Sep 24, 2018 · 42m · how-i-built-this
Power Rangers: Haim Saban (2017)
Haim Saban · 22m spoken Guy Raz · 12m spoken Chris Waters · 1m spoken Jason Scott · 5s spoken Cartoon Theme Singer · 5s spoken
0:00 / 0:00
gold bands on the timeline = statements, start to end. Hover to read, click to jump. CC turns on captions
In this episode of How I Built This, entertainment mogul Haim Saban details his remarkable journey from an impoverished refugee in Israel to a global media billionaire who built the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers franchise and orchestrated blockbuster media sales. Through candid reflections, Saban demonstrates how unwavering resilience, music royalty monetization, and bold dealmaking enabled him to turn repeated industry rejections into historic commercial success.
How this conversation actually went
Every chapter scored 0–10 on four independent dynamics. Hover any point for the reasoning behind the score. Guy holds 35% of the talking time here. How this is scored →
Guy as informed peer 4.8 Guest teaching 4.2 Guest disagreement 1.9 Guy pushing back 1.6
speaking balance: gold is Guy, purple is the guest (3 minute bins)
Sharpest disagreement ▶ 30:09 Saban objects to the word 'hustling'
Saban pushes back against Raz's description of his dealmaking as 'hustling' due to its negative connotation, prompting Raz to defend modern usage.
Hardest push from Guy ▶ 32:34 Raz presses Saban on leaving half a billion dollars on the tableRaz challenges Saban on why walking away with $500 million was not enough, pressing him on what motivated the refusal.
Biggest teaching moment ▶ 14:53 Saban explains cartoon music royalty mechanicsSaban breaks down how ASCAP/BMI pay per minute of aired music, showing why wall-to-wall cartoon scoring yields vastly more royalties than hit prime-time sitcoms.
Guy holds their own ▶ 16:49 Raz demonstrates childhood knowledge of Japanese SentaiRaz surprises Saban by detailing his personal childhood experience living in Japan from 1979 to 1982 and recognizing Super Sentai.
the scores for every segment, with the reasoning behind each
| Chapter | Topic | Guy as informed peer | Guest teaching | Guest disagreement | Guy pushing back | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Early Life in Egypt and Poverty in Tel Aviv | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | Guy Raz sets up Saban's biographical background with historical context about 1950s Alexandria and Tel Aviv. Saban shares personal anecdotes about poverty and ethnic prejudice in early Israel in an open, storytelling manner. | |
| Military Entertainment, Band Management, and Concert Promotion | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | Raz probes Saban's early music career and mentions knowing that Saban turned his amp down because he was bad at bass. When Raz questions how a young twenty-something could book international stars like Jose Feliciano, Saban playfully rebuffs him by comparing himself to Mark Zuckerberg founding Facebook at 24. | |
| Overcoming Debt and Launching a Record Label in Paris | 4 | 5 | 2 | 2 | Saban explains how the Yom Kippur War and currency devaluation plunged him into $600k of debt. When Raz asks about freaking out and getting lucky, Saban reframes 'luck' as the skill to seize opportunity, educating Raz on how he discovered Noam and sold 18 million records in France. | |
| Moving to Los Angeles and Cartoon Music Royalty Goldmine | 6 | 6 | 2 | 2 | Saban educates Raz on the lucrative economics of cartoon publishing royalties versus sitcom cues via ASCAP and BMI. Raz shows deep familiarity by singing the Heathcliff theme song, which surprises and delights Saban. | |
| Discovering Super Sentai and Eight Years of Power Rangers Rejection | 6 | 3 | 1 | 1 | Raz shares his own childhood memory of watching Japanese tokusatsu shows from living in Japan from 1979 to 1982. Saban explains his cost-efficient concept of splicing Japanese action footage with American teen drama and enduring eight years of industry mockery. | |
| Margaret Loesch, Fox Kids Premiere, and Overnight Hit | 4 | 5 | 2 | 1 | Saban explains how Margaret Loesch risked her career to air Power Rangers despite Rupert Murdoch's skepticism. When Raz presses on how Saban knew it would succeed, Saban credits his 'kishke' (gut instinct) and explains that repeated rejection is his signal that an idea is a hit. | |
| Fox Kids Joint Venture, The Family Channel, and Disney Sale | 6 | 6 | 4 | 3 | Raz and Saban dissect complex corporate dealmaking involving Fox Kids, the Family Channel buyout from Pat Robertson, and the eventual $5.3B Disney sale. Saban corrects Raz when Raz calls his maneuvering 'hustling', questions taking half a billion over holding out for two billion, and explains valuation fairness. | |
| Business Philosophy, Philanthropy, and Musical Legacy | 5 | 4 | 2 | 2 | Raz asks deep reflective questions about motivation, identity, and legacy. Saban rejects both the framing of a 'mogul' and 'impoverished kid', stating he just sees someone rushing to the next deal, and playfully jokes about comparing the Power Rangers theme to Moon River. | |
| How You Built That: Chris Waters and Constructed Adventures | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | Guy Raz narrates a brief 'How You Built That' interview segment with Chris Waters about Constructed Adventures. The segment is warm, conversational, and non-confrontational. |
Statements from this episode (11)
Saban's family shared a flat with a sex worker and a pimp
“It was one room in an apartment that had three rooms and the other two rooms. Were occupied by another couple, and by a hooker and her pimp, and, ah, it was the five of us, and my father basically had a job, ah, selling pencils and erasers door to door, and so…”
Saban promoted Israel tours for Ray Charles and Jose Feliciano
“Well, first I became a tour promoter in Israel, and I brought many artists to Israel, from Ray Charles to Jose Feliciano, Blood, Sweat, and Tears, and many others.”
Saban's first record produced in France achieved platinum status
“Well, this first record that I produced, ah, went platinum.”
Saban sold 18 million records on his independent label in France
“And I sold over a period of eight years that I lived there on my own label, ah, more than eighteen million records.”
Cartoon music generates higher royalties than sitcoms due to wall-to-wall scoring
“If you look at a sitcom there are musical stings, so they have cumulatively maybe two minutes of music, maybe three. But on a cartoon, you have wall-to-wall music. And because these collection agencies pay based on the number of minutes that air, you would mak…”
Saban and his music partner were once BMI's top writers
“At one point, my music partner and I were the top writers at BMI.”
How masked Japanese fight footage enabled ultra-low-cost American TV production
“It all of a sudden dawned on me that once they turn into superheroes, meaning into Power Rangers, and they have their masks on, and they're kicking monster butts, it could be anywhere. So all of the action scenes, which is what costs the most money, ah, were b…”
Saban pitched the Power Rangers concept for eight years before selling
“No, I bought it in 84, and I, ah, schlepped it. Remember, cartoon schlepper, schlepper? Yeah. And I schlepped it for eight years.”
Power Rangers delivered double to triple the ratings of Fox Kids hits
“Across it generated the highest rating of any show on Fox Kids. It beat, at the time, you had Looney Tunes or Tiny Toons, you had Batman, you had all these shows that were the hit of Fox Kids, and it delivered double, triple the ratings of all these shows.”