Europe’s media industry leaders gathered in Lisbon this past week for the inaugural Stream TV Europe, and the prognosis is—to everyone’s surprise—refreshingly optimistic. Welcome to The Media Odyssey podcast!

In this episode, Evan and Marion break down the biggest moments from Stream TV including: the "renaissance" of the living room and the shift in digital strategy by global players. They are later joined by Denis Oštir to discuss V’s ambitious new V Index, a unified measurement tool designed to bridge the gap between traditional broadcast and digital streaming.

1. The Power of the Living Room Sofa

Marion shares insights from her workshop including a survey of 15,000 people across Europe, the US, and China, conducted in partnership with RTL AdAlliance. The findings highlight the continued dominance of the big screen, with 83% of Europeans prioritizing video content in the living room. The research reveals an ecosystem where different platforms serve distinct social needs: Netflix primarily caters to couples, VOD brings together larger family groups of five or more, and YouTube remains a hub for solo viewing.

2. The Optimistic Outlook

The duo discusses how the digital evolution of legacy media is fueling a surprisingly positive outlook across the sector. Evan highlights his panel featuring TF1, France’s largest broadcaster, and news creator Gaspard G to illustrate this shift. This collaboration serves as a strategic blueprint for how legacy brands can think and act like creators to maintain relevance in a fragmented market.

3. Deep Dive: The V Index & CTV Strategy

Denis Oštir joins the conversation to explain V’s role as a top-three smart TV platform in Europe with a global footprint of 50 million connected TVs. Given their reach, V aims to solve a major measurement discrepancy where the same "eyeballs" are valued differently based on signal delivery (CPMs for digital vs. GRPs for broadcast). Oštir is inviting other OEMs and industry players to join an open standard to ensure content creators are fairly compensated as money shifts toward digital. Additionally, as Editor-in-Chief, he oversaw a "quality over quantity" shift that reduced their channel count from 100 to 80, which paradoxically led to a 20% increase in viewing time and engagement.

4. Vertical Video: Couch vs. Toilet

The group debates the viability of vertical video on the big screen. Denis’ take: Vertical content is highly personalized, making it a poor fit for the social, shared environment of the living room. Evan's take: Premium vertical video has a future, but it’s for "the between times"—the bus, the doctor’s office, or the bathroom—not for the couch.

Thank you to Denis Oštir for joining the pod!

Denis Oštir - http://linkedin.com/in/denisostir/ 

V - https://v-home.com/ 

Interested in sponsorship? https://forms.gle/2LCWfX2HBNT8mtpx8

Connect with us on Linkedin:

Evan Shapiro - https://www.linkedin.com/in/eshap-media-cartographer/

Marion Ranchet - https://www.linkedin.com/in/marionranchet/
The Media Odyssey Podcast - https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-media-odyssey-podcast

00:00 StreamTV Europe Vibes

02:04 Living Room Viewing Data with RTL AdAlliance

04:25 Fragmentation and Partnerships

05:29 Marion’s Favorite Panel: Super Aggregation or Super Fragmentation? 

06:38 Evan’s Favorite Panel: TF1 & Gaspard G Transforming Journalism on YouTube with a Creator Mindset  

08:19 Live Sports Becoming a Creator

10:39 Industry Mood Shift

14:58 Meet Denis Oštir, Editor-in-Chief of V

17:03 V Index Measurement Fix

22:57 Fixing FAST Data

24:58 Trends in Viewing

28:15 Editor in Chief Role

29:23 Platform Monetization Model

31:28 Vertical Video Debate

34:58 Closing Thoughts