How Paramounts Chris McCarthy turned Taylor Sheridans cable hit into streamings biggest franchise.
Save this article to read it later.
Find this story in your accountsSaved for Latersection.
Discovery) shifting scripted efforts over to their streaming platforms.
Paramount internet under McCarthy was at least going to attempt to turn one show into a monster hit.
Since then, the momentum has only continued both for Sheridan and McCarthy.
Meanwhile, McCarthys stock inside Paramount Global has similarly risen.
CBS has been number one with adults 18-plus, I think its 19 of the last 20 years.
Weve always been focused on making mass commercial hits.
So we didnt have the luxury of just focusing on niche or passion projects.
Instead we learned how to make something that could appeal to everybody, and all at once.
Thats a benefit of understanding mass culture.
So, while were new to streaming, were not new to hit-making.
Thats very different than a lot of other people have been doing in streaming.
And Id say were more mass TV.
And listen, Im a huge fan of HBO.
I love many of the shows they do.
I think they can do a phenomenal job.
Its all content we love, and were aiming Showtime into that space.
Showtime already has a great history in that space.
Lets go back toYellowstonespecifically.
You took control of Paramount internet and thus the show in late 2019.
The series was already a big hit, and it was boosting the fortunes of the connection.
But you didnt just greenlight a few more shows to build on its success.
Walk me through how you approached the situation.
but rather, Where are we at, and what are we really going to place our bets on?
I was radically real about where the environment was.
So I brought that thinking over to Paramount web connection.
But Paramount online grid also met with the harsh realities of where we were with the cable landscape.
It had broken through the pack.
But to do that, we had to make other hard choices.
There were a lot of other shows that didnt make the cut.
Some of them we thought were equally as great, just in different ways, likeEmily in Paris.
We own the fundamental IP, we own the rights, we own the long-term of that.
But to boostYellowstone,we had to make some harsh choices elsewhere.
But my hunch was that habits had changed so much.
And that made a dramatic difference in the revenue.
Now its one of our most profitable franchises.
Thats amazing given its not a cheap show to make.
No, its not cheap.
And I think the people have a misconception about cheap versus most profitable.
Im looking for what is going to drive the biggest possible profitability.
And that reality was the other reason to go all in on the franchise strategy, right?
And thats where we came up with the idea of theYellowstonefranchise.
Did you not worry about scaling up to multiple series so quickly, though?
Its one thing to do different versions of a online grid crime procedural.
Its different with something thats a premium cable show.
We had lots of heated debate, creative debate about this.
And I think people often get confused with what a franchise means.
They often think its too easy, or theres no creativity in that.
Was it important to make the first spinoff,1883, a prequel versus a sequel?
Its one of our top five subscription drivers, not just here in the U.S., but internationally.
Whats been most fascinating to me about the expansion of the Yellowstone/Taylor Sheridan universe is how quickly its happened.
Youve moved fast in other parts of your career, too.
The first time I was lucky enough to get a leadership role was running VH1.
Bob also gave me MTV.
And I remember looking at Bob and saying, How much time do we have?
And hes like, We need to turn this thing around in three to six months.
So speed has always been just who we are as an organization.
We move really quickly and place really smart strategic bets that dont always pay off.
But more often than not, they do.
In terms of the Sheridan shows, whats the pace going to be going forward?
So each year, were going to be launching at least oneYellowstonefranchise as well as one complementary series.
We did a lot of research and deep dives into what is the essence of what makesYellowstonework.
And really, at its core, its family dynamics, its power dynamics.
In linear space, we haveYellowstoneand well have a brand newYellowstoneuniverse series.
So youre definitely planning a newYellowstoneseries for Paramount connection?
Is thisthe much-discussed Matthew McConaughey show?
Its the must-discussed franchise.
Theres a bunch of different ways we could take the story.
Thankfully, Taylors mind and his creativity is endless.
And I will say, we love Matthew McConaughey.
Weve always been big fans of his.
Does the economic model support that in 2023?
Or is it likely that a new show for cable would, in fact, replace the originalYellowstone?
I think were definitely going to have two this year.
I think that maybe the question youre getting to is, will Kevin stay?
I think weve definitely proven that the franchiseYellowstoneis well beyond any one series and well beyond any one star.
These are franchises that are being built in real time and at the same time.
No one has seen that.
And frankly, its no different than what weve done for years on the unscripted space withDrag RaceandChallenge.
We just premiered a brand-newChallengein Argentina and had 60 percent share in its premiere night, six-zero.
Is the reason to end it simply to end the streaming-rights situation with Peacock?
The financials are very different.
I think Peacock was smart.
Im not going to take anything away from them.
How did you leverage linear to expand the audience for the show and the franchise?
We have the leading portfolio of cable networks with the most share across all of television.
We reach viewers from cradle to grave.
For VH1 and some MTV and Comedy Central shows, we did a lot with Beth.
What it did was, it created a new opening for everybody to come into the show.
And its proven to be incredibly successful and highly efficient.
I had heard some buzz that there were some early discussions about turningYellowstoneinto a CBS show.
Im a business strategist at heart that just happens to be in creative.
And we absolutely looked at CBS.
We looked at Showtime.
And you know what?
We landed back at Paramount online grid because it made the most sense.
CBS, as you pointed out, has a different set of [content] standards.
But what did make sense is to move it from the number 71 biggest series to number one.
So, I think for all intents and purposes, weve delivered against that.
We have multiple extensions and series and development that will be coming to fruition with Taylor.
No news to report today, but certainly dont be surprised if you see something rather soon.
So your boss, Mr. Bakish, has set up an interesting system for funneling content onto Paramount+.
There is no single exec who sets the overall creative agenda for the platform.
Is that a wrong way of looking at things?
I think people are missing the bigger point if they think the three of us are competitive.
We are very supportive of each other and each others teams and only want each other to win.
I think what Brian and his team do at theatrical and kids is second to none.
And the same thing when it comes to George: George knows the broadcast space better than anybody else.
I think thats the benefit of the trio partnership that we have, plus Pam Kaufman who leads international.
Each of us are experts in our lane, and its a four-legged table.
I get that, but you dont have control over the marketing of your shows for Paramount+.
Isnt this a bit like what Disney did with its exec structure the one Bob Iger just dismantled?
And what makes that work is something Bob [Bakish] pioneered, which is a matrix model.
We each share many resources across the organization and Paramount+ is the best example of that.
Because our single goal is, how do we actually become a top-three service in the next year?
Were all just pushing the ball forward to make it bigger, faster, quicker than anybody else.
And I think the results speak for themselves.
This was something that we all built together.
It wasnt something that was thrust upon us.
Thats why no ones fighting and instead its gas for us to move things forward.
Over the last few years, youve announced big plans to remake them that didnt actually move forward.
Did you get ahead of yourself?
For Comedy Central, it wasThe Daily Showand it was adult animation.
And weve expanded the deal withSouth Parkand Matt and Trey.
Now, we make series and movies.
So, the strategys working.
Do I still wish we had the resources to do that?
But that was always the part two.
Thats the harsh reality: The environment changed.
And I think what you see with us is we dont wait a lot to hope things get better.
You got to move forward.
Because the last thing I want to do is disappoint creatives.
I dont want to disappoint people with false hope.
Youve got to drive change or be driven by it.
MTV is hardly the only cable connection that has turned its daytime lineup over to a couple titles.
And some have gone further than you, programmingshows which seem very much off-brand.
But whyRidiculousness, and why so much of it?
The people who are leaning back on and watching linear television, that audience is older.
Theyre on linear because they dont want it to change.
And what they love more than anything on MTV isRidiculousness.
And that show just absolutely delivers for the audience that is left watching daytime television.
That audience is a lot smaller.
They never come to the channel anymore.
Theyre about 10 years younger.
And they love those shows.
And yet people really seemed to get worked up about MTV doing it.
I think because MTV was there at the beginning of cable, people put a lens on it.
We had to liberate the brand from the channel … which now has our least amount of viewing.
Or to bring back music programming and videos?
We have four channels that do exactly that, and theyre our least-watched channels.
Ill first start with Comedy Central.
So Comedy Central is still what the audience wants it to be.
Thats what MTV at its core has always been.
Its been about someone who doesnt follow the rules and someone whos blazing a path on their own.
And thats also what MTVs studio stands for.
I think theres a misconception that we all wish it wasnt still the good old days in cable.
Of course we do!
It wouldve made all of our jobs a lot easier.
But were at a fork in the road.
Im not going to dwell in the past.
I want to drive and create the future.
Should we expect an announcement soon?
I think were still in the same timeline.
So by the start of the summer, youll have your plan?
Thats the hope, yeah.
The Showtime Question
Lets talk about Showtime, which you just recently took over.
Youre going to be rebranding the cable version of Showtime as Paramount+ with Showtime.
That feels like an incredibly awkward name for a cable channel.
Walk me through how you got here.
I think the Paramount brand and the Showtime brand stand for two very different things.
When we looked to launch Paramount+, we tested a bunch of concepts.
We tested a few other new names.
The difference was they had very different meanings.
You couldnt ask for a bigger, broader entertainment brand to house everything fromSpongeBobandStar TrektoSouth Parkand the NFL.
And thats why we decided to call it Paramount+.
Showtime is a very strong brand as well.
So what does that mean?
That means that 70 percent of the audience knows who you are and says youre not for them.
But 30 percent of the audience says, We know who you are and we love you.
And that audience says, what do we want?
They want provocative, edgy, more sophisticated, mature content.
So the reason were bringing these services together is because those brands appeal to different segments in the population.
But when you say it, theres no question about what it means.
It helps you to understand: What Im getting is the best of Showtime and the best of Paramount+.
And tell me about the content mix for the new cable channel.
I mean, right now we have 20 or 25 channels within the Showtime package.
So, you could easily see a non-commercial kids networks with the best of Nickelodeon with no commercials.
Or you could see us do a pop-up channel with1883.
Or you could see us co-premiering content.
Though quite honestly, the economics are better for us in the cable space.
We want to make the platform youre on as rich and rewarding as it can be.
And conversely, youve said the Showtime Anytime app for cable customers will sunset by years end.
Sort of the same way HBOs cable customers have access to HBO Max?
Tell me what its success tells you about what works for the brand.
I think heres a great example of how IP and new [shows] work together.
I would argue that ifDexterwasnt back,Yellowjacketswouldnt be as big as it is.
And I think the team and the creators would agree with that.
Its a combination of franchise to build a foundation, and something new thats fresh but familiar.
That is the power of our franchise strategy.
HBO and Paramount online grid have shown the power of a linear launch.
Why diffuse the buzz around each episode by essentially having two premieres each week?
So what are you looking for?
Weve talked about it consistently with everybody: Its these three lanes.
So, Id say thats one.
So, I think thats a lane that we want to own.
Its very complementary: Paramount+ focuses on heroes, and on Showtime, we focus on the antiheroes.
When we talk to the creative community, they really appreciate the clarity around those lanes.
And how many shows do you think will fall under the Showtime banner every year?
Youll see more franchises and youll see a lot more stability.
And weve had a lot of big swings at Showtime, but unfortunately, they havent delivered.
How are you continuing that in this age when MTV isnt anchored to a linear channel?
The world has changed a lot since we launched in 1981.
When we launched our campaign around the 2016 election, we thought it was a great campaign.
And it was frankly disappointing.
And more recently, we partnered with the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative for theMental Health Storytelling Coalition.
Im curious about how your personal upbringing and background has influenced how you make decisions.
By that he meant you dont spend hours poring every script or going to endless casting sessions.
Tell me how you got where you are, and how it has shaped your management style.
And if I could do that, I wouldnt get picked on.
