Turner’s Kevin Reilly at TCA: “TV is the Best Advertising Delivery Mechanism Ever Invented."

amp8220Weamp8217re pushing backamp8221 Reilly said of the work he and his team have done during the last 12 months amp8220We are going to make some moves that I think are going to be very very significant The spirit of this company was set many years ago by Ted Turner who defined what cable television was And frankly we intend to rewrite the rules now to lead the transition to the next era and define what a TV network is in years to comeamp8221Reilly identified four key categories of change or amp8220tent polesamp8221 as he called them Developing amp8220premium original contentamp8221 amp8220improving the consumer experienceamp8221 building amp8220a new business paradigmamp8221 and making amp8220investments in growthamp8221The cumulative objective he noted amp8220is to more sharply define who we are at TNT and TBS and to better meet the viewersamp8217 demands for both original content and a better viewing experienceamp8221Talking about premium original content Reilly said amp8220Weamp8217re supplementing our considerable programming budget with over a billion dollars in the next three yearsamp8221 At TBS that means the addition of the NCAA basketball championship In tandem with the Final Four amp8220that gives us very high awareness very high circulationamp8221 he explained amp8220We have lots of room for improvement on brand affinity to become a destination for originals and this is where weamp8217re really going to make our first big move Because to be a success today youamp8217ve got to be part of the cultural conversation and make some noiseamp8221Also coming to TBS are six new scripted comedies and one new reality show The comedies include amp8220People of the Earthamp8221 about a support group for alien abductees and amp8220Angie Tribecaamp8221 which will kick off on January 17 with a 25hour commercialfree ongoing marathon of its entire first season which consists of ten episodesReilly said the intention of the amp8220Angieamp8221 marathon is not to amp8220push backamp8221 on Netflix Rather its amp8220a big stunt to take a show that is intentionally crazy and silly and over the top and to do an over the top stunt not a 24hour binge but a 25hour binge No network has ever put on an entire season in one day I donamp8217t anticipate that to be a ratings play Itamp8217s sort of a way to signal the lights are turned on at a new TBS Weamp8217re going to experiment with lots of different things There are no rules at all and I hope itamp8217s the first of many rules we are going to break on air and off airamp8221Over at TNT look for amp8220bolder more cinematic fareamp8221 including a very promising drama series adaptation of the gritty feature film amp8220Animal Kingdomamp8221 produced by John Wells and starring Ellen Barkin which was previewed during the Turner session to very positive response even though a complete pilot is not yet availableMoving on to the other amp8220tent polesamp8221 Reilly next addressed planned improvements to the amp8220consumer experienceamp8221amp8220We have to provide our product on over the top apps and streaming platforms for viewers to watch and binge on their ownamp8221 he asserted amp8220It also means when they tune into our linear service and the vast majority of viewing is still on linear TV we need to create a better viewing experience TV is the best advertising delivery mechanism ever invented Itamp8217s unparalleled for building brands and moving consumers But we have overstuffed the bird That not only dilutes the quality of the viewersamp8217 experience but also the effectiveness of adsamp8221Reilly reminded the room that sister network truTV has reduced its commercial inventory by half and that Turner sales chief Donna Speciale recently announced a major initiative to redefine the relationship with clients and to replace traditional spots on TNT with more effective branded content that will reduce clutter across the networkHe then announced that negotiations are underway to cut the commercial load in three new dramas set to premiere on TNT a move that will add eight to ten minutes of additional program time per houramp8220This is an opportunity that weamp8217re putting out to the industry to embrace change and move the needleamp8221 he said amp8220Weamp8217ve gotten a great response from the clients weamp8217ve met with so far and Iamp8217m very optimistic that weamp8217re going to pull this off And when we do that means weamp8217re going to reduce the ad load in those hours by over 50 percent which will be by far and away an industry standard and the best on commercial televisionamp8221On the subject of amp8220business structureamp8221 Reilly said that TNT and TBS amp8220are really revamping almost every aspect of our business inside the halls These changes today require a new organization We are building and acquiring competency in technology and data What that means is weamp8217re going to use data as a tool to not only target and speak directly with our audience on a regular basis but to also help us sell more effectively in a different fashion and to measure differentlyamp8220We recently announced major restructuring in both our sales and marketing organizations and this is just a tip of the icebergamp8221 he continued amp8220There is no aspect of our business that is not undergoing a major revolution at Turneramp8221As for the fourth tent pole amp8220investments in growthamp8221 Reilly talked about the new areas into which Turner Networks is taking its brands with an eye toward expanding amp8220what the network ecosystem is all aboutamp8221 Those moves include the acquisition of Bleacher Report which Reilly described as amp8220the No 1 social voice of sportsamp8221 the creation of a new startup company called Super Deluxe an independent subsidiary that is amp8220both a digital content creator and a tech product incubator focused on mobile first consumptionamp8221 the purchase of streaming platform iStreamPlanet and the creation of eLeague a new esports business which Reilly described as amp8220a huge next generation entertainment experience that weamp8217re going to build in partnership with IMG and Valve a major game publisher Weamp8217re building to tenweek seasons a game every day online and a game of the week on television This will be both an online and televised experience all building to a bracketed championship roundamp8221amp8220These businesses are not addons to our businessamp8221 Reilly declared amp8220Theyamp8217re not also rans These are going to be integral to the core of what we call our network businessamp8220I think it will take the better part of three years to fully realize this visionamp8221 Reilly concluded amp8220TBS and TNT will be radically different businesses than they are today Things will radically change in our business over the next three years Weamp8217re going to be ahead of that change and I look forward to itamp8221amp160

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Turner’s Kevin Reilly at TCA: “TV is the Best Advertising Delivery Mechanism Ever Invented."

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Turner’s Kevin Reilly at TCA: “TV is the Best Advertising Delivery Mechanism Ever Invented."

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We Are the Outliers - By Jack Myers

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