The Discovery Times Channel, as the name suggests, is a television channel that is a joint venture between Discovery Communications and The New York Times. Mainly according to sources in the New York Times, some realistic content is broadcast.

"When I was at NBC, I learned a truth, there is no emotion in the commercial market, and the strong survive. The New York Times is an old partner in exploration and communication, but the Times channel is not performing well, so it must be repositioned. ”

At the risk of resenting the New York Times, the Discovery Times Channel was the first bold decision David Saslav made since he became CEO of Discovery Communications.

The success of this decision also provides a strong guarantee of prestige for him to carry out further reforms and management restructuring in the company.

David Saslav said: "After the Discovery Times channel was banned, I reorganized a department and created a new Discovery Detective Channel (ID Channel) to replace the former Discovery Times channel. The channel focused on crime, criminal investigation, and documentary programming, and eliminated the management of all New York Times factions. For most of the year, the ratings of this new channel have increased by 52% compared with the Times channel in the past. ”

Don nodded movingly.

He really didn't know about this matter, this was under the pressure of the "New York Times" to implement reforms, and he was bold enough.

In particular, the results achieved are really eye-catching, and in less than a year, the ratings have increased by 52%!

A 52% increase in viewership does not equate to a 52% increase in revenue, it will be higher.

The commercial market is a winner-takes-all rule, and advertisers love to work with TV stations with high ratings.

The higher the ratings, the more incentivized the competition will be, and the higher the advertising cost will be.

If the ratings are low, there will be fewer advertisers to pay attention to, the competition will be low, and the advertising fee will be lower and lower.

"So, the advertising revenue of the Discovery Detective Channel will double next year, right?" Donn asked a very layman's question.

Jeff Zucker laughed, "More than doubled?"

David Saslav explained with a smile: "Although it is a newly developed channel, it is our star channel, and the audience is very interested in the content of crime and criminal investigation. Advertising revenue in the fourth quarter has increased by 120% compared to the first quarter. In the first half of next year, our goal is to double our turnover again!"

Discovery Channel is a low-cost cable station that now reaches more than 70% of households in the United States. For such a channel, the subscription fee is the small part of the income, and the advertising fee is the big one.

Don really doesn't know much about the TV business.

Anyway, professional things are left to professional people, and he makes decisions through results.

David Saslav added: "The second point is the reform and reorganization of the Discovery Learning Channel and the Discovery Travel Life Channel. These two channels, the former is only for the US market, and the latter is only for the overseas market, this unilateral business strategy is not in line with the current development strategy of exploration and communication. For Discovery Communications, whether in Russia or Romania, when you turn on the TV, what people see is not an American channel, but global content. That's what we're exploring!"

"Well said!"

Don put down his chopsticks and couldn't help but applaud.

Jeff Zucker added with a smile: "He has changed the slogan of DISCOVERY'S_NEW_DISCOVERY to DISCOVERY, which has an international perspective. ”

Tang En said with deep understanding: "The media era in the United States is changing too fast, the performance of traditional media such as radio, newspapers, and magazines has plummeted, and the spring breeze of television will not last long. Focusing on internationalization and developing the relatively backward overseas media market is the new path for this traditional media to go down. ”

The pay-TV market in the United States is already quite mature and growing slowly. But in the international market, the annual growth rate of revenue and profit can easily reach 50%.

Jeff Zucker and David Suslav looked at each other, shook their heads silently, and said nothing.

They couldn't agree more!

Tang En has already expounded on the crisis theory of the TV industry in the internal meetings of New Globe more than once, which makes the two TV people very uncomfortable, thinking that Tang En is over-promoting the Internet and new media, and demonizing the TV industry somewhat.

Looking at Comcast as the new generation of media giants in the United States, you can see how magnificent the market for the television industry is.

In their view, the fundamental reason why the exploration and communication channel is deployed around the world is that the competitiveness of the American TV market is too great, and the exploration and communication of this niche channel can only develop outward, taking advantage of the current global economic situation, looking for profit growth space.

Don took in their expressions and remained silent.

But he sighed slightly in his heart.

Both of them are very good TV people, and they have very strong management skills in the TV industry. Discover the achievements of the communications firm this past year, which has even Wall Street analysts chanting that David Saslav has "evoked a sleeping new giant."

He was even compared to Michael Eisner, who first joined Disney that year.

With a burly body, hard facial lines, and a Hollywood hard-nosed action star, he has tough wrists and is resolute...... At first glance, he is a talent who can do a great job.

It's a pity that the pattern is limited.

In the core of the new world in the future, it is difficult for the names of Jeff Zucker and David Saslav to appear.

In the previous life, the exploration and communication company did survive under the impact of the new media on the Internet, but it only survived, and it was not qualified to compete with the new media at all.

This kind of traditional TV media person can only be arranged in the traditional TV industry.

The leaders of the higher pattern still have to look at Robert Iger, Kate Turner, Andrew Mooney, and even Tosca Musk, Reed Hastings, Mark Zuckerberg, and other people who are often "cranky".

As the boss, Don has been secretly inspecting some excellent managers in the past few years.

His job is not to deal with the big, trivial and complex business of New Global.

His job is to manage people.

It is to select the most suitable senior management for New Global.

David Saslav didn't know this, and still enthusiastically reported his outstanding achievements in the past year: "At a time when feminism is becoming more and more prosperous, I have used the resources of the Discovery Learning Channel and the Discovery Travel and Life Channel to integrate and reorganize to create an Discover Women Channel (TLC Channel), which is mainly to help female users chase and show a lifestyle that is more in line with modern women." As soon as the channel was launched, it became a huge hit and was introduced to 75 countries and regions. In half a year, the program's coverage expanded from 50 million households to 100 million households. At present, TLC ranks sixth in the ranking of basic cable channels in the United States!"

Don continued to recognize him, admiringly: "It's a good idea to explore the channel of women's life in the new era and keep pace with the times!"

Jeff Zucker finished a plate of pasta with a snort, and said seriously: "As a TV media company, success is actually very simple, you have to produce high-quality content that fully satisfies the curiosity of the audience." This should be the foundation of all media companies, and it should be the core of media companies' concerns. ”

David Saslav took a sip of water and said: "Discovery Communications is still very old-fashioned, and if you want to push better and better content to users, you need to further reform and reorganize. This year, I have completed the banning, reform or restructuring of 5 channels. Next year, it will continue. The first thing to do is to explore the health channel and the discovery children's channel, these two channels will really die if they don't change. ”

"The HD-DVD market is very hot, and HD is a hot concept, so you might as well launch an HD channel at the right time. (HD means High Definition)

"The HD Cinema Channel (HD_Theater) is being tested and will be launched next year, focusing on cars, sports, adventure, travel and other content that male audiences like to see. David Saslav said with a confident smile on his face, "Next year, Discovery Communication will welcome a major partner!"

Jeff Zucker obviously knew the inside story, smiled slightly, and didn't break it.

Don laughed and said, "You even ran away from the New York Times, who would dare to cooperate with you?"

David Saslav laughed and said, "Oprah Winfrey, the queen of stand-up comedy!"

"Is that her?"

Don was pleasantly surprised.

If we talk about the United States today, which woman has the greatest influence, the deepest influence, and the most loved by the American people?

It's not Oprah!

In this year's year-end celebrity list released by Forbes this year, Donn ranked first without any suspense.

And in the ranking of women-

Nicole Kidman is fourth!

Charlize Theron is number three!

Angelina Jolie is number two!

Oprah Winfrey is number one!

In the overall list, Oprah is only behind Donn, Spielberg and Johnny Depp, ranking fourth.

Vanity Fair commented on her: "In popular culture, she may have more influence than any university professor, politician or religious leader, except for the pope." ”

It was sensational enough to bring Oprah Winfrey to the Discovery Channel.

Unexpectedly, there was something more sensational.

David Saslav said: "The day I took over as the company's CEO, I started contacting her to explore the possibility of cooperating with her to launch a cable channel. Her influence is too great, and she is involved in various fields such as talk shows, movies, books, and consumer goods, and TV stations may not be impossible. ”

Donn blinked, "You mean...... Do you want to launch a TV channel through a joint venture between Discovery Communications and Oprah Winfrey?

I ended my collaboration with the New York Times and switched to Oprah, and the idea was very strange.

David Saslav smiled, "She's already agreed!"

"Agreed?" Donn was shocked, "does she have that much energy?"

"Oprah Talk Show" is a TV show produced by Oprah's television company, and she is the chairman, chief producer and host. After the program is produced, she sells the program to major TV stations to broadcast.

This is the most popular and most-watched talk show of all time in the United States.

David Saslav's goal was simple, to launch a TV station with Oprah, and then ...... Monopolize all her TV shows!

"I've convinced her that if nothing else happens, there will be news in the near future. "Oprah Talk Show" has been on the air for 18 years, and she plans to end the show on September 9, 2006, on the 20th anniversary of the broadcast. Of course, it's not about saying goodbye to TV, it's about putting all our energy into our own Oprah TV station, a TV channel that only broadcasts Oprah TV shows. ”

"September 2006 ......"

Donn's eyes narrowed slightly.

It's a clever time.

According to the current plan, the new global will be listed in August 2006.

This woman is really smart!

。 Nine Heavenly God Emperors