14 Top TV and Streaming Execs on the Most Important Thing They Learned in 2021

While the TV industry did not have to weather the prolonged Covid-related production shutdowns and the major, streaming-focused reorganizations that it saw in 2020, it has still been another wild year. Between the accelerated migration to streaming and continued pandemic pitfalls, 2021 provided more than its share of challenges—and we wanted to hear from the industry’s key players on how this year has changed then and what they’ve learned. Here’s how 14 top TV executives—who oversee broadcast, cable and streaming outlets (in many cases, multiple ones)—answered that question. And in the coming days as we count down to the end of 2021, we’ll also hear from TV ad sales chiefs and buyers about how their business has changed, the state of measurement and what everyone’s top priorities will be for 2022. What is the most important thing you learned this year? Frances Berwick, chairman, entertainment networks, NBCUniversal television and streaming: As the TV landscape continues to shift, one of our key learnings has been that there aren’t different audiences for linear and streaming—most people are watching both in one way or another. With broadcast, cable and streaming options in our portfolio, the trick has been to meet audiences where they are and create distinctive experiences on each platform that best serve our fans. Craig Erwich, president, Hulu Originals and ABC Entertainment: Set deadlines for change. When our teams introduced the inclusion standards for our shows in the fall of 2019, we set benchmarks for ourselves to accomplish these standards. And ever since, we—and all of our partners—have been intentional about making sure that our content pipeline is filled with projects from underrepresented voices. As a result, we produced several pilots from BIPOC creators and directors with diverse points of view, like The Wonder Years, Abbott Elementary and the upcoming Promised Land, premiering Jan. 24. Embracing these stories isn’t only important, it’s good business. The 10 Best TV Shows of 2021 Kathleen Finch, chief lifestyle brands officer, Discovery Inc.: Strong brands, talent and known IP are more valuable than ever before. This year brought more new content and more new ways to watch it than we ever could have imagined a few years ago, but all those choices mean it’s getting harder to get the attention of viewers. Having popular talent and genres that viewers love is a powerful weapon to attract viewers to new and different content. That’s why we cast Food Network star Ree Drummond in a Discovery+ holiday movie, Candy Coated Christmas—and her fans came! Kelly Kahl, president, CBS Entertainment: Even as audiences have unlimited choices—and in the middle of a pandemic—viewers still love what we have to offer. Our new series (Ghosts, NCIS: Hawai’i, FBI International, and CSI: Vegas) came out of the gates strong and have stayed strong. When you tally up the billions of minutes viewed, our series stack up favorably compared to any others across linear, cable or steaming. John Landgraf, chairman, FX: Every year I learn to be more humble. Multiply that any normal year by the multi-generational secular changes in our industry and the second year of a global pandemic. There is no perfect filter through which to analyze story (or anything else, for that matter)—and one never knows where (or from whom) the best ideas or best critiques will come. Wonya Lucas, president and CEO, Crown Media Family Networks: In a world of uncertainty and constant change, I have learned the power of gratitude. It costs nothing to give and creates a cascading effect as recipients typically pay it forward. Farhad Massoudi, CEO and founder, Tubi: At Tubi, we’ve always believed that personalization was the key to success—and this year proved us correct. Tubi has grown explosively in the past year in both audience and revenue, based on a hyper-focus on knowing who our viewers are, what they like to watch, how they watch it and how and when they engage with advertising. By combining this intelligence with the largest content library in the industry, at 35,000-plus titles and growing, we’re able to personalize the experience of every Tubi viewer, engaging and retaining them for longer periods of time. This is a better experience for the viewer, and also great for the bottom line. Chris McCarthy, president and CEO, ViacomCBS media networks and MTV Entertainment Studios: That mental health is health: we all have it and it’s our responsibility to take care of ourselves and each other’s well-being. As we know, mental health challenges are rapidly on the rise. Our group has been doing its part over the past 15 years by working with mental-health experts to integrate awareness and help-seeking tools within our content. This year, more than ever, we felt like we had to take it to a whole new level. We convened leading global entertainment companies to harness our collective creator power to solve what experts are calling a "second pandemic" through storytelling. Together, we founded the first-ever Mental Health Media Guide in our industry, hosted a Mental Health Storytelling Summit and created a new national new holiday: Mental Health Action Day. Our work is already proving to be a profound game changer: storytelling provides us with the opportunity to destigmatize the issue and normalize conversations, inspire people to take action for themselves and others and, ultimately, drive transformational change. Dan McDermott, president of entertainment and AMC Studios, AMC Networks: The same message of every year: people want to watch great characters and stories, it doesn't matter whether the content is delivered via linear networks, streaming services, third-party digital platforms or anywhere else. Viewers want to be entertained, moved and engaged. Here at AMC Networks we stay focused on this maxim, and not on the noise around platforms, scale and massive content spends. Mark Pedowitz, chairman and CEO, The CW: Stay nimble and stay open-minded, so you’re well equipped to handle any obstacle or challenge thrown in your way— which these days is usually quite often. Scott Rosenberg, svp and gm, platform business, Roku: TV streaming is the future—and experienced continued significant growth this year, despite pandemic and supply-chain effects. Consumers continue to migrate en masse, driving growth in both SVOD and AVOD consumption. Rob Sharenow, president, programming, A+E Networks: You can never have too much toilet paper or frozen food. Brett Weitz, general manager, TBS, TNT and truTV: It’s all about the people. Apart or together, between large-business shifts, cultural shifts and a pandemic, I have seen resiliency and execution among a team I knew was the best in the business, and now there is no denying it. Jana Winograde, president of entertainment, Showtime Networks: When we have our groundbreaking content, coupled with our stellar marketing and partner promotions, we can drive record breaking sub growth and engagement. (Additional reporting by Mollie Cahillane and Kelsey Sutton.)