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Henry W. McGee

Senior Lecturer of Business Administration

Photo of Henry W. McGee

Unit: General Management

Contact:

(617) 496-9700

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Henry McGee joined the HBS faculty in 2013 after retiring as President of HBO Home Entertainment, the digital and DVD program distribution division of Home Box Office, the pioneering premium television company. A member of the General Management Unit, he has taught courses in both the MBA and Executive Education programs. Since 2015 McGee has served as a director of TEGNA (NYSE: TGNA), a broadcast and digital media company that owns the largest number of affiliates of the NBC television network. He is also a director of AmerisourceBergen (NYSE: ABC), one of the world’s leading pharmaceutical services company and number 12 on the Fortune 500 list of the biggest corporations in America.  In 2018 the National Association of Corporate Directors named McGee to the Directorship 100, the organization’s annual recognition of the country’s most influential boardroom members.

Since becoming a faculty member, McGee has coauthored numerous media industry case studies and is a member of the school’s Digital Initiative and Business History Initiative.  He is also a director of the Pew Research Center in Washington, DC. McGee serves as faculty co-advisor for both the Entertainment and Media Club and the African American Student Union and is a recipient of the Robert F. Greenhill Award for service to the HBS community. 

McGee joined HBO immediately after graduating from HBS in 1979. During the course of his 34­-year career with the company, he held posts in a wide range of areas including family programming, film acquisition and international coproduction. Named president of HBO Home Entertainment in 1995, McGee received numerous industry awards for his pioneering use of Internet­-based marketing and early adoption of the high definition format for the company’s DVD releases. Named one of the 50 most powerful African Americans in the entertainment business by Black Enterprise magazine, McGee oversaw the digital and DVD release of numerous blockbusters including The Sopranos, Sex and the City, and Game of Thrones. With the launch of offices in London and Toronto, he drove the expansion of the company’s international business and HBO’s titles are now distributed in more than 70 countries around the globe. McGee also served as a director of the Digital Entertainment Group, the trade association of entertainment and electronics manufacturers focused on fostering new technologies. In 2008 he was inducted into the Video Hall of Fame, the home entertainment industry’s most prestigious honor.

McGee has a strong interest in the governance of non­profit organizations and has been especially involved in the arts. He has served as president of both the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater Foundation, the nation’s largest modern dance organization, and the Film Society of Lincoln Center. He has also been a board member of the Sundance Institute, The Public Theater, the Studio Museum in Harlem and the New 42nd Street, the organization overseeing the revitalization and management of seven historic theaters in Times Square. Currently he is a member of the executive committee of the Black Filmmaker Foundation.

After graduating from Harvard College, magna cum laude, in 1974, McGee worked as a reporter for Newsweek magazine in its New York and Washington bureaus. He covered stories in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, education and entertainment and also served as an on­-camera reporter for Newsweek Broadcasting.

    Publications

    Journal Articles

    1. Article | The Atlantic

      Hollywood on the Yellow Sea

      Willy C. Shih and Henry McGee

      Wang Jianlin, one of China's richest men, is creating a rival to the American dream factory, from scratch.

      Keywords: Competition; Film Entertainment; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; China; United States;

      Citation:

      Shih, Willy C., and Henry McGee. "Hollywood on the Yellow Sea." The Atlantic 316, no. 5 (December 2015): 44–51.  View Details
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    Cases and Teaching Materials

    1. Supplement | HBS Case Collection | September 2018

      AMC Entertainment: Creating a Spectacular Moviegoing Experience (B)

      Henry McGee and Aldo Sesia

      The (B) case describes how AMC reacted to the threat from the subscription service MoviePass and provides AMC’s second quarter fiscal year 2018 results.

      Keywords: exhibitors; movies; Film Entertainment; Competitive Strategy; Finance; Performance;

      Citation:

      McGee, Henry, and Aldo Sesia. "AMC Entertainment: Creating a Spectacular Moviegoing Experience (B)." Harvard Business School Supplement 319-041, September 2018.  View Details
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    2. Case | HBS Case Collection | September 2018

      AMC Entertainment: Creating a Spectacular Moviegoing Experience (A)

      Henry McGee and Aldo Sesia

      The case examines an industry in decline as the emergence of new technologies is changing consumer behaviors and threatening to make the business obsolete.

      Keywords: exhibitors; movies; Film Entertainment; Disruptive Innovation; Consumer Behavior; Competitive Strategy; Expansion; Global Range; Business Model; Motion Pictures and Video Industry;

      Citation:

      McGee, Henry, and Aldo Sesia. "AMC Entertainment: Creating a Spectacular Moviegoing Experience (A)." Harvard Business School Case 319-024, September 2018.  View Details
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    3. Case | HBS Case Collection | August 2018

      Magnus Resch: Transforming the Art Market Through Transparency

      Henry McGee and Sarah Mehta

      Economist and entrepreneur Magnus Resch was on a mission to make the art market more transparent. To that end, in 2014, he began building the Magnus app, which catalogued the price and transaction history of millions of works of art. Users could download the app, take a photo of any flat artwork, and the app would display that piece’s price along with other pertinent information. Resch believed that such radical transparency would grow the small, rather insular, network of serious art collectors. By May 2018, the app had garnered strong user engagement, with over 10,000 new downloads per month. But Resch was not yet generating revenue from the Magnus app, which was free for users to download. The case explores Resch’s options for monetizing the app, as well as the benefits and drawbacks of each option.

      Keywords: art market; transparency; Art Pricing; Business Startups; Decision Making; Innovation Strategy; Culture; Business Strategy; Mobile Technology; Fine Arts Industry;

      Citation:

      McGee, Henry, and Sarah Mehta. "Magnus Resch: Transforming the Art Market Through Transparency." Harvard Business School Case 319-002, August 2018.  View Details
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    4. Teaching Plan | HBS Case Collection | April 2018

      NBCUniversal Telemundo: Transforming Latino Television

      Henry McGee

      Teaching Plan for HBS No. 318-018.

      Keywords: television industry; television advertising; broadcasting; telecommunications; internet; Telecommunications Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Miami;

      Citation:

      McGee, Henry. "NBCUniversal Telemundo: Transforming Latino Television." Harvard Business School Teaching Plan 318-073, April 2018.  View Details
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    5. Teaching Plan | HBS Case Collection | February 2018

      Hulu: Redefining the Way People Experience TV

      Henry W. McGee and Christine Snively

      Teaching Plan for HBS No. 318-002.

      Citation:

      McGee, Henry W., and Christine Snively. "Hulu: Redefining the Way People Experience TV." Harvard Business School Teaching Plan 318-074, February 2018.  View Details
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    6. Supplement | HBS Case Collection | March 2018 (Revised May 2018)

      Apple: Privacy vs. Safety (B)

      Henry McGee, Nien-hê Hsieh and Nathaniel Schwalb

      This case supplements “Apple: Privacy vs. Safety (A), covering select events in 2017, including 1) a mass shooting in which U.S. law enforcement was not able to access the shooter’s encrypted iPhone and 2) Apple’s compliance with the Chinese government’s request to make it more difficult for iPhone users to download “Virtual Private Network” apps.

      Keywords: iphone; encryption; data privacy; Values and Beliefs; National Security; Mobile Technology; Ethics; Policy; Technology Industry; Telecommunications Industry; China; United Kingdom; United States;

      Citation:

      McGee, Henry, Nien-hê Hsieh, and Nathaniel Schwalb. "Apple: Privacy vs. Safety (B)." Harvard Business School Supplement 318-079, March 2018. (Revised May 2018.)  View Details
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    7. Case | HBS Case Collection | September 2017 (Revised December 2017)

      Hulu: Redefining the Way People Experience TV

      Henry W. McGee and Christine Snively

      In May 2017, Hulu CEO Mike Hopkins announced the launch of Hulu Live TV, a new offering that would "change the way people experience TV." The new service would allow consumers to bypass traditional cable and satellite delivery and use the Internet to access live streams of more than 40 popular broadcast and cable networks along with Hulu’s existing suite of on-demand programming. Priced at $39.99 per month, Hulu Live TV offered consumers a tremendous savings over traditional cable program packages and allowed subscribers to watch programs on Internet-connected televisions and a wide range of mobile devices. Hopkins also announced that the company would make a major push into the production of exclusive, original programming, one of the industry's most competitive areas. Hulu's new initiatives occurred during a major transformation in the TV industry as the Internet had revolutionized every aspect of the business. Industry observers wondered if Hulu could successfully compete against the entrenched cable, satellite, and telephone companies (known as Multichannel Video Programming Distributors, or MVPDs). Was $39.99 per month a sustainable price point for Hulu's new virtual MVPD (vMVPD)? How big a war chest would the company need to succeed in the original programming arena where competitors annually spent billions of dollars? Could Hulu navigate potential conflicts with the individual business plans of its owners: Comcast, 21st Century Fox, Disney, and Warner Bros.—some of the most powerful companies in the entertainment business?

      Keywords: television industry; internet; disruptive innovation; competitive strategy; Television Entertainment; Internet; Disruptive Innovation; Competitive Strategy; Price; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry;

      Citation:

      McGee, Henry W., and Christine Snively. "Hulu: Redefining the Way People Experience TV." Harvard Business School Case 318-002, September 2017. (Revised December 2017.)  View Details
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    8. Case | HBS Case Collection | September 2017

      NBCUniversal Telemundo: Transforming Latino Television

      Henry W. McGee, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Christine Snively

      In August 2017, Cesar Conde, chairman of NBCUniversal International Group and NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises, considered how the Miami-based Spanish-language TV network Telemundo could succeed in a rapidly shifting media landscape. Over the past few years, Telemundo had prioritized high production value original programming and made significant gains on its Spanish-language rival Univision as well as the four biggest U.S. broadcasters. By 2017, Internet-distributed programming was competing for viewer attention, and Conde wondered how Telemundo could successfully maintain and attract viewers lured to new platforms. Despite the rapid growth in the size and buying power of the Hispanic market, many advertisers considered Spanish-language TV a niche marketing venue. How could Conde convince more advertisers that Telemundo was an effective way to reach this increasingly influential market?

      Keywords: television industry; television advertising; broadcasting; telecommunications; internet; Television Entertainment; Internet; Advertising; Technology Platform; Telecommunications Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Miami;

      Citation:

      McGee, Henry W., Carin-Isabel Knoop, and Christine Snively. "NBCUniversal Telemundo: Transforming Latino Television." Harvard Business School Case 318-018, September 2017.  View Details
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    9. Teaching Note | HBS Case Collection | October 2016 (Revised March 2018)

      Apple: Privacy vs. Safety? (A) and (B)

      Nien-hê Hsieh, Henry McGee and Sarah McAra

      Teaching Note for HBS No. 316-069.

      Citation:

      Hsieh, Nien-hê, Henry McGee, and Sarah McAra. "Apple: Privacy vs. Safety? (A) and (B)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 317-021, October 2016. (Revised March 2018.)  View Details
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    10. Teaching Plan | HBS Case Collection | February 2017

      The Black List

      Henry McGee and Sarah McAra

      Teaching Note for HBS No. 317-027.

      Citation:

      McGee, Henry, and Sarah McAra. "The Black List." Harvard Business School Teaching Plan 317-087, February 2017.  View Details
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    11. Case | HBS Case Collection | November 2016 (Revised May 2017)

      The Black List

      Henry McGee and Sarah McAra

      Franklin Leonard founded The Black List in 2005 as an innovative approach to identifying potential hit movie scripts via crowdsourcing. As the annual Black List proved to hold the scripts of some of Hollywood’s most successful films, from “Slumdog Millionaire” to “Spotlight,” it became widely respected and highly anticipated throughout the industry. In 2012, Leonard uses the momentum to bring The Black List online as a database where unproduced screenplays can be reviewed and discovered by industry experts. Now in 2016, Leonard is considering other avenues for supporting great screenwriters, including launching a film fund to finance low-budget productions. He reflects on the movie-making business and on the numerous barriers to entry he may face in entering the competitive motion picture industry.

      Keywords: screenwriting; independent production; Hollywood; film development; film distribution; film financing; manging uncertainty; Barriers to entry; globalization; digitalization; Film Entertainment; Entrepreneurship; Marketing; Media; Strategy; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; United States;

      Citation:

      McGee, Henry, and Sarah McAra. "The Black List." Harvard Business School Case 317-027, November 2016. (Revised May 2017.)  View Details
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    12. Case | HBS Case Collection | March 2016 (Revised November 2017)

      Apple: Privacy vs. Safety (A)

      Henry McGee, Nien-hê Hsieh and Sarah McAra

      In 2015, Apple CEO Tim Cook debuted the iPhone 6S with enhanced security measures that enflamed a debate on privacy and public safety around the world. The iPhone 6S, amid a heightened concern for privacy following the 2013 revelation of clandestine U.S. surveillance programs, employed a default encryption system that prevented both Apple and government authorities from accessing data stored on the device. Law enforcement officials warned that the encryption hindered investigations for criminal cases and international terrorism and called on Apple to build a backdoor, a way to bypass the encryption. But Cook maintained that any backdoor would compromise customers' privacy and security. In 2016, a federal judge ordered Apple to provide technical assistance to unlock the iPhone used by one of the two terrorists who killed 14 people in San Bernardino, California. Apple refused to comply with the order and asked the government to withdraw its demand. As the court case unfolded, Cook considered his responsibilities to the U.S. government as well as to Apple's customers, employees, and shareholders.

      Keywords: iphone; encryption; data privacy; Safety; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Mobile Technology; Civil Society or Community; National Security; Leadership; Technology Industry; Consumer Products Industry; United States;

      Citation:

      McGee, Henry, Nien-hê Hsieh, and Sarah McAra. "Apple: Privacy vs. Safety (A)." Harvard Business School Case 316-069, March 2016. (Revised November 2017.)  View Details
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    13. Teaching Note | HBS Case Collection | October 2015 (Revised February 2016)

      Comcast Corporation

      Sunil Gupta, Henry McGee and Felix Oberholzer-Gee

      In March 2015, Richard Plepler, the CEO of Home Box Office (HBO) announced the company's new 'over the top,' or OTT service, HBO Now, that consumers could stream online for a monthly fee of $14.99 without paying for a cable subscription. Soon, CBS followed and announced its own OTT version for $5.99 a month. Why were HBO and CBS doing this? Was this the beginning of the unbundling of TV? And how should Comcast respond to these changes?

      Keywords: television industry; television; Marketing; Television Entertainment; Telecommunications Industry;

      Citation:

      Gupta, Sunil, Henry McGee, and Felix Oberholzer-Gee. "Comcast Corporation." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 516-048, October 2015. (Revised February 2016.)  View Details
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    14. Case | HBS Case Collection | September 2015 (Revised December 2016)

      Wanda Studios Qingdao

      Henry McGee and Willy Shih

      Wang Jianlin, founder and Chairman of the Dalian Wanda Group (Wanda), kept close tabs on one of his flagship projects going up on the shores of the Yellow Sea. There construction was underway on Wanda Studios Qingdao, the largest film and production facility in the world. The studio was a key initiative of Wang, a central player in the country's rapidly growing movie business. Wanda was already the largest theatrical exhibitor in the world, but the studio represented an enormous bet on a less familiar part of the value network of the film industry. Its vertically integrated approach was also quite different from the Hollywood of today, which has evolved to a much more specialized division of labor.

      Keywords: Dalian Wanda Group; AMC Entertainment; Wang Jianlin; entertainment; movie industry; Vertical Integration; vertical specialization; film; Film Entertainment; Theater Entertainment; Entertainment; Vertical Integration; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; China; United States;

      Citation:

      McGee, Henry, and Willy Shih. "Wanda Studios Qingdao." Harvard Business School Case 616-005, September 2015. (Revised December 2016.)  View Details
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    15. Case | HBS Case Collection | August 2015 (Revised April 2016)

      Shonda Rhimes' ShondaLand

      Anita Elberse and Henry McGee

      In January 2015, superstar television creator Shonda Rhimes, whose production company ShondaLand dominates American television's most competitive and lucrative night with three shows in primetime on network ABC's Thursday night, is plotting the future. One challenge she faces is to, as she put it, "solve the problem of writing and producing serialized dramas for broadcast network television." What changes could she propose to ABC to make the creative process more manageable? A second challenge is to figure out how to further expand ShondaLand. How could Rhimes best build her portfolio and further cement ShondaLand's place in television history?

      Keywords: marketing; entertainment; media; television; broadcasting; Creative Industries; television industry; product portfolio management; superstar; talent management; Creativity; Personal Development and Career; Television Entertainment; Media and Broadcasting Industry; United States;

      Citation:

      Elberse, Anita, and Henry McGee. "Shonda Rhimes' ShondaLand." Harvard Business School Case 516-026, August 2015. (Revised April 2016.)  View Details
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    16. Case | HBS Case Collection | April 2015 (Revised December 2016)

      Comcast Corporation

      Sunil Gupta, Henry McGee, Felix Oberholzer-Gee and Margaret L. Rodriguez

      Citation:

      Gupta, Sunil, Henry McGee, Felix Oberholzer-Gee, and Margaret L. Rodriguez. "Comcast Corporation." Harvard Business School Case 715-457, April 2015. (Revised December 2016.)  View Details
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          Henry W. McGee In the News

          12 Oct 2017
          Cold Call
          Telemundo: The Fastest Growing TV Network in the United States
          23 Feb 2017
          Cold Call
          Black Business Leaders Series: Franklin Leonard, 'Black List' Mastermind
          19 Jan 2017
          PBS
          Playing By The Rules: Ethics At Work
          03 May 2016
          Harvard Political Review
          Henry McGee
          08 Jun 2015
          USA Today
          USA TODAY publisher Kramer to retire before Gannett print spinoff
          17 Nov 2015
          Atlantic
          Hollywood on the Yellow Sea
          16 Sep 2013
          HBS Alumni Bulletin
          From HBO to HBS

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