Philippe Dauman, the President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), today, Monday 8th December 2014, told an investor conference that he was "pretty excited" about the entertainment conglomerate's outlook given upside opportunities for the company.
During a luncheon keynote speech at the UBS 42nd Annual Global Media and Communications Conference in New York, Dauman was asked about investor fears of ratings declines and increasing digital usage. Dauman said Viacom wants measurement firms to better measure digital viewing and would make "a lot more" of its content available on new platforms. Even in-home viewing today is "not currently captured by the C3 currency," he said.
As part of his UBS Global Media and Communications Conference luncheon keynote speech, Philippe Dauman also talked about Nickelodeon, the number-one entertainment brand for kids and families, and the networks plans to roll out more animated shows.
Talking about how Viacom's kids networks are positioned strategically, Dauman told the UBS conference that "A kid watching Nickelodeon counts as the same watching Nicktoons" or other Nick channel brands, touting the brand's "One Nick" strategy, calling Nickelodeon the "strongest brand on a global scale."
Dauman on Monday also once again lauded the importance of having more original programming on Viacom's networks. However, while original series are becoming more important, "the value of acquired programming to us is diminishing," Dauman told the conference.
Dauman also called driving multi-platform viewing and monetization a key focus for his management team. Improved measurement and monetization tools will help Viacom "unleash" its ability to make more and more current content available on digital platforms, such as Nickelodeon's Emmy Award-winning Nick App, Dauman said. Dauman also mentioned that because most of the viewers of the media networks flagship channels are young, Viacom is more vulnerable to changes in technology.
He also mentioned international a key growth driver for Viacom. The company has launched 30 networks over the past year and will add more, he said. And it has recently acquired U.K. broadcaster Channel 5. He mentioned that Viacom could produce some content in Britain and signaled it could take advantage of production incentives there, such as the recently announced
tax break for the production of UK children's live-action programming, due to be introduced in April 2015.
Dauman also called mobile an area of upside, along with animated films at Paramount Pictures and TV production at Paramount. He said the company would launch new products on mobile next year. The Viacom CEO cited dynamic ad insertion on VOD an emerging business, echoing comments made earlier by CBS Corp. research chief David Poltrack.
Asked about Channel 5 and why it became Viacom's biggest acquisition in years, Dauman said the UK has long been the company's biggest foreign market and the network is a content engine. He said Channel 5 would get a bigger portion of its programming budget allocated to originals. And he said the company would skew the network younger over time. The company can not only co-produce shows, but also drive Viacom's consumer products business in Britain, he said.
The core of the company's international business continues to be Europe, but India, Latin America and Africa are the bigger-growth markets for the firm, Dauman said.
Discussing China, he said if the company got through some of the legal and cultural restrictions, there could be opportunities there in a few years in the non-traditional TV business, Dauman said.
From
The Hollywood Reporter via Yahoo! News:
Viacom CEO Touts Upside, Calls Paramount CEO Brad Grey "Secret Weapon"
Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman told an investor conference on Monday that he was "pretty excited" about the entertainment conglomerate's outlook given upside opportunities for the company.
During a luncheon keynote speech at the UBS Global Media and Communications Conference in New York, Dauman was asked about investor fears of ratings declines and increasing digital usage. Dauman said Viacom wants measurement firms to better measure digital viewing and would make "a lot more" of its content available on new platforms. Even in-home viewing today is "not currently captured by the C3 currency," he said.
Dauman called driving multi-platform viewing and monetization a key focus for his management team. Improved measurement and monetization tools will help Viacom "unleash" its ability to make more and more current content available on digital platforms, Dauman said.
He also mentioned international a key growth driver. The company has launched 30 networks over the past year and will add more, he said. And it has recently acquired U.K. broadcaster Channel 5. He mentioned that Viacom could produce some content in Britain and signaled it could take advantage of production incentives there.
Dauman also called mobile an area of upside, along with animated films at Paramount Pictures and TV production at Paramount. He said the company would launch new products on mobile next year. The Viacom CEO cited dynamic ad insertion on VOD an emerging business, echoing comments made earlier by CBS Corp. research chief David Poltrack.
Dauman on Monday also once again lauded the importance of having more original programming on Viacom's networks. He said the recent announcement that Spike would be rolled out internationally, starting with the U.K., became possible due to original shows. He predicted Spike would be a growth brand for Viacom for years to come. "We have a lot of channel launches ahead of us," he said.
Nickelodeon is putting out more animated shows, while Comedy Central, MTV and other channels are also adding new shows and bringing back established ones. He said the company was excited about the launch next year of Larry Wilmore's new show, which will replace The Colbert Report.
How are Viacom's kids networks positioned strategically, Dauman was also asked. "A kid watching Nickelodeon counts as the same watching Nicktoons" or other Nick channel brands, he said, touting the brand's "One Nick" strategy. He called Nickelodeon the "strongest brand on a global scale."
While originals are becoming more important, "the value of acquired programming to us is diminishing," Dauman told the UBS conference.
Asked about the film unit's outlook, the Viacom CEO said the studio remains focused on tentpole franchises, with the new Mission: Impossible and Star Trek films in the works now. He said tentpoles allow the company, among other things, to tap into international box-office growth. He also called animated films a profitable addition to the business that will help boost the profitability of Paramount.
Dauman also said that the TV production business of Paramount is "off to a faster start" than he had expected. He called Paramount boss Brad Grey the company's "secret weapon."
The demand is there, the pricing is holding up, Dauman said in discussing the state of the advertising market. Are TV dollars online or to digital, he said "broadly, we are all moving there." He said there is not enough high-quality, well-produced content online.
Asked about MTV, he said he was "very excited" about its outlook. He added that the network heard strong digital pitches earlier in the day.
Asked about Channel 5 and why it became Viacom's biggest acquisition in years, Dauman said the U.K. has long been the company's biggest foreign market and the network is a content engine. He said Channel 5 would get a bigger portion of its programming budget allocated to originals. And he said the company would skew the network younger over time. The company can not only co-produce shows, but also drive Viacom's consumer products business in Britain, he said.
The core of the company's international business continues to be Europe, but India, Latin America and Africa are the bigger-growth markets for the firm, Dauman said.
Discussing China, he said if the company got through some of the legal and cultural restrictions, there could be opportunities there in a few years in the non-traditional TV business, Dauman said.
More to come...
Also, from
THR.com:
Viacom CEO Touts Upside in Original Content, Calls Paramount's Brad Grey "Secret Weapon"
Philippe Dauman tells an investor conference that animated movies and TV production will be a boost for the conglomerate's film unit
Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman told an investor conference on Monday that he was "pretty excited" about the entertainment conglomerate's outlook given upside opportunities for the company.
During a luncheon keynote speech at the UBS Global Media and Communications Conference in New York, Dauman was asked about the film unit's outlook, saying that the studio remains focused on tentpole franchises, with the new Mission: Impossible and Star Trek films in the works now. He said tentpoles allow the company, among other things, to tap into international box-office growth. He also called animated films a profitable addition to the business that will help boost the profitability of Paramount.
Dauman also said that the TV production business of Paramount is "off to a faster start" than he had expected. In that context, he called Paramount boss Brad Grey the company's "secret weapon" given his experience in the TV space. Grey used to be partner of talent management firm Brillstein-Grey Entertainment where he executive produced such shows as The Sopranos.
"We're doing that at a very low overhead," Dauman said about the burgeoning TV production operation. "Now is a good time to be in the production business."
Dauman spent most time Monday answering questions about his firm's TV business. He was, for example, asked about investor fears of ratings declines and increasing digital usage. Dauman once again said Viacom wants measurement firms to better measure digital viewing and said it could make "a lot more" of its content available on new platforms. But even in-home viewing today is "not currently captured by the C3 currency," he said.
Dauman called driving multi-platform viewing and monetization a key focus for his management team. Improved measurement and monetization tools will help Viacom "unleash" its ability to make more and more current content available on digital platforms, Dauman said.
Dauman emphasized the importance of offering true TV Everywhere, saying pay TV operators must work with content firms to make it a reality. And he said the company would launch new services and shows on digital platforms, saying: "We have a lot of real estate that we can build beautiful new homes on."
Dauman also called mobile an area of upside. He said the company would launch new products and programs on mobile next year.
The demand is there, the pricing is holding up, Dauman said in discussing the state of the advertising market. Are TV dollars moving online or to other digital platforms? He said "broadly, we are all moving there." He said there is not enough high-quality, well-produced content online.
The Viacom CEO also cited dynamic ad insertion on VOD an emerging business, echoing comments made earlier by CBS Corp. research chief David Poltrack.
He also mentioned international a key growth driver. The company has launched 30 networks over the past year and will add more, he said. And it has recently acquired U.K. broadcaster Channel 5. He mentioned that Viacom could produce some content in Britain and signaled it could take advantage of production incentives there.
Dauman on Monday also once again lauded the importance of having more original programming on Viacom's networks. He said the recent announcement that Spike would be rolled out internationally, starting with the U.K., became possible due to original shows. He predicted Spike would be a growth brand for Viacom for years to come. "We have a lot of channel launches ahead of us," he said.
Nickelodeon is putting out more animated shows, while Comedy Central, MTV and other channels are also adding new shows and bringing back established ones. He said the company was excited about the launch next year of Larry Wilmore's new show, which will replace The Colbert Report.
While originals are becoming more important, "the value of acquired programming to us is diminishing," Dauman told the UBS conference.
Asked about U.K. broadcaster Channel 5 and why it became Viacom's biggest acquisition in years, Dauman said the U.K. has long been the company's biggest foreign market and the network is a content engine. He said Channel 5 would get a bigger portion of its programming budget allocated to originals. And he said the company would skew the network younger over time. The company can not only co-produce shows, but also drive Viacom's consumer products business in Britain, he said.
The core of the company's international business continues to be Europe, but India, Latin America and Africa are the bigger-growth markets for the firm, Dauman said.
Discussing China, he said if the company got through some of the legal and cultural restrictions, there could be opportunities there in a few years in the non-traditional TV business, Dauman said.
Also, from
Multichannel:
Dauman: Measurement is Key
Move From C3 Needed to Better Monetize Content
TakeAway
Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman said viewer measurement must improve for programmers to better monetize their content.
Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman said moving into new markets like mobile video will require that antiquated methods of measuring audiences will have to change with the times, including the ability to track viewing on different devices and expanding the viewing measurement windows.
Viacom, which has been under considerable ratings pressure, had previously announced plans to focus more on non- Nielsen dependent revenue, i.e., revenue streams that depend on traditional C3 advertising windows. At the UBS Global Media & Communications conference in New York, the Viacom chief added some details to its plans to capture and monetize more young viewers.
"We view mobile as a major opportunity for us and are going to be launching new products on mobile over the course of the next year and new brands in that arena," Dauman said at the conference.
Dauman had said in November that the plan was to grow its non-Nielsen dependent revenue from 30% to 50%.
"There is no question young audiences want to watch content on all devices they use, particularly on mobile devices," Dauman said at the conference. "We want to be there, and we also want our partners to be there too."
But getting to that audience will mean that measurement metrics, which currently only track viewership for three days after a show's original air, have to expand to at least a seven day (C7) window. Dauman isn't the only programming executive that has called for the C7 window to become standard – CBS CEO Les Moonves also has been vocal on the issue.
"We'd like to put a lot more of our content available," Dauman said. "You should be able to watch our streamed channels anywhere you are if you subscribe to cable. We'd like to see it measured."
Dauman said that because most of its viewers are younger – its flagship channels include MTV, Comedy Central which cater to teens and young adults while its Nickelodeon kids' network attracts tweens and adolescents – Viacom is more vulnerable to changes in technology.
Dauman said that currently, viewing that is done in the home on tablets, video game consoles and other non-TV devices isn't measured. That is expected to change next year.
"There are a lot of misnomers being used about ratings versus actual consumption of video. "Having better measurement and monetization tools will be good for the video being consumed and it will unleash our ability to put more content out there on an authenticated basis," Dauman said.
Viacom's domestic advertising revenue fell 5% in the most recent quarter, which Dauman said was more due to ratings issues than demand.
"We have some issues as to delivering on what we sold," Dauman said "It's not a demand problem that we see. We have a C3 ratings supply issue. As we move past that we expect to see improvement as the year progresses."
Dauman also sees opportunities outside the U.S., adding that while it continues to expand its presence in Europe – it recently purchased U.K. broadcaster Channel 5 – it also is eyeing markets in Latin America, Africa and China for potential growth. Viacom recently launched the Paramount Channel in Latin America to about 16 million homes and sees Africa, with a large young population as a key market, especially for mobile content. In China, which has been a huge market for its movie studio, the TV opportunity may be a few years from now, Dauman said.
Follow NickALive! on Twitter, Tumblr, Google+, via RSS, on Instagram, and/or Facebook for the latest Nickelodeon and Viacom News and Highlights!
