Most of the western world knows Mark Cuban as the high-voltage lightning rod who bought the Dallas Mavericks in 2000 and quickly became the NBA’s most provocative, fine-prone owner.
But there’s another side to Cuban that’s also nothing but net. His eclectic high-definition network, HDNet, was launched in 2001 in partnership with Colorado Studios president Philip Garvin. Their HDNet Movies, also available on a growing number of cable and satellite providers, followed closely behind in 2003.
Cuban of course is the principal mouthpiece for these still-fledgling TV networks and for Magnolia Pictures, the programming-distribution arm which he birthed in 2001 with 2929 Entertainment partner Todd Wagner.
All three properties are declarations of independence in Cuban’s view. He made that abundantly clear in 2006 by hiring Dan Rather to anchor HDNet’s weekly newsmagazine Dan Rather Reports. At the time, Cuban said he didn’t care about Rather’s eventually acrimonious exit from CBS News after a controversial and later retracted 2004 report questioning the validity of President George W. Bush’s Texas Air National Guard Service.
“Hard news needs backers who won’t back down,” Rather said of Cuban, whose HDNet was available in only about 4 million homes when Dan Rather Reports premiered in November 2006. His new boss in turn said that Rather would be given total independence in his “fearless” pursuit of the truth. Their partnership still endures as Rather nears his 77th birthday on Oct. 31.
Cuban, who had a landmark 50th birthday in July, says that HDNet now has more than 10 million subscribers and is growing at roughly 5 percent each month at a time when high-definition TV sets are starting to become standard equipment in American households.
His HDNet Movies menu similarly has pumped up the volume. The network’s “Sneak Preview” package of smaller independent films gives them a one-night stand on the network prior to their theatrical release in Cuban’s chain of Landmark theaters, now in 18 of the top 20 U.S. markets, including The Magnolia in Dallas.
But HDNet Movies no doubt has bigger crowd-pleasers with its growing array of time-tested attractions, ranging from Lawrence of Arabia to One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest to a recent festival of six Steven Spielberg films, including Jaws and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. All are presented unedited, commercial-free, and in “true 1080i high-definition,” press materials boast.
The following Q&A, which Cuban as usual requested be conducted by e-mail, takes a closer look at his lesser-known off-court enterprises.
D CEO: Your slogan for HDNet and HDNet Movies is “Original. Provocative. Independent.” Meanwhile, big media companies continue to buy up cable networks that originally were launched as independent enterprises. What are consumers losing in this bargain, Mark? And can you ever envision selling your still-independent networks to one of these rampaging beasts?
MARK CUBAN: No plans to sell ever. I want this to be a family heirloom.
Great. Let’s talk about being one of the last of the independents, then. What are you doing that other cable networks perhaps can’t because of corporate constraints and formulaic programming philosophies?
I am personally responsible for programming. We do many things that differentiate us from corporately owned networks. There are far, far fewer commercials. Many of our shows and all of our movies are not interrupted by commercials at all. This allows us to charge more for those we do have, and have far happier customers.
We don’t troll for every nickel. You don’t see us popping up little ads over programming. Our HDNet Movies “Sneak Previews” and HDNet “Ultra Video On Demand” have upset every major movie-theater chain to the point that they will not run those movies we have previews of.
A corporately owned entity would not risk those relationships. I think it’s good business and the right thing to do. We won’t ever copy-protect or limit output of our content. That’s a waste of money and a lie big media tell themselves, that they will protect their content to the point of limiting other options for their customers.
I love to take chances with programming, whether it’s Dan Rather, our award-winning HDNet World Report, or pushing the envelope with our mixed martial arts coverage. We’ve also created shows like Inside MMA to take on the big players in that [extreme fighting] market.
Let’s focus on HDNet Movies for a bit. You have an impressive list of titles, with films ranging from E.T. the Extra-Terrestial to The Searchers to Dr. Strangelove to Easy Rider. You’re also premiering a number of independent films that can’t be seen elsewhere. My feeling, though, is that you might be missing a great window of opportunity to mount a major multi-media ad campaign during a time when Turner Classic Movies and American Movie Classics still are not in high-definition and likely won’t be until next year, if then. Have you thought about raising the profile of one of television’s best-kept secrets?
Of course we have. No question about it. It’s truly a chicken-and-egg thing. We want to see our subscriber base grow a little bit more. When we blow out the advertising—and we will—we want to make sure we can have maximum impact.
Remember, while there is no question that our quality is better than any other network (we have turned down untold numbers of movies and shows that don’t meet our quality requirements), we don’t see being in HD as a key differentiation any more. TCM and AMC in particular are looking to expand with everything but movies. HDNet Movies, in contrast, is adding more exclusive movie products and will work to expand our “Sneak Preview” programming.
While being in HD is a nice differentiation, as is being commercial-free, we think our programming is the key difference. It’s going to be difficult and expensive for other movie networks, whether basic, advertiser-supported cable, or premium, to keep up with us.
Are the classic movies you’re buying getting more affordable as time goes on? It seems to me that the quality of inventory has improved considerably in just the past year.
No, we just continue to increase our investment as we grow.
On HDNet, this fall will mark the two-year anniversary of Dan Rather Reports. You hired him when few others would touch him shortly after he left CBS News. And in truth, he’s done some of his best work for you after some of us, myself included, initially thought he should hang it up. Will Dan Rather Reports remain on HDNet for as long as he wants to continue?
Yes.
What intangibles does he bring to the network?
He wants to be a great reporter, and he knows he has the freedom to do so. In this day and age, that’s unique and that has ignited Dan.
It seems, from this perspective at least, that it’s a pretty expensive program to put on from week to week. What gains, if not financial, do you receive in turn?
I get to watch a really great news program on TV. I do it more for my personal than financial satisfaction.
That in turn begs the question of whether HDNet, HDNet Movies, or your Magnolia Pictures are turning profits yet, or whether you expect them to in the near future. I’m sure you care about the bottom lines of all your holdings. But in some ways, are your two television networks and Magnolia Pictures becoming more labors of love than even the Dallas Mavericks?
The answer is yes. In aggregate we are making money. I’m not going to give you our secret sauce, but our ability to control the vertical chain has been a good thing.
Besides sports programming, what are some of your all-time favorite TV shows? Any guilty pleasures in there? Do you still watch Dancing with the Stars, for instance, after competing last year?
Outside of HDNet shows I still watch DWTS. I Tivo all the CSIs and Law and Orders. These are the shows I usually fall asleep to. My guilty pleasures are the Gene Simmons Family Jewels show—how he interacts with his family cracks me up—and Breaking Bad on AMC.
Finally, Mark, if you could have just one—and only one—which would it be: a Best Picture Oscar with you accepting as producer through Magnolia Pictures, or an NBA title for the Dallas Mavericks?
NBA title. They give out a lot more Oscars than they do NBA titles.
