INFORMATION GOVERNANCE IN SOCIETY
AN INTERVIEW WITH
NICKOLAS RHODES CONTENT PACKAGING PIONEER
F
or over 25 years Nickolas Rhodes has been part of senior management for several successful start-up and early-stage companies in programming content and video technology. In launching and building these businesses, he was a strategist for the acquisition of $225 million in committed equity and an operating manager through exit––with over $2.5 billion in asset value created. This included being the lead development executive of four 24-hour sports programming channels, six specialty cross platform content sites, and two 24-hour satellite radio networks. Rhodes is one of a small number of executives who has taken multiple programming offerings from concept and business plan to launch and profitability. He also served as Managing Director and President/COO of two video software companies that are at the forefront of evolving technologies for video production and were built to meet demands of changing consumer behavior around connected devices. He was part of the executive teams that built regional sports television, interactive sports television deployments, action sports and lifestyle events, and the first Spanish language sports network in North America. He also was part of start-up program syndication properties, and built content packaging blueprints for the music, action, and gaming categories.
Nickolas Rhodes relaxing at home in Malibu.
InfoGov World: Where did you grow up? Go to school? I grew up in Waterloo, Iowa, and attended local catholic grade school and high school, and then the University of Iowa. What are your best childhood memories of Iowa? Do you still make it back? My best memories of growing up in Iowa in the 70s was that we had to make our own fun––there were no video games, not even cable TV, and certainly no mobile phones. We were on our bikes and largely on our own, just making sure to be home in time for dinner. I get back to Iowa 2 or 3 times per year, usually around an Iowa football game and a summer family reunion. How did you get in to the cable TV business? I moved to L.A. to join Prime Ticket, a regional sports network distributed on cable TV, so I got into the business as a content packager and supplier. How did your Prime Ticket venture develop? What was unique about Prime Ticket? Prime Ticket was started by Bill Daniels and Jerry Buss, both legendary individuals. There were less than 20 people at the company when I was hired (at 26 years old). What was unique about Prime Ticket is the level of talent among the executive team by whom I was mentored and taught the business. John Severino, the former President of ABC Television, then Roger Werner, former CEO of ESPN, Mr. Daniels, of course, and the many sports team owner personalities as our content partners.
14
INFOGOVWORLD.COM
Tell us about the SpeedTV/OLN venture, how it got launched, how it developed, and the end result/exit. I left Prime Ticket after it was sold to Fox/Liberty to join Roger Werner as the first employee of a new content venture when I was 31. I had worked for Roger at Prime Ticket and he was founding what would become Speedvision. Roger has been my mentor and friend for decades now, and as I get older I realized how lucky I was to have him as a boss. Roger built ESPN from 1980 to 1990 before coming to Prime Ticket and the Prime Networks; he was one of the most respected network builders in all of cable. We built a business plan for Speedvision and sought $100mm in equity to build the network. Cox Communications committed to one-third of the funding for Speedvision, and they had agreed to buy the Times Mirror Cable systems and put together a programming venture fund. They put Roger in touch with Times Mirror, who agreed to invest in Speedvision if Roger put his team in place to manage their channel in development called Outdoor Life Network. So we combined the two networks into a single operating plan and then got $200mm in equity to build both. Ironically, Times Mirror pulled back from the investment shortly after committing, creating some real challenges, but Roger was able to replace their investment with Comcast and Continental Cable, giving us more distribution and a more stable launch platform. In a period of seven years, we went from essentially a blank page to over $250mm in annual revenue and Speedvision and OLN were sold for just under $1.5 Billion in 2001.