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How do you turn an idea into a growing streaming business? It takes more than just great content—and our guest speakers know it well. In this episode, David Guinan (General Manager at Major League Table Tennis) and David MacPhie (Global Sales Director at Accedo One) dive into the must-ask questions and practical decisions every organization faces before going to market: Is there real demand for your service? What monetization model makes the most sense for your content? How should you split your first-year investment? And which tech is the best fit for a greenfield project like this? With firsthand stories from launching, running, and advising OTT platforms, they unpack what works, how needs evolve as your service hits key growth milestones, and what they’d do differently if they were starting all over again. 00:58 - What are the first things you consider when starting an OTT service? 04:38 - How should a startup/nascent video service go about making decisions to define their OTT technology strategy?  11:55 - How do you build a brand and tackle marketing as a new service? 17:28 - What are the most useful/critical analytics data points? 23:10 - What to focus on when you have a running service? 40:35 - How do you budget for your service among technology, operational team, marketing, etc.?

Mathias Johnson (Product Manager, Hibox) and Rasmus Almqvist (VP Global Sales) join us to explore how video is transforming the guest and patient experience across the hospitality, healthcare, and enterprise sectors. They explain how Hibox as a global provider of interactive TV and OTT solutions is driving innovation by enabling seamless, multi-screen video services tailored for hotels, hospitals, and workplace environments. Topics covered include typical user journeys in hospitality and healthcare (2:25), shifts in the hospitality industry and staying ahead of the competition (11:40), monetization strategies across verticals (15:00), and how to drive adoption through innovation (29:05).

Featuring Vijay Sajja (Founder and CEO of Evergent Technologies) and Michael Lantz (Co-founder and CEO of Accedo), this episode dissects the critical shift from pure subscriber growth to sustainable monetization in video streaming. The conversation explores the resulting challenges and delves into potential future monetization options that can effectively balance revenue generation and user experience. Vijay and Michael also touch upon the vital role of analytics and usage data in unlocking successful OTT monetization and share the hyper-critical success factors that, based on their experience, are often overlooked by streaming providers and can hinder a profitable business. 00:56 How can OTT services balance monetization and user experience to maximize revenue while retaining subscribers? 02:57 How can frontends/UX's affect user choices when it comes to subscriptions? 08:36 How will subscription tiers change or trend in the next 3-5 years? 18:20 What role does data and analytics play in the future of OTT monetization? 29:50 What are some aspects when developing or operating an OTT service that are hyper critical, but often not considered?

Recorded live at NAB 2025, this episode explores the findings of the latest industry study on Streaming Analytics in the Age of AI, led by Mrugesh Desai (VP North America) and Professor Serguei Netessine (The Wharton School). Guest speakers David Guinan (Major League Table Tennis), Kirby Grines (Founder & CEO at The Streaming Wars), and Jesús Herrero Valverde (Co-founder at Jump AI Technologies) share their real-world experiences and discuss how leading video streaming platforms are currently leveraging data analytics to enhance the viewing experience. They discuss the current analytics landscape (2:54), challenges in live sports (4:58), KPIs and data quality (7:54), how AI is influencing decision-making (12:55), quality of service metrics (16:35), the shift toward real-time analytics (21:00), inefficiencies in analytics tools (24:35), the evolution of personalization (27:10), and what’s next for AI in streaming (32:20).

Pernilla Wraneus and Sadie Groom take the stage in this special episode celebrating Women’s History Month. The conversation highlights the importance of mentorship, inclusive leadership, and industry-wide efforts to create equal opportunities for women in media and technology. They discuss Sadie’s career journey in the media tech space (1:15), the inspiration behind Rise (9:18), what companies can do to support women into leadership roles (14:55), strategies for achieving workplace diversity (19:10), and the qualities of a good mentor (22:35). Learn more about Rise here [https://risewib.com/]. Music by: Jahzzar [https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Jahzzar/]