#74 | Johnny McMahon | World Chase Tag

Entertainment executive Johnny McMahon on 25 years in TV and digital, the World Poker Tour, and running World Chase Tag. Johnny McMahon is an Entertainment Executive with over twenty-five years of experience in Digital and Television production, distribution, and development. Currently he is the General Manager and Chief Content Officer of the World Chase Tag, and previously played a role in building the World Poker Tour library to a multi-million-dollar FAST channel business. Tune in for a wide-ranging conversation. To learn more about Johnny: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnnymcmahon Chapters 0:00 Welcome Johnny McMahon 2:32 Growing up with National Geographic 5:10 Life lessons growing up in LA 7:45 His father's career in television 10:15 Watching Carson at The Tonight Show 12:50 Settling into the business young 15:22 Someone can open the door, but you have to work 17:57 University of San Francisco 20:30 Reporting from the streets of San Francisco 23:05 The stress of making TV 25:37 Don't externalise the stress 28:10 Why he prefers the sports business 30:41 Believing in your choices 33:15 Anyone can make a show now 35:49 From radio to TV 38:22 The TV Guide era 40:52 Digital production for Endemol USA 43:25 Nine years at the World Poker Tour 45:58 Running the operation 48:33 Just make it work 51:04 Selling TV at MIPCOM 53:39 Formula 1 and free streaming channels 56:14 Evergreen content 58:46 Investigative stories in China 1:01:20 Ryan's move from China to Dubai 1:03:57 Planning to film across Africa 1:06:28 Watching the world close from Ethiopia 1:09:06 Covid travel rules country by country 1:11:40 A story worth a script 1:14:17 Ryan's business model on hold 1:16:47 World Chase Tag explained 1:19:22 The knockout championship format 1:21:55 Room to grow 1:24:29 Athletes with stories 1:27:07 Frustrations along the way 1:29:42 A game-changing world championship 1:32:12 Trying something new 1:34:48 Growing the sport and the television 1:37:18 Let the tangents go The Ryan Pyle Podcast is ad-free by choice. If you enjoy these conversations, you can buy me a coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/ryanpyle Ryan's TV series are streaming around the world. Follow the Podcast X: https://x.com/RyanPylePodcast Facebook: https://facebook.com/ryanpylepodcast Follow Ryan Pyle YouTube: https://youtube.com/@ryanjpyle Instagram: https://instagram.com/ryanpyle X: https://x.com/RyanPyle Facebook: https://facebook.com/ryanpyle https://www.ryanpyle.com