*On Tuesday (10/18/22), NBCU Academy hosted its second Next Level Summit, a free, all-day virtual event featuring talent and executives across the NBCU portfolio. Led entirely by the NBCU News Group’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion team, the Summit presented headlining sessions and breakout industry chats with a focus on technology and innovation in media and the career paths available in this space.
MSNBC President Rashida Jones, NBC News President Noah Oppenheim, CNBC President KC Sullivan and Telemundo Station Group EVP of News Ozzie Martinez gathered in studio 6A in 30 Rockefeller Plaza to discuss how the growing demand for streaming and digital content is transforming the media industry.
NBCU News Group Chairman Cesar Conde opened the Summit with NBCU Academy’s significant efforts to provide training and education to diverse communities across the nation by increasing its academic partnerships to 45 schools and expanding the NBCU Academy embed program to 11 recent graduates.
See below for highlights from the conversation, “The Future is Here: News & Entertainment in the Digital and Streaming Age,” moderated by CNBC’s Shepard Smith.
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Rashida Jones on the future of documentary style content for MSNBC and streaming:
“A lot of what we focus on with MSNBC Films are stories that we would normally be talking about on air, but we look for stories that bring a deeper meaning and a deeper perspective. We’re lucky in that we have a partner with NBC News Studios, and that they know our brand, culture and content. I think this is only the beginning. We want to continue to grow and continue to find ways to tell different stories.”
Noah Oppenheim on streaming:
“It’s no secret, streaming is the future when it comes to the media business, generally, both in the entertainment category and in the news category. We launched NBC News NOW in 2019 and we made a couple of pretty important decisions. One, we decided to make it free and two, we decided to try to push it out on as many platforms as possible to make it ubiquitous. What we’ve seen in the last few years is an enormous explosion in terms of audience growth, such that we’ve got 100 million views per month now, 30 million hours viewed and thankfully, we’re now the number one streaming news platform.”
KC Sullivan on how advances of technology impact CNBC’s brand and audiences:
“I think a key tenant of CNBC and our brand is being actional and the speed at which we’re able to get information from technology allows us to meet that need. As more and more of our audience consumes our content online and through digital platforms, we’re able to understand better because the data we get back is better on what’s resonating, why it’s resonating.”
Ozzie Martinez on balancing content production that appeals to a target audience:
“At the end of the day, we want to continue to focus on what we do. We’re serving our communities, we’re going out, we’re telling stories from folks who would not otherwise get representation. So, I would say our focus continues to be storytelling, good journalism, no matter what technologies come along, it’s what we need to continue to do.”
During the session “Taking Your Career to the Next Level,” “Morning News NOW” co-anchor and “Stay Tuned” co-host Savannah Sellers welcomed NBCU News Group SVP of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Yvette Miley to the stage by saying:
“It’s just a full circle moment to be sitting here with you and it means so much to me because you mentoring people and you pouring into people is who you are in this building when no one’s watching, never mind the students across the country right now.”
Yvette Miley on the origin of NBCU Academy:
“Why do we exist? To share, to connect other people, to give a pipeline or a bridge from classrooms to newsrooms, to give folks who are in their career an opportunity to get better so they can give back.”
Other sessions included “The Tech Revolution & News” with NBC News & MSNBC Design & Production Senior VP Marc Greenstein, NBC News & MSNBC Production Technology Senior Director Alex Bassett, NBC News Field Operations & Engineering VP Marc Weinstock and NBC News Digital Software Engineering Senior Manager Sam Swartz showcasing the ways technology is revolutionizing the art of storytelling, moderated by NBC News Business & Data Reporter Brian Cheung and NBC News & MSNBC Political Correspondent Steve Kornacki.
Additionally, NBC News correspondent & co-host of “Stay Tuned” on Snapchat Gadi Schwartz, NBC News correspondent and “Southlake” podcast co-host Antonia Hylton, NBC Sports host Ahmed Fareed, MSNBC & NBC News anchor Richard Lui, and NBCU Academy Strategic Partnerships & Initiatives director Sandy Sharp moderated interactive breakout rooms and career expo sessions.
source: nbcuni.com
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