Anne Sweeney Talks Social Media, WATCH Apps at MIPCOM

CANNES: In an interview with World Screen’s Anna Carugati on the stage of the Grand Auditorium at MIPCOM today, Disney’s Anne Sweeney discussed the importance of live events, social-media interactions with audiences and the company’s WATCH apps.

Sweeney has come to the markets in Cannes for a number of years over the course of her career. “I think MIPTV and MIPCOM gave me a world view,” Sweeney, the outgoing co-chair of Disney Media Networks and president of Disney/ABC Television Group, told Carugati. “Without MIP and MIPCOM, I would have been a U.S.-centric programmer. And in the early days of cable, particularly in kids’ television, we didn’t have the opportunity to buy product in the U.S. Much of that went into the U.S. syndication market and was aired weekday afternoons and Saturday mornings. So, we had to go outside of our country, outside of our comfort zone, and be introduced to new and different animation, new and different formats, different kinds of programming.”

Discussing the growth in the Disney Channels business, Sweeney noted, “The beauty of Disney is that it speaks a universal language to kids and to families. Disney as a brand touches on issues and emotions and feelings that people have all over the world. Look at the success of Frozen—and I’m not singing “Let It Go” today, I promise!—what we have seen globally is an incredible response, an emotional response to the story of these two sisters. And the song “Let It Go” I think has been very important, not just to kids, but to parents and adults as well.”

Looking at growth opportunities, Sweeney said, “There are really two paths to growth for us. One is the creative path…. We have this great collection of people who are searching out new ideas and new formats. So that is a growth engine. We think of ourselves as a content engine. The other path is technology—both technology that we create and technology that we utilize. In fact, our boss, Bob Iger, has three big goals for the company. The first is creative excellence. The second is international growth. And the third is using technology to make everything that we do better.”

Sweeney referenced the launch of the ABC.com player “as a good example of the creation of technology…. We were the first to stream episodes of our television shows. We were the first broadcast network to put our shows on Netflix. We were the first to create a WATCH app that allowed you to stream programming while it was being broadcast. This is something that we’ve done not just because we could, but because it gave us a way to be closer to our consumers. We knew people were walking around holding their phones or carrying their phones with them every single day. We wanted to be in their hands. We wanted to be with them every step, to be available, not just with entertainment, but with news and information that was important to them.”

Sweeney also referenced the 2005 iTunes deal as a major turning point. “It was the first moment we realized we could be somewhere other than television.”

Nonetheless, she remains bullish on the linear television business. “The key is remaining relevant. The linear channels are still wonderful. They’re still a great business for our company and many entertainment companies. What we realized early on is they’re not the only business we should be in with our content. Being everywhere on whatever device whenever you want has really become more the norm for us. But we do notice there are still certain types of viewing that people do on their television sets. Certainly big live events. The Oscars had record numbers this past year. The Super Bowl is something you would be watching in the moment on the big screen. For many people there are many television shows they want to see that way. But the change we've seen is the uptick in DVR usage. Now you have many ways to catch up on episodes.”

Carugati inquired about the importance of social media in drawing audiences to live broadcasts, especially with two ABC hits, Scandal and How to Get Away with Murder. “Many people in the early days of Twitter understood it as a marketing tool. It isn’t. It is a community tool. You have to make sure you understand your community of viewers. That’s what Shonda [Rhimes] and Kerry Washington and all of the actors on Scandal understood so well. They understood people wanted to be there in the moment with them. It becomes an even more interesting experience. You do race home to see it on Thursday night.”

Carugati then asked about what have been some of the “aha” moments in Sweeney's career. “There are two moments and they’re related. One was the creation of the WATCH apps. The WATCH apps required every single member of our team to come together at the very best and very highest levels they could achieve.” The apps, which allow access to Disney/ABC channels on portable devices, had first been planned to launch this year. But Sweeney started to worry that the launch date was too late. “I started to feel very anxious we were going to be left behind. We weren’t answering the call from consumers. We just had to be there. I went to my team and said, Could we move the release date up by a year? They said, Give us two weeks and we’ll come back and tell you what that means. It meant other projects would be pushed to the back burner. We had to learn even faster what it meant to clear the rights, the conversations that needed to happen with advertisers. The team finished 20 minutes before our deadline in May. And it worked. Bob Iger was in a cab, riding around Manhattan, and he would say, It’s working on the West side, It's working on the East side! We wanted it to be part of our Upfront presentation. Not just to be the first, but to really inspire this moment of change in the industry. That was a huge 'aha' moment.”

The second came when the apps were being tested in focus groups with Disney Junior audiences. “I saw a brother and sister snuggled together on a couch watching a Disney Junior show on an iPad. Right across from them was a big-screen TV. We had a conversation with the little girl afterwards and she said, I just like to snuggle with my brother and my iPad. I thought, Sometimes it isn’t about the size of the screen, sometimes it’s about the experience.”

Watch the entire interview here: