Lunch at Michael’s with Freeform President Tom Ascheim

His daughters were already fans of the programming on Freeform before he made the move there in December 2013 Ascheim recently told Jack Myers and myself over lunch at Michaelamp8217s restaurant in New York City Because they took an interest in the network before he did he considers their choice to be amp8220honest viewingamp8221 noting that when they were in their teens they were amp8220on the younger end of our audience but the passionate endamp8221His daughters provided amp8220prescriptive notes about things that were good and badamp8221 Ascheim pictured at top with Myers continued amp8220I got the rundown of what had happened on amp8216Pretty Little Liarsamp8217 when I decided I had better know a little bit more They were really helpfulamp8221 The 14 and 18yearold now ages 15 and 19 he added amp8220are slightly different about what they likeamp8221Given the demographic target of the network which concentrates on viewers in their teens and twenties there was much talk during the lunch about Millennials a growing group around which Ascheimamp8217s entire life now revolves at home and at the office He also has a 22yearold son When he mentioned that his youngest daughter is in France this summer learning to speak French we couldnamp8217t help but compare and contrast the lives so many kids lead today to our own experiences when we were that ageamp8220I did not go to France when I was in high schoolamp8221 Ascheim laughed amp8220I worked I worked as an air conditioning repair man I worked for a political candidate running for borough president in the Bronx handing out flyers The air conditioner repairman was the age I am now but he seemed like an old guy at the timeamp8221Asked to identify the primary differences between kids then and now Ascheim instantly replied amp8220I didnamp8217t live through 911 as a kid My oldest daughter was in her first day at kindergarten My son was in second or third grade Nobody knew what to say or what to tell them My wife was coincidentally in Washington and couldnamp8217t get homeamp8221Pausing for a moment Ascheim reflected amp8220We all had our day It was a bad day bad week bad year Itamp8217s core to themamp8220Our histories are differentamp8221 he continued amp8220My history is the amp821660s That informed a lot the sense that young people were powerful and optimistic that the economy was going to be good for them I think the life stage question is forever but the context is different Today kids are connected to everybody all the timeamp8221 On the subject of technology and digital adaptability Ascheim noted that his 15yearold is amp8220better at itamp8221 than his 22yearoldThe life stage to which Ascheim was referring is that with which Millennials have been long identified amp8211 the high school and college years and the often tumultuous twenties that follow Long before he joined Freeform the network had started to focus on Millennials amp8220because they were young and it made a ton of senseamp8221 he said But that was over ten years ago Now Ascheim noted to somewhat bonechilling effect amp8220The oldest Millennials are pushing 40amp8221As noted in Freeformamp8217s Upfront presentation the network has as a result made a significant change in its brand identification and targeting amp8220We had a moment when we asked amp8216Are we going to chase or are we going to stay with the life stageamp8217amp8221 Ascheim recalled amp8220Our targets tend to be high school college and twenties coincidentally the lives my children are leading We think the biggest question people are asking themselves at that moment is amp8216Who am I becomingamp8217amp8221Hence the networkamp8217s new name for its old target Becomers Young people Ascheim said are grappling with who they are going to be who they are becoming relative to the world around them amp8220They are an eternal ideaamp8221 he explained amp8220If we were sitting here as our younger selves weamp8217d be talking about the firsts weamp8217re dealing with first jobs first girls first college experiences What is my future going to be Itamp8217s in Shakespeare and itamp8217s still hereamp8221For teenagers in particular he said amp8220television is a simulation for the life not yet led So shows like amp8216Pretty little Liarsamp8217 and amp8216The Secret Life of the American Teenageramp8217 allow them in a refractory way to experience that which they havenamp8217t tried to kind of form their sense of selfamp8221Like most executives in the entertainment business Ascheimamp8217s career path followed the natural enthusiasm he had in his youth for movies and television amp8220I made little movies when I was a kidamp8221 he said amp8220There was nothing more exciting to me than going to the movies And the fall season of television I didnamp8217t know you could make a living at itamp160 The idea that maybe this thing you love could be your job was a little surprisingamp8221After graduating from Yale where he was heavily into liberal arts Ascheim became an assistant to a producer in New York City amp8220I wrote tons of treatments and got coffee and dry cleaningamp8221 he recalled of the experience amp8220I wanted to be in the media making TV and movies Nothing we developed while I was there got madeamp8221 His next move working for Silver Screen Partners brought him close to his future employer Silver Screen amp8220raised about a billion dollars for Disney in limited partnerships in the amp821680samp8221 he said amp8220Thatamp8217s what funded Michael Eisneramp8217s first round of movies Disney classics amp8216Beauty and the Beastamp8217 amp8216The Little Mermaidamp8217 amp8216Aladdinamp8217 a whole lot of stuffamp8221A return to Yale followed this time for a MBA in Business and then amp8220I was all of a sudden the business guy at Viacom It was a great time to be there I got luckyamp8221 Ascheim honed his skills at making and marketing television for kids through his involvement there in various capacities with Nickelodeon NickNite Nick Jr The N and NogginBefore moving to Freeform though Ascheim made a dramatic if temporary change in his career trajectory moving to Newsweek in 2007 as CEO amp8220It was an odd sideways moveamp8221 he admitted amp8220I had worked at Viacom during the time when the economy went way up and our business model went way up and we all felt super smart and unconquerable The pitch to go to Newsweek was the family is never going to sell and they understand the urgency of change It was election time Itamp8217s a little hard to remember how exciting the political scene felt in the summer of 2007 I wanted to see that from the front seatamp8221Of course the economy spectacularly crashed a year later amp8220I underestimated what happens when a business model goes bad and how fast you have to moveamp8221 Ascheim reflected amp8220The lesson I took away is when you see warning signs you need to sprint You need to act and be decisive When it goes bad it goes bad fastamp8221Ascheim moved on to Sesame Workshop as Chief Strategy Officer and Executive Vice President of Sesame Learning and then to Freeform in December 2013While most of the series on Freeform have a family at their center or a familylike feel to their central relationships the established brand of the network would seem to be at odds with its new focus on the pursuit of the Becomers given that most people in their late teens and twenties are seeking to pull away from their families explore the world and discover who and what they are Could this mean that Freeform will follow the lead of so many other cable networks and begin referring to itself as something else entirelyamp8220Youamp8217re not the first person to ask this questionamp8221 Ascheim acknowledged amp8220The truth is we donamp8217t know yet what we are going to do Weamp8217ve talked about it internally We do research with our audience They know what the content is and they love it I think that for people who are not yet fans of our network amp8230 it signals something that probably is incongruous with a lot of our content So for that reason weamp8217re going to look hard I hope one day weamp8217ll be able to do something about itamp8221Maybe his kids can help him with thatThe opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillage management or associated bloggers

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Lunch at Michael’s with Freeform President Tom Ascheim

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Lunch at Michael’s with Freeform President Tom Ascheim

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