Steve Clarke meets JB Perrette, the new head of Discovery Networks International who explains what makes a winning team
JB Perrette needs little by way of introduction to observers of the US entertainment sector. As a senior executive at NBC in the early 2000s, he was one of the innovators of American digital TV and helped to launch the pioneer online video service Hulu.
For two consecutive years (2009 and 2010) The Hollywood Reporter featured Perrette in its Digital Power list. Three years earlier, in 2006, Multichannel News selected him for its 40 Under 40.
In the UK, Perrette, now a youthful 43, is less well known. But that is about to change.
Two months ago, Perrette and his young family (he and his news producer wife, Amy, are parents to a five- and eight-year-old) relocated to London, where he runs Discovery’s thriving international business. The operation is 25 years old this year.
“Credit is due early on to [Discovery founder] John Hendricks and the board for investing in the company instead of taking money out,” he observes.
“At a time when, frankly, a lot of people could have argued you should just sit fat, dumb and happy on a pretty healthy US business, 25 years ago he saw the international opportunity.”
Perrette is talking in a small meeting room at Discovery’s Chiswick HQ on a blistering hot afternoon in early August. He wears smart designer jeans and an open-necked, blue business shirt.
A modest, big, broad-shouldered, clean-cut man, Perrette would look at home on any football pitch. He was appointed President of Discovery Networks International (DNI) in January, and it is in this role that he will give a keynote speech at the RTS’s London Conference on 9 September.
Perrette succeeded company veteran Mark Hollinger. That he did so less than two and a half years after joining Discovery as its Chief Digital Officer speaks volumes about his abilities. Discovery Communications CEO and President David Zaslav said at the time: “JB is one of the smartest and most versatile executives I have worked with in the media business…He has it all – strong strategic vision, operational expertise and exceptional team-building skills.”
Perrette leads what is unquestionably the most dynamic part of the pay-TV giant’s increasingly diverse activities.
In its second-quarter results, Discovery’s international revenues rose 23% while the US contribution slipped 2%; for the first time in the company’s history, international revenues exceeded domestic revenues – $802m, compared with $777m.
He might be relatively new to Discovery, but Perrette’s zeal for the non-fiction specialist borders on the evangelical.
As if he needs reminding of the global scale of his new job, a quintet of clocks on one wall of the room gives local time in the UK, Washington DC, Singapore, Los Angeles and Warsaw.
The first thing that strikes you on meeting Perrette is how healthy he looks, despite the long days and constant travel. Does he work out? I ask.
“I did before this job. I now work out on a plane and at airports, running to gates,” he answers good naturedly.
Travelling, it would appear, is in his blood. His mother is American, but his father is French (at 83, Perrette Senior still works – in investment management) and lives in London.
“If you have the right culture, with the right people who believe in the right thing, there is no stopping you.”
The JB stands for Jean-Briac – the Perrettes come from Saint-Briac in Brittany. “If you work long enough in Anglo countries, particularly in the US, you get a little bit tired of the bastardisation of Jean-Briac. So I decided to go for JB,” Perrette explains.
He speaks French and returns regularly to Brittany. “My love of food is very French,” he says.
Prior to joining NBC, Perrette worked in finance, having begun his career as an analyst for Credit Suisse specialising in derivatives, based in London and Toyko.
When he moved to General Electric (then NBC’s parent company) Perrette was employed on the company’s leadership development programme in the financial services division. This entailed him jetting here, there and everywhere on project-based work.
“I remember the job ad said ‘100% travel’. My wife’s comment was: ‘Only an insane person would actually think that was attractive’,” he recalls.
Following four years of globe-trotting for GE, in 2000 Perrette switched to a business development role at NBC and settled down in New York.
It was there that he met the man who would play such a major part in shaping the next phase of his career.
“From virtually the day I arrived at NBC, I was working with David Zaslav,” he says. “David has many strong traits that I have enormous respect for, but the one I love the most is that he is always playing offence [a US term for attacking in football or basketball].
“He’s a striker and wants to score goals. David has great ambition and great strategic sense.”
Zaslav, head of NBC Universal cable and domestic television, was appointed CEO of Discovery in 2006. At NBC Perrette not only helped get Hulu up and running but also oversaw the launch of digital channels Sleuth, Chiller and Universal HD.
“In a career one has to be good and fortunate,” he notes. “At the time, GE was investing heavily in NBC.
“As a deals person, there’s nothing better than to actually work for a company that wants to do deals. We bought Bravo, Telemundo and, ultimately, Universal.”
Later, as Discovery’s Chief Digital Officer, Perrette led several successful acquisitions, including reputedly paying $30m for San Francisco-based, online-video start-up Revision3.
Looking back on this time, he says candidly: “Compared with other companies that spent billions… The reality is that we learned a lot over that period. We got some great DNA into the company.
“But it is very hard to pair Animal Planet, which is about entertainment and telling stories, with a pet adoption site called Petfinder. They can’t do much together. There’s not that much synergy.”
Last year Discovery sold Petfinder.
In an increasingly online world, where audiences are moving towards non-linear and multi-platform viewing, Discovery remains a company built firmly on non-fiction storytelling.
Perrette’s digital expertise will play a big role in determining how successfully Discovery can future-proof its brands and content.
His top three Discovery shows? Deadliest Catch, Treehouse Masters and Wheeler Dealers.
During the past two and a half years the scale of Discovery’s ambitions have been made plain: the firm has acquired free-to-air networks in Scandinavia, taken a controlling stake in Eurosport, bought half of UK super-indie All3Media and reportedly came close to purchasing the UK’s Channel 5.
Discovery’s choice of London for its international hub underscores the importance of the UK to the firm’s overall activities.
Does Discovery want to own a British broadcaster? “We will look opportunistically at everything,” says Perrette. “The reality, and this shows how far Discovery has come, is that we are rumoured, rightly or wrongly, to be involved in almost every conversation.
“That’s OK. We’re comfortable with that. We probably do look at everything. And we will continue to look at everything, but we will do it with a very disciplined eye.”
Culturally, the new head of DNI says that Discovery is more akin to Google than to NBCU.
“It’s a more focused company… We don’t have a film studio, we don’t have theme parks, we’re not trying to do 50 things.
“It’s all about igniting, and trying to satisfy, curiosity; informing while entertaining.
“We’re all trying to put points on the board. We’re less interested in who did it. We’re more interested in ‘Did we win?’”
He adds: “I’ve never worked for a mission-driven company or a purpose-driven company [before]…
“There is something incredibly powerful culturally about companies that are mission driven.
“David certainly lives it, leads it and breathes it every day… It was rooted in John Hendricks… I am a big believer in [the idea that] culture eats strategy for breakfast.
“If you have the right culture, with the right people who believe in the right thing, there is no stopping you.”
JB Perrette, President of Discovery Networks International, is a keynote speaker at the RTS London Conference on 9 September.
JB Perrette at a glance
2014 President, Discovery Networks International
2011 Chief Digital Officer, Discovery Communications
2006 President, Digital Distribution, NBC Universal
2004 SVP, New Media and Strategy, NBC Universal
2003 CFO, Bravo Media, NBC Universal
2000 VP, Business Development, NBC Universal
1996 Senior Manager, GE Audit Staff, GE Capital
1993 Analyst, Credit Suisse
