LANINGHAM: Let's go now to Tim Washer, our official correspondent on the This Week on developerworks Billion Viewer Campaign. Tim, how are you doing?

Transcription

1 This Week on developerworks Billion View Campaign update with comedian Tim Washer Episode date: [ MUSIC ] LANINGHAM: Let's go now to Tim Washer, our official correspondent on the This Week on developerworks Billion Viewer Campaign. Tim, how are you doing? WASHER: Scott, I'm doing outstanding. I'm really excited. LANINGHAM: I see you've got on the George Faulkner Memorial purple, there. That shirt's looking good. WASHER: This is...george inspired me. I'm going to take you back to an IBM photo shoot we did back during the blizzard of aught 3. You're probably too young to remember, but you were there. LANINGHAM: Yes. I'm not too young. WASHER: George wore a gorgeous...it wasn't lavender. It was a Barney purple shirt for that photo shoot. I mean, it was just good looking. I don't think he's ever lived that one down. LANINGHAM: No. You know? For those that don't know, George Faulkner was a fellow IBMer. You and I...you used to be an IBMer, and so we were colleagues in the early podcasting area at IBM. George is another. We all gathered for a group photo. And that's what Tim is referring to here, is George's beautiful purple shirt. Is that the same shirt? Did you borrow that for this show? WASHER: I did borrow this from him. I hope he's not watching because he'll want this back. [ LAUGHTER ] But that's all right. George, listen, George gave me probably one of the best tips. That guy is...he is an outstanding producer. He gave me one of the best tips for a comedy webcast series I was starting. He said, you know what? Just have fun. He said, do like David Letterman, have fun. Don't really worry if your audience is having fun. If you're having fun, your audience will. That was one of the best pieces of advice I've had. He's a good guy. LANINGHAM: Well, let's apply that here because it's doubtful they're having any fun... WASHER: That's right. LANINGHAM:...and at least we can make sure we're having some. Now, Tim, I know you've been keeping a laser eye on this Billion Viewer Campaign that we started a month-and-a-half or so ago. And I'm

2 just wondering, at least right now, what's the word on the street? What are you hearing? WASHER: Listen. I have a...what I've done is we've taken over, commandeered one of those United Way temperature thermostat things and we're keeping track of that here in headquarters in New York. We have just topped the 50 percent mark. And we're coming in close. I think there's a good chance, if you celebrate Christmas, there's a good chance that by the 25th we're going to have that billion viewer. LANINGHAM: Oh, my gosh. WASHER: Yes. This is exciting. LANINGHAM: This is surreal. WASHER: We're well ahead of projections. I'm cautious to be overly optimistic. You know, and I want to kind of guard expectations and guide them downward just to over achieve. You know, that's really how I've succeeded, certainly as a husband, by setting expectations low. [ LAUGHTER ] LANINGHAM: Now, you know, speaking of expectations, we started this with the intent of overtaking Lady Gaga as a leading YouTube channel in viewer rankings. Any word from reaction from the Lady Gaga campaign? WASHER: Yes, we got a call from her camp today, from her publicist. I haven't talked to Lady herself, but they are concerned, they're going to come up... They're working on a sequel to the Telephone video that's even a little bit more risque than the last one so they can stay out ahead of us. But there's concern in the camp. They're doing focus groups right now. They're doing some tests with Beyonce, some screen tests. Talk of bringing in some folks that might score better with an older audience, like Meredith Baxter Birney, just to diversify it a bit. But they're...yes, sir. They're certainly concerned. LANINGHAM: Now, does she go by Lady? Is that actually her first name? WASHER: I did not ask her. It was a very short conversation with her publicist. And a lot of profanity, I'm not going to repeat any of that here, not on this show. It's a family program. But I assume she goes... I thought Lady was her first name and then Gaga is the last name. Wouldn't you think that's her Christian name? LANINGHAM: Yes. I thought Lady was the title and Gaga was what other people were doing around her. But who knows? WASHER: That makes sense, now that you think about it.

3 LANINGHAM: Now, Tim, we know you've covered a lot of marches. I mean I've heard you mentioned as the march correspondent. Or is that about the month and not the activity? I get confused. WASHER: I'm not really sure. I've been given the title and I don't know what march... It's junior march correspondent. So I don't know. But I have covered a few bands in my day. LANINGHAM: Now, I want to ask you because, you know, doing this coverage and having your finger on the pulse of the listeners and viewers out there, how do you describe the typical This Week on the developerworks viewer? I mean, what qualities do we have that is resonating with people that's drawing them into this, you know, exponentially ballooning viewer base that we're talking about here? WASHER: The quality of the show? LANINGHAM: Yes. WASHER: Is that what you're asking about? LANINGHAM: What do you think? WASHER: I think people like the... They have not seen a blend...this is what they're telling me; this is not my... This is the feedback we're getting from the field. They haven't seen a blend and mix of knowledge, of insight and entertainment since Hee Haw. That's what they're telling us. LANINGHAM: That's fantastic. WASHER: I think when you can deliver that, you know, you're going to do a lot better than say a PBS or even a Fox News. You look at what Michael Bolton did on music entertainment. Just how he broke down walls. You know? Look at television. You know, look at television. Think of Alice. You know, it's just some breakthrough programming. That's what developerworks is here. That's what we're doing. LANINGHAM: That's some fantastic company you've got us in there. WASHER: Yes. LANINGHAM: It's humbling. It's humbling. WASHER: It is. [ LAUGHTER ] LANINGHAM: I had to pause and soak that in for a second. WASHER: Listen. If you saw these data you would be humbled.

4 LANINGHAM: All right. Now what are you hearing though? So those are the positives. What are you hearing in regards to the things they want more from us on? Are there some additional features in the show that they're interested in? Are there even cosmetic changes that would encourage more viewers? What are you hearing? WASHER: Yes. They want a new host. LANINGHAM: Okay. WASHER: Is that hard news to deliver? Sure. Is it hard news for you to take? Yes. But I trust as a broadcast journalist of your stature, someone who's followed in the footsteps of a Tom Brokaw, of a Brian Williams, of a Ted Baxter, you know, I'll hold you up to any of those three news men. It's just something to consider, Scott. Don't take it personally. LANINGHAM: Right. WASHER: But that's just what they're telling me. LANINGHAM: Yes. And I appreciate you being straight with me about that. WASHER: Yes. LANINGHAM: Yes. Now you're taking a break for the holidays, Tim. Is that right? Or is this a story like rapidly unfolding involving to the point where you can't even step away from it? WASHER: Listen. I go where the stories are, Scott, you know that. So I'm prepared to travel wherever this takes me. We would like to take a break. I'll probably work another week and then maybe take some time off. I would love to get home to Texas, as a matter of fact. Maybe come visit you. Let's do a show in person. Christmas Day, a Christmas broadcast. LANINGHAM: Where is home for you in Texas? WASHER: We'll be in Austin. LANINGHAM: Austin. WASHER: Yes, sir. We're coming down. So seriously. Why don't we try to, I mean, you know... LANINGHAM: Let's please let's do that. WASHER:...my wife too much. Hey. Speaking of Austin, what I was going to say is I just got off of a telepresence with a guy named Jeff Cohen,

5 who was previously on a webinar just before that with Todd Watson, "Turbo" Todd. LANINGHAM: Oh. Yes. WASHER: Yes. So anyway, Jeff's just written a book called The Social Media. The B-to-B Social Media Book. I have no idea what it's about. The movie's probably going to come out next year with Daniel Day Lewis playing the role of Jeff Cohen. So check it out. But anyway, just to... LANINGHAM: Todd. I love Todd. Todd and I... Todd's going to be on next week. We're going to do his year-end wrap-up, Todd's Favorite Things of WASHER: Good. Outstanding. LANINGHAM: And if that interview isn't one of them, I'll be calling him on that. WASHER: Yes. It should be. I hope it is. It'll be a good one. LANINGHAM: Tim, are you a This Week on developerworks viewer yourself? I didn't ever ask you that. WASHER: Am I what? LANINGHAM: Are you one of our billion viewers yourself? I never asked you that. WASHER: Yes, I am. I am. I was...i think I was number 37. And that was back in...that was during the summer of ' when I first started watching the show and was a big fan. I think I had read in People Magazine that Howard Stern was following you. LANINGHAM: Wow. WASHER: On Twitter back in '82. And that's when I first got interested. And so I've become a big fan. LANINGHAM: He's a big Open Source guy, Howard Stern. WASHER: Yes. Sure he is. Sure he is. LANINGHAM: I think so. He's also into routers. He really, really likes routers a lot. WASHER: He interned here for some time, I believe, before moving into broadcast. It served him well. [LAUGHTER] LANINGHAM: Tim Washer, ladies and gentlemen. Decorated freelance correspondent who has seen it all and then some. Tim, man, thanks for the report, and I hope to see you in Austin in a week or two.

6 WASHER: Scotty, we'll be over for Christmas dinner, buddy. LANINGHAM: Okay. I will work very hard to have a stove in place by then. WASHER: Elephant Room, I'll be there. [LAUGHTER] LANINGHAM: Fantastic. WASHER: All right. LANINGHAM: Tim Washer. Thank you. WASHER: Sure. [ MUSIC ]