Last year, studio and production company OBB Media partnered with iHeart to produce the annual Jingle Ball TV Special, the annual holiday event that airs on ABC each year as a two-hour broadcast. Featuring performances by some of the top artists in the business, the special comes from the two live Jingle Ball holiday concerts held in New York and Los Angeles. Last year's special, which aired on December 21, 2023, on ABC, became the No. 1 television program among adults 18-49 and the No. 2 overall the night it aired, with 9.5 million people tuning in — a 500% increase over last year. This marked the highest viewership for the special since 2013.
This year, OBB and iHeart teamed up again for Jingle Ball, which aired Wednesday (December 18) on ABC and is now available to stream on Hulu. Featuring performances by Shaboozey, Benson Boone and Gracie Abrams, the special aimed not only to be a showcase for performances but an immersive presentation that went beyond just a filmed concert into “an experience and a performance,” OBB Media founder/CEO Michael D. Ratner he says Bulletin board.
Jingle Ball isn't OBB's only foray into the world of music. This year alone, OBB Media (which houses TV, film, live, studio and branded content) produced a feature-length documentary on The Kid LAROI, the Hulu live special at the iHeart Music Festival and, most recently, Sabrina Carpenter's Nonsense Christmas Netflix special, which highlighted the star's vacation fruit cake EP (which subsequently charted in the top 10 of the Billboard 200) as well as performances by Carpenter, Chappell Roan, Tyla, Shania Twain and more. And all of this helps create Ratner Bulletin board's Executive of the Week.
Here, Ratner discusses OBB's work on Jingle Ball, the Carpenter special, and what film and television content can do for an artist's career. “There's a lot of clutter in the market,” says Ratner, “and content can be an incredibly powerful differentiator to help artists get noticed, especially as content creation has become completely democratized.”
This week, OBB and iHeart worked to produce the annual Jingle Ball TV special, which aired on December 18th and is now streaming. What key decision did you make to help make this happen?
Audiences don't just want a concert, they want an experience and a performance. OBB partnered with iHeartRadio to make sure the two-hour special is energetic, funny, tells a story, brings you closer to the artist, and most importantly, delivers great music.
What stood out the most from your work at this year's event?
I really think this year's show represented the next wave of incredible talent coming to the fore – from Gracie Abrams to Tate McRae, Shaboozey, The Kid LAROI and Benson Boone, it was a truly exciting group. Also, filming live in arenas is always refreshing and it was exciting to film the LA show at the brand new Intuit Dome.
You also worked on Jingle Ball last year, which was No. 1 rated television program among adults (18-49) and the No. 2 total the night it aired. What did you learn from working on it last year that you were able to apply this year and how did you do things differently?
Last year we saw social media engagement for the show grow about 10x over last year, so we're leaning into that even more this year, focusing on cutting more social clips to engage individual fans and create a viewing experience from community. Also, with the Thanksgiving break falling a week later this year, our time to deliver the special after the Los Angeles and New York shows was reduced to four days – and it's already a quick turnaround – so we were even more efficient and streamlined backend to navigate editorial, artist approvals and delivery.
You also made Sabrina Carpenter's Nonsense Christmas a Netflix specialist. How did that happen and what was that like behind the scenes?
We constantly strive to push the boundaries and think of innovative ways to work with exceptional talent. We — specifically Simone Spirawho is a production and development executive here — came up with the idea internally at OBB to do a holiday variety music special with Sabrina, as we all loved fruit cake EP and knew she could carry her own given her genuine love for the holiday and that she could dance, sing, act and do it all. This all proved to be true as the show is everywhere — taking over the internet, Sabrina surprised fans at the New York premiere, which was amazing. Colbertand indeed he did SNL Weekend Update, which was a personal favorite for me as I grew up watching SNL all the time.
How important can a TV special be to an artist's career?
Incredibly important. But it's not just the TV special — content that brings you closer to your fans and your community is an essential part of music. Whether it's dedicated TV content, thoughtful social content, or anything in between, content will continue to be a bigger part of an artist's strategy. There is a lot of clutter in the market, and content can be an incredibly powerful differentiator to help artists get noticed, especially as content creation has become completely democratized.
How important is music to what OBB Media does?
OBB is a storytelling company and we love making work that is culturally relevant. Musicians have always been and continue to be key tastemakers and creators of culture, so music is a key element in everything we do.
What's next for you guys?
We have a VR special coming out on Meta Quest on December 27th starring Charli XCX and Troye Sivan that we shot at the forum during the SWEAT Tour. We love working on musical projects in all these different formats and mediums, and I think it's a testament to how music is the bottom line, no matter how technology, viewing patterns and audience behaviors evolve. We're also filming more of our Billions Club series with Spotify and are excited for some great episodes with incredible artists coming soon. Looking ahead to 2025, we have some really big things coming that we can't talk about enough yet, but stay tuned.
