Decoder with Nilay Patel
01:04:00 · Matt Strauss
[01:04:00] S5: Well, I wouldn't say it that way, though. What I would do is, first of all, I think to when somebody subscribes to Peacock, they should be able to access our service regardless of the platform. And so in that respect, we do cross authentication. Meaning you know that. And so you could subscribe and watch on Peacock, or you could subscribe and access our service through channels. I'm not here to tell the consumer what the best experience is. I think that we lead by example. I think that the consumers vote based on where they ultimately decide to engage. And so if you want to get access to some of these cool features that I'm describing, or if you want to play a game that we created, or if you want to listen to a podcast, or I'll give you another example, which is we're testing now a membership program. Because we shouldn't think of viewers as subscribers. We should think of them as members, right? And so what are the other values that you can get as part of being a member? Well, maybe some of those values could be based on your tenure or your level of engagement. Maybe you get discounts to NBC merchandise. Maybe you get special access when you go to Universal theme parks. Maybe you get discounts from some of our advertising partners like Domino's. And so how do we start to add more value? But maybe that membership is only available when you're on our platform. And so I think of it more as give consumers the choice, but at the same time, we are investing in product and technology and on experiences that are really meant to be delivered upon the platform that we have created. And we've got an unbelievable team, in my opinion, that has created a best in class scalable platform that not only powers Peacock but it's the same platform that we also use to power Sky Now television. It's the same platform that we've also distributed in dozens of countries around the world. And we've got a world class team that I think is really when it comes to the especially these major tentpole events is really trying to transform and surprise and delight viewers in a way that I'm not sure other platforms are going to be able to do around our content and our franchises.
01:06:18 · Nilay Patel
[01:06:18] S4: I want to end by asking maybe the most important question of all. We're talking a lot about internet distributed businesses and consumers signing up for services and being able to churn and quit. And there's a lot of free market dynamics there, which I think are very powerful and very important. And that means you get to program whatever you want to program, and you have chosen live and sports. And importantly, you mentioned news at the top of this conversation that NBC News is part of this portfolio. NBC News is also distributed over broadcast. It's distributed over the air. And the Trump administration, in particular, FCC chairman Brendan Carr, has expressed a lot of desire to pressure broadcast networks because you use the public spectrum, and in particular, news networks. And he's, you know, he's withheld the broadcast licenses for ABC stations, for example. He has threatened the other broadcast networks. There's a lot of pressure on NBC News. How are you handling that? Are you pushing back? Because that is the one place where you're not allowed to just do whatever you want. Right? The the the government gets to tell you what to say in an increasingly uncomfortable way.
01:07:20 · Matt Strauss, Nilay Patel
[01:07:20] S5: Yeah, well, look, think, I give a lot of credit to Cesar Conde and the NBC News Organization who, are big believers in freedom of speech, freedom of the press. I think when it comes to and I think they're doing a fantastic job. I think when it comes to distribution of our content, especially our news programming, I think that's an example where it's available everywhere. Mean, we truly make it available not only on Peacock and NBC and over the air, but through fast. You know, NBC News Now. [01:07:53] S4: Have you made this argument to the administration? Because I've met a lot of FCC chairman over the years. And what... Until Brendan Carr showed up, the argument they would make is we have to get away from overthinking broadcast because the audience is everywhere, and they don't actually make a distinction between broadcast television and cable. That was a Republican talking point for years and years and years. This this is nonsense. The other version of that is everyone's on TikTok, and we have to... The industry has to contend with that in some way, and we should get more people Internet access because that will actually even the playing field. Now we've come to, well, you have to use the spectrum in the public interest, and it is it is different, and the government should impose some speech pressure, which I I... Again, I think is inappropriate, but that is a new argument. And I'm wondering if you have said to the administration, look. It... The consumer doesn't make this distinction, and we as a company aren't making this distinction.
01:08:47 · Matt Strauss, Nilay Patel
[01:08:47] S5: I've not had those direct conversations myself. Obviously, we have a government affairs team that works very closely with regulators in DC. But I think what you're saying around there's probably no better time to be alive than right now when it comes to being able to access content through multiple modalities. Whether it's over the air broadcast, whether it's on social media platforms, whether it's free. If you were to look at Peacock, not only do we distribute NBC News, we distribute all of our own stations as well on Peacock, where I could be watching in New York the LA news local news, or I could be watching the Philadelphia local news. There's no shortage of ways that we are really, I think, supporting the public good in giving them multiple ways and choices in how they want to consume and access their news programming. And I don't think that that's going to change. I think we're going to continue to advocate for freedom of speech, freedom of the press. And I think our news organization has been doing an unbelievable job in the product and the service that they're doing for the public. [01:09:54] S4: Matt, to me, that is... For a lot of reasons, you can tell that's an important topic for me. What's next for NBC Media Group? What's next for Peacock? What should people be looking for? [01:10:04] S5: Well, I think what's next for NBC Media Group, as we talked about, is we're gonna... You know, this time next year, we are likely gonna be a separate company as part of the new NBCUniversal.
01:10:04 · Matt Strauss, Nilay Patel
[01:10:04] S5: Well, I think what's next for NBC Media Group, as we talked about, is we're gonna... You know, this time next year, we are likely gonna be a separate company as part of the new NBCUniversal. [01:10:14] S4: You got to come back. There's a bunch of questions where I knew I wasn't going to get answers because the deal isn't closed yet. When that closes, you got to come back because I have a million questions. [01:10:21] S5: I will definitely come back. I'm really looking forward to it. I mean, think the other piece as you know is we had our Q3 earnings last week. We talked a lot about Peacock and how we had a very different strategy with Peacock from the others when we launched our service six years ago. But I'm really proud to share that Peacock was profitable in Q3 for the second consecutive quarter. We had $261,000,000 of EBITDA. That's $470,000,000 better year over year. I think the team has done an unbelievable job, and I feel really good about our momentum and continuing to grow. And it's kind of good proof that there's not one way to go to market. There's not one strategy or approach. You gotta play your hand and do your strengths, and you're gonna see us continue to do that at NBCUniversal. [01:11:10] S4: There's some... There's something very... We didn't even talk about what AI might do to the cost structure of video. When you come back, we're gonna get into it. Mac, thank you so much for being on Decoder. [01:11:18] S5: Thank you so much.
01:11:18 · Matt Strauss, Nilay Patel
[01:11:18] S5: Thank you so much. [01:11:21] S4: Thank you for listening to Decoder. To get new episodes every Monday and Thursday, subscribe to our YouTube channel at DecoderPod and find us on TikTok and Instagram under at DecoderPod for more fun stuff we put out almost every day. If If you enjoy this episode, please send a link to it to someone you think you might like it. It really helps us grow the show. You can also subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Decoder is Production of the Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. The show's producers are Greg Ott, Kate Cox, Nick Statt. This episode was edited by Xander Adams. Our editorial director is Kevin McShane. The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. We'll see you next time.