ViacomCBS : Tanya Giles on the Streaming Future

Nicole Bitette: Tell me a little bit about your career background. What was your first professional role?

Tanya Giles: I started at CBS in 1995 in the research department before the first merger and my job was to come in at 7 a.m. and pull the ratings. I took the elevator upstairs to the president's office and delivered the ratings to his desk. I quickly realized that I was the first person at CBS each day to see the ratings from the night before. That was pretty thrilling and intoxicating. I learned that being in research is really where the business moves.

I moved from the analytics side of research at CBS to the other side of research, which was speaking to audiences. That's when I moved over to Nickelodeon because I had a deep passion for kids' television. My first job at Viacom was in the Nickelodeon research department. I like to say that my claim to fame is that I was the researcher who showed children SpongeBob SquarePants for the first time.

It was thrilling to see children have deep connections to the content and characters and stories. I knew that there was something powerful to that as well. There's the power behind the numbers in the business, and how the fans feel about the content you bring to them is why we do what we do.

In 2002, I went from the kids' side of the business to more of our adult-focused brands. Eventually, I was overseeing research for all of the entertainment brands, which at the time included Comedy Central, TV Land, and Spike (now Paramount Network). Research has always been highly valued in this company and I always had a seat at the table.

NB: How did you transition into more programming-focused roles?

TG: I was involved in many of the big decision-making conversations around content, how we're moving audiences, and how we're growing these brands. I was able to really develop my strategic programming skills, including how the shows and the decisions get made. I met enough people in the company where I built a reputation for my executive sensibilities. So, when there was an opportunity to become a General Manager for Comedy Central, I jumped at it.