"In the near future, technology will create opportunities we can't conceive of. We need to use these technologies for the good of society. The key will be, will we listen?"
"I've been married to my wife Dore for 36 years, to Whitney Goit for 21 years, and to Dan Davids and Abbe Raven for 20 years," joked A&E Networks' CEO Nick Davatzes during our lunch at Michael's. Nick and his
colleagues at A&E Networks are the longest-running executive team in the television business and a testament to Nick's loyalty as well as to the exceptional job they have done building A&E, History Channel, Biography Channel, History Channel International and History Channel en Español almost
from scratch. A&E was formed in 1983 through the merger of ABC and Hearst's ARTS Network and NBC's Entertainment Channel creating a partnership as unlikely as it has been successful.
The A&E team (Goit is corporate EVP; Raven and Davids were recently elevated to president of A&E and The History Channel respectively) has maintained its operational independence but it also struggles as the
only top-20 cable television network that does not have the benefit of either government dictated retransmission and must-carry rights or vertical integration with multiple networks or cable operator ownership. "The
playing field has not been level," Nick pointed out, "but we have had twenty years of growth and profitability, and we're having our best year ever."
To most observers, Nick appears quiet and low key, but he is passionate about his work and about social causes, especially education and job opportunities. He serves on the Board of St. John's University, whose
mission is to educate the children of the poor. Forty percent of students there, he says, are from homes with an income less than $30,000 annually. "We need more institutions like that," he believes. Nick grew up, the son of Greek immigrants, on Eighth Avenue and 19th Street in New York's Chelsea district
long before it was fashionable. His apartment building had no central heating and had a bar on the first floor. He attended P.S. 11 Elementary School on 20th Street and Bryant High School in Astoria, Queens.
A&E's Nick Davatzes
"Personally, education was the big difference in my life," he comments. "Today, we're not delivering sufficient resources as a nation to education. We need more focus on this issue. Starting salaries at universities for
PhD's on a tenure track is $45,000. This is fundamentally wrong. Society does not embrace the value of education." Nick believes the media industry could devote more resources to support education and bring
more attention to the issue. "We need to devote more on-air and human resources to put a shining light on societal problems. We've made a commitment but we can do more."
Nick counters the "old school" theory that television reflects society rather than shapes it. "The primary cognitive style of students today is visual and kinetic. We have to accept that our industry has helped shape this
change in society and the changes needed in education. I wonder in the crunch of competition, corporate growth requirements and responsibilities to shareholders, are we fulfilling our requirements to society by
taking responsibility for the changes we help shape?" (The History Channel has created a resource website for history teachers at www.historychannel.com/classroom.) "Our industry is trying but it is not enough; we need more advocates; we need to devote more on-air and human resources. In the near future,
technology will create opportunities we can't conceive of. We need to use these technologies for the good of society. The key will be, will we listen?"
Before moving to the cable industry, Nick worked at Warner-Amex Cable, where MTV and Nickelodeon were created, and before that he spent 13 years at Xerox where he interfaced with the Palo Alto Research Center observing the development of the Apple Computer, local area network, touch
screen and other technologies we take for granted today. "Business was not ready to adapt to all these new technologies," Nick recalls. "We tried to rush them to market but we didn't listen to the market. We didn't factor in the human equation – the pace at which people will change and adapt." In contrast, Nick points out "the cable industry was successful because we listened to the end consumers in the home and their needs." He applies this experience to new media
technologies, commenting "the cable industry twenty years ago was characterized by entrepreneurial managers who were focused on the end consumer. Today, the focus on Wall Street has changed the skill set and game rules for corporate managers. Wall Street expects pick-up rates for new media technologies to
grow faster than society is prepared to adapt, making for a difficult environment to do business in. Cable operators are doing a good job of implementing new technologies and customers in the home will tell us what they want. Once again, the question is 'will we listen?'"
Nick is the son of Greek immigrants, a former Marine whose father served in both the Greek and U.S. armies. He has two sons – one a scientist for the U.S Geological Service and the other a financial executive at GE Capital. His success story personifies the values and opportunities that
were unique to 20th Century America. As the longest reigning network president in the television industry, Nick is perhaps more conscientious and vocal than most about the role of media in shaping society and the resulting responsibilities media executives share. "We are at a crossroads in history in terms of the
values and ethical systems of the United States," Nick believes. "The underpinnings of American society for 200 years have operated under the Judeo/Christian ethic and Protestant work ethic. Being part of the melting pot was the goal of every immigrant. The biases of the past and the old country were left behind. Value systems in America were defined by the melting pot and by educational
opportunity. Where are our value systems today coming from," Nick wonders. "Are we doing all we can to offer the best public education? As a society, we are facing more difficult challenges than ever before, and we have a responsibility to be a voice in dealing with those challenges."
Nick Davatzes is an important voice of leadership for our industry. I hope we're listening.
