Historical Network TV Production Resembled Lottery Economics
Strauss Zelnick · The Man Behind Grand Theft Auto 6: Strauss Zelnick · May 17, 2026 · at 5:31
Strauss Zelnick explains why his private equity firm ZMC avoided traditional TV deficit production in 2001.
0:00 / 0:21exact quote · 21.4s
▶ Watch the full episode on YouTube → 720p mp4 · rendered on demand · StarZero watermark
“Let's not go into deficit network television production. Just a bad economic business. Different today than it was, but it was really bad then, where you would deficit these shows in hopes of creating enough episodes that you could syndicate them. And if you didn't get there, you had a massive loss. And if you occasionally got there, you had a huge hit, which is what motivated everyone. But it was, you know, the economics looked a lot like winning the lottery.”
quote is from the automated transcript, cleaned for reading: filler sounds and stutters are removed, nothing is rephrased. names can be misheard (the analysis reads context, assessments check outside sources). how →
More from Strauss Zelnick
A Take-Two Competitor Once Faced 500 Sexual Harassment Claims
“So one of our competitors at one point had 500 sexual harassment claims at their company.”
ZMC Executed a Hostile Takeover of Take-Two Without Personal Capital
“The way we did this deal has never happened before, and I'm pretty certain it will never happen again, because we essentially did a hostile takeover with no money.”
Studio Systems are Economically Superior to Talent-Auction Boutique Systems
“A boutique system is generally bad and a studio system is generally good or can be good. The studio system was long gone. And studio system means your creative talent. All your talent is on the payroll. Boutique system is they're not on your payroll. They can …”
Bobby Kotick Created the Most Value in Pure-Play Gaming
“I would argue that, I mean, for pure play, probably Bobby Kotak has with Activision.”
Grand Theft Auto is the Most Valuable Entertainment IP Ever Created
“I think if you counted every, like, Mario Kart and Call of Duty and a bunch of others, it's not entirely clear, but I think in terms of the value of the IP, most people believe it's the most valuable entertainment IP ever created.”