OTT Executive Podcast with Brian Mahony

1) Ren's start from a "summer camp" kid to music/opera, to MTV, to content producer; 2) Literally started in the mailroom; 3) Origins of the "faith-fueled" PRAYZN story; 4) Building a faith-fueled pervasive community; 5) Phase 1: launching the faith-based MTV; 6) Phase 2: adding scripted and unscripted programming; 7) Phase 3: imbedding all other engagement touch-points (social, dating, live events, merch, ...

1) Beth's start as a theatre director; 2) The art of storytelling and creative collaboration; 3) Comparing FAST channels to old-school curated "mix tapes"; 4) FAST strategy started with single-series such as "Antiques Road Show"; 5) What is the balance between creative/intuitive curation and science/data analytics in programming FAST channels?; 6) What role should AI play? --"technology is a gift"...

1) Srini's career background; 2) Amagi's roots as an advertising marketplace in India; 3) Facing down a major company crisis; 4) Pivoting to become a global FAST tech vendor; 5) Managing lightning-fast growth; 6) How to maintain your company culture at scale; 7) How to segment your customer base; 8) Managing core vs. custom product development; 9) Fixing the inefficiencies of the DTC (direct-to-consumer) strategy; 10) Sri...

1) Esther's career background; 2) Design lessons from a can opener; 3) Why UX design should get C-suite attention; 4) Design differences between music and video; 5) How to integrate UX for all content forms-- short clips, long-form, live events, etc.; 6) Using user feedback and directed input vs. passive inferential design; 7) Should consumers be able to toggle between different UX experiences? 8) Esther's passion for pai...

1) Interning for "Late Night with David Letterman" -- can people still start their M&E careers that way? 2) CNN Digital role; 3) Launching first live news streaming service; 4) The "Great Big Story" story; 5) CNBC and NBC News OTT products; 6) Partnership with Pluto; 7) What was the inflection point where streaming became "real"? 8) Current Allen Media Group role as President of Digital; 9) What is...

1) Paul's career background-- Technicolor, Disney, Discovery, Struum; 2) Paul's mentor and move into strategy; 3) Getting the call from Disney; 4) The 
"moment when my career trajectory changed"; 5) How to use viewer data to be cool at cocktail parties ; 6) QuickPlay's focus on Tier 1 customers; 7) QuickPlay's USP: architecture and culture; 8) QuickPlay's new AI programmer tool; 9) Paul's...

1) Kevin's background at Lucasfilm, Electronic Arts, Walt Disney Pictures, and Zynga; 2) Learning about merchandising, gaming, and communities when launching the Pokémon franchise to the USA; 3) Why EA (Sims franchise) and Zynga (Words with Friends) highlighted the powerful combination of content, gaming, and communities; 4) Genesis of Bold Baking Network; 5) How "baking" is different from "cooking"-- it&ap...

1) Scott's career background starting with device drivers at Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC); 2) Current role leading SeaChange's advertising team; 3) SeaChange's end-to-end streaming platform; 4) Advertising solutions including pre-roll, mid-roll, post-roll and creating custom FAST channels on the fly; 5) Innovations such as side-by-side advertising, clickable events, and QR codes; 6) Trade-offs of server side v...

1) Steve's career background- "Silicon Valley meets Hollywood"; 2) The problem to solve-- universal search within the OTT operating system; 3) How is it possible your title doesn't show up in search even if it's in your library? 4) Why/how the search algorithm optimizes the platform's monetization-- not the apps; 5) Search vs. CTV/platform marketing- what has better ROI? 6) How Steve's team works ...

1) Evan's 2023 wrap up; 2) The media universe "death stars" getting bigger; 3) Consolidation of advertising market under Google, Meta, and Amazon (60%); 4) Why are the media giants getting into sports in a huge way? 5) "We left the last era of media four years ago when Disney went to DTC.... chasing Netflix towards a business model that doesn't work."; 6) Good churn vs. bad churn; 7) The paradox of con...

1) Keith's background in theater and film; 2) Moving into digital media and then streaming media; 3) Space Mob's focus on creating FAST channels and creating series; 4) FAST market under pressure as platforms are cutting back channels; 5) Focus on entertainment sports streaming such as pickle ball; 6) Minimum viable FAST channel needs 150 hours to start; 7) Revenue share model with content partners; 8) Merchandising oppor...

1) Katherine's pre-Vizio career background; 2) First job at Vizio 11 years ago; 3) Current role; 4) Vizio as full-service media company including hardware, content, data, advertising, distribution, mobile; 5) Vizio content vetting process; 6) Higher bar for content partnerships, but still lots of new "white space"; 7) Elements of a good content deal; 8) Vizio's key UX metrics; 9) Role of voice in search and navi...

1) Rachel's career background; 2) Rachel and husband met in kindergarten? I forgot the follow up question about this! 3) Recognizing the wedding video opportunity; 4) Getting started building a large social community; 5) Anatomy of a content licensing deal; 6) Advertising strategy and lack of data visibility; 7) Partnering/competing with CTV and distribution platforms; 8) Why Rachel doesn't worry about content and distrib...

1) Natalie's current role; 2) Career background from JP Morgan to ESPN; 3) Vevo's global operations-- streaming across 34 distribution platforms including YouTubeTV, Samsung TV+, Pluto, Roku, and Amazon FireTV-- over 800,000 pieces of content; 4) Launching FAST channels; 5) Embracing a data-driven environment; 6) The promise vs. the reality of addressable advertising; 7) The process of data and advertising experimentation...

1) Stephen's role and background on Robosoft Technologies; 2) Marquee customers including Discovery+, Magnolia, Global Cycling Network, Food Network, and ESPN; 3) Creating "communities" to enhance engagement and monetization; 4) Engineering and software development outsourcing vs. staff augmentation vs. innovation centers of excellence; 5) Cross device/platform brand integration; 6) 25 year history including first cu...

1) Background on Imagicomm and INSP "5th ranked cable channel in the U.S."; 2) Media conglomerate including cable, original content distribution, and 13 broadcast networks; 3) "Lunge-free" family/friendly content including "The Cowboy Way", "Legal Action", and Christmas movies; 4) Charlotte-based studios/distribution; 5) Tell family stories without being preachy; 6) Jonathan's background...

1) Jason's finance/private equity background; 2) Problem statement- simplifying streaming; 3) Win-win-win three-tiered approach- consumers, streamers, and broadband providers; 4) MyBundle watch list; 5) Partnering with cable providers for cord-cutters selecting broadband; 6) "Find MyBundle" tool; 7) Dominance of smart phone over TV remote as content discovery tool; 8) Difference between "search" and "b...

1) Teresa's background at Rakuten launching new channels; 2) Dearth of channels in Europe; 3) Need for localization (local content, local language); 4) LoveTV Channels one year anniversary; 5) Distribution with Samsung, Xumo, etc.; 6) Finding new distribution in U.S. market; 7) Love the Planet channel about sustainability; 8) Next stage focused on viewer acquisition; 9) Role of European telcos in streaming FAST channels; 10) T...