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Turner Sports President
David Levy |
As President of Turner Sports and Turner Entertainment group sales and marketing,
DAVID LEVY has put together a diverse portfolio: the NBA, NASCAR, the Braves, Hawks and Thrashers, professional golf and Pac-10 and Big 12 football. He had a busy year-end in ‘05: securing a new deal with the Braves that runs through 2012 as well as an extension of Turner’s NASCAR relationship through 2014, making the latter a 31-year commitment. In November, in a partnership with the NBA, he launched “TNT Overtime,” an online video channel that offers exclusive broadcast content through the ‘05-06 NBA season. In the week before the events of the NBA All-Star Weekend (to be telecast on TNT), Levy spoke with SportsBusiness Journal
New York bureau chief
Jerry Kavanagh.
| FAVORITES |
| Music: The Rolling Stones. |
| Vacation spot: The Hamptons. |
| Quote: “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.” |
| Sport: Hockey. |
| Movie: “The Godfather.” |
| Last book read: “Live From New York.” |
| Typical day off spent how: Coaching my kids in baseball and basketball. |
| Athlete you most enjoy watching: KOBE BRYANT. |
| SHORT QUESTIONS |
| Basic business philosophy: If it works for the brand, if it works for the cable operators and if it works for our advertising and marketing community, then we probably will have an interest in the product. We look at those three criteria very seriously as we analyze different properties or any of the sports we carry or want to acquire. |
| Best professional decision: The all-star hurricane relief game. KENNY SMITH wanted to do something for all the people who were displaced by Katrina. It was a huge undertaking, but within seven days, we basically ran an all-star game commercial free and raised something like $1.7[M]. That was probably the proudest moment because it wasn’t about just putting something on TV; it was about affecting people’s lives, and we were able to do that in such a short amount of time. |
| Most influential person: PHIL KENT, who’s now my CEO. I worked underneath him when he ran the international side of Turner Broadcasting. |
| Best thing about working in sports: The passion. I happen to be a very enthusiastic sports fan, so the passion about sports in general excites me. |
Q: What is your biggest challenge?
Levy: Dealing with new technology and with different rights issues and how to create content and extend the brand into all these different distribution platforms while still maintaining a strong television product.
Q: The technology has come a long way in a short time.
Levy: It really has. And how people view and consume their media is far different than ever before. The way my NBA deal is today, I have exclusive coverage on TNT on Thursday nights. That’s my basketball night. One of my biggest differentiators in the business is my talent: Kenny Smith, CHARLES BARKLEY, ERNIE JOHNSON, MARV ALBERT, REGGIE MILLER. ... You take a look at that pool of talent and you say to yourself, “Why is that only running one night a week?” I needed to have an opportunity to extend that talent so they can talk about the league and their ideas seven days a week.
Q: You created a stage for it.
Levy: I launched “TNT Overtime” in November. It’s a seven-day-a-week broadband channel that’s located on NBA.com with a link to TNT.TV. And every day there is new, original content. That’s a way for me to extend my brand, my marketing around Thursday night TNT basketball. The idea now is how do I bring that to phones or downloads or things of that nature, and some of the things we are looking at is taking this and extending it beyond just the broadband product.
Q: ESPN/ABC Sports President GEORGE BODENHEIMER over a year ago said, “Sports have never held as high a place in our culture as they do today. ... Heavy users of technology are collectively our best customers.” Would you agree with that?
Levy: Certainly for the sports fan the early adopters of all of this new technology are typically young males. And it’s easy to say that young males are also sports viewers. So, when you do have live sports properties and stats and fantasy leagues and all the things that are done within the sports properties themselves, it lends itself very easily to the technology side of the business. And, so, yes, I do see a big crossover in technology and the sports field.
Q: TNT is not exclusively a sports channel. But sports and entertainment have overlapped and converged. You wear two hats in your position. How have sports and entertainment crossed over into each other at Turner?
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Levy Cites Net’s Work With Lee
(l) As Entertainment Crossover |
Levy: We just signed [former Univ. of Texas QB] VINCE YOUNG, basically to be our “TNT Overtime” host for All-Star Weekend. That’s mixing a first-round NFL draft choice into this all-star extravaganza because of his popularity in Houston and his relationship with NBA stars like T.J. FORD and EMEKA OKAFOR. And when we did promotional spots for TNT, we used ALI G., who’s an entertainer. We used the Rolling Stones’ new release of their song in Regal Theaters when we were talking about NASCAR. We used SPIKE LEE as our director for a lot of our NBA promos. There is a huge relationship between sports and entertainment, and it’s growing.
Q: The NBA All-Star Game is more than just a televised game for you. It’s also a broadcast and marketing platform.
Levy: Yeah, and that’s something we’re very proud of. It’s 13 hours of programming over a three-day weekend. There is a lot of entertainment value, a lot of sports, obviously, and it’s really more than a game. It’s an all-star weekend event.
Q: In ‘61, then-FCC Chair NEWTON MINOW called television a “vast wasteland.” Is there fertile ground in television today?
Levy: I would not call it a wasteland. Over the last 15 years, there has been a huge increase in the number of channels available -- maybe too many, but there are at least options. Yet the consumers only focus on 14 or 15 channels. That is different from one person to the next. Of the many channels available, you can choose the ones that fit your demographic and your likes and dislikes.
Q: With so many choices for the sports fan on what to watch, how to watch, when to watch and how to get information, how do you break through all the clutter and attract viewers and advertisers?
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Levy Credits On-Air Talent
As Key To TNT’s Success |
Levy: We distinguish ourselves in a couple of ways. First of all, our on-air talent is by far the best in the business. Second, the behind-the-camera talent, our production people, have been with the company for many years and grown up together. We look at new ways and new opportunities to enhance the product, whether it’s camera angles, high definition or broadband. We’re always looking to be leaders in sports television. And because we’re not a 24-hour, seven-days-a-week sports channel, we treat every event and every property we own as a special event.
Q: You’ve got long-term marriages with some of the major leagues.
Levy: We believe in relationships. We’ve had NASCAR [through 2014] on our radar for 31 years. We’ve had the NBA 24 years [through 2008]. We’ve had [MLB] 40 years [through 2012]. These are when the contracts run through. And it will be 20 years with the PGA [of America] in 2011. I think you’ll see that these leagues are comfortable with how we produce, market and promote their brands and at the same time build their fan base.
Q: What is the crown jewel acquisition you are pursuing? Is it the Braves?
Levy: The crown jewel now since we’ve secured NASCAR and [MLB] ... our conversations will ultimately lead to the NBA. Although the contract runs through 2008, I will be focusing on renewing the NBA. We’ve had a long-standing relationship with them and a successful partnership, and we look forward to continuing that. The NFL, as you know, has been solidified now, with [the league] taking the last package. We didn’t find a financial model that worked for us from a company standpoint, but certainly a very viable, strong brand that we looked at internally. And renewing our NASCAR.com relationship and extending those rights would also be part of my next conversations.
Q: Is the day coming when the leagues will take over and control all of their own TV coverage and thus make a broadcast partner obsolete?
Levy: It’s too early to tell. I don’t believe so. I don’t think the leagues in general want to be running television networks. I think it was an opportunity, and I still think it is a great marketing platform, for them to have a 24-hour channel. It helps promote their brand; it helps give their fans an opportunity to see their property 24 hours a day. But the reach vehicle, which is what Turner has and what major networks have, is the opportunity to cross promote among the different properties, the opportunity to reach a different audience. When I’m running “Law & Order” or movies or “Seinfeld” to promote the NBA, or doing a Cartoon Network promotion for the NBA, I don’t believe that’s something they can just walk away from, in the sense that they need to continue to build their fan base beyond just their core fans.
Q: Where is the imagination in sports today?
Levy: Imagination really comes through access and through new technology that everybody is using as far as graphics, information and, I think, a two-way connection. By a two-screen connection I mean, are people watching sports while they’re on the Internet?
Q: How do you provide more access?
Levy: The best example would be TrackPass with NASCAR. While you’re watching NASCAR on any of the channels that carry it, you can be on NASCAR.com. Through TrackPass you follow your driver: where he is in the race and what speed he’s driving at and listen through an audio feed of how he’s talking to his crew. The sports fans want more interactivity and access. They’re gamers, and in those games that they play, there’s total access. That’s the biggest challenge: how to keep the purity of it but also how to give the fans what they want.
Q: What can we look for in the coming year, in the near future, in sports television broadcasting?
Levy: I think you’re going to see sports take an active role in extending into the digital world and giving real access to the viewer and the fan. It’s the ultimate reality program. Everybody talks about branded entertainment and product integration. Sports has been doing that for years, whether it be entitlement of the stadiums or signage on the field or anywhere you see access to the products themselves, you’ve seen that sports have been leaders in new technology. Sports have been in the forefront of getting access into phones and into downloads. I think you’re going to see interactivity play a very big role. I’ve talked about that two-screen capability. I believe it will set trends for other businesses. How the entertainment business uses this new technology will see the results of how sports does.
Q: The ultimate fantasy for the fan is to have inside access, isn’t it? To be in the huddle or the locker room?
Levy: Yeah, but I don’t know if it will ever get there. You are starting to see the coaches being miked during the games. In the beginning, that was an interference, but now it’s part of the fabric and becoming more acceptable to some of the coaches and managers. At our All-Star Games, some of the players have been miked; it will happen again this year, where people can get a little bit more of an inside feel to the game. I think that’s what the fans want.
