October 10, 2025 • 44 mins
Bloomberg Tech's Caroline Hyde and Ed Ludlow are live in LA for Bloomberg Screentime 2025, speaking with celebrities, entrepreneurs and leaders across the media, gaming and streaming landscape. NPR CEO Katherine Maher discusses the state of media under the Trump administration, Twitch CEO Dan Clancy and Scopely COO Eunice Lee weigh in on the gaming landscape, while streamer Imane Anys - aka “Pokimane” - dives into the business of streaming and building a following.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio news. Bloomberg Tech is live
from coast to coast with Caroline Hyde in New York
and Eva low In sent Francisco.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Welcome to a special edition of Bloomberg Tech Live from
Bloomberg screen Time in Los Angeles. Coming up this hour,
we're going to bring you conversations with some of the
biggest names in the entertainment industry.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
We'll we're speaking with top celebrities, ed with entrepreneurs, with
leaders across this very much changing media landscape. And we
first go to the talk of the town here at
screen Time, of course, it was Jimmy Kimmel, the late
night show host, sat down on Bloomberg's Luca Shaw and
explained how he thinks his comments about the conservative activist
Charlie Kirk were mischaracterized by the political right.
Speaker 4 (00:59):
Take a listen.
Speaker 5 (01:01):
I didn't think there was a big problem, I you know,
I just saw it as distortion on the part of
some of the right wing media networks.
Speaker 6 (01:10):
And I was I aimed to correct it.
Speaker 5 (01:14):
I have problems like all the time, and it's kind
of funny because sometimes you think, oh, this is not
a problem, and then it turns into a big problem.
Speaker 6 (01:23):
And then sometimes it goes the other.
Speaker 5 (01:25):
Way where you think like, oh, oh, this is gonna
be a problem nobody really notices.
Speaker 7 (01:28):
And so at what point did you realize this was
a problem?
Speaker 5 (01:32):
I think when when they pulled the show off the air, Well,
that's unusual.
Speaker 7 (01:39):
Yeah, And what were the conversations that Data and bobbed
that led to that.
Speaker 5 (01:46):
I hate to disappoint you, but they were really good conversations.
Speaker 6 (01:50):
I'm not as thinking any I mean, like really good
conversations they are.
Speaker 5 (01:55):
These are people that I've known for a long time
and who I like very much much, and who were
you know, who wanted we all wanted this to work
out best. And I will tell you like I mean,
first of all, I ruined Dana's weekend. It was just
NonStop phone calls all weekend. But I don't think what
I don't think the result, which I think turned out
(02:17):
to be very positive, would have been as positive if
I hadn't talked to Dana as much as I did,
because it helped me think everything through, and it helped
me just kind of understand where everyone was coming from.
I can sometimes be reactionary, I can sometimes be aggressive,
and I could sometimes be unpleasant, and I think that
(02:40):
it helped me. Really having those days to think about
it was helpful.
Speaker 7 (02:47):
Okay, I have a dumb question about this as someone
who is kind of reporting on it in real time
trying to figure out what's happening. So the show goes
up there, you have all these conversations and when you
made it or when you made a decision put the
show back on the air, as my understanding at the
time was, it still wasn't exactly clear what you were
going to say. They still hadn't resolved the issues at
(03:07):
the affiliates. So what do you resolve in those conversations
to know you're going back if you haven't figured out
a lot of the things that come out of it.
Speaker 5 (03:17):
I think just the spirit of what I'm going to
say rather than specifically what I was going to say,
And I think that's something that we all agreed on,
and I think that.
Speaker 6 (03:29):
Ultimately I wanted to kind of.
Speaker 5 (03:32):
Cover every base if I could, and sometimes you can
do that and sometimes you can't do that. And it
was something really that had to come from inside me.
It had to be truthful, and I had to lay
it all out there and just be honest about what
I was feeling and what I'd experienced, and I think
(03:53):
I did, and I think that it probably went about
as well as it could go. I knew that it
was wasn't going to be perfect, and there were always
going to be people that didn't like it and didn't
accept it. But the important thing to me was that
I was able to explain what I was saying what
(04:15):
I was trying to say.
Speaker 6 (04:16):
Because you felt like your.
Speaker 7 (04:17):
Initial comments had been mischaracterized, I didn't feel like it
they were.
Speaker 5 (04:22):
It was intentionally and I think maliciously mischaracterized.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
Yeah, there was Jimmy Kimmel there with Bloombog screen time
host Lucas Shaw, who joins us now this morning. The
story around Jimmy Kimmel was one of the most read
on the Bloomberg terminal and the website, and it's being
shared across the industry. I think that's not that surprising, right, Lucas.
(04:48):
The headline is really straightforward. He thought that the show
was done, and in the course of what we just heard,
he explained everything that happened in the days that followed
being taken off air, confirming quite a lot of your reporting.
I just invite you to take it from there, and
the main takeaways from you from the conversation.
Speaker 7 (05:05):
Well, I guess I was a little surprised on retrospect,
not shocked by how effusive his praise was for Disney,
just because in the moment, my sense from people around
him was that he was pretty pissed off at them, right,
they had taken him off the air. You heard him say,
I didn't think I did anything that wrong. My comments
got sort of weaponized by right wing media, and yet
(05:29):
he's had nothing but positive things to say about CEO
Bob Bieger, about Entertainment CoA chair Dana Walden. He sort
of somewhat endorsed Dana Walden to succeed Bob Biger, which
you know, I don't know that he or Dana were
expecting to happen last night. But this turn from what
could have been a really sad, ugly episode in his
career to something that has made him something.
Speaker 6 (05:50):
Of a hero.
Speaker 7 (05:52):
And so I you know, this was I guess a
little bit of a victory lap for him, a.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
Victory lap, which then you get to the nitty gritty
of numbers, because that's what Bloomberg and you're trying to
present him that Ultimately, yes, he had record bump in
terms of numbers, but the numbers.
Speaker 4 (06:05):
Haven't been great for late night television full stop.
Speaker 3 (06:08):
How did he navigate what he thinks is the revenue
positive or negatives right now for him?
Speaker 7 (06:13):
Well, twofold one, he was like, look, there was a
lot of reporting about how much his peer, Stephen Colbert's
show was losing. He thinks that that's wrong. He knows
how much money these shows cost to make. You know
generally how much they bring in. I think he said
last night it cost about one hundred twenty million dollars
to do one of these shows. But he also said, look,
if they were losing money, they got there. Stephen Colbert
(06:35):
show is going off the air. We don't know the
future of Kimmel's show. His contractor is up next year.
I think most people assume that he'll be around for
a little bit longer, and they don't want to At
a minimum, they're not going to fire him in the
same way that CBS did Colbert. But obviously, the big
challenge for late night is that there's just so much
more consumption happening online and you can't monetize it in
the same way.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
That's so interesting like his insight into how the industry works, budgets,
talent costs, losses or not losses, Lucas, that's kind of
the point of the rest of the day. We have
many very high profile speakers across entertainment and media generally,
but just for you, what is your next big focus
after last night?
Speaker 7 (07:13):
My first interview is David Allison, who I think is
other than Kimmel, probably the biggest interview of the conference,
just because he hasn't done a big interview since taking
over Paramounts Guidance. He seems to be in the news
every other day. He bought Barry Weiss's The Free Press.
He may or may not be trying to buy Warner
Brothers Discovery. We'll talk about both those things with him.
Speaker 3 (07:34):
And you've got Warner Brothers Discovery at the table as well.
That's gonna be fascinating considering the conversation you have with
Greg Peters acosio Netflix about how ultimately he's not after
M and A WBD, That's gonna be a fascinating conversation.
Speaker 7 (07:45):
Yeah, the code shares of their movie studio. I'm sure
that they will avoid talking about any big corporate matters
and kind of refer that to their leadership, but look,
they will be great to talk about the movie business with.
They have been on a real hot streak with Sinners,
with Minecraft, many other hits over the summer, Weapons and
then the new Ppa movie which probably isn't a commercial
(08:06):
hit but looks like an Oscar front runner.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
All right, Bloombe's Lucas Shaw, who's leading our coverage here
at Bloomberg screen time in Los Angeles. Thank you very much.
But actually here on Bloomberg Tech carry so much more.
Speaker 3 (08:16):
Coming up, we're going to be speaking with Catherine Meyer,
nbr CEO. Look, public media faces threats, particularly under the
Trump administration. Right now, what is the future of funding
sick with us?
Speaker 4 (08:26):
This is blue bag tech.
Speaker 8 (08:40):
See, that's what happens when people get activated. People got
activated and demanded did Jimmy Kimmel come back on the air?
And I think that it was a great victory. So
sometimes you know, when you're struggling and you're going through
all these changes because of the madness in DC, it's
important to realize when you do win, when you have victory,
and I think Jimmy Kimmel being back on the air
(09:03):
was a victory for all of.
Speaker 3 (09:04):
US Los Angeles mayor there Karen Bass, reacting to Jimmy
Kimmel's return, of course, to the air after a brief
suspension of what he described as a mischaracterization.
Speaker 4 (09:17):
Of his comments about Charlie Kirk.
Speaker 3 (09:19):
Meanwhile, look, public broadcasting as a whole is facing new challenges.
Speaker 4 (09:23):
Outlets PBS, NPR.
Speaker 3 (09:25):
For example, seeing their share in federal funding cut by
Congress over the summer and raises questions about their future.
The viability at the center of the debate is MPR
CEO Katamah, who we're pleased to say not only has
just been his joining us, having already been called before
the Oversight Committee earlier this year.
Speaker 4 (09:41):
Kevin, how how do you navigate this time?
Speaker 3 (09:45):
How are you seeing the ability for MPR to thrive
and drive forward?
Speaker 9 (09:48):
Well, there's certainly no roadmap for this moment in time.
I think this represents a step change for all public broadcasting.
It's not just here in the United States. We recognize
that public broadcasters around the world are under increase scrutiny
and pressure. The good news for us is that we
have a viable model because we've built audiences over the
fifty years we've been in existence, we have forty six
(10:09):
million listeners a week, and so as we look to
the future, we're looking at all, right, this is a change.
It doesn't change our public service mandate, It doesn't change
our mission and our obligation to the American public.
Speaker 10 (10:20):
It just probably will change how we have to do
our work.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
When you say how you do your work, does it
ultimately mean that you have to think about the resources that.
Speaker 4 (10:26):
You put to work there?
Speaker 3 (10:28):
Can you be as expansive in the coverage that you
have in for so many years.
Speaker 9 (10:31):
It's a good question and something we're trying to figure out.
NPR received traditionally about one percent of our budget directly
from the federal government, but we have just one percent.
Speaker 10 (10:41):
But we have a network of.
Speaker 9 (10:42):
Around two hundred and fifty members stations which received as
much as seventy percent in rural parts of the country,
and so we're waiting to see what some of the
fallout will be for those stations.
Speaker 10 (10:51):
We have projections.
Speaker 9 (10:52):
We're concerned about this, and we're looking at how we
can buttress some of their work by cutting fees to
them and thinking about how to make, you know, dollars
stretch a little bit further to continue to serve local communities.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
Cavin, I think there would be a lot of value
in you explaining the business model.
Speaker 10 (11:07):
It is amazing.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
Well, the reason I ask actually is in preparation for today,
I suddenly stopped and looked at mprs following on social
platforms for example. It's very very big. Yes, you know,
how do I consume some MPR content like on YouTube
for example, But that isn't necessarily a big, big income generator,
view is that? Is that right?
Speaker 10 (11:28):
Right?
Speaker 5 (11:28):
So?
Speaker 9 (11:28):
I think people think of us as radio because that's
our origin, but in fact, fifty percent of our listening
comes from digital platforms. It comes through podcasts, it comes
through YouTube, it actually comes through reading online. And you
can see in our numbers that our demographics are actually
very well distributed. We've been accused of being too liberal,
but what I can tell you is that when we
look at the audience data as to who comes to us,
(11:48):
it's actually a very represent representative distribution of the American public.
So fifty percent of what we're doing is for digital audiences,
and fifty percent of what we're doing is for radio audiences.
On the radio side, at these roughly two hundred and
fifty members across the country. They serve ninety nine point
seven percent of the American public, So in some ways
we are one of the largest national networks. And we
(12:10):
have three thousand local journalists around the country who then
serve back into the network with stories that they're filing
for their local communities and for their states.
Speaker 3 (12:19):
How does it make them feel when they're deemed to
be too liberal.
Speaker 6 (12:23):
And how not good?
Speaker 10 (12:25):
Yeah, really not good.
Speaker 9 (12:26):
I mean, we have reporters who are covering tribal areas
who are primarily focused on the issues of Native American communities.
We have reporters in rural Alaska who are focusing on
the issues that their communities face. Some of the issues
around for example, fishing and access to access to the
sorry the National Wildlife Preserve and what does that mean
(12:47):
for economic opportunity for Alaskans. They're having nuanced conversations that
represent the full spectrum of the American debate on any
of these issues, and so to be called liberal or
to be demeaned in that way is really a misrepresentation
of the work that they do.
Speaker 4 (13:01):
Nuance is a great word, you mean more of it.
Speaker 9 (13:03):
Well, we try to make sure that we're hearing from
all sides of the story in every story, and that
means that we are representing sure, of course communities in
California that perhaps have one point of view, but also
communities in Indiana that have a different point of view.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
You know, we talked about this as a team, and
one of our producers, Oie Thomas, brought up the idea
that there is like the NPR strategy, and then there's
what the local stations are doing on the politics side
of things. You know, how are the local stations reacting,
for example, if a lot of their listener base did
vote for President Trump, you know, with what's going on,
(13:36):
how are you factoring that in? But also, like in
the business model, do you end up sort of also
competing at the MPR level with the local station level
because you're trying to pursue different subscribers things like that.
Speaker 10 (13:49):
Well, those are sort of two very different questions.
Speaker 9 (13:51):
I mean, we aim to serve the entire spectrum of
American conversation, right, So, we had the White House Press
Secretary on just last week speaking directly to the American
public about the administrations thinking on the current government shutdown.
We invite members of both parties on all the time.
We invite independent voices on all the time. This is
important to us, but it's not just our politics coverage.
(14:12):
It's also coverage of American life all of the cultural
aspects that make up our differences as well. And that
is one of the flexibilities of local reporting is it
means that our station in Utah can run stories about
the local reaction to the Charlie Kirk assassination as well
as contributing to our national coverage, so that Americans all
across the country can hear from those perspects.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
What is the feedback from America from the American listeners
about everything that's happened, Well.
Speaker 10 (14:37):
I mean on the news, of course.
Speaker 9 (14:39):
I think what we hear very consistently is that this
is a concerning time. People dislike the amount of polarization.
We do hear that our coverage and the way that
we approach things tends to bring people closer to an
understanding of their fellow Americans because we really do focus
on finding the personal story. We'd like to say that
everything that happens in America happens somewhere, and so we're
always trying to find this somewhere that that that is happening,
(15:01):
whether it's the implications of tariffs, or you know the
conversation that's happening around for example, Jimmy Kimmel, who you
were just recently referencing.
Speaker 3 (15:08):
Listeners are so loyal you turn to them for funding.
Have you seen big billionaires, big donors wanting to step
up into this moment.
Speaker 9 (15:17):
We have seen a outpouring of support, absolutely so. New
Hampshire Public Radio, for example, raised a million dollars in
response to the defunding efforts in over the course of
a short period of weeks. We really appreciative of this,
but that won't fill the gap for these rural communities
that are already sizzy economically strapped. There's a reason they
have been federally funded. We know that for sorry, we
(15:39):
know that twenty percent of Americans live without local news.
Speaker 10 (15:42):
There's a reason for that.
Speaker 9 (15:43):
The market conngnitions don't allow it, and that's where public
media has filled in the gap. So that still remains
a challenge.
Speaker 10 (15:50):
We have seen a.
Speaker 9 (15:51):
Lot of support, of course, across the board for public radio.
I think there were three million people who wrote into
Congress to support the to support us at the time
of defunding. But it won't be enough to fill the
one hundred and twenty million dollar gap relative to the
defending GUP.
Speaker 3 (16:04):
Your own background is so fascinating, having been for stint
with the Web Summit, making huge, big events, and for
a tech community, you're on the chair of the Signal Foundation.
Speaker 4 (16:15):
You're also been at Wikipedia.
Speaker 3 (16:16):
I'm interested as to how in this moment of belt tightening,
your technological savvy comes into all of it.
Speaker 9 (16:23):
Well, I actually think that technology is an enormous advantage
for the complex structure that you have. You asked me
about the business model earlier, and I think it's a
great lead into this. Right, there is a way in
which we could be in competition all of these local
stations seeking to now transform their work for a national audience.
Technology actually offers us the place to bring all of
that aggregate reporting together. And so if somebody is running
(16:45):
a really great story here in LA about a local
band that is about to go on tour, and I
reference that because music is a big part of what
we do at NPR, we now have the ability to
serve that to any audience member anywhere across the country
who might be interested in what that band is about
to do. Right, we wouldn't have been able to do
that in a previous era.
Speaker 10 (17:04):
But the ability of digital.
Speaker 9 (17:05):
Platforms, the affordances for us to serve audiences seamlessly.
Speaker 10 (17:09):
They don't think of us as.
Speaker 9 (17:09):
Our local station versus our local station. They think of
us as one public media experience, and that's really what
we're leaning into.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
So, Sweden, what are you going to do differently? What
are in this environment? What are you going to change
to bring in more money that you need?
Speaker 9 (17:22):
Well, certainly investing pretty heavily in the fundraising piece. I mean,
I don't think that that's dissimilar from what we've seen
in nonprofit news as a whole. We've seen tremendous success
in the nonprofit news sector and building subscriptions and building memberships.
That's an opportunity for us, and in fact, we've been
doing it for a long time. We have millions and
millions of loyal donors across the country. It's time to
bring in the next generation. You mentioned I come from Wikipedia.
(17:44):
We have a little experience in this right, So that's
one piece of it. I also think that it's an
opportunity for us to think about how we're doing our
news gathering and news production more effectively, and so we
have all these journalists across the country, what does it
mean to do the national editorial planning where we're really
thinking about how to elevate these conversations that are happening
around the country into the national story. And then of
(18:04):
course we have this great international and national reporting that
we mean to now weave.
Speaker 6 (18:08):
Into the mix.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
KAFR mayor MPR CEO, thank you very much for being
with us here at Blomberg screen Time. Meanwhile, Warner Music
Group is said to be in close agreement with Netflix
to create a slate of movies and documentaries based on
the record labels catalog of artists and songs. That's according
to sources. Here's what Warner Music Group CEO Robert Kilhle
said about a potential deal.
Speaker 11 (18:31):
I cannot confirm anything, but but the you know, if
you step back and think about this, it makes a lot.
You know, our company has tremendous catalog Prince Madonna, Fleetwood,
Mac and it's just it just goes on and on
and on. The stories that we have are incredible and
(18:53):
they haven't really been topped. It more like Marvel for music.
I said, that's that's that's where we are and it
will be unlocked, and so it makes a lot of
sense for us to partner with a company that can
bring it to life all around the world. And it's
exciting both for as who are no longer with us,
(19:18):
but we make their estates happy and satisfied, but also
for X who are with us, who then can actually
help bring young audiences to the streaming platforms.
Speaker 3 (19:32):
Robert Kinsil, Warner Music Group CEO. Then now coming up Netflix,
it's doubling down on gaining expanning its availability beyond your
phones and tablets. We're gonna have the Coco, Greg Peters,
that's next. This is a blue bag tag.
Speaker 6 (19:52):
I think it's.
Speaker 12 (19:53):
It's hard for any brand that has a deep, you know,
consumer sense of what are you're doing for me? Right,
and then you're like, well, I'm going to do this
as well, and you have. It takes a while to
really build up that sense.
Speaker 6 (20:07):
Of what's happening.
Speaker 12 (20:08):
But it's not it's not that dissimilar to let's say,
when we launched, you know, in a new country, like
you know, you went to Japan, right, So when we
started in Japan, two percent of the Japanese population had
ever heard of Netflix, so nobody knew what nobody would
nobody evenew our name much. Let's be able to tell
you what we were doing. And we're doing pay TV
service in a country that doesn't really have a great
(20:28):
PayTV you know operation we're doing over the internet in
a way, it was totally new, and so you you
got to every day build a little bit of like
what are we doing, who we are, what are we
you know, how are we here to serve you? So
that ten year journey, let's say, you know, just at
the tenth universary in Japan. You know, tremendous progress over
ten years, but it took us a long time. And
I think you know, the gaming situation is not dissimilar
(20:49):
to that.
Speaker 7 (20:50):
How much is it an impediment that for the most
part now you can only play it on on your phone?
Speaker 12 (20:55):
Well, I would say, you know the phone is that
what's great about it is it's a well developed gaming ecosystem, right,
so you know, folks notifying games there. But it's also
a highly competitive gaming ecosystem.
Speaker 6 (21:09):
So it's developed.
Speaker 12 (21:10):
This gives you both that upside and the downside. But
what's exciting is that now we are moving beyond the
phone to the TV. So I mentioned like one of
the big game areas we're going after. One of the
big gaming areas we're going after now is you know,
social gaming experiences that will show up on your TV.
So we are now announcing, we're announced here actually that
we're going to have these social party games, a pack
(21:31):
of social party games that you can play on your
TV with your phone as the controller. And it's things
like you know, recognizable games like Boggle. You got Pictionary,
We've got a Lego party game, We've got Tetris, We've
got like a Mafia style Who've done it? This is
This is me and our CTO Elizabeth playing Boggle here,
which is it's we're two very competitive people, so it
(21:55):
got pretty ugly.
Speaker 6 (21:56):
Who I'm not going to say that means he lost?
Oh does it? When she watched the video? My friend,
you triggered my competitors.
Speaker 12 (22:07):
But this is again, this is you know, so it's
your phone, which is an incredible device, and there's all
sorts of things that you're going to be able to
do on your phone that you can't do on a
normal controller, like touchscreen. And this is us basically picking
our words on that, and it's you know, it's dead
simple to use it's intuitive, and then this is you know,
us on the earliest days of how we actually can
(22:29):
use that and if we you know, basically are going
to like unleash this with a bunch of creators and
they're going to go figure out stuff that we didn't
even imagine that they can do with that interactivity.
Speaker 2 (22:42):
That was Netflix co CEO Greg peters Key conversations Coming
up Gaming with Twitch CEO Dan Clancy, Unice Lee of
Scope Ly. One of the top streamers out there is
Poke Maine. So much more from Los Angeles and Bloomberg
screen Time. This is Bloomberg Tech. Welcome back to a
(23:11):
special edition of Bloomberg Tech. We're live from Bloomberg screen
Time in Los Angeles. Amazon streaming platform Twitch is growing
online stars by the minute. It's averaging more than one
hundred and five million monthly visitors globally. And here to
discuss the current state but also the future state of
the live streaming business model is Twitch CEO Dan Clancy.
Speaker 13 (23:32):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 6 (23:33):
It's great to be here.
Speaker 2 (23:34):
So Twitch is such an interesting thing, an entity. There
are loads of people out there that aren't familiar with it,
and actually, I thought the most sensible place to start
is like, can you just explain what Twitch is, how
it works.
Speaker 13 (23:46):
Hopefully for those so simple space. Twitch the live streaming
platform where people go live. Okay, and so if you
say it's a live version of YouTube or something like that.
But the thing that really makes Twitch unique in the
kind of a need that it meets in people is
as human beings, we are all yearning for community. And
what happens on Twitch is people go live and they
(24:08):
basically share their lives. They let people into their living room,
They go out in the world, and they explore, they gain,
and then what they do is very authentically engage with
those people that are watching. And since people spend a
fair amount of time watching these people, a community forms
between the folks that are watching, and I think that
is really the magic of Twitch and which distinguishes Twitch
(24:30):
from many other platforms that have live streaming. The phrase
I use is we're community centric live streaming because people
find a place where they belong.
Speaker 2 (24:37):
So the simple origin was like people would be playing
video games in simple terms, and they would be filming
and streaming themselves playing this game, sometimes with others. But
it's kind of evolved into a much broader set of content,
IRL or just chatting is the things that you know
I'm following on the platform. Is there a still a
heavy proportion of activity that's gaming related or is it
(25:00):
now much more diverse?
Speaker 6 (25:01):
Well, it's very diverse.
Speaker 13 (25:02):
And the interesting story is even before Twitch, Twitch started
as justin TV, and in justin TV it was life casting,
so in fact it wasn't about gaming, okay, and then
Twitch life life casting is what they called it back then,
where you were just casting your life, and then Twitch
pivoted and focused on gaming and that's when it really
took off. And now it's kind of come full circle
(25:25):
because while gaming is still a big part of Twitch
and will always be a big part of Twitch, more
and more creators are out there just doing all sorts
of things you said, IRL, which is in real life,
which means you go out on the streets, you go
climbing a mountain.
Speaker 2 (25:38):
I've watched you stream from a water slide in a doughnut.
Yes necessary ver.
Speaker 6 (25:43):
Ir, that's IRL. It's in real life.
Speaker 3 (25:46):
DJ Cancy, I think is who you're streaming as I'm
interested though it does such a great job on the
show reminding us of the sheer scale in the power
of numbers of gaming.
Speaker 4 (25:56):
When we think about big.
Speaker 3 (25:57):
Movie hits, it pales into comparison.
Speaker 4 (25:58):
Of the amount of money face versus video games.
Speaker 3 (26:02):
What amazes me is how much the content creators are
winning in terms of content. They are getting one hundred
million dollar contracts to jump from you to Kick, or
from Kick to you or to YouTube more than Lebron
James's earning. Can you go to actually who your competition
therefore is and how you fight for that content in
this moment?
Speaker 13 (26:22):
Yeah, the way I look at it asally, we're fairly
unique in this space, and I don't focus on the
competition because as a live streaming platform at our scale,
they're smaller ones. But you know, really, when we think
of the social media space, you have YouTube, you have TikTok,
you have Instagram, but Twitch is really the only one
that solely focuses on this community centric live streaming experience.
And the way I describe it sometimes is we actually
(26:44):
are a long form platform and that people sit there
and watch for one hour two hours. So in that sense,
we're like Prime Video and Netflix, but we're social, so
we're sort of right in the middle of what i'll
call the streaming platforms and the social media platforms were
really long form social media playfe you're.
Speaker 3 (27:01):
Also, dare I say, right in the middle of the
culture wars, and I'm just really interested as to how
you navigate that in leadership when people are bringing them
into their homes in a more intimate setting and feel
that they can share anything that they feel, but that
then can blow up in many different ways.
Speaker 13 (27:16):
Yeah, So, first of all, it's very important that we
take it very seriously in terms of having a set
of guidelines and it's appropriate on Twitch and what's not,
And so we spend a lot of time thinking about
that and letting our creators do what they need to
do to protect themselves.
Speaker 4 (27:30):
And you kick them off too if we take them
off if.
Speaker 13 (27:32):
They're not adhering to them. That's really important for our platform.
But really what it is is that's just one of
the things you have to deal with if you want
to get that authenticity. Because this key difference between Twitch
and many other short form platforms. If you're just making
a short clip, you can put on a mask. When
you're live streaming, you can't put on a mask. And
(27:52):
one thing that's been leading a lot of celebrities, entertainers
athletes influence all sorts of people now to live streaming
is they want that authentic, honest connection with their fans
and turn those fans into community.
Speaker 2 (28:06):
Dan, sorry to interrupt him. Let's bring up the Gavin
Newsom session then and just play a little bit of
it if we can. There's some sound associated with it, Dan,
But in very simple terms, Gavin Newsome went on the.
Speaker 6 (28:18):
Twitch ocasion and not providing due process.
Speaker 2 (28:21):
Went on the Twitch platform. And my understanding is that
you know, he was engaging with one of his children's
favorite content creators, that that's the governor of California using
Twitch to communicate. Just explain how you feel about that.
Speaker 13 (28:34):
Yeah, the way I think of it, what he's doing
is he's he's just authentically interacting with you know, those
people that may have an interest in him, Right, And
I do that myself. I stream and have a great
time doing it. And when you do it, you realize
there's like there's something really special about having that impact
on people and having that feedback, that visceral feeling of
(28:57):
you know, when I when I stream, I'll play the
piano and sing and they'll say, oh, I love that song,
and it really kind of makes it's very different than
just looking at metrics like you do on other social media.
Speaker 2 (29:06):
You've been really clear there are guidelines for the content creators,
there are guidelines for the viewers in how they interact.
But Twitch is one of a number of platforms that
is caught up in a wider discussion about people that
want to talk politics or even in the context of radicalization.
Just give us your sort of blanket policy and approach
(29:27):
to managing that environment on the Twitch platform, please, because
DC is paying attention not just to Twitch. I get that,
but it is important.
Speaker 13 (29:35):
Well, let'shol I'd say, like, first of all, our policy
is you know, you could freely express your views. It's
how you say it that's important. That you should not
be attacking and hate and harassment is not allowed on
our platform, and we're very clear about that. But we
understand that people are going to.
Speaker 2 (29:52):
Expect super quick who adjudicates that.
Speaker 13 (29:54):
We have both automated techniques and we have a large
group of people that work when or something's reported to
then analyze it and see if you could hear star
our community guidelines, and then if there's a violation, we
take an enforcement action.
Speaker 3 (30:07):
What's so great as you two are going to be
on stage together a little bit later. Twitch CEO Dan Clancy,
We so thank you for your time with us on
the show as well. Now coming up, we're going to
be speaking with Scopely COO Unis Lee about the growth
and competition in the mobile gaming industry.
Speaker 4 (30:22):
It's a bloomberg tech in the realm of mobile gaming.
Speaker 3 (30:41):
There are a few key players increasingly dominating the space.
Speaker 4 (30:44):
One of those is Scopey.
Speaker 3 (30:46):
It's the publisher behind Marvel Strikeforce, Yacht See with Buddies,
Pokemon Goo, my kid's favorite. Scope Ye Chief operating Officer
Unis Lee joins us now and we see.
Speaker 4 (30:57):
That ip and it stands out.
Speaker 3 (30:58):
So much units competition is really building. How do you
see that as a really helping you focus on the
business scale the business, but also drive off those competitives.
Speaker 14 (31:10):
Sure, I mean it's always great to have competition because
it only fuels that drive to innovate and to exceed expectations.
For us, we welcome all of it. I think Scopely
in particular is always focused on a community first approach,
and so the games that we're building, we think about
how are we creating these highly social, engaging experiences, And
(31:33):
I think that's what sets us apart ultimately, because we
always start from that core premise and.
Speaker 3 (31:37):
That highly social engagement drives revenue. I'm assuming just talk
us through the business model.
Speaker 14 (31:41):
Sure, I mean it's pretty astounding. Last year we achieved
over ten billion dollars in lifetime revenue.
Speaker 10 (31:48):
We're really excited about that.
Speaker 14 (31:50):
We have five hundred million plus daily active users touching
our games in the last twelve months. There's just amazing
things happening, and we're so about adding Pokemon Go to
our stable or amazing portfolio of games. They continue to
grow and reach new players every day, and so yeah,
it's pretty amazing.
Speaker 2 (32:10):
Unis HERI blombog screen time. There's been a lot of
industry news. I wondered if we could run through some
of it. So like last night, Netflix to me basically
demoed a technology that costs a mobile game from your
phone to your TV screen. As a hardcore gamer in
many different domains and formats, wasn't blown away by that?
(32:31):
What do you make of that concept and idea. I mean,
it's a mobile game cost to the television.
Speaker 14 (32:37):
I'm also a hardcore gamer, so I feel you. I think,
at the end of the day, we're trying to create
again highly social, engaging experiences, and for our scope, Lee,
it's about trying to be on the different mediums where
our players want to be, and even bringing our community
together in real life as we have with the Go Fest,
which is for Pokemon Go community. For us, we're just look,
(33:02):
we're going to always keep an eye on where people
are playing, how they want to engage with our content,
and try to serve that up to our community.
Speaker 2 (33:08):
The industry has seen seismic shifts in the last two years.
I think that's a completely fair statement. You have some
financial relationship with this with Saudi through various you know,
investments that they've made. The biggest, most recent use is
the take private of Electronic Arts. My question is very simple.
(33:29):
Have you had discussions about cooperating with EA? You know,
you are very strong and mobile gaming. EA is not
so strong in mobile gaming.
Speaker 14 (33:40):
Are We have so much respect for what EA has
been able to do and the amazing you know, brands
and ips that they've built, so we have we've come
from that place first. Right now, we're not in specific discussions,
but post deal, if those opportunities arrive, we're definitely open
to discussions.
Speaker 3 (33:56):
For sure, and we think about ultimately where you've come
from the fact that you you were busy over an
activision with Call of Duty.
Speaker 4 (34:02):
You are someone who calls yourself a hardcore gamer.
Speaker 3 (34:05):
Where do you think the balance shifts in terms of
mobile versus console?
Speaker 4 (34:09):
How do you see that continuing to evolve?
Speaker 14 (34:11):
Honestly, I think our community, our players want to access
our content in different ways and it's not this huge
battle so much. But again, as I mentioned earlier, it's
about serving our community where they want to engage with
our content, where they want to play, and I think
there's a place for all of it. We are also
we have several things which you can't talk about that
in development that are a cross platform in across platforms
(34:34):
you may not expect from scopeing.
Speaker 3 (34:36):
Okay, keep us tuned on that respect, but we can
go global with you because you're.
Speaker 4 (34:40):
A woman who is international, very core.
Speaker 3 (34:42):
You've spin in London, you studied in Asia, and I'm
thinking about how things change from global aera to global
Pokemon go inherently for us a very Japanese bit of
IP that has become a typular global phenomenon.
Speaker 14 (34:54):
Yes, absolutely, I mean for us again, it's there's a
whole wide world to appeal to. And what the of
games is that it brings these folks together across the globe.
It transcends geographies, cultures, and that's super exciting for us.
And that's that social connection part that we want to
continue to promote and continue to see.
Speaker 2 (35:13):
So we're talking about this thing right, the mobile, right
and gaming is one thing I can do on my
mobile phone. Do you guys consider your rivals to be TikTok?
Literally this is Bloomberg screen time? You know, how do
you assess a marketplace where the competition for rivals isn't
necessarily in the time spent on gaming?
Speaker 14 (35:33):
Yeah, I mean I think the gaming space itself is
so fast moving and evolves very quickly. So wherever Eyeball's
intention is again, wherever our players are fans, because they're
looking at IP through various mediums, So being conscious of
that it's not just through the game. There's different ways
of the IP coming to life, so us staying on
(35:55):
top of that is super important at scopely, again, how
do we connect with the community they want to Mobiles
one of the you know, most tactile and easiest ways
to do so, but it's something that is always on
our minds roadblocks.
Speaker 2 (36:07):
C dem Zuki told us very recently that sometimes on
a Friday night their servers melts because of all the
condensed activity in the mobile gaming domain. Do you ever
come across like flash moments like that where the world
is just playing at the same time.
Speaker 14 (36:20):
I mean, we have so many people engaging daily, hourly
with our products because of their deep love of these ips.
Star Trek Sleet Command is a great example. Yes, seventy
five percent of our players of that game, they are
touching it every single day, every single day, and in meaningful.
Speaker 10 (36:39):
Amount of time.
Speaker 4 (36:40):
I mean to know, it's for your business.
Speaker 10 (36:41):
I think for Star.
Speaker 14 (36:42):
Trek fans, it's like amazing to be able to be
in that universe, and those are hardcore fans that that
ip attracts real loyalty, and so our ability to do that,
you know, for that community is pretty special.
Speaker 2 (36:55):
How many years has it been since I've done like
that on television, Unice Chief, I have remember I did
do it once in Well let's leave it. Unis, lead
chief operating officer at Scopeia. It's great to have you
on Bloombo Tech. Thank you so much. Okay, coming up,
we're going to speak with one of Twitch's leading streamers,
Pokemone talk to us about the business of contact creation.
(37:16):
That's next. This is a seriously big one. This is
Bloomberg Tech. So Hollywood's typically focused on the people in
(37:37):
front of the camera, but today increasingly we're talking about streamers,
people like yumain anis more commonly known as Pokemon. She's
one of the most popular streamers on Twitch, with nearly
ten million dedicated followers and another twenty million across other platforms.
We're talking YouTube, x, Facebook, Insta and delighted to say
(37:57):
that Poke joins us. Now we've been talking in some weeks.
It's great to finally have you on Bloomberg Tech.
Speaker 10 (38:03):
Like, guys, now, bear with.
Speaker 2 (38:04):
Me on this one. But let's just start by asking
what is your day job? How would you describe what
it is that you.
Speaker 15 (38:11):
Do in technical terms? I'm a content creator. How I
might want to describe it is just I love sharing
my life online. I love to entertain people. I love
to make people happy about it.
Speaker 2 (38:23):
I'd say it started with video games on Twitch, like
quite a long time ago. You've got a long history
with Twitch, I sure do.
Speaker 10 (38:30):
Twenty thirteen, twenty.
Speaker 2 (38:32):
Thirteen and like, and that's something we share in common.
You know some of the titles in particular, but we
just had Dan Clancy on the program earlier. For you
in particular, it is expanded to IRL and just chatting.
Is there a moment where that happened? It moved beyond
video games?
Speaker 15 (38:51):
I would say, interestingly enough, when I first started streaming,
you weren't even allowed to stream IRL or just chatting.
It was just games, right, anything else you might get
banned for a few days. And so as the platform
started not only allowing but supporting different types of content,
I of course only wanted to try out those different things.
And I also love how it allowed me to showcase
(39:12):
different parts of my life. Now instead of traveling and
feeling like, oh, I can't do my job, I can't game,
I can't speak to my community, I could travel and
stream myself in those different countries. So as both the
platform changed and what the audiences like and enjoy changed,
I followed in and I was able to explore so
many different types of content.
Speaker 3 (39:31):
And then we've seen you go to crew, We've seen
you go to around the world. But what's so interesting, Pokey,
is that your demographic must have broadened from League of
Legends out to.
Speaker 4 (39:39):
Now wanting to see you horse ride talking about some
of your health stories.
Speaker 3 (39:43):
How can you break down the demographics and who it
is in your community?
Speaker 4 (39:46):
Absolutely?
Speaker 15 (39:46):
What I find the most interesting is that it entirely
depends on the piece of content and the platform. So
on Twitch, of course, the platform itself is maybe majority men,
sometimes younger depending on the game or what you're streaming,
But onto talk, a lot of my videos are like
majority female. I do get readies with me, makeup halls,
all sorts of different things, and I really adore that
(40:07):
because it allows me to really tap into and share
all the different facets of my hobbies and what.
Speaker 4 (40:13):
I like to do.
Speaker 3 (40:14):
And you do share your community, your friends, they appear
with you.
Speaker 4 (40:17):
There's also the perhaps your brother who doesn't pay so
much on screen and you're here in LA.
Speaker 3 (40:22):
There are safety concerns, whether it's in real life or
whether it's online as well.
Speaker 4 (40:25):
How do you think about that, navigated?
Speaker 15 (40:27):
Oh my, it really depends on the exact safety concern
and what aspect it brings. So there's online safety and
there's also in person safety. So what you said earlier
about IRL streaming, I typically don't IRL stream in LA
unless I have security with me, Otherwise I feel a
little bit better streaming IRL in other countries. When it
(40:48):
comes to moderation online, oh it's been a trial and
and error kind of situation learning how to moderate my platforms,
how to feel safe online, how to make sure my
community feel safe.
Speaker 4 (40:59):
So it's really a lot.
Speaker 7 (41:01):
Of different things.
Speaker 2 (41:02):
Pochi is part of the IRL and just chatting content.
Sometimes you have discussed things that are more political or
societal issues. How do you choose those that you want
to weigh in on? And then the safety piece you
just explained how you factor that in.
Speaker 15 (41:18):
I would say my priority for starters is of course
speaking to my direct experiences and how I know those
things affect others. For example, the safety issues that I
face online. I'm not the only one, and it's not
just creators. Any woman, any girl, frankly, any person online
can be victim to those same safety issues. So I
(41:39):
love to be a spokesperson for the things that I
have direct experience and knowledge in. And then secondly for
me political topics, what I really feel passionate speaking out
about is simply just human rights, respecting other people what
their rights should be in regards to the things that
they can say, that they can experience, that they can share.
Speaker 4 (41:58):
I feel like that's.
Speaker 15 (41:59):
What I feel comfortable talking about. And so aside from that, luckily,
the safety aspects that I have in place right now
allow me to feel comfortable discussing anything.
Speaker 2 (42:08):
Hook you've made a career of this, would you please
explain to our Bloomberg Tech audience. You know how it works,
how you make money with respect if you're able to,
Like you've also set up a talent agency for content creators.
You know how big a piece is that for you?
Is it different Twitch versus Instagram for example?
Speaker 15 (42:26):
So your streams of income do differ greatly depending on
the platform. I would say the unique thing about Twitch
is that there's a subscription model, which means, as opposed
to YouTube, where you can subscribe to someone for free
and you're essentially just following them like you follow someone
on Instagram. For Twitch, when you subscribe, you're sending them
five dollars every month. It's a monthly subscription that also
(42:48):
generates income. But for me, the large, large, large majority
of my career income has come just from sponsorships and contracts,
and then probably the second largest piece has come from
this misadventures, and then the third largest piece might be subscriptions.
So I'd say that's the unique piece that most people
don't know about Twitch, but for ig and most other platforms,
(43:09):
it's primarily ads and sponsors.
Speaker 3 (43:11):
We could talk to you for so much longer, and
I'm very pleased that it's going to.
Speaker 4 (43:14):
Be on stage with you.
Speaker 3 (43:16):
Imman Ais also known as Poke Main were so pleased
that she joined the show, and what a show it
has been because that does it for this edition of
Bloomberg Tech. But the story doesn't stop. There are so
many people going to be on stage. I've got the
Foster sisters, You've got a.
Speaker 2 (43:29):
Great Poke and Dan from Clancy, Like I want to
understand the content creator economy so much more because as
we just heard, it's so different. And then tomorrow we
do not miss this. We're going all in on defense technology.
We will speak with the leaders of Anderill, Talenteer, and
many other leaders in defense tech from Anderil Tech quarters
right here in California. You don't want to miss it.
(43:50):
There is a lot to recap from the last hour.
Check out the pod. Loads of you are listening to it.
It's super grateful for the feedback we've had listen on Apple, Spotify,
iHeart and the Bloomberg platforms. Caro, take us out.
Speaker 3 (44:01):
I mean, what an amazing array we can do right
here in Los Angeles, in the world a content creation,
to the world of defense tech.
Speaker 4 (44:07):
There's a lot to be had.
Speaker 2 (44:08):
Yeah, this is Los Angeles and Bloomberg screen time. This
is Bloomberg Tech
Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio news. Bloomberg Tech is live
from coast to coast with Caroline Hyde in New York
and Eva low In sent Francisco.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Welcome to a special edition of Bloomberg Tech Live from
Bloomberg screen Time in Los Angeles. Coming up this hour,
we're going to bring you conversations with some of the
biggest names in the entertainment industry.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
We'll we're speaking with top celebrities, ed with entrepreneurs, with
leaders across this very much changing media landscape. And we
first go to the talk of the town here at
screen Time, of course, it was Jimmy Kimmel, the late
night show host, sat down on Bloomberg's Luca Shaw and
explained how he thinks his comments about the conservative activist
Charlie Kirk were mischaracterized by the political right.
Speaker 4 (00:59):
Take a listen.
Speaker 5 (01:01):
I didn't think there was a big problem, I you know,
I just saw it as distortion on the part of
some of the right wing media networks.
Speaker 6 (01:10):
And I was I aimed to correct it.
Speaker 5 (01:14):
I have problems like all the time, and it's kind
of funny because sometimes you think, oh, this is not
a problem, and then it turns into a big problem.
Speaker 6 (01:23):
And then sometimes it goes the other.
Speaker 5 (01:25):
Way where you think like, oh, oh, this is gonna
be a problem nobody really notices.
Speaker 7 (01:28):
And so at what point did you realize this was
a problem?
Speaker 5 (01:32):
I think when when they pulled the show off the air, Well,
that's unusual.
Speaker 7 (01:39):
Yeah, And what were the conversations that Data and bobbed
that led to that.
Speaker 5 (01:46):
I hate to disappoint you, but they were really good conversations.
Speaker 6 (01:50):
I'm not as thinking any I mean, like really good
conversations they are.
Speaker 5 (01:55):
These are people that I've known for a long time
and who I like very much much, and who were
you know, who wanted we all wanted this to work
out best. And I will tell you like I mean,
first of all, I ruined Dana's weekend. It was just
NonStop phone calls all weekend. But I don't think what
I don't think the result, which I think turned out
(02:17):
to be very positive, would have been as positive if
I hadn't talked to Dana as much as I did,
because it helped me think everything through, and it helped
me just kind of understand where everyone was coming from.
I can sometimes be reactionary, I can sometimes be aggressive,
and I could sometimes be unpleasant, and I think that
(02:40):
it helped me. Really having those days to think about
it was helpful.
Speaker 7 (02:47):
Okay, I have a dumb question about this as someone
who is kind of reporting on it in real time
trying to figure out what's happening. So the show goes
up there, you have all these conversations and when you
made it or when you made a decision put the
show back on the air, as my understanding at the
time was, it still wasn't exactly clear what you were
going to say. They still hadn't resolved the issues at
(03:07):
the affiliates. So what do you resolve in those conversations
to know you're going back if you haven't figured out
a lot of the things that come out of it.
Speaker 5 (03:17):
I think just the spirit of what I'm going to
say rather than specifically what I was going to say,
And I think that's something that we all agreed on,
and I think that.
Speaker 6 (03:29):
Ultimately I wanted to kind of.
Speaker 5 (03:32):
Cover every base if I could, and sometimes you can
do that and sometimes you can't do that. And it
was something really that had to come from inside me.
It had to be truthful, and I had to lay
it all out there and just be honest about what
I was feeling and what I'd experienced, and I think
(03:53):
I did, and I think that it probably went about
as well as it could go. I knew that it
was wasn't going to be perfect, and there were always
going to be people that didn't like it and didn't
accept it. But the important thing to me was that
I was able to explain what I was saying what
(04:15):
I was trying to say.
Speaker 6 (04:16):
Because you felt like your.
Speaker 7 (04:17):
Initial comments had been mischaracterized, I didn't feel like it
they were.
Speaker 5 (04:22):
It was intentionally and I think maliciously mischaracterized.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
Yeah, there was Jimmy Kimmel there with Bloombog screen time
host Lucas Shaw, who joins us now this morning. The
story around Jimmy Kimmel was one of the most read
on the Bloomberg terminal and the website, and it's being
shared across the industry. I think that's not that surprising, right, Lucas.
(04:48):
The headline is really straightforward. He thought that the show
was done, and in the course of what we just heard,
he explained everything that happened in the days that followed
being taken off air, confirming quite a lot of your reporting.
I just invite you to take it from there, and
the main takeaways from you from the conversation.
Speaker 7 (05:05):
Well, I guess I was a little surprised on retrospect,
not shocked by how effusive his praise was for Disney,
just because in the moment, my sense from people around
him was that he was pretty pissed off at them, right,
they had taken him off the air. You heard him say,
I didn't think I did anything that wrong. My comments
got sort of weaponized by right wing media, and yet
(05:29):
he's had nothing but positive things to say about CEO
Bob Bieger, about Entertainment CoA chair Dana Walden. He sort
of somewhat endorsed Dana Walden to succeed Bob Biger, which
you know, I don't know that he or Dana were
expecting to happen last night. But this turn from what
could have been a really sad, ugly episode in his
career to something that has made him something.
Speaker 6 (05:50):
Of a hero.
Speaker 7 (05:52):
And so I you know, this was I guess a
little bit of a victory lap for him, a.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
Victory lap, which then you get to the nitty gritty
of numbers, because that's what Bloomberg and you're trying to
present him that Ultimately, yes, he had record bump in
terms of numbers, but the numbers.
Speaker 4 (06:05):
Haven't been great for late night television full stop.
Speaker 3 (06:08):
How did he navigate what he thinks is the revenue
positive or negatives right now for him?
Speaker 7 (06:13):
Well, twofold one, he was like, look, there was a
lot of reporting about how much his peer, Stephen Colbert's
show was losing. He thinks that that's wrong. He knows
how much money these shows cost to make. You know
generally how much they bring in. I think he said
last night it cost about one hundred twenty million dollars
to do one of these shows. But he also said, look,
if they were losing money, they got there. Stephen Colbert
(06:35):
show is going off the air. We don't know the
future of Kimmel's show. His contractor is up next year.
I think most people assume that he'll be around for
a little bit longer, and they don't want to At
a minimum, they're not going to fire him in the
same way that CBS did Colbert. But obviously, the big
challenge for late night is that there's just so much
more consumption happening online and you can't monetize it in
the same way.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
That's so interesting like his insight into how the industry works, budgets,
talent costs, losses or not losses, Lucas, that's kind of
the point of the rest of the day. We have
many very high profile speakers across entertainment and media generally,
but just for you, what is your next big focus
after last night?
Speaker 7 (07:13):
My first interview is David Allison, who I think is
other than Kimmel, probably the biggest interview of the conference,
just because he hasn't done a big interview since taking
over Paramounts Guidance. He seems to be in the news
every other day. He bought Barry Weiss's The Free Press.
He may or may not be trying to buy Warner
Brothers Discovery. We'll talk about both those things with him.
Speaker 3 (07:34):
And you've got Warner Brothers Discovery at the table as well.
That's gonna be fascinating considering the conversation you have with
Greg Peters acosio Netflix about how ultimately he's not after
M and A WBD, That's gonna be a fascinating conversation.
Speaker 7 (07:45):
Yeah, the code shares of their movie studio. I'm sure
that they will avoid talking about any big corporate matters
and kind of refer that to their leadership, but look,
they will be great to talk about the movie business with.
They have been on a real hot streak with Sinners,
with Minecraft, many other hits over the summer, Weapons and
then the new Ppa movie which probably isn't a commercial
(08:06):
hit but looks like an Oscar front runner.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
All right, Bloombe's Lucas Shaw, who's leading our coverage here
at Bloomberg screen time in Los Angeles. Thank you very much.
But actually here on Bloomberg Tech carry so much more.
Speaker 3 (08:16):
Coming up, we're going to be speaking with Catherine Meyer,
nbr CEO. Look, public media faces threats, particularly under the
Trump administration. Right now, what is the future of funding
sick with us?
Speaker 4 (08:26):
This is blue bag tech.
Speaker 8 (08:40):
See, that's what happens when people get activated. People got
activated and demanded did Jimmy Kimmel come back on the air?
And I think that it was a great victory. So
sometimes you know, when you're struggling and you're going through
all these changes because of the madness in DC, it's
important to realize when you do win, when you have victory,
and I think Jimmy Kimmel being back on the air
(09:03):
was a victory for all of.
Speaker 3 (09:04):
US Los Angeles mayor there Karen Bass, reacting to Jimmy
Kimmel's return, of course, to the air after a brief
suspension of what he described as a mischaracterization.
Speaker 4 (09:17):
Of his comments about Charlie Kirk.
Speaker 3 (09:19):
Meanwhile, look, public broadcasting as a whole is facing new challenges.
Speaker 4 (09:23):
Outlets PBS, NPR.
Speaker 3 (09:25):
For example, seeing their share in federal funding cut by
Congress over the summer and raises questions about their future.
The viability at the center of the debate is MPR
CEO Katamah, who we're pleased to say not only has
just been his joining us, having already been called before
the Oversight Committee earlier this year.
Speaker 4 (09:41):
Kevin, how how do you navigate this time?
Speaker 3 (09:45):
How are you seeing the ability for MPR to thrive
and drive forward?
Speaker 9 (09:48):
Well, there's certainly no roadmap for this moment in time.
I think this represents a step change for all public broadcasting.
It's not just here in the United States. We recognize
that public broadcasters around the world are under increase scrutiny
and pressure. The good news for us is that we
have a viable model because we've built audiences over the
fifty years we've been in existence, we have forty six
(10:09):
million listeners a week, and so as we look to
the future, we're looking at all, right, this is a change.
It doesn't change our public service mandate, It doesn't change
our mission and our obligation to the American public.
Speaker 10 (10:20):
It just probably will change how we have to do
our work.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
When you say how you do your work, does it
ultimately mean that you have to think about the resources that.
Speaker 4 (10:26):
You put to work there?
Speaker 3 (10:28):
Can you be as expansive in the coverage that you
have in for so many years.
Speaker 9 (10:31):
It's a good question and something we're trying to figure out.
NPR received traditionally about one percent of our budget directly
from the federal government, but we have just one percent.
Speaker 10 (10:41):
But we have a network of.
Speaker 9 (10:42):
Around two hundred and fifty members stations which received as
much as seventy percent in rural parts of the country,
and so we're waiting to see what some of the
fallout will be for those stations.
Speaker 10 (10:51):
We have projections.
Speaker 9 (10:52):
We're concerned about this, and we're looking at how we
can buttress some of their work by cutting fees to
them and thinking about how to make, you know, dollars
stretch a little bit further to continue to serve local communities.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
Cavin, I think there would be a lot of value
in you explaining the business model.
Speaker 10 (11:07):
It is amazing.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
Well, the reason I ask actually is in preparation for today,
I suddenly stopped and looked at mprs following on social
platforms for example. It's very very big. Yes, you know,
how do I consume some MPR content like on YouTube
for example, But that isn't necessarily a big, big income generator,
view is that? Is that right?
Speaker 10 (11:28):
Right?
Speaker 5 (11:28):
So?
Speaker 9 (11:28):
I think people think of us as radio because that's
our origin, but in fact, fifty percent of our listening
comes from digital platforms. It comes through podcasts, it comes
through YouTube, it actually comes through reading online. And you
can see in our numbers that our demographics are actually
very well distributed. We've been accused of being too liberal,
but what I can tell you is that when we
look at the audience data as to who comes to us,
(11:48):
it's actually a very represent representative distribution of the American public.
So fifty percent of what we're doing is for digital audiences,
and fifty percent of what we're doing is for radio audiences.
On the radio side, at these roughly two hundred and
fifty members across the country. They serve ninety nine point
seven percent of the American public, So in some ways
we are one of the largest national networks. And we
(12:10):
have three thousand local journalists around the country who then
serve back into the network with stories that they're filing
for their local communities and for their states.
Speaker 3 (12:19):
How does it make them feel when they're deemed to
be too liberal.
Speaker 6 (12:23):
And how not good?
Speaker 10 (12:25):
Yeah, really not good.
Speaker 9 (12:26):
I mean, we have reporters who are covering tribal areas
who are primarily focused on the issues of Native American communities.
We have reporters in rural Alaska who are focusing on
the issues that their communities face. Some of the issues
around for example, fishing and access to access to the
sorry the National Wildlife Preserve and what does that mean
(12:47):
for economic opportunity for Alaskans. They're having nuanced conversations that
represent the full spectrum of the American debate on any
of these issues, and so to be called liberal or
to be demeaned in that way is really a misrepresentation
of the work that they do.
Speaker 4 (13:01):
Nuance is a great word, you mean more of it.
Speaker 9 (13:03):
Well, we try to make sure that we're hearing from
all sides of the story in every story, and that
means that we are representing sure, of course communities in
California that perhaps have one point of view, but also
communities in Indiana that have a different point of view.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
You know, we talked about this as a team, and
one of our producers, Oie Thomas, brought up the idea
that there is like the NPR strategy, and then there's
what the local stations are doing on the politics side
of things. You know, how are the local stations reacting,
for example, if a lot of their listener base did
vote for President Trump, you know, with what's going on,
(13:36):
how are you factoring that in? But also, like in
the business model, do you end up sort of also
competing at the MPR level with the local station level
because you're trying to pursue different subscribers things like that.
Speaker 10 (13:49):
Well, those are sort of two very different questions.
Speaker 9 (13:51):
I mean, we aim to serve the entire spectrum of
American conversation, right, So, we had the White House Press
Secretary on just last week speaking directly to the American
public about the administrations thinking on the current government shutdown.
We invite members of both parties on all the time.
We invite independent voices on all the time. This is
important to us, but it's not just our politics coverage.
(14:12):
It's also coverage of American life all of the cultural
aspects that make up our differences as well. And that
is one of the flexibilities of local reporting is it
means that our station in Utah can run stories about
the local reaction to the Charlie Kirk assassination as well
as contributing to our national coverage, so that Americans all
across the country can hear from those perspects.
Speaker 2 (14:31):
What is the feedback from America from the American listeners
about everything that's happened, Well.
Speaker 10 (14:37):
I mean on the news, of course.
Speaker 9 (14:39):
I think what we hear very consistently is that this
is a concerning time. People dislike the amount of polarization.
We do hear that our coverage and the way that
we approach things tends to bring people closer to an
understanding of their fellow Americans because we really do focus
on finding the personal story. We'd like to say that
everything that happens in America happens somewhere, and so we're
always trying to find this somewhere that that that is happening,
(15:01):
whether it's the implications of tariffs, or you know the
conversation that's happening around for example, Jimmy Kimmel, who you
were just recently referencing.
Speaker 3 (15:08):
Listeners are so loyal you turn to them for funding.
Have you seen big billionaires, big donors wanting to step
up into this moment.
Speaker 9 (15:17):
We have seen a outpouring of support, absolutely so. New
Hampshire Public Radio, for example, raised a million dollars in
response to the defunding efforts in over the course of
a short period of weeks. We really appreciative of this,
but that won't fill the gap for these rural communities
that are already sizzy economically strapped. There's a reason they
have been federally funded. We know that for sorry, we
(15:39):
know that twenty percent of Americans live without local news.
Speaker 10 (15:42):
There's a reason for that.
Speaker 9 (15:43):
The market conngnitions don't allow it, and that's where public
media has filled in the gap. So that still remains
a challenge.
Speaker 10 (15:50):
We have seen a.
Speaker 9 (15:51):
Lot of support, of course, across the board for public radio.
I think there were three million people who wrote into
Congress to support the to support us at the time
of defunding. But it won't be enough to fill the
one hundred and twenty million dollar gap relative to the
defending GUP.
Speaker 3 (16:04):
Your own background is so fascinating, having been for stint
with the Web Summit, making huge, big events, and for
a tech community, you're on the chair of the Signal Foundation.
Speaker 4 (16:15):
You're also been at Wikipedia.
Speaker 3 (16:16):
I'm interested as to how in this moment of belt tightening,
your technological savvy comes into all of it.
Speaker 9 (16:23):
Well, I actually think that technology is an enormous advantage
for the complex structure that you have. You asked me
about the business model earlier, and I think it's a
great lead into this. Right, there is a way in
which we could be in competition all of these local
stations seeking to now transform their work for a national audience.
Technology actually offers us the place to bring all of
that aggregate reporting together. And so if somebody is running
(16:45):
a really great story here in LA about a local
band that is about to go on tour, and I
reference that because music is a big part of what
we do at NPR, we now have the ability to
serve that to any audience member anywhere across the country
who might be interested in what that band is about
to do. Right, we wouldn't have been able to do
that in a previous era.
Speaker 10 (17:04):
But the ability of digital.
Speaker 9 (17:05):
Platforms, the affordances for us to serve audiences seamlessly.
Speaker 10 (17:09):
They don't think of us as.
Speaker 9 (17:09):
Our local station versus our local station. They think of
us as one public media experience, and that's really what
we're leaning into.
Speaker 2 (17:16):
So, Sweden, what are you going to do differently? What
are in this environment? What are you going to change
to bring in more money that you need?
Speaker 9 (17:22):
Well, certainly investing pretty heavily in the fundraising piece. I mean,
I don't think that that's dissimilar from what we've seen
in nonprofit news as a whole. We've seen tremendous success
in the nonprofit news sector and building subscriptions and building memberships.
That's an opportunity for us, and in fact, we've been
doing it for a long time. We have millions and
millions of loyal donors across the country. It's time to
bring in the next generation. You mentioned I come from Wikipedia.
(17:44):
We have a little experience in this right, So that's
one piece of it. I also think that it's an
opportunity for us to think about how we're doing our
news gathering and news production more effectively, and so we
have all these journalists across the country, what does it
mean to do the national editorial planning where we're really
thinking about how to elevate these conversations that are happening
around the country into the national story. And then of
(18:04):
course we have this great international and national reporting that
we mean to now weave.
Speaker 6 (18:08):
Into the mix.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
KAFR mayor MPR CEO, thank you very much for being
with us here at Blomberg screen Time. Meanwhile, Warner Music
Group is said to be in close agreement with Netflix
to create a slate of movies and documentaries based on
the record labels catalog of artists and songs. That's according
to sources. Here's what Warner Music Group CEO Robert Kilhle
said about a potential deal.
Speaker 11 (18:31):
I cannot confirm anything, but but the you know, if
you step back and think about this, it makes a lot.
You know, our company has tremendous catalog Prince Madonna, Fleetwood,
Mac and it's just it just goes on and on
and on. The stories that we have are incredible and
(18:53):
they haven't really been topped. It more like Marvel for music.
I said, that's that's that's where we are and it
will be unlocked, and so it makes a lot of
sense for us to partner with a company that can
bring it to life all around the world. And it's
exciting both for as who are no longer with us,
(19:18):
but we make their estates happy and satisfied, but also
for X who are with us, who then can actually
help bring young audiences to the streaming platforms.
Speaker 3 (19:32):
Robert Kinsil, Warner Music Group CEO. Then now coming up Netflix,
it's doubling down on gaining expanning its availability beyond your
phones and tablets. We're gonna have the Coco, Greg Peters,
that's next. This is a blue bag tag.
Speaker 6 (19:52):
I think it's.
Speaker 12 (19:53):
It's hard for any brand that has a deep, you know,
consumer sense of what are you're doing for me? Right,
and then you're like, well, I'm going to do this
as well, and you have. It takes a while to
really build up that sense.
Speaker 6 (20:07):
Of what's happening.
Speaker 12 (20:08):
But it's not it's not that dissimilar to let's say,
when we launched, you know, in a new country, like
you know, you went to Japan, right, So when we
started in Japan, two percent of the Japanese population had
ever heard of Netflix, so nobody knew what nobody would
nobody evenew our name much. Let's be able to tell
you what we were doing. And we're doing pay TV
service in a country that doesn't really have a great
(20:28):
PayTV you know operation we're doing over the internet in
a way, it was totally new, and so you you
got to every day build a little bit of like
what are we doing, who we are, what are we
you know, how are we here to serve you? So
that ten year journey, let's say, you know, just at
the tenth universary in Japan. You know, tremendous progress over
ten years, but it took us a long time. And
I think you know, the gaming situation is not dissimilar
(20:49):
to that.
Speaker 7 (20:50):
How much is it an impediment that for the most
part now you can only play it on on your phone?
Speaker 12 (20:55):
Well, I would say, you know the phone is that
what's great about it is it's a well developed gaming ecosystem, right,
so you know, folks notifying games there. But it's also
a highly competitive gaming ecosystem.
Speaker 6 (21:09):
So it's developed.
Speaker 12 (21:10):
This gives you both that upside and the downside. But
what's exciting is that now we are moving beyond the
phone to the TV. So I mentioned like one of
the big game areas we're going after. One of the
big gaming areas we're going after now is you know,
social gaming experiences that will show up on your TV.
So we are now announcing, we're announced here actually that
we're going to have these social party games, a pack
(21:31):
of social party games that you can play on your
TV with your phone as the controller. And it's things
like you know, recognizable games like Boggle. You got Pictionary,
We've got a Lego party game, We've got Tetris, We've
got like a Mafia style Who've done it? This is
This is me and our CTO Elizabeth playing Boggle here,
which is it's we're two very competitive people, so it
(21:55):
got pretty ugly.
Speaker 6 (21:56):
Who I'm not going to say that means he lost?
Oh does it? When she watched the video? My friend,
you triggered my competitors.
Speaker 12 (22:07):
But this is again, this is you know, so it's
your phone, which is an incredible device, and there's all
sorts of things that you're going to be able to
do on your phone that you can't do on a
normal controller, like touchscreen. And this is us basically picking
our words on that, and it's you know, it's dead
simple to use it's intuitive, and then this is you know,
us on the earliest days of how we actually can
(22:29):
use that and if we you know, basically are going
to like unleash this with a bunch of creators and
they're going to go figure out stuff that we didn't
even imagine that they can do with that interactivity.
Speaker 2 (22:42):
That was Netflix co CEO Greg peters Key conversations Coming
up Gaming with Twitch CEO Dan Clancy, Unice Lee of
Scope Ly. One of the top streamers out there is
Poke Maine. So much more from Los Angeles and Bloomberg
screen Time. This is Bloomberg Tech. Welcome back to a
(23:11):
special edition of Bloomberg Tech. We're live from Bloomberg screen
Time in Los Angeles. Amazon streaming platform Twitch is growing
online stars by the minute. It's averaging more than one
hundred and five million monthly visitors globally. And here to
discuss the current state but also the future state of
the live streaming business model is Twitch CEO Dan Clancy.
Speaker 13 (23:32):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 6 (23:33):
It's great to be here.
Speaker 2 (23:34):
So Twitch is such an interesting thing, an entity. There
are loads of people out there that aren't familiar with it,
and actually, I thought the most sensible place to start
is like, can you just explain what Twitch is, how
it works.
Speaker 13 (23:46):
Hopefully for those so simple space. Twitch the live streaming
platform where people go live. Okay, and so if you
say it's a live version of YouTube or something like that.
But the thing that really makes Twitch unique in the
kind of a need that it meets in people is
as human beings, we are all yearning for community. And
what happens on Twitch is people go live and they
(24:08):
basically share their lives. They let people into their living room,
They go out in the world, and they explore, they gain,
and then what they do is very authentically engage with
those people that are watching. And since people spend a
fair amount of time watching these people, a community forms
between the folks that are watching, and I think that
is really the magic of Twitch and which distinguishes Twitch
(24:30):
from many other platforms that have live streaming. The phrase
I use is we're community centric live streaming because people
find a place where they belong.
Speaker 2 (24:37):
So the simple origin was like people would be playing
video games in simple terms, and they would be filming
and streaming themselves playing this game, sometimes with others. But
it's kind of evolved into a much broader set of content,
IRL or just chatting is the things that you know
I'm following on the platform. Is there a still a
heavy proportion of activity that's gaming related or is it
(25:00):
now much more diverse?
Speaker 6 (25:01):
Well, it's very diverse.
Speaker 13 (25:02):
And the interesting story is even before Twitch, Twitch started
as justin TV, and in justin TV it was life casting,
so in fact it wasn't about gaming, okay, and then
Twitch life life casting is what they called it back then,
where you were just casting your life, and then Twitch
pivoted and focused on gaming and that's when it really
took off. And now it's kind of come full circle
(25:25):
because while gaming is still a big part of Twitch
and will always be a big part of Twitch, more
and more creators are out there just doing all sorts
of things you said, IRL, which is in real life,
which means you go out on the streets, you go
climbing a mountain.
Speaker 2 (25:38):
I've watched you stream from a water slide in a doughnut.
Yes necessary ver.
Speaker 6 (25:43):
Ir, that's IRL. It's in real life.
Speaker 3 (25:46):
DJ Cancy, I think is who you're streaming as I'm
interested though it does such a great job on the
show reminding us of the sheer scale in the power
of numbers of gaming.
Speaker 4 (25:56):
When we think about big.
Speaker 3 (25:57):
Movie hits, it pales into comparison.
Speaker 4 (25:58):
Of the amount of money face versus video games.
Speaker 3 (26:02):
What amazes me is how much the content creators are
winning in terms of content. They are getting one hundred
million dollar contracts to jump from you to Kick, or
from Kick to you or to YouTube more than Lebron
James's earning. Can you go to actually who your competition
therefore is and how you fight for that content in
this moment?
Speaker 13 (26:22):
Yeah, the way I look at it asally, we're fairly
unique in this space, and I don't focus on the
competition because as a live streaming platform at our scale,
they're smaller ones. But you know, really, when we think
of the social media space, you have YouTube, you have TikTok,
you have Instagram, but Twitch is really the only one
that solely focuses on this community centric live streaming experience.
And the way I describe it sometimes is we actually
(26:44):
are a long form platform and that people sit there
and watch for one hour two hours. So in that sense,
we're like Prime Video and Netflix, but we're social, so
we're sort of right in the middle of what i'll
call the streaming platforms and the social media platforms were
really long form social media playfe you're.
Speaker 3 (27:01):
Also, dare I say, right in the middle of the
culture wars, and I'm just really interested as to how
you navigate that in leadership when people are bringing them
into their homes in a more intimate setting and feel
that they can share anything that they feel, but that
then can blow up in many different ways.
Speaker 13 (27:16):
Yeah, So, first of all, it's very important that we
take it very seriously in terms of having a set
of guidelines and it's appropriate on Twitch and what's not,
And so we spend a lot of time thinking about
that and letting our creators do what they need to
do to protect themselves.
Speaker 4 (27:30):
And you kick them off too if we take them
off if.
Speaker 13 (27:32):
They're not adhering to them. That's really important for our platform.
But really what it is is that's just one of
the things you have to deal with if you want
to get that authenticity. Because this key difference between Twitch
and many other short form platforms. If you're just making
a short clip, you can put on a mask. When
you're live streaming, you can't put on a mask. And
(27:52):
one thing that's been leading a lot of celebrities, entertainers
athletes influence all sorts of people now to live streaming
is they want that authentic, honest connection with their fans
and turn those fans into community.
Speaker 2 (28:06):
Dan, sorry to interrupt him. Let's bring up the Gavin
Newsom session then and just play a little bit of
it if we can. There's some sound associated with it, Dan,
But in very simple terms, Gavin Newsome went on the.
Speaker 6 (28:18):
Twitch ocasion and not providing due process.
Speaker 2 (28:21):
Went on the Twitch platform. And my understanding is that
you know, he was engaging with one of his children's
favorite content creators, that that's the governor of California using
Twitch to communicate. Just explain how you feel about that.
Speaker 13 (28:34):
Yeah, the way I think of it, what he's doing
is he's he's just authentically interacting with you know, those
people that may have an interest in him, Right, And
I do that myself. I stream and have a great
time doing it. And when you do it, you realize
there's like there's something really special about having that impact
on people and having that feedback, that visceral feeling of
(28:57):
you know, when I when I stream, I'll play the
piano and sing and they'll say, oh, I love that song,
and it really kind of makes it's very different than
just looking at metrics like you do on other social media.
Speaker 2 (29:06):
You've been really clear there are guidelines for the content creators,
there are guidelines for the viewers in how they interact.
But Twitch is one of a number of platforms that
is caught up in a wider discussion about people that
want to talk politics or even in the context of radicalization.
Just give us your sort of blanket policy and approach
(29:27):
to managing that environment on the Twitch platform, please, because
DC is paying attention not just to Twitch. I get that,
but it is important.
Speaker 13 (29:35):
Well, let'shol I'd say, like, first of all, our policy
is you know, you could freely express your views. It's
how you say it that's important. That you should not
be attacking and hate and harassment is not allowed on
our platform, and we're very clear about that. But we
understand that people are going to.
Speaker 2 (29:52):
Expect super quick who adjudicates that.
Speaker 13 (29:54):
We have both automated techniques and we have a large
group of people that work when or something's reported to
then analyze it and see if you could hear star
our community guidelines, and then if there's a violation, we
take an enforcement action.
Speaker 3 (30:07):
What's so great as you two are going to be
on stage together a little bit later. Twitch CEO Dan Clancy,
We so thank you for your time with us on
the show as well. Now coming up, we're going to
be speaking with Scopely COO Unis Lee about the growth
and competition in the mobile gaming industry.
Speaker 4 (30:22):
It's a bloomberg tech in the realm of mobile gaming.
Speaker 3 (30:41):
There are a few key players increasingly dominating the space.
Speaker 4 (30:44):
One of those is Scopey.
Speaker 3 (30:46):
It's the publisher behind Marvel Strikeforce, Yacht See with Buddies,
Pokemon Goo, my kid's favorite. Scope Ye Chief operating Officer
Unis Lee joins us now and we see.
Speaker 4 (30:57):
That ip and it stands out.
Speaker 3 (30:58):
So much units competition is really building. How do you
see that as a really helping you focus on the
business scale the business, but also drive off those competitives.
Speaker 14 (31:10):
Sure, I mean it's always great to have competition because
it only fuels that drive to innovate and to exceed expectations.
For us, we welcome all of it. I think Scopely
in particular is always focused on a community first approach,
and so the games that we're building, we think about
how are we creating these highly social, engaging experiences, And
(31:33):
I think that's what sets us apart ultimately, because we
always start from that core premise and.
Speaker 3 (31:37):
That highly social engagement drives revenue. I'm assuming just talk
us through the business model.
Speaker 14 (31:41):
Sure, I mean it's pretty astounding. Last year we achieved
over ten billion dollars in lifetime revenue.
Speaker 10 (31:48):
We're really excited about that.
Speaker 14 (31:50):
We have five hundred million plus daily active users touching
our games in the last twelve months. There's just amazing
things happening, and we're so about adding Pokemon Go to
our stable or amazing portfolio of games. They continue to
grow and reach new players every day, and so yeah,
it's pretty amazing.
Speaker 2 (32:10):
Unis HERI blombog screen time. There's been a lot of
industry news. I wondered if we could run through some
of it. So like last night, Netflix to me basically
demoed a technology that costs a mobile game from your
phone to your TV screen. As a hardcore gamer in
many different domains and formats, wasn't blown away by that?
(32:31):
What do you make of that concept and idea. I mean,
it's a mobile game cost to the television.
Speaker 14 (32:37):
I'm also a hardcore gamer, so I feel you. I think,
at the end of the day, we're trying to create
again highly social, engaging experiences, and for our scope, Lee,
it's about trying to be on the different mediums where
our players want to be, and even bringing our community
together in real life as we have with the Go Fest,
which is for Pokemon Go community. For us, we're just look,
(33:02):
we're going to always keep an eye on where people
are playing, how they want to engage with our content,
and try to serve that up to our community.
Speaker 2 (33:08):
The industry has seen seismic shifts in the last two years.
I think that's a completely fair statement. You have some
financial relationship with this with Saudi through various you know,
investments that they've made. The biggest, most recent use is
the take private of Electronic Arts. My question is very simple.
(33:29):
Have you had discussions about cooperating with EA? You know,
you are very strong and mobile gaming. EA is not
so strong in mobile gaming.
Speaker 14 (33:40):
Are We have so much respect for what EA has
been able to do and the amazing you know, brands
and ips that they've built, so we have we've come
from that place first. Right now, we're not in specific discussions,
but post deal, if those opportunities arrive, we're definitely open
to discussions.
Speaker 3 (33:56):
For sure, and we think about ultimately where you've come
from the fact that you you were busy over an
activision with Call of Duty.
Speaker 4 (34:02):
You are someone who calls yourself a hardcore gamer.
Speaker 3 (34:05):
Where do you think the balance shifts in terms of
mobile versus console?
Speaker 4 (34:09):
How do you see that continuing to evolve?
Speaker 14 (34:11):
Honestly, I think our community, our players want to access
our content in different ways and it's not this huge
battle so much. But again, as I mentioned earlier, it's
about serving our community where they want to engage with
our content, where they want to play, and I think
there's a place for all of it. We are also
we have several things which you can't talk about that
in development that are a cross platform in across platforms
(34:34):
you may not expect from scopeing.
Speaker 3 (34:36):
Okay, keep us tuned on that respect, but we can
go global with you because you're.
Speaker 4 (34:40):
A woman who is international, very core.
Speaker 3 (34:42):
You've spin in London, you studied in Asia, and I'm
thinking about how things change from global aera to global
Pokemon go inherently for us a very Japanese bit of
IP that has become a typular global phenomenon.
Speaker 14 (34:54):
Yes, absolutely, I mean for us again, it's there's a
whole wide world to appeal to. And what the of
games is that it brings these folks together across the globe.
It transcends geographies, cultures, and that's super exciting for us.
And that's that social connection part that we want to
continue to promote and continue to see.
Speaker 2 (35:13):
So we're talking about this thing right, the mobile, right
and gaming is one thing I can do on my
mobile phone. Do you guys consider your rivals to be TikTok?
Literally this is Bloomberg screen time? You know, how do
you assess a marketplace where the competition for rivals isn't
necessarily in the time spent on gaming?
Speaker 14 (35:33):
Yeah, I mean I think the gaming space itself is
so fast moving and evolves very quickly. So wherever Eyeball's
intention is again, wherever our players are fans, because they're
looking at IP through various mediums, So being conscious of
that it's not just through the game. There's different ways
of the IP coming to life, so us staying on
(35:55):
top of that is super important at scopely, again, how
do we connect with the community they want to Mobiles
one of the you know, most tactile and easiest ways
to do so, but it's something that is always on
our minds roadblocks.
Speaker 2 (36:07):
C dem Zuki told us very recently that sometimes on
a Friday night their servers melts because of all the
condensed activity in the mobile gaming domain. Do you ever
come across like flash moments like that where the world
is just playing at the same time.
Speaker 14 (36:20):
I mean, we have so many people engaging daily, hourly
with our products because of their deep love of these ips.
Star Trek Sleet Command is a great example. Yes, seventy
five percent of our players of that game, they are
touching it every single day, every single day, and in meaningful.
Speaker 10 (36:39):
Amount of time.
Speaker 4 (36:40):
I mean to know, it's for your business.
Speaker 10 (36:41):
I think for Star.
Speaker 14 (36:42):
Trek fans, it's like amazing to be able to be
in that universe, and those are hardcore fans that that
ip attracts real loyalty, and so our ability to do that,
you know, for that community is pretty special.
Speaker 2 (36:55):
How many years has it been since I've done like
that on television, Unice Chief, I have remember I did
do it once in Well let's leave it. Unis, lead
chief operating officer at Scopeia. It's great to have you
on Bloombo Tech. Thank you so much. Okay, coming up,
we're going to speak with one of Twitch's leading streamers,
Pokemone talk to us about the business of contact creation.
(37:16):
That's next. This is a seriously big one. This is
Bloomberg Tech. So Hollywood's typically focused on the people in
(37:37):
front of the camera, but today increasingly we're talking about streamers,
people like yumain anis more commonly known as Pokemon. She's
one of the most popular streamers on Twitch, with nearly
ten million dedicated followers and another twenty million across other platforms.
We're talking YouTube, x, Facebook, Insta and delighted to say
(37:57):
that Poke joins us. Now we've been talking in some weeks.
It's great to finally have you on Bloomberg Tech.
Speaker 10 (38:03):
Like, guys, now, bear with.
Speaker 2 (38:04):
Me on this one. But let's just start by asking
what is your day job? How would you describe what
it is that you.
Speaker 15 (38:11):
Do in technical terms? I'm a content creator. How I
might want to describe it is just I love sharing
my life online. I love to entertain people. I love
to make people happy about it.
Speaker 2 (38:23):
I'd say it started with video games on Twitch, like
quite a long time ago. You've got a long history
with Twitch, I sure do.
Speaker 10 (38:30):
Twenty thirteen, twenty.
Speaker 2 (38:32):
Thirteen and like, and that's something we share in common.
You know some of the titles in particular, but we
just had Dan Clancy on the program earlier. For you
in particular, it is expanded to IRL and just chatting.
Is there a moment where that happened? It moved beyond
video games?
Speaker 15 (38:51):
I would say, interestingly enough, when I first started streaming,
you weren't even allowed to stream IRL or just chatting.
It was just games, right, anything else you might get
banned for a few days. And so as the platform
started not only allowing but supporting different types of content,
I of course only wanted to try out those different things.
And I also love how it allowed me to showcase
(39:12):
different parts of my life. Now instead of traveling and
feeling like, oh, I can't do my job, I can't game,
I can't speak to my community, I could travel and
stream myself in those different countries. So as both the
platform changed and what the audiences like and enjoy changed,
I followed in and I was able to explore so
many different types of content.
Speaker 3 (39:31):
And then we've seen you go to crew, We've seen
you go to around the world. But what's so interesting, Pokey,
is that your demographic must have broadened from League of
Legends out to.
Speaker 4 (39:39):
Now wanting to see you horse ride talking about some
of your health stories.
Speaker 3 (39:43):
How can you break down the demographics and who it
is in your community?
Speaker 4 (39:46):
Absolutely?
Speaker 15 (39:46):
What I find the most interesting is that it entirely
depends on the piece of content and the platform. So
on Twitch, of course, the platform itself is maybe majority men,
sometimes younger depending on the game or what you're streaming,
But onto talk, a lot of my videos are like
majority female. I do get readies with me, makeup halls,
all sorts of different things, and I really adore that
(40:07):
because it allows me to really tap into and share
all the different facets of my hobbies and what.
Speaker 4 (40:13):
I like to do.
Speaker 3 (40:14):
And you do share your community, your friends, they appear
with you.
Speaker 4 (40:17):
There's also the perhaps your brother who doesn't pay so
much on screen and you're here in LA.
Speaker 3 (40:22):
There are safety concerns, whether it's in real life or
whether it's online as well.
Speaker 4 (40:25):
How do you think about that, navigated?
Speaker 15 (40:27):
Oh my, it really depends on the exact safety concern
and what aspect it brings. So there's online safety and
there's also in person safety. So what you said earlier
about IRL streaming, I typically don't IRL stream in LA
unless I have security with me, Otherwise I feel a
little bit better streaming IRL in other countries. When it
(40:48):
comes to moderation online, oh it's been a trial and
and error kind of situation learning how to moderate my platforms,
how to feel safe online, how to make sure my
community feel safe.
Speaker 4 (40:59):
So it's really a lot.
Speaker 7 (41:01):
Of different things.
Speaker 2 (41:02):
Pochi is part of the IRL and just chatting content.
Sometimes you have discussed things that are more political or
societal issues. How do you choose those that you want
to weigh in on? And then the safety piece you
just explained how you factor that in.
Speaker 15 (41:18):
I would say my priority for starters is of course
speaking to my direct experiences and how I know those
things affect others. For example, the safety issues that I
face online. I'm not the only one, and it's not
just creators. Any woman, any girl, frankly, any person online
can be victim to those same safety issues. So I
(41:39):
love to be a spokesperson for the things that I
have direct experience and knowledge in. And then secondly for
me political topics, what I really feel passionate speaking out
about is simply just human rights, respecting other people what
their rights should be in regards to the things that
they can say, that they can experience, that they can share.
Speaker 4 (41:58):
I feel like that's.
Speaker 15 (41:59):
What I feel comfortable talking about. And so aside from that, luckily,
the safety aspects that I have in place right now
allow me to feel comfortable discussing anything.
Speaker 2 (42:08):
Hook you've made a career of this, would you please
explain to our Bloomberg Tech audience. You know how it works,
how you make money with respect if you're able to,
Like you've also set up a talent agency for content creators.
You know how big a piece is that for you?
Is it different Twitch versus Instagram for example?
Speaker 15 (42:26):
So your streams of income do differ greatly depending on
the platform. I would say the unique thing about Twitch
is that there's a subscription model, which means, as opposed
to YouTube, where you can subscribe to someone for free
and you're essentially just following them like you follow someone
on Instagram. For Twitch, when you subscribe, you're sending them
five dollars every month. It's a monthly subscription that also
(42:48):
generates income. But for me, the large, large, large majority
of my career income has come just from sponsorships and contracts,
and then probably the second largest piece has come from
this misadventures, and then the third largest piece might be subscriptions.
So I'd say that's the unique piece that most people
don't know about Twitch, but for ig and most other platforms,
(43:09):
it's primarily ads and sponsors.
Speaker 3 (43:11):
We could talk to you for so much longer, and
I'm very pleased that it's going to.
Speaker 4 (43:14):
Be on stage with you.
Speaker 3 (43:16):
Imman Ais also known as Poke Main were so pleased
that she joined the show, and what a show it
has been because that does it for this edition of
Bloomberg Tech. But the story doesn't stop. There are so
many people going to be on stage. I've got the
Foster sisters, You've got a.
Speaker 2 (43:29):
Great Poke and Dan from Clancy, Like I want to
understand the content creator economy so much more because as
we just heard, it's so different. And then tomorrow we
do not miss this. We're going all in on defense technology.
We will speak with the leaders of Anderill, Talenteer, and
many other leaders in defense tech from Anderil Tech quarters
right here in California. You don't want to miss it.
(43:50):
There is a lot to recap from the last hour.
Check out the pod. Loads of you are listening to it.
It's super grateful for the feedback we've had listen on Apple, Spotify,
iHeart and the Bloomberg platforms. Caro, take us out.
Speaker 3 (44:01):
I mean, what an amazing array we can do right
here in Los Angeles, in the world a content creation,
to the world of defense tech.
Speaker 4 (44:07):
There's a lot to be had.
Speaker 2 (44:08):
Yeah, this is Los Angeles and Bloomberg screen time. This
is Bloomberg Tech
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