The Carlos Watson Show

Did You Know?

• During production, Watson and OZY Media chief operating officer Samir Rao represented to staff and prospective guests that the program would air on A&E, though no such arrangement existed.
• An analysis by Tubular Labs found viewership patterns suggesting paid view boosting.
• Season one of The Carlos Watson Show premiered on July 5, 2016, uploaded to YouTube.

Format

Filmed in Mountain View, California, The Carlos Watson Show relies entirely on Zoom conversations because it debuted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Each 15-to-30-minute episode features a single guest discussing their path to success and views on current events, making the interviews more personal and extended than standard talk show chats. The program includes archival clips and short video packages that offer deeper profiles of its guests. Episodes usually close with a "Rapid Fire" segment.

Two live specials have aired: one on the evening of January 6, 2021, following the U.S. Capitol storming, and another for President Joe Biden's inauguration. Notable interviews include Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla revealing Donald Trump said a COVID-19 vaccine "will help me" with the 2020 election, Anthony Fauci comparing the pandemic to AIDS and predicting an HIV vaccine breakthrough, H.E.R. disclosing she was once in a band with Kehlani and Zendaya, and Matt Damon discussing Ben Affleck's renewed relationship with Jennifer Lopez.

Guests

The program featured guests from politics, business, entertainment, sports, and culture. Public officials and political figures interviewed on the show included U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, former U.S. Secretaries of State Condoleezza Rice and Mike Pompeo, former National Security Advisor H. R. McMaster, and members of Congress such as Ilhan Omar and Hakeem Jeffries. Guests from business, technology, and media included Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, investor Mark Cuban, LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky, and Nasdaq CEO Adena Friedman.

The series also featured actors and entertainers such as Matthew McConaughey, Scarlett Johansson, Matt Damon, Jeffrey Wright, and Chelsea Handler, as well as musicians and artists including Wynton Marsalis, H.E.R., Rick Ross, and Takashi Murakami. Athletes interviewed on the show included NBA players Grant Hill and C. J. McCollum, NFL quarterback Baker Mayfield, and WNBA players Aari McDonald and Chiney Ogwumike.

Marketing

The marketing campaign for The Carlos Watson Show included billboards and posters in Los Angeles and New York that featured quotes with misleading attributions. An executive producer said the marketing was aimed primarily at potential investors and executives in television and advertising, rather than general audiences. In addition to promotional efforts, the show was supported through brand partnerships arranged by OZY Media. Reported sponsors and partners included companies such as Coca-Cola, Target, Walmart, AT&T, Spotify, Chevrolet, JPMorgan Chase, and Discover. GroupM signed a two-year preferred partnership, and Dentsu entered into a multi-year agreement as part of its investment in what it described as “meaningful media.”

Reception

By March 2021, the show had accumulated over 50 million views and its YouTube channel had more than 70,000 subscribers, though an expert consulted by The New York Times during a later controversy suggested these figures might have been inflated artificially. Essence praised the program for its "energetic and informative conversations" with prominent figures from sports, entertainment, and politics, while People Now highlighted its "long-form, wide-ranging interviews" with a diverse array of celebrities.

Good Morning America once called it "the fastest-growing talk show in YouTube history," a description The New York Times later questioned as dubious. The Times’s media critic also pointed to several instances of misleading or unverifiable marketing by Ozy Media, including an ad claiming the show was the "first talk show" on Amazon Prime Video. Ozy withdrew that claim after Amazon complained it violated their promotion guidelines.