OTT Executive Podcast with Brian Mahony

1) Simon's background at KPMG; 2) Robosoft "engineering the digital experience" from design to development; 3) "Nervous excitement" about AI; 4) The importance of human expertise in the SDLC (software development lifecycle); 5) Being careful not to use AI to create "UX clutter"; 6) How do you manage teams in the age of AI? 7) The emergence of the "super app"; 8) The rise of "AI FOMO"-- everything is now possible; 9) Simon's love of tennis.Also watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ottexecutive

 1) Bill's early days as an online video pioneer; 2) MegaChannels consortium serving up 800,000 videos a day to computers (in 1999); 3) Hugely successful launch of RabbitTV Plus dongle; 4) Understanding the infrastructure cost hurdle; 5) The role of metadata for content personalization; 6) The power of local content and DMA-based advertising; 7) Weaving together local content, OTA, and broadband/mobile; 8) The local sports opportunity; 9) Sharing revenue with the platform; 10) Gamifying and monetizing the community loyalty program; 11) Impact of AI; 12) Bill's love of club sports. Full disclosure: at the time of this podcast recording, I was a FreeCast shareholder. Also watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ottexecutive

 1) Scott growing up "a bit of a nerd"; 2) Working in Silicon Valley for a company acquired by Cisco; 3) Starting Plex as a hobby back in 2007; 4) Trying to build a personal media server; 5) Capitalizing on the early "app explosion"; 6) First investors; 7) "Metadata is the heart of what we do"; 8) Branching out from AVOD (2019) to FAST (2020) including globally; 9) Community features including friend recommendations; 10) The future of the creator economy "must be additive to the experience"; 11) Using AI "to understand the content better"; 12) Scott's love of travel. Also watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ottexecutive

 1) Allison's career background; 2) Learning business from her entrepreneur parents; 3) "In the age of AI, more people are going to become entrepreneurs"; 4) Defining the "creator economy"; 5) Is it still possible to create audience from scratch?; 6) How to build a sense of "belonging" with viewers; 7) Uscreen case study-- tips for growing the OTT Executive Community; 8) How does Uscreen provide more than YouTube/Substack?; 9) Uscreen monetization strategy; 10) Allison's love of Pilates. Also watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ottexecutive

 1) Career background including academia and political psychology; 2) Working for General Mills and then Microsoft; 3) Where does short-form video fit in? 4) The creator economy and how to decide whether to launch a show via short form or traditional channels; 5) Conservative vs. liberal viewing habits; 6) Role of AI for creation and reducing costs (e.g. simulating location); 7) What are the limits of AI and why do consumers hate being "fooled"? 8) Why Natasha doesn't think AI is "HAL" (yet); 9) Natasha's love of fitness and old films; 10) Favorite character from "Little House on the Prairie" Also watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ottexecutive

 1) Growing up the child of Hollywood parents; 2) Love for soccer; 3) Learning the business world at Enterprise Rent-A-Car; 4) Mometu is "more for me and you"; 5) Working with young creators; 6) Starting new film festival; 7) Subbing and dubbing strategy; 8) How is AI helping independent film makers? 9) Perspectives on WBD-Paramount deal; 10) Bryan's love for working out and golf. Also watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ottexecutive

1) Christy's career background; 2) Launching streaming for CBS News; 3) Starting Swerve TV; 4) Distribution strategy (Roku and Pluto initially); 5) Freestyle Trampoline Association example- why there should be a “cut” of women’s content for many sports; 6) Analyzing the data to understand viewer engagement; 7) Biggest industry challenge right now—content discovery; 8) Constantly changing KPI’s (e.g., subscriber growth vs. profitability); 9) Monetization strategies- “the best way to monetize is to create unmissable content”; 10) Creator economy- can media channels/platforms/networks still create audiences or does the audience need to come with the show?; 11) AI buzz vs. reality? "removing the drudgery of the industry and allow humans to do creative things”; 12) Christy’s love for skiing and snowboarding.Also watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ottexecutive

 1) Johnny's career background; 2) Launching CLEO TV at TV One; 3) Content distribution strategy; 4) How to embrace the "creator economy"; 5) How is AI changing the media & entertainment industry; 6) How to overcome the content discovery challenge; 7) Importance of embracing YouTube and social video; 8) Shift towards unscripted content; 9) We've always had playlists, "the only difference is you don't know what's coming up next"; 10 Johnny's love for tennis. Also watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ottexecutive

 1) Cathy's beginning in the cable industry (starting at Warner Bros. Television, Cablevision Magazine, ESPN, TV Guide, Food Network); 2) Starting Rasenberger Media consultancy; 3) Launching 28 cable networks; 4) Moving to launching FAST channels; 5) Launching FreeLiveSports.tv and 120+ channels; 6) Role of complimentary content on FAST networks; 7) Importance of live sports; 8) Keeping fans engaged between seasons; 9) Using AI to personalize EPG; 10) Launching GluedIn community engagement tool; 11) Integrating FAST for in-car infotainment-- "laying the foundation for driverless cars"; 12) Cathy's "hobby"? Also watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ottexecutive

1) Moving to Colorado; 2) Background in cable, insurance, and farm equipment; 3) Role of Fathom as distribution "window" option; 4) Theater "magic" is still alive; 5) Fathom's rebrand; 6) Growth in live events; 7) "The Chosen" phenomena-- episodic in theaters for the first time; 8) Faith-based genre strength; 9) International growth strategy; 10) Tangled up in Ray's passion for fly fishing. Also watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ottexecutive