How Viacom made the shift from MTV to digital video for a global audience

On this episode of the podcast I've been hosting we explore how a major legacy media company is navigating the shift from the 'lean back' experience of linear television to the short and on demand mode of viewing on phones, tablets, and other screens large and small.

We’ll look at this paradigm shift in the context of Viacom, one of the world’s largest media conglomerates. Viacom is best known for creating some of the coolest, edgiest, youth-oriented programming ever seen on TV. Think Beavis & Butthead and Comedy Central Roasts, for example.

But all the cool in the world wasn’t enough to defend Viacom from the array of content options people had once the internet became the dominant mode of content distribution.

How has Viacom found its way back to millions, if not billions, of viewers around the world? How is it defending its turf against the likes of TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube?

In this episode we’ll dig into these questions with Brendan Yam, Vice President and General Manager of Viacom Digital Studios International, or VDSI.  He's been with the company since 2005, and for the past year and a half has led the company’s short-form digital content output and its expansion into global markets.

Download a transcript of the episode

Jump to some highlights:

What led to Viacom experimenting with short-form digital video content (2:24)
What works and what doesn’t in this format (8:39)
Viacom’s short-form strategy and its successes around the world (10:43)
Business models in digital video (16:34)

Related Links:

• During the interview I reference an article on Viacom by Matthew Ball and Jason Hirschhorn. The full title of that article is “Why Viacom Fell (And Why It Can Come Back).” Read it here on REDEF.
• “Viacom Sets Up International Hubs to Pump Out Short-Form Content” on Digiday
• “Viacom Digital, Facebook Watch Cut Four-Continent Deal for Short-Form Shows” on Forbes

The Environmental Impact of Film & TV Production: Water Bottles, Meat, Idling Engines and More

If you’ve ever seen a TV show or film set on location, you know that production—with its rows of trucks and trailers, power generators, and catering services—is often the equivalent of a small city setting up shop.

A quick tally makes it obvious that non-trivial amounts of waste and greenhouse gases are generated on any set. As people become more environmentally conscious, anything and everything from plastic cutlery to idling vehicles become opportunities to implement sustainable production practices.

This episode of the podcast I host deals with the 'greening' of film and TV production with Zena Harris, a sustainability expert and the president of Green Spark Group.

Highlights include:

• The origins of growing worries over environmental sustainability on TV and film sets (1:54)
• Some key contributors to a production’s environmental footprint (5:33)
• Productions of all sizes and shapes can go the green route (11:50)
• Industry leaders demonstrating how production greening is done (13:13)

Download a transcript of the episode

Additional links:

• 2019 report by French think-tank The Shift Project titled “Climate Crisis: The Unsustainable Use Of Online Video” 
• Creative BC’s Reel Green initiative
• Sustainability Could Play Leading Role in the Film Industry”: Green Production Guide
• Why This Production Company Wants to Make the First Carbon-Neutral Hollywood Film
• From Battery-Powered Sets to Finessing Craft Service: How Hollywood Is Reducing Its Carbon Footprint
• The CMPA's Green Screens Guide
• Sustainable production tips and resources from Sustainable Media Production Canada