Math & Magic: Stories from the Frontiers of Marketing with Bob Pittman

It’s impossible to make good business decisions with bad information. That’s where truth-seeking reporters like Stephanie Ruhle come in. Host of the 11th Hour on MSNBC and Senior Business Analyst for NBC News, Stephanie has brought truth and accountability to power by breaking momentous stories like the London Whale loss. Bob talks to Stephanie about how she navigated a major career pivot, the surprising role New York City restaurants played in her career advancements, and how companies can get media coverage (spoiler alert: it’s easier than you think!).See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 2019, the Black Information Network— a full-time news service by and for the black community— was in the early stages of planning at iHeartMedia. But when George Floyd was murdered, Tony Coles, one of iHeart’s Division Presidents who had been overseeing BIN’s development, knew the platform needed to launch immediately. Tony, now President of BIN, reflects on how he and his team were able to spring into action so effectively, some stories that have made the biggest impact, and why triumphs deserve as much coverage as tragedies.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jeff Bewkes started at HBO as something of a traveling salesman; his job was to urge motels to add HBO to their properties and their marquees. Later, Jeff would become the last CEO of Time Warner, and engineered the company’s sale to AT&T. Jeff shares the original programming gambles that paid off, what television in the 90s teaches us about the streaming wars and how spending childhood summers on a farm shaped his business sense. Plus, Bob and Jeff give their intersecting stories from the historic Time Inc. / Warner Communications merger.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What do Enron, Warner Music Group and Krispy Kreme have in common? “King of the Turnaround” Steve Cooper’s guiding hand during key transitions. Bob sits down with the business legend to talk about the possibilities of web3, Steve’s upcoming departure from WMG and why we should all rewatch Disney’s “Wall-E.”See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you think a neuroscientist couldn’t lead a master class in marketing, you haven’t met Dr. David Eagleman. Professor of Brain Plasticity at Stanford, best-selling author, TV host and CEO of neurotech company Neosensory, David has a passion for applying neuroscience to topics beyond academic science. In fact, Bob considers David’s book “Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain” as one of the most important marketing books ever written. In this episode, we find out why.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Suzy Deering has been preparing to take the business world by storm since the second grade, and she certainly has. She’s shaped powerhouse brands like Verizon and eBay, and now serves as the Global CMO of Ford. Learn how Suzy’s experience shepherding landline customers to wireless is informing her marketing strategy around electric cars, and why your car isn’t just a car— it’s a lifestyle.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Join Bob Pittman for the new season of Math & Magic. This season, Bob sits down with visionaries—from CEOs, to neuroscientists, and everyone in-between—to hear how they’ve used data and creativity to successfully adapt to the biggest changes of our time: the metaverse, fake news, remote work, championing stories that matter, and more.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today, Bob goes from podcast host to podcast guest and sits down with actor Minnie Driver for her iHeartRadio podcast, Minnie Questions. Bob shares why he’s grateful for a childhood injury, lessons from growing up in the South during the Civil Rights Movement, and why plans are sometimes bad for business. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What do start-up founders and hip hop artists have in common? According to Ben Horowitz: a lot! Since his teenage years, Ben has been inspired by hip hop artists’ ability to create something from nothing-- and he took that guiding ethos with him to Silicon Valley. So even when industry giants shrugged off what would become the internet as we know it, Ben always saw it for what it could be… and in his roles at Netscape and Opsware, Ben actualized it. Learn how at his VC firm Andreessen Horowitz, Ben is helping entrepreneurs actualize their big ideas. Plus, Bob and Ben travel in time to look at the future of some of today’s biggest topics: remote work, video streaming platforms, biotech, and, of course, audio. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In honor of the 40th anniversary of MTV, we’re rereleasing a fan-favorite episode: the real story of MTV, as told by the founders. Today MTV is a cultural institution, but people forget what a long shot it was to get the channel off the ground. Bob Pittman led the team that created MTV. In this special episode, he reminisces with co-founders and friends John Sykes, Judy McGrath, Fred Seibert, Tom Freston and Jarl Mohn about what it was like to create the '80s version of a start-up and lead a TV revolution by dreaming up the rules as they went along. From why the first MTV logo was designed on crinkled paper (it spent a little time in a trash bin), to how a tiny record store in Tulsa helped save the business, to why you should really think twice about going on a Lost Weekend with Van Halen... all the way to how a terrible cereal inspired one of the greatest ad slogans of all time: “I want my MTV,” we’ve packed this episode full of stories that marketers, fans and entrepreneurs will all want to hear.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.