Televisionation

[itvt] is pleased to present an audio recording of the TVOT NYC 2017 session, "TV or Not TV? Where and How Are People Watching Video Today?" The session was described in the show brochure as follows:

"Ratings are up--or down. Viewers are multitasking--or focused. Everyone is cross-screen, cross-channel, cross-eyed. This panel will share the latest findings about how people are watching TV today, and what new insights and information we have on that video consumption behavior. Whether through monitoring of all WiFi devices in the home, using ACR technology to capture cross-device activity, looking at social media to understand its relationship to television, or monitoring the attention of viewing to the big screen, this panel will provide the latest and greatest on TV audiences, and what that means for content providers, advertisers, and tech companies." Panelists included:
Dan Ackerman, Chief Revenue Officer, Samba TVAaron Fetters, SVP, National Agencies and CPG Business, comScore Helen Katz, SVP/Global Director of Media and Insights, Publicis Media (Moderator)Dan Schiffman, Chief Revenue Officer, TVision InsightsStuart Schwartzapfel, Head of Business Development and Accounts, Canvs
 

(Note: We will shortly be announcing our next TV of Tomorrow Show event, TVOT SF 2018.)

Last month, Connekt--a company which offers an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered, "in-content," transactional advertising engine that allows viewers to interact with ads and content in real time and provides them with an instant path to purchase--emerged from stealth mode. The company, whose founders include Mike Fitzsimmons, former CEO of tcommerce pioneer, Delivery Agent, also announced partnerships with LG and Gracenote, among others. 

In this recorded interview with [itvt] Editor-in-Chief, Tracy Swedlow, Fitzsimmons discusses the four main elements of the company's platform--CARL (AI that processes and analyzes TV viewership, engagement and commerce data in order to provide predictive targeting, ad delivery and measurement); FLX (an ad-delivery platform, that enables creation, optimization and management of "in-moment" campaigns from a centralized interface); Transakt (tcommerce technology, for which Connekt recently received a patent); and Datascope (reporting and analytics); explains how the company was formed and how it draws on Delivery Agent's tcommerce heritage; outlines its plans for the future; and more.

http://itvt.com/podcast

http://tvotshow.com

Interview: Lotame's Ryan Reed on the Company's New aiTV Audience-Intelligence Products

Late last month, data management platform provider, Lotame, announced the launch of its aiTV suite of new products, designed to bring greater audience intelligence to TV and video. The new products--which include aiTV: Attribution & Insights and custom aiTV: SmartTV Data Segments--are housed, alongside the company's aiTV: Platform solution, in a newly formed aiTV division, whose customers include NBCUniversal and Hearst. 

In this recorded interview with [itvt] Editor-in-Chief, Tracy Swedlow, Ryan Reed, Lotame's Director of Innovation for TV and Video, provides an overview of the new products and of the company's work in the audience-intelligence space in general.

Videoof Lotame's platform: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEbABzee824

Mike Gaston is founder and CEO of Cut.com, the social-video company responsible for such viral hits as "100 Years of Beauty" and "Grandmas Smoking Weed for the First Time"--among countless others.

In this second installment of a two-part interview with [itvt] Editor-in-Chief, Tracy Swedlow, Gaston discusses the content that Cut.com produces, how the company is scaling through organic growth, its roadmap for the future, and more.

(Note: Mike Gaston will be speaking at TVOT NYC, December 7th at the SVA Theatre in Manhattan's Chelsea disctrict. Buy your tickets here: http://thetvoftomorrowshow.com/register-tvot

Mike Gaston is founder and CEO of Cut.com, the social-video company responsible for such viral hits as "100 Years of Beauty" and "Grandmas Smoking Weed for the First Time"--among countless others. 

In this first installment of a two-part interview with [itvt] Editor-in-Chief, Tracy Swedlow, Gaston explains why Cut.com focuses exclusively on social video, how the company views the various platforms on which it distributes its work, how it funds and monetizes its content, and how the ultimate goal of that content is to promote empathy.

Earlier this year, Twentieth Century Fox named John Penney (whose career includes stints at Starz, Lionsgate, HBO and beyond) EVP of Consumer Business Development and Partnerships, tasking him with accelerating the development and distribution of the studio's properties across new platforms and viewing experiences.

In this recorded interview with [itvt] Editor-in-Chief, Tracy Swedlow, Penney explains how Twentieth Century Fox is not only working to bring its content to new platforms, but is seeking to use those platforms to generate new kinds of consumer data that will enable it to make its content more discoverable, viewable and monetizable.

[itvt] is pleased to present an audio recording of the TVOT SF 2017 keynote fireside, "TV Worth Watching in a Multiplatform Age." The session was described in the show brochure as follows:

"As television increasingly becomes a multiplatform and social medium--distributed on, and even developed for, social-video platforms that hardly lend themselves to TV's traditionally high production values; frequently monetized via the 'branded-content' model, with all the inherent compromises to quality and integrity that that would seem to entail; and presented not as the fixed expression of an auteur's vision, but as something that can be constantly changed via the audience's interactions with it--will it still be worth watching? Is there a risk that its quality will decline as traditional standards for TV excellence become obsolete, or will a new set of criteria emerge for judging what is quality TV in a multiplatform era? In other words, is it possible yet to envision a 'poetics' (in the Aristotelian sense) of multiplatform, social TV? This keynote session will bring together prominent experts on what makes for quality television, in order to address these questions and provide examples of new forms of programming that have achieved excellence despite the great changes the medium is undergoing." Participants included:
David Bianculli, Guest Host/TV Critic, "Fresh Air" (NPR); Founder and Editor, TVWorthWatching.comBen Mankiewicz, Host, Turner Classic Movies/Commentator, The Young TurksSeth Shapiro, Co-Governor, Interactive Media, Television AcademyTracy Swedlow, Editor-in-Chief, [itvt] (Moderator)

"The Death of the Remote, and the Rise of the Conversational UI" at TVOT SF 2017

[itvt] is pleased to present an audio recording of the TVOT SF 2017 panel session, "The Death of the Remote, and the Rise of the Conversational UI." The session was described in the show brochure as follows:

"For years now, the remote has defined the limitations of user interface (UI) design for the big-screen experience. Menus, rails and walls of image tiles arguably hinder users and make content discovery a real pain point across all platforms. However, new advances in voice technology, machine learning and data analytics promise to liberate digital design from past constraints and make it easier for users to navigate the media landscape.

This session will discuss--from a business, technology and design perspective--the opportunities and challenges in implementing a conversational UI, the state of the technology that underlies it, and some of the solutions currently in the marketplace." Panelists included:

 
• Fabian Birgfeld, CEO, W12 Studios (Moderator)• Scott Francis, CTO, THX• Shawn Johnson, VP of Experience Design, NBCUniversal• Arthur Orduna, Chief Innovation Officer, Avis Budget Group• Dewey Reid, VP/Executive Creative Director, CNN• Margret Schmidt, Chief Design Officer, TiVo• Zane Vella, VP of Product--Strategic Planning and Development, Comcast
 

(Note: The deadline for purchasing tickets for TVOT NYC 2017 (December 7th) at the Super-Early-Bird rate of $675 is midnight, Tuesday September 12th. Buy your tickets here.)

[itvt] is pleased to present an audio recording of the TVOT SF 2017 panel session, "How to Mobilize a Content Team." The session was described in the show brochure as follows:

"The content marketplace is unstable terrain, and our industries rely on visionary talent to imagine its new frontiers. The problem: we rely on anachronistic methods when we organize our content teams around old processes, homogenous perspectives, and echo-chamber logic. In the era of fragmented attention, how do we recruit and manage teams that generate novel and compelling stories? How do we cultivate creative intuition without straitjacketing it into reductive, pseudo-industrial procedure? And in what formation must our content teams position themselves to be resilient and adaptive, as tastes, technologies, and ways of watching proliferate or evaporate altogether? 

Invited to this panel are leaders at the vanguard of digital content, whose collective experience has generated billions of views: together, their work represents a movement that already rivals the reach of the Gutenberg Bible. Their diverse sets of experience prime them to discuss the possibilities and perils of team-building in times where nothing is certain." Panelists included:
Michael Gaston, CEO, Cut.com (Moderator)Aaron Godfred, VP of Content and Partnerships, OmazeWeston Green, VP of Video, DoseMatthew Levin, CEO, Donut MediaChad Mumm, VP of Vox Entertainment/Creative Director, Vox Media
 

(Note: We have just announced that our next event, TVOT NYC 2017, will take place December 7th. Until September 12th, tickets will be available at the Super-Early-Bird price of $675. Purchase your tickets here.)

TVOT SF 2017 Keynote: Cenk Uygur and Ben Mankiewicz of The Young Turks

[itvt] is pleased to present an audio recording of the TVOT SF 2017 keyote by Cenk Uygur and Ben Mankiewicz, co-founders of the online/social-video news organization, The Young Turks. The keynote was described in the show brochure as follows: 

"Described by The Independent as 'the most watched online news show in the world,' The Young Turks has received well over 3 billion views on YouTube, where it currently garners over 200 million views per month. The left-leaning program is also the number-one news and politics show with Millennials, according to data from comScore, Tubular Labs and OpenSlate; and has given rise to The Young Turks Network, an MCN that distributes an extensive line-up of programming on YouTube, Roku, Hulu and other platforms.

In this keynote session, The Young Turks co-founders, CEO Cenk Uygur and commentator Ben Mankiewicz, will discuss the strategic decisions--as well as the broader social, cultural and political shifts--that have given rise to the show's success; and outline how they expect The Young Turks show and network to evolve and expand going forward."

(Note: We will be publishing audio and video recordings of a range of TVOT SF 2017 panels and keynotes over the coming weeks; and we will be announcing the next TVOT show shortly.)