Stories
Stories
Inside MTV’s Global Fame
In 1989, Bill Roedy (MBA ’79) was told to transform the American success story MTV into a global presence. Twenty years later, Roedy had built the largest entertainment network in the world, capable of assembling audiences numbering in the billions and making MTV one of the most powerful global brands.
In his fascinating account, What Makes Business Rock: Building the World’s Largest Global Networks (Wiley), Roedy relives deal-making in 175 countries, from the Forbidden City to Karachi, from Oslo to Rio de Janeiro. “I’ve been jet-lagged for more than two decades,” he writes.
A reader should expect great stories from a first-person account combining rock stars, high-octane politicians, and ruthless business executives, and Roedy doesn’t disappoint. There’s the time with Bono (dressed as a nurse) in a Tokyo karaoke bar at 5 a.m. singing “Born in the USA.” Or his wrestling match with the deputy mayor of Leningrad on the floor of the Winter Palace. When the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, Roedy was a few blocks away securing distribution for his fledgling network.
But particularly insightful are his experiences building a global business strategy to establish markets in countries such as Russia and China, which American business interests had largely ignored. Starting out, he crafted a pan-European approach, believing his young audiences wanted shared common experiences around music more than they craved local adaptations. But as MTV Networks International expanded and original programming began to exceed music content, Roedy shifted 180 degrees: now more than 150 local managers would be given independence and their own P&Ls to create programming that reflected pride in their local cultures. “It was a tremendous risk,” he writes. “We were the only media company going local throughout the world, and it was the key to our success.”
Roedy, a former nuclear missile–base commander, created an entrepreneurial, innovative organization with a military “we will win” ethos. The network became a leader at integrated marketing, constantly cutting deals with advertisers not just to buy spots on MTV Europe but also to sponsor entire shows and concerts and to offer unique rewards to viewers as well. He takes credit (or blame) for MTV’s being the first network to put its logo on the screen, now a common practice.
But what made business rock for Roedy, now semiretired and involved in AIDS/HIV issues, was MTV’s power to energize its young, global audience to agitate for social change in areas including global warming, human trafficking, and drug abuse. “We had built the largest network in the world, we had access to an audience of a billion people, and at times it made sense to use it.”
—Sean Silverthorne
Post a Comment
Related Stories
-
- 15 Nov 2023
- Evanston Roundtable
Sound Investment
Re: Steve Rogers (MBA 1985) -
- 01 Sep 2023
- HBS Alumni Bulletin
Turning Point: Listen to the Music
Re: Marnie Tattersall (MBA 1972) -
- 25 Aug 2022
- HBS Alumni Bulletin
Full Stream Ahead
Re: Sherrese Clarke Soares (MBA 2004); By: Jen McFarland Flint -
- 16 Dec 2021
- New York Times
Ken Kragen, a Force Behind ‘We Are the World,’ Dies at 85
Stories Featuring Bill Roedy
-
- 20 Mar 2014
- BusinessBecause
MTV Pioneer's Long and Winding Road
Re: Bill Roedy (MBA 1979) -
- 15 Dec 2011
- Alumni Stories
An HBS gift guide
Re: Amy Jain (MBA 2010); Darren Brehm (MBA 2007); Chance Cuffe (MBA 2006); Selena Cuffe (MBA 2003); Denny Hanson (OPM 2); Roger Martin (MBA 1981); Bill Roedy (MBA 1979); Sarah Endline (MBA 2001); Sarah Kauss (MBA 2003); Mark Tercek (MBA 1984); Ray Yang (MBA 2003); Leigh Rawdon (MBA 2001); Jamie Hanna (MBA 1998); By: Bulletin Staff -
- 19 May 2011
- Reuters
What Makes Business Rock
Re: Bill Roedy (MBA 1979)