Exclusive Interview: A+E Networks’ Abbe Raven

PREMIUM: A+E Networks’ president and CEO, Abbe Raven, talks to World Screen about the importance of event television and creating communities and outreach programs around great content.

WS: You were involved in the launch of HISTORY and in the re-invention of A&E. What have you learned about the power of character-driven factual programming?
RAVEN: I have been with the company a long time and I have learned a great deal about the need for evolving and re-inventing programming. Probably, the most important thing I learned was that brands need to evolve and grow to survive as viewer tastes and habits change. Big characters are essential in good emotional storytelling, whether you are talking about real-life series or original scripted dramas.       

WS: What kind of appetite is there for this type of programming, in the U.S. and internationally, and why does it resonate so well with viewers?
RAVEN: Character-driven factual programming is very popular in the U.S. and around the world right now. A&E and HISTORY are both top-five brands in the U.S. and in most pay markets around the world. Shows like Duck Dynasty, Pawn Stars and even Dance Moms on Lifetime have strong characters at their core with great family relationships playing out on screen. These stories are universal and people can relate to that wherever they live in the world. 

WS: 2012 was the most watched year in the history of A+E Networks. What factors contributed to this success?
RAVEN: We had a great year. HISTORY is now the number one factual brand in the world surpassing all its rivals in the genre by far. It has many imitators but HISTORY has it own unique voice and quality that others can’t compete with. A&E and Lifetime also have their own unique voice in the marketplace and we are seeing double-digit growth in the U.S. and around the world with other great brands like Crime & Investigation Network and Bio.  

WS: Did you expect the miniseries Hatfields & McCoys on HISTORY to be as huge of a hit as it was and to get all the awards it got?
RAVEN: We knew it was great storytelling with a great cast but we never expected it would be the first cable program to beat all the broadcast networks in the U.S. It really made history. Kevin Costner and the entire cast and crew deserved all the accolades they received because they did an outstanding job on the film. It was the HISTORY team’s first scripted mini-series and they really hit the ball out of the park. I am excited for Vikings and The Bible.

WS: Tell us about the re-branding and re-invention of Lifetime? What strengths did you see in the network when you acquired it? How did you build on those strengths and what did you change?
RAVEN: Lifetime has been the number one brand for women for a long time. It needed to be refreshed. And we have done that by capitalizing on its brand strength for the modern women. We have big hits already with Dance Moms and Army Wives. Lifetime has and will continue to have a great portfolio of great non-fiction series, combined with great scripted series and original movies like the award-winning Steel Magnolias we did this year with Queen Latifah. We are excited to roll Lifetime out around the world and we have a lot of A-list Hollywood talent on board with projects in the dramatic series and movie genres.   

WS: A+E Networks is moving towards owning all of its content. What are the benefits of that strategy?
RAVEN: In the U.S., we have been become almost 100-percent original content on our schedule across all our brands and we own a good percent of that. As a global content company, owning your content is critical so you can expand your brands internationally and across every platform and device. It is all about controlling your own destiny.     

WS: You’ve said that at A+E Networks you are always looking for what’s next. With so many developments in the media business, what are you keeping your eye on? 
RAVEN: The big issue facing every media company is being able to monetize content on every new platform and that requires a universal system of measurement. Hopefully, Nielsen has that in the works already. We have great content and we just want to make sure we are able to protect our business model.     

We are looking at growing our portfolio with new brands like H2, which offers a deeper perspective on history from all around the globe, and new digital opportunities to continue building on our success. 

WS: Tell us about some of the big events coming up on HISTORY, A+E and Lifetime.
RAVEN: On HISTORY, we recently aired Vikings, [a nine-part drama series from Michael Hirst, the creator of The Tudors]. And we have so many great things in the pipeline and that is a huge part of our company—we never rest on our success. We rely on a portfolio of shows that deliver a big audience. I am really excited for The Bible, [a 10-part mini-series from Mark Burnett and Roma Downey], combined with current hit series like Pawn Stars and Counting Cars on HISTORY.

Lifetime has great original movies. Betty and Coretta, which tells the true stories of Coretta Scott King, the wife of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and Dr. Betty Shabazz, the wife of Malcolm X, is a great movie that just aired to big success and the upcoming Ring of Fire is about Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash.

On A&E we have Bates Motel, a contemporary prequel to the genre-defining film Psycho, which joins big hit series like Storage Wars and Duck Dynasty [and the most successful justice shows on cable, including The First 48]. 

WS: How important are events to the continued success and relevance of linear channels, given that we live in a world where viewers increasingly want to watch whenever and wherever?
RAVEN: We have a portfolio approach to programming. It is about driving big audiences from one hit to another. Our brands are this great environment that are viewer destinations for great content. That is why our iPad apps are incredibly popular when they launch—because people want content from our brands, they have come to expect great things from them.   

WS: How is A+E satisfying the viewer penchant for “whenever and wherever” viewing?
RAVEN: Our content is available everywhere and anytime. We work with all our distribution partners to ensure it is on every platform they offer. That said, we also love big event television that drives big audiences to one viewing. We use social media and technology as tools to drive that and create a community around our content.  

WS: A+E Networks has several outreach programs. Tell us about some of them and why they are important.
RAVEN: Our outreach work is an extension of our core philosophy of serving the viewer. We are invited into people’s homes and we take that responsibility seriously. So we create outreach programs that our viewers care about. HISTORY centers around Veteran’s Affairs. On Lifetime, we focus on women’s health, especially breast cancer awareness and women’s empowerment. And on A&E we do a lot in the area of addiction in association with our Emmy Award-winning series Intervention.

WS: What opportunities are you seeing in international markets, both for channels and for program sales?
RAVEN: We have brands that clearly resonate around the world. We are often number one, number two, or number three in every pay market around the globe because we tell universal stories with universal themes. We are excited about the expansion of Lifetime around the world because it is a great platform for women’s programming and empowerment. That is one of our main goals in the next few years.