himself as a tech individual and he’s bought that DNA, he’s additionally a content material man,” Herzog noticed. “He’s been working his personal studio now for fairly a while.”
The monetary construction of huge media corporations, which benefited for many years from the twin income stream of distribution and promoting, is now cratering as a result of cord-cutting. Conventional gamers are additionally shifting sources to their streaming companies as they proceed to attempt to shut the hole with Netflix.
“I form of assume it’s worthwhile to blow it up,” Herzog stated. “The mannequin’s form of damaged. The energy of [Paramount] was within the cable networks. It’s all achieved. It’s achieved. So, you want a unique thought.”
Paramount leaders in current weeks have rebuffed the notion that they might spin off their cable portfolio as Comcast and Warner Bros. Discovery are within the technique of doing. Additionally they reaffirmed their dedication to BET Networks, which had gone on the block two years in the past throughout Bob Bakish’s tenure as Paramount World CEO. Many networks and franchises within the cable portfolio will likely be “redefined” somewhat than instantly bought off, the brand new government regime has asserted.
One franchise that continues to be vibrant after almost three a long time is South Park, whose creators, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, signed a $1.5 billion renewal simply because the present’s incisive new season was starting its run. Herzog was working Comedy Central when the present first went on the air, and the podcast included a prolonged look again on the animated mainstay’s origin story.
Herzog stated the present’s sturdiness has been “wonderful,” however initially it appeared a longshot to even see the air. In a reversal of business norms, he stated, the truth that Comedy Central on the time was a three way partnership between Viacom and Time Warner labored to the present’s benefit. Sometimes, JVs are so micro-managed and contain a lot pressure and in-fighting among the many companions that their output is hampered. Not so on this case, Herzog maintained.
Then-Viacom community boss Tom Freston and HBO chief Jeff Bewkes “appreciated” the present and “bought it instantly,” Herzog recalled. “However I assumed to myself, ‘If I solely labored for one among them, if the corporate was absolutely owned by a kind of firms, would we have now been capable of put South Park on?’ As a result of it was so harmful, it was so over-the-top, no person had seen something prefer it. I bear in mind waking up in a chilly sweat a few week earlier than we debuted and pondering, can I’m going to jail for this?’ It was so out-there. However I at all times ponder whether, if I used to be working for one single company whether or not they would have gotten chilly ft.”
Howe stated the scenario reminded him of the trope of a kid of divorced dad and mom who tells their father, “Nicely, Mother stated it was OK.”
Herzog replied, “Nicely, they each stated it was OK, however I believe they have been additionally each afraid to inform me no. There have been only a few advantages of a JV … [but] that was actually one among them. I used to be largely left alone and to my very own gadgets.”
In the end, Herzog stated, South Park turned “the home on which Comedy Central was constructed.” At a time when the community was solely three years outdated and had in solely 40 million properties, lower than half of the pay-TV universe, “It was the primary actual hit, it put us in enterprise. And right here we’re 27, 28 years later. They’re nonetheless going robust. They’re nonetheless making bother and pissing off all people. They deserve each penny they get. They’re absolute geniuses.”
