{"id":5576,"date":"2014-03-21T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-03-21T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvusa\/2014\/03\/21\/josh-sapan\/"},"modified":"2016-01-28T13:22:47","modified_gmt":"2016-01-28T18:22:47","slug":"josh-sapan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvusa\/josh-sapan\/","title":{"rendered":"Josh Sapan"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"This interview originally appeared in the MIPTV 2014 issue of <\/em>World Screen.<\/em><\/p>\n

Josh Sapan, the president and CEO of AMC Networks, has built a very successful business by offering viewers of AMC, SundanceTV, IFC and WE tv shows that are unexpected and unlike anything they have seen before. He also strongly believes in protecting the pay-TV ecosystem by premiering series on cable or satellite platforms, whether on linear channels or VOD services.<\/p>\n

WS:<\/strong> What have you been learning about how people are enjoying programming?
\nSAPAN:<\/strong> There has been an increase in viewership and utilization of off-linear services, whether it\u2019s cable on demand, satellite on demand, or Internet subscription video services, in as much as they have the shows, which from us is generally a year after they air. What is curious is that we have seen our linear ratings escalate rather dramatically, while the utilization or consumption of on-demand has increased at the same time.<\/p>\n

Perhaps the most notable example of that is Breaking Bad<\/em>, which in season one was doing a little over 1 million viewers and by the time season five aired, the last episode did more than 10 million viewers. That is an interesting phenomenon because there is generally an intuitive assumption that there is a certain number of viewers and if they see it in one place, they won\u2019t see it in the other place. That historically has been a bit of a media paradigm: if you window material and you put it here<\/em> first, then people won\u2019t watch it there<\/em>, second, as much. And hence the word syndication, which has its own implications, and what we are seeing is somewhat of the inverse, which is that the sampling of shows on the various on-demand platforms, cable, satellite, transactional (by which people often mean iTunes, rented or subscription), is exposing more people to shows like Breaking Bad<\/em>, The Walking Dead<\/em> and Mad Men <\/em>on AMC, Top of the Lake <\/em>and Rectify <\/em>on Sundance Channel, Spoils of Babylon<\/em> and Portlandia<\/em> on IFC, Braxton Family Values<\/em> on WE tv, and are then coming back in greater numbers to the show on linear. Whereas one may have conjectured that linear was under terrible pressure, in fact, for the shows that are really popular on demand, it has boosted their importance and appeal on linear, if they have the right genetics. I would describe those genetics as being, most importantly, timeliness and urgency.<\/p>\n

WS:<\/strong> It doesn\u2019t hurt to have shows like Breaking Bad<\/em>, The<\/em> Walking Dead<\/em> and Mad Men<\/em>!
\nSAPAN: <\/strong>Of course, but I would expand the point because those are very well known. But a show called Rectify<\/em> on Sundance Channel, for which we did six episodes, is less well known and airs on a somewhat smaller channel. But we felt so strongly about the beneficial effect of on-demand on linear viewing that for its first season, which premiered last year, we put multiple episodes on cable VOD before the premiere [of the show on the linear channel]. So in a certain sense, we \u201cshowed it before we showed it.\u201d And you are not supposed to show something before you show it, right? But that\u2019s the whole idea. And in that somewhat smaller universe we were redeemed. It affirmed and confirmed that our intuition was correct: that it helps to show it before you show it.<\/p>\n

WS:<\/strong> Is social media helping fuel interest in shows?
\nSAPAN:<\/strong> Someone mentioned a line in passing the other day. They said, \u201cReferral is the new water cooler.\u201d I liked it because it resonated and of course what it means is that if one rewinds a number of years, the water cooler meant where humans collect to talk. Today, humans collect virtually and talk virtually, and the referral that occurs in social media in any manner is a very powerful tool.<\/p>\n

WS:<\/strong> What was the rationale behind the acquisition of Chellomedia and what is the strategy for future international growth?
\nSAPAN: <\/strong>We have been operating international channels under the name Sundance Channel Global around the world, and WE tv in Asia and AMC in Canada for the past several years with reasonable success and a lot of growth. We believe that it is wise for AMC Networks to be a global company, not just a domestic company. So when Chello became available\u2014I think it was probably the largest group of channels outside the U.S. not owned by a content company\u2014we thought it made great sense for us to be the acquirer.<\/p>\n

There are multiple benefits [to owning these channels] and they begin with our ambition to run them very well and to improve on the good work that Chello management has done. In particular, to improve the content and the deployment of HD and VOD and, where appropriate, to transport the content we produce in the U.S. [We also want] to look for opportunities to co-produce outside the U.S. and, where it makes sense, deploy and program that content globally.<\/p>\n

WS:<\/strong> Breaking Bad<\/em> was such a groundbreaking drama. Has achieving that kind of viewership success and critical acclaim changed the way your team looks for shows?
\nSAPAN:<\/strong> No, it actually has reinforced what brought us to Mad Men<\/em> and Breaking Bad<\/em>, which is that we look now more than ever for what we think is exquisite storytelling, with compelling characters and a real focus on that which will engage people most profoundly without tricks. And because we really do think that looking in the rearview mirror is dangerous, looking for shortcuts is dangerous, looking to imitate is treacherous, we should very simply try to find the very best stories with the most depth. If I can create an analogy, which is not meant to sound fancy, it\u2019s interesting to look at movies or books\u2014and I would offer that the best movies and books are the ones with the freshest stories. I like to read fiction, and I like to see what is winning the prizes, and the books that are derivative are infrequently terribly compelling. The movies that are derivative may do well at the box office in some instances because they have familiar constructs or characters, but the ones that really blow people away are the ones that are completely original and committed in the eyes of the creator.<\/p>\n

I actually think this year\u2019s Golden Globe and Academy Award\u00a0 nominees are an interesting example of that because they are a pretty interesting collection of films, from American Hustle<\/em> to The Wolf of Wall Street <\/em>to our own Blue Is the Warmest Color <\/em>to 12 Years a Slave<\/em> to August: Osage County<\/em> to Philomena<\/em> to Saving Mr. Banks<\/em> and Her<\/em>\u2014boy are they fresh! So amidst the sea of sequels, which are fine and of course do business, there is some pretty substantial box office and commerce at the theater turnstiles occurring for expressions that are pretty damn unprecedented. I think that is actually also occurring in TV, and you see it on our own channels. Rectify<\/em> on SundanceTV, which returns for a second season this summer, is breathtaking. We have a new series on SundanceTV called The Red Road<\/em> with Julianne Nicholson, Jason Momoa, Tom Sizemore and Martin Henderson, written by Aaron Guzikowski, which I think is spectacular and unique. The Spoils of Babylon <\/em>premiered [in January] on IFC and is really fresh and crazy, and it joins Portlandia<\/em>. I am a true believer that while there is certainly a commercial vein [on television] that is predictable and familiar, we are in an era, facilitated in part by technology, in which people find the time because they can, and they adjust [their viewing to suit their schedules] frequently via DVR and on demand. They have the attention and therefore they have the interest and the capacity to find and stay with more nuanced material that ultimately is more rewarding and creates greater engagement. So that\u2019s why I think we\u2019re seeing some of the series rising to the top that are by most people\u2019s agreement simply structurally better and critically better without much dispute.<\/p>\n

WS: <\/strong>Which other shows would you like to highlight?
\nSAPAN:<\/strong> WE tv will have its first scripted drama coming this June called The Divide<\/em>, from Richard LaGravenese, who wrote The Fisher King<\/em> and Behind the Candelabra<\/em>. The series is based on a central character, a woman involved in the Innocence Initiative, which is based on something in the real world called The Innocence Project. It centers on one woman\u2019s story of missionary-type work and she is a very interesting character\u2014it\u2019s one of the most, if not the most, interesting women\u2019s drama on American cable television. Spoils of Babylon<\/em>, from Will Ferrell, set ratings records for IFC. It\u2019s a broad parody of a sweeping miniseries, and it\u2019s quite funny and ironic and stars Kristen Wiig, Tobey Maguire and Tim Robbins. On SundanceTV we have The Red Road<\/em> about an indigenous population of Native Americans that has been intact for a very long time and is somewhat isolated. The story is about the conflict between them and an encroaching suburban, affluent world. It\u2019s about a crime and these two conflicting worlds embodied in two men who grew up there and represent the two sides. Then Rectify <\/em>comes back for season two this summer, and later this year we have a terrific miniseries with Maggie Gyllenhaal called The Honourable Woman<\/em>. And then we will have a second season of The Returned <\/em>(Les Revenants<\/em>), a French series with subtitles, airing on a commercial television channel, SundanceTV. I don\u2019t know that there has ever been a non-public television outlet in the U.S. that has successfully aired, with good ratings, a series in a foreign language for multiple seasons. I say that not to pat ourselves on the back, but to indicate that there might be an interesting emerging trend occurring with so many shows being adapted. For example, our AMC series The Killing<\/em> was an adaptation of the Danish series Forbrydelsen<\/em>. There\u2019s also Borgen<\/em>, and Homeland<\/em>, which is an adaptation of an Israeli show. It seems like maybe the time has come for American television to do something that European television has done, which is be very happy to show a TV series in a foreign language with subtitles. We have a film company, IFC Films\/Sundance Selects, and have been a big exhibitor of foreign films for years, so it\u2019s heartening to see people happy to watch something in a foreign language on television.<\/p>\n

WS: <\/strong>And what do you have coming up on AMC?
\nSAPAN:<\/strong> The Walking Dead <\/em>returned in February and the first episode drew nearly 16 million viewers. We have a Revolutionary War drama called Turn<\/em>, which premiered April 6 and offers an interesting twist because it deals with spies working in George Washington\u2019s army. It\u2019s an interesting portrayal of revolution, because revolution often seems binary\u2014good guys against bad guys. This is more about neighbors and the decision they must make to be for or against a separate America. I personally find that interesting because I often think, not that I am any big academic, that history makes things seem black and white, particularly when there is revolution or change of government, and I always think that\u2019s probably not the case. It\u2019s probably that you are in some swirl of ambiguity about whether you are for or against [the cause, and are also considering] your personal interests and the protection of your family, but you\u2019re up against principles and it\u2019s probably pretty damn murky for many people.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re of course also looking forward to April 13, when Mad Men<\/em> returns for the first half of its final season.<\/p>\n

This summer we\u2019ll have a show called Halt and Catch Fire <\/em>that\u2019s set against the backdrop of what was called the Silicon Prairie\u2014Texas in the \u201980s\u2014when the personal computer industry was being developed. And we have Better Call Saul<\/em>, the prequel to Breaking Bad<\/em>, coming late in 2014 about what Saul was up to before he met Walter White.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This interview originally appeared in the MIPTV 2014 issue of World Screen. Josh Sapan, the president and CEO of AMC Networks, has built a very successful business by offering viewers of AMC, SundanceTV, IFC and WE tv shows that are unexpected and unlike anything they have seen before. He also strongly believes in protecting the …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5577,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5576","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-interviews"],"yoast_head":"\nJosh Sapan<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Josh Sapan. The president and CEO of AMC Networks.. Author - Anna Carugati\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvusa\/josh-sapan\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Josh Sapan\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Josh Sapan. The president and CEO of AMC Networks.. Author - Anna Carugati\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvusa\/josh-sapan\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"TVUSA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-03-21T00:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-01-28T18:22:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvusa\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2015\/09\/43928.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"244\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"138\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"World Screen\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"World Screen\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"10 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvusa\/josh-sapan\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvusa\/josh-sapan\/\",\"name\":\"Josh Sapan\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvusa\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-03-21T00:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-01-28T18:22:47+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvusa\/#\/schema\/person\/48d5d8caeca98083bf34512b4ce8c4c7\"},\"description\":\"Josh Sapan. The president and CEO of AMC Networks.. Author - Anna Carugati\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvusa\/josh-sapan\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvusa\/josh-sapan\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvusa\/josh-sapan\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvusa\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Josh Sapan\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvusa\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvusa\/\",\"name\":\"TVUSA\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvusa\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvusa\/#\/schema\/person\/48d5d8caeca98083bf34512b4ce8c4c7\",\"name\":\"World Screen\",\"description\":\"The leading source of information for the international media business.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvusa\/author\/admin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Josh Sapan","description":"Josh Sapan. The president and CEO of AMC Networks.. Author - Anna Carugati","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvusa\/josh-sapan\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Josh Sapan","og_description":"Josh Sapan. The president and CEO of AMC Networks.. Author - Anna Carugati","og_url":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvusa\/josh-sapan\/","og_site_name":"TVUSA","article_published_time":"2014-03-21T00:00:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-01-28T18:22:47+00:00","og_image":[{"width":244,"height":138,"url":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvusa\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/18\/2015\/09\/43928.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"World Screen","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"World Screen","Est. reading time":"10 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvusa\/josh-sapan\/","url":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvusa\/josh-sapan\/","name":"Josh Sapan","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvusa\/#website"},"datePublished":"2014-03-21T00:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2016-01-28T18:22:47+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvusa\/#\/schema\/person\/48d5d8caeca98083bf34512b4ce8c4c7"},"description":"Josh Sapan. The president and CEO of AMC Networks.. Author - Anna Carugati","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvusa\/josh-sapan\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvusa\/josh-sapan\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvusa\/josh-sapan\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvusa\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Josh Sapan"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvusa\/#website","url":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvusa\/","name":"TVUSA","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvusa\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvusa\/#\/schema\/person\/48d5d8caeca98083bf34512b4ce8c4c7","name":"World Screen","description":"The leading source of information for the international media business.","url":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvusa\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvusa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5576","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvusa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvusa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvusa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvusa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5576"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvusa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5576\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvusa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5577"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvusa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5576"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvusa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5576"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvusa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5576"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}