Feature: [itvt] Interview with John P. Roberts

[itvt]: Could you tell us a little about your background and about how you got into interactive TV?

Roberts: I grew up in Rochester, NY. As a kid, I was obsessed with video games. I was one of the first people on my block to get a Pong. I got all the little hand-held games, including electronic football.

[itvt]: Did you ever play Defender?

Roberts: Absolutely.

[itvt]: That was my favorite game.

Roberts: My favorite was Galaga. Then, during my freshman year in high school, they offered the very first computer class. I signed up for it because I thought we would be playing games on the computer. When I found out it was more about programming, that didn't last too long. I liked the computer because of the game aspect of it.

[itvt]: Where did you go to college?

Roberts: The State University of New York: SUNY Fredonia. I was a business major and two years into college, I was coming back from an accounting class one day, when I saw someone doing a student film. I asked him what he was doing, and he told me he was making a film for a film class. I literally changed my major the next day to TV and Film Production. I signed up for the student-run TV station, produced a couple of TV shows over the next couple of years, and graduated in May of '87. I packed up my car and moved to LA that spring. I ended up working for a little film company called Howard International Film Group. Its big claim to fame was "A Man Called Horse" with Richard Harris. After a couple of years, I ended up moving back east, and then lived in Europe for six months. I got a job teaching English at a university in Czechoslovakia. This hiatus out of life, as it were, helped to clear my head. Eventually, I realized I needed to go back to LA, and this time do it right. I got a job as a coordinator--at 20th Century Fox, Fox's film group. I transferred into 20th Television in 1992, working in basic cable syndication sales--basically selling the Twentieth Television TV library to the different cable TV networks. Rupert Murdoch wanted to launch a cable network and I was one of the first six people hired to go over and help launch FX. The timing was perfect because Murdoch had just acquired an online company called Delphi. It was a text-based online service.

[itvt]: From Sears?

Roberts: Actually, Prodigy was from Sears. Delphi was its own company, based out of Boston. A friend of mine from 20th Television moved over to Delphi. I went over to FX, and we kept in touch.

[itvt]: What year was this?

Roberts: 1993. He convinced me that we should get FX working with Delphi and figure out what we could do with the online world. So I convinced the powers that be to let me have a computer set up at our booth at the NCTA that year and demonstrate how Delphi and FX were going to work together. We did demos all day, and everybody started getting it. Then Rupert Murdoch showed up at the booth and I gave him a demo. It went well, so when I went back to LA, I wrote a business plan for the creation of the FX Online department. The CFO greenlit it, and we launched what was actually the first television-network Web site. We beat ESPN by two weeks. From there, I moved over to Fox Broadcasting, where I created the online department for Fox where we launched the respective Web sites for Fox Sports, Fox Prime Time and Fox Kids.

[itvt]: What year was this?

Roberts: That was '95. Then I went over to Universal Studios and headed up new business development for the online group. Then, when Rupert Murdoch and Haim Saban did a joint venture to acquire the Family Channel from Pat Robertson and create Fox Family Worldwide, I got an opportunity to come back and head up the online department. Rich Cronin [now CEO of the Game Show Network] started a couple of months later, and he fortunately was a big advocate of online and interactive TV. In '98, we launched an interactive task force to really take a look at the lay of the land, determine how we could work with some of these companies that were emerging, and figure out the world of ITV. I worked with Rich for a couple of years and we really did some great things there. Then, when my contract was up, I got an opportunity to work for Paul Allen at Vulcan. He was creating a new company, called Vulcan Programming, which was going to be spearheading the effort to launch digital cable networks.

[itvt]: Was he already thinking about interactive television at that time?

Roberts: Yes. This was around two years ago. Paul is a visionary and if you go look at his Web site (http://www.paulallen.com) and read his thoughts on the "Wired World," you'll see that he truly gets it. I think he is also realistic about how fast it is going to happen, too. That was actually one of the reasons I went to work for him: although we were moving at a good pace, I was really looking to get some faster results.

[itvt]: What were your projects at Vulcan?

Roberts: We did a lot of research and development. We devoted a lot of time to deciding what networks we wanted to launch. We went through a lot of revisions and a lot of meetings, in order to determine exactly what it was we were going to launch.

[itvt]: He hasn't launched any networks, though.

Roberts: Not yet.

[itvt]: What kinds of networks are going to be offered?

Roberts: I can't tell you everything, but the networks will be about very niche-oriented subjects which Paul is very passionate about and which he thinks people will have an interest in. Content that will potentially generate revenue from an audience. Anyhow, after a little over a year at Vulcan, I got a call from Rich Cronin. He had an opportunity at the Game Show Network. He basically said, "We have an opportunity over here for you here: how would you be interested in heading up interactive?" I said yes right away when I thought about the content of what they were doing. I remembered how, as a kid, I'd watch Match Game or Password and cover up the bottom of the screen with my hand, so as to try and figure out the answers. I would be yelling out the answers.

[itvt]: So you were…

Roberts: …interacting with my TV during game shows? Exactly. In general, my job at the Game Show Network really ties together everything I have ever been passionate about. I get to work in television, I get to play games, I get to figure out how computers and set-top boxes can be used to enhance television, and I get to be creative. If you asked me to write down the perfect job, this would be it. It was really one of those situations where you just follow your passions, and then everything comes together. I couldn't be in a better place.

[itvt]: So when you first got hired, was it strictly to develop online projects to accompany game shows?

Roberts: No. Game Show Network's number-one goal is to increase distribution, and my being hired was to think of ways we can get distribution partners excited about our network and help them build new businesses. Interactive TV is an essential part of that. We were very aware of the various stepping-stones that would be needed in order to get there. So part of the job in front of us is to drive awareness. Our interactive efforts revolve around synching the TV broadcast with the PC. It gets viewers used to interacting with TV programming. When the Game Show Network first launched in 1994, you would call an 800 number and press 1, 2, 3 or 4 to interact with the show. It was a little cumbersome, but it did get viewers used to seeing the Game Show Network as an interactive network. The next logical step will be to move things to broadcast. As we meet with more and more distribution partners, we find that they are very interested in moving forward into this whole ITV play-along scenario. They're interested in us figuring out a way to use the advanced set-top boxes, so that people at home can play along with their remote control.

[itvt]: And so, when you started at the Game Show Network, you began pursuing partnerships with Spiderdance, Two Way TV, GoldPocket, and so on?

Roberts: The Game Show Network's goal--besides growing bigger--was to skew younger. The audience was a little older and we really wanted to focus on the 18-49 segment. 85% of our interactive audience is 18-49. So interactivity has really helped us with our demographic goals.

[itvt]: What kind of distribution does the Game Show Network enjoy?

Roberts: We're now in 48 million homes, and it's continuing to grow. We are in a really good place. People are taking notice.

[itvt]: How many cable operators are you working with?

Roberts: We are across the board. It's just about how much penetration we have with each MSO and satellite operator. Our affiliate sales team is top notch. It is headed up by Ann Droste, who has been at the Game Show Network for a long time. She has a great relationship with the MSO's and the satellite operators. She is leading the charge to get into more homes.

[itvt]: What were your top priorities when you started at the Game Show Network?

Roberts: When I first started at the Game Show Network, I spent a lot of time reviewing its Web site. While it was clear that they were definitely leading the charge in ITV experimentation, the problem was that it was all over the board. I think it was confusing to viewers. There needed to be consistency, so that regardless of which particular game show you wanted to play along with, you could get set up to do that through a one-stop shop, so as to speak. However, at the time, if you wanted to play along with Inquisition, you needed to download the Spiderdance player. If you wanted to play along with The $100,000 Pyramid, you needed another player. If you wanted to play Family Feud, you had to download the SpotMagic player. So it was really a lot of downloads. What we were trying to do when I came on board was ensure consistency and make interactivity simple enough to be used by the lowest common denominator. I was also looking at how well interactivity was being implemented: for example, the interactivity around The $100,000 Pyramid wasn't really compelling. It was along the lines of "How many points do you think the team will score this round?" And the bonus question was "How many seconds do you think will be left on the clock?" For me, that's not what the medium of interactive TV is about.

[itvt]: So what does make for compelling interactive TV?

Roberts: It's being able to go from a passive experience, and enhancing it so that the viewer gets a more in-depth experience with the programming. When we're doing development of projects, we talk about how we're going to try and put a square peg in a round hole. If we launch six shows, hopefully four or five of them will be interactive. If we have two shows that are equally engaging, but one lends itself more to interactivity, we will probably go with that show.

[itvt]: Where do you think interactivity on the Game Show Network will be six months to a year from now?

Roberts: I keep going back to the concept of simplicity. You want to make it so easy for the end user, that it just becomes so easy to engage in playing along. So to move this thing along, I expect we'll be working more on one-screen interactivity, and that our audience will be using the remote control to play along.

[itvt]: How do you plan to educate the viewer? Or are they educating themselves?

Roberts: That's a great question. It's really a combination of the two. One thing that we discovered was that these shows that we were making interactive in the past--a lot of people did not know about them. Because it wasn't obvious, unless you went to the Web site. So we created what we called the "60-second tutorial." Before the show would air, we would do a 60-second spot telling people that the show was going to be interactive and here is what you need to do to play along.

[itvt]: What are you doing to let the public beyond your current viewers know that the Game Show Network is interactive? Are you thinking about doing some kind of marketing campaign?

Roberts: Dena Kaplan in our marketing department embraces this whole arena. You'll notice that in a lot of our current campaigns for our programming, we put on the bottom of the page or the screen that you can play along, and that you should go to www.gameshownetwork.com for details. We continually try to let people know that this is a play-along network, not a passive one. If you want to have a passive experience, the shows are enjoyable by themselves. But we are encouraging people to try an enhanced experience.

[itvt]: Which demographic segments are taking advantage of the interactivity, and how do they respond to it?

Roberts: I would say around 85% are 18-49. It breaks down pretty evenly between men and women. There are some shows that we find are viewed more by women. And we get some really great comments from the audience: last night, for example, one woman said, "I only planned to stay for Whammy! but I kept getting hooked into one show after the other. The interactivity is so cool. I think Russian Roulette was my favorite, but it is a close race. Thanks for the good time. I can't wait for more." I mean, when you get a comment like that, nothing is better. That was one of the coolest things to hear.

[itvt]: Are you able to give out numbers about how many people are taking advantage of Whammy!'s interactive capabilities?

Roberts: I can say that we have over 500,000 people in our interactive registrant database playing along. We have had some really good response rates that we never thought we would get. It just continues to grow.

[itvt]: So you have to register online first?

Roberts: You can play as a guest, but, unless you register, you're not eligible for prizes. We give away prizes for all our interactive shows.

[itvt]: How has Goldpocket's backend technology worked for you guys?

Roberts: We're using their Event Matrix technology to enable these blocks of 2-screen ITV programming we've been offering. It requires the viewer to do one simple download, and the same set-up will work for all the shows in the evening's block. You don't have to log out and log back in; you just go seamlessly into the next show. This seamlessness has helped build our interactive audience: we launched Greed in January, and by late March its audience had--I don't want to say "stagnated"--but it had leveled off. So when we launched Whammy! in April, we scheduled it immediately before Greed. That evening, interactive traffic for Greed tripled, as viewers who'd been playing along with Whammy continued to play along. Keeping the viewers playing is one of the big advantages of GoldPocket's technology.

[itvt]: How is all the interactivity you're offering playing out financially? How is it affecting the bottom line?

Roberts: Well, this year we have a new ad-sales team headed up by Michael Sakin. One thing that they've gone out there selling is that, along with buying the Game Show Network, you can also have interactive advertising. So, for the first time ever, we have AT&T and Discover Card signing up for this. When the commercials come on, our audience actually watches them because we ask questions about them. For answering the questions correctly, they get bonus points, as well as additional sweepstakes entries.

[itvt]: Do the advertisers pay more for interactive advertising?

Roberts: Not right now. What we're doing is letting them know that this is part of the package. By advertising with the Game Show Network, you get the interactivity and you get a very niche audience. We're going out there and saying this is a package deal--and advertisers are getting it.

[itvt]: Did AT&T work with you to create their interactive ad, or did they work with an ad agency?

Roberts: We worked with a 30-second spot their agency had produced for them. What we did was to come up with questions we could ask about the spot, and we also developed branding for the display of those questions on the computer screen: so the screen was re-branded during the spot.

[itvt]: So you provided a sort of agency service for them--skipped the middleman, so as to speak.

Roberts: Yes. Also, during the spots, we'd ask viewers if they'd like us to provide AT&T with their email addresses to receive further information. So we're not imposing on them--and now AT&T knows who exactly interacted with their ads, and the company gets feedback and gets to send additional information to viewers who could be potential customers.

[itvt]: Do you get paid per email address?

Roberts: No, we don't.

[itvt]: On a different topic: Liberty, which owns 50% of the Game Show Network, recently purchased OpenTV, and presumably they're going to consolidate their ITV efforts. Is this something you think you might benefit from?

Roberts: I think anything they do, we will benefit from. We have two great parents. We benefit from both their assets, from what they know. We are really fortunate in that arena. In fact, we have on our board three members from Sony and three from Liberty. They are very responsive, and we are privy to what they have learned and what they have to offer. We've talked to people over at Liberty Livewire and looked at what they have to offer, and they will help us in any way they can. They have also, by the way, seen what GoldPocket can do, and they're very impressed with that, too.

[itvt]: Do you see yourselves ever providing ITV games for the international market?

Roberts: International is definitely on the radar screen, but the focus right now is the network in the United States. We want to make that the biggest success that we can, by getting into more homes. Rich always tells this great story: when he was at MTV, he had a gold record that said "Congratulations for getting into 25 million homes!" MTV is now in over 400 million homes worldwide, and is an international brand. But they had to build that brand first in the United States. That's what we want to do. Our mission statement is that we want to own games on TV the way MTV owns music and CNN owns news. We think we can do that. But the thing is that you have to build that over time, and that is something that we will get to.

[itvt]: What about VOD--do you have any plans to offer your content on an on-demand basis?

Roberts: VOD is definitely on our radar screen. But what we're focused on for now is trying to figure out how to build a really strong network with compelling game shows that people want to watch. However, whatever our distribution partners' needs are, we will figure out ways of working with them to make them happy.

[itvt]: When people in the future look back at this period in the history of ITV, how would you like them to perceive the Game Show Network's role?

Roberts: I hope they see us as pioneers who really led the charge in this arena.. When you have the ability to have a two-way interaction, you have to develop content that is made for this two-way medium. If you have the opportunity to communicate with your viewer, what better way to take advantage of this than through game shows? All our game shows are interactive-ready, and I think that we have a responsibility to try to move this thing forward as fast and timely as possible. To do it right from the get-go.

[itvt]: One last question. Why is ITV important?

Roberts: ITV is important because it gives the network the ability to hear the viewer, to make a connection with the viewer like no other medium. From the get-go, TV was created from the advertisers. Now we have the ability to let the advertisers know who the viewers are, and the viewers have a chance to be heard and say what they feel about certain things and get additional information. It's really moving this business forward and opening lines of communication.

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