Martin T. Focazio

Here’s my take on the OTT platform development world, from the perspective of trying to build apps and put content on these devices for my clients.

This is what it’s like to get started as a developer.

Roku: The WordPress of OTT media – creating a channel is as easy as starting a blog. Result? Ultra-Niche Programming of all kinds. 

XBox:  It’s like New York – if you can make it to this platform, you can make it on any OTT platform.

Apple TV:  Remember the silent monolith in 2001?

Samsung Smart TV: Like a transcription of two non-native english speakers having a dialogue with American Siri.

Wii: Love doing your taxes? It’s as much fun as that. 

Sony: Have you considered installing a separate washing machine for each day of the week? You’ll do fine.

How about you? What are your developer startup experiences like? Who’s making it easier to stand up on new OTT platforms with a decent developer SDK?

There is this company called Aereo and it’s creating a big ruckus in the media and entertainment industry. 

Here’s what Aereo does. It allows you to watch and record broadcast television via an internet connected device (if you are located in a place that, if you had a TV with an antenna, could have picked up the broadcasts anyway).  That’s it. Although the technology behind the whole system is comically complicated in order to comply with the letter of various laws, that hasn’t prevented broadcasters like Fox and CBS and basically all the others  from attacking Aereo in the courts for “stealing copyrighted content.”  The courts have not agreed and Aereo is expanding to over 20 markets.

The central thesis of the argument by the broadcasters is that Aereo does not pay entities like CBS “retransmission fees”  - fees that companies like Dish, DirecTV, Comcast and Time Warner pay for the right to carry CBS programming.  For CBS alone, $250 million in retransmission fees accounted for about 10% of CBS’ 2012 segment earnings.

For the whole business, SNL Kagan says that:

Unless, of course, it does not. Because along with Aereo’s threat, Neilsen just recently noticed (and grossly underestimated the size of) the previously mythical “Zero TV Household” that somehow went from nonexistent a year ago to 5% (I think more like 10%) of all households overnight.

So it seems like a pretty simple case of squawking over lost easy revenue, right?  Wrong.

For those of us who have been slogging away in the creation of Digital Media Supply Chains for the last 5 to 10 years, it’s important to consider just how different our world is from the world that came before.

For example, Neilsen Ratings are based on a sampling of 20,000 households in the USA and statistical methods are used to estimate the actual audience size.  This approach is described (and defended) in a video that they have on (interestingly) YouTube:  “Nielsen Ratings 101: Designing the Sample”, which describes sampling for their TV panels. Of the process, Arthur Nielsen Jr. says: “I try to explain how sampling works. Next time you go to a doctor and he wants to take a little bit of blood, tell him you don’t believe in sampling, take it all.”

Funny. And totally wrong at every level when it comes to digital media.  Sampling is a mathematical tool to use when it’s impractical or impossible to quantify something holistically.  Until recently, it was literally impossible to establish automated data collection of viewing habits in every household. Every digital native knows that, if you want to work with a sample of 100% of the audience, not only is it possible, it’s commonplace. If you’re in the business of selling access to digital media, it’s required for settlements and billing. You don’t hazard a guess +/- a few points when you’re paying a content owner based on completed views of a video. Netflix does not guess how many people watched what show.

This – the evidence based definition of the audience (and what it does) – is the real threat of Aereo.

Here’s how “audience” is discussed today.  The New York DMA consists of 29 counties located in 4 states. When you buy ads on, for example, ABC (Disney) stations serving the NY DMA, they will present you with this handy little info-nugget:

Big numbers, right? Sure – and that’s what justifies the big advertising numbers.  So the “up-fronts” – a frenzy of selling and buying ad space on popular shows – come along and numbers in the tens of millions (both dollars and audience) are thrown around, and in the end, it adds up to tens of billions of dollars (estimates range from 60 to 70 billion).

But with Digital Media, we don’t actually think about “DMA’s” – even though we have learned to say “DMA” to communicate using the language of the locals. Indeed geography seems to be a rather quaint concept many in big media cling to.  As an aside: a guy I know out in Hollywood had a total freak-out when he could not get a cell phone number with a Hollywood area code and exchange – really They think about place, more than you might realize.  Big advertising is buying market size estimates and demographic generalities.

In digital media, we don’t think in estimates of audience size or guesses at audience behavior (even though some companies have learned that selling guesses just like the old days can be a nice business) we  think in terms of real-time analysis and optimization.

And THAT is the real threat of Aereo (and every other 1:1 media delivery system) – it can do much more than kill retransmission fees (which, relatively speaking, are tiny compared to ad revenue), it can expose the reality of the audience’s viewing habits – and lower the price advertisers are willing to pay if evidence shows that the ads are not actually reaching the audience they want.  Aereo is one of an arsenal of evidence-generating media consumption tools that are growing in popularity.

Consider:

• If you’re playing video on an iPad, one of the data points that could be collected is the orientation and/or movement of the iPad. What would it mean if every time a commercial played, it appeared that the iPad was laid flat, and when the show resumed, it was held upright?
• There’s no technical reason why a video (or commercial) playing via an Xbox (and 60% of Xbox use is media consumption, not game play) could not pause if the Kinect sensor does not see a person in the room (and Intel’s pending TV Box could do the same).

It’s possible to come up with a new idea for ad-supported television. We can talk all day long about C3 vs. C7 windows and create all kinds of fears about DVR use for ad-skipping. We can watch as the content owners wish for Charlie Ergan’s unexpected demise and listen to Leslie Moonves, the chief executive of the CBS Corporation asking “How does Charlie Ergen expect me to produce ‘CSI’ ” without commercials?” and the whole argument becomes much more clear. The argument really is, “How can we charge as much for ad time for programming and ads nobody is actually watching?”

Aereo and every other IP-delivered digital video system bring content to consumers and evidence to advertisers – and that’s going to change everything.

In my opinion, this is a shift that will be as fast and as hard as it was for the newspapers and music industry – but in the end, there will still be ads, there will still be television – but the players on the leaderboard will be very different in a few years than they are today.

 NOTE: This is my personal blog and has nothing whatsoever to do with my employer. 

Once again, I’m bitten on the ass by “going paperless” – when oh when will I learn that “paperless statements” means “you’re 100% screwed if you think for a second we’re going to make your life any easier with paperless statements”

Today, as I had to deal with various financial issues, I happened to need to have copies of the last 12 months of my mortgage statements & payment history, which are now no longer available at the original web site. I tried to access new co site…didn’t work. Started down the rabbit hole….

Verbatims from the FAQ for the new shitty web site that replaces Schwab.com:

–
“Can I access my account online?”
Yes. Starting March 8, 2013, you will access your loan at the [NEW CO] website at [NEW SITE]. If you currently view your account at [OLD SITE], you will need to create a new user name and password when you first visit [NEW SITE].
–
[NEW SITE DOES NOT RECOGNIZE MY INFORMATION AT ALL. CAN'T GET ONLINE.]
–
“How can I get my statement history?”
Starting March 8, 2013, you can call [NEWCO] at [NEW NUMBER] Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. ET, if you have questions about a previous statement.

[WHAT? WHAAA???!?!?!?]

–
I’m sorry [OLD CO] did you you just say “fuck you” to me MULTIPLE TIMES? Yes, I think that’s what I heard you say. In fact, I’m sure that’s what you just said.

Well guess what?

I run a house, not a data center.

I expect that the companies I send my money to will maintain ongoing access to my transactional history in exchange for me offering to save them $12-30 a month in printing and postage. It’s a fair trade.

Additionally, once you go to paperless statements with many companies, you no longer have neat little PDF’s to download and file away forever – you get access to a web page that shows you a history. It prints poorly, and is generally hard to manage. Electronic Bill Presentment is stalled – possibly forever – by a “pull and pull” model whereby the consumer must react to a notification via insecure email that pulls the consumer to the logged in web site and then the consumer must pull and perpetually manage the e-statement (if possible). Or, I can open an envelope, read the bill, tell my bank to pay the bill and drop the paper statement into an accordion file. One login, 10 seconds, one file folder. My time is valuable and paperless statements devalue my time.

I just got this email from a recruiter I know – Megan Holbrook at Startuponestop.com 

She speaks the truth.

Good morning, All,

Some of you know that I’m a recruiter by trade and now, our recruiter hat is on. I’ve gotten quite a few calls lately from clients, and inquiries from some of you whom I’ve run into at the numerous events we attend – all wondering why they can’t find midlevel talent. First, a few points of clarifications:

1. No, they’re not in hiding;
2. No, they haven’t been shipped off to a gulag in some unknown part of the world.
3. No, not all of them have gone the entrepreneurial route and are off the job market.

The truth is that for the past few years, when you’ve called with a position to fill, I’d asked you if you were open to bringing on someone who was entry level as well. Answer: no – you didn’t want to/have the time to train someone. Fast forward to present day: it’s hard to find midlevel talent in NYC – and that’s not limited to technical talent, for those of us playing the home version. It’s because you wouldn’t hire them when they were entry level a few years ago. They do exist, but there is consequently a shortage of them, and they’re in high demand. Speaking of present day, I still ask if you’re open to bringing on someone entry level as well. Answer: again, no, you don’t want to/have time to train someone, so when you call in a few years and again ask where all of the midlevel people are: do not pass go; do not collect $200.

Contrary to popular misconception, there is no shortage of talent in New York and we have a sneaking suspicion that this problem is not limited to New York. There is a shortage of companies willing/able to pay people for their experience, or companies send a wish list of skills that is the equivalent of hiring three employees. Be realistic in your expectations/wants/needs/desires. And remember that midlevel people start as entry level people – unless they’re starting their own companies, and our suggestion to those of you out there who fall into that category: good for you – make sure you have a business model. You know: that boring ‘path to revenue’ thing, or you might soon have to take a job and no one’s going to hire you as a CEO or even VP of anything, despite the fact that you were CEO/VP of your own (failed) company. Back to our story.

Many of you are happy to hire interns. In fact, you’re always posting for them. We understand that you’re a startup and have limited funds. Fair enough, but for the record: interns are people without hands-on experience in their chosen professions. They’re usually recent grads or people who are changing careers, and are happy to work for the experience, so don’t ask for 4 years of coding experience, or social media experience – unless having a facebook page counts – and no, they’re not also going to also have expert level front end coding skills.

If you can’t afford entry level, you might try offering a paid internship, even if the payment is more or less a stipend. It fosters good will, and seeing ‘paid internship’ as opposed to ‘internship’ sends the message that someone saw value in what that person was doing. You might also want to consider: that intern that you’ve had working for you for the past year or three, unpaid? They’re their next employer’s junior/mid-level hire. And thanks for playing!

We recently worked with a newly-minted computer science graduate from a top engineering school, who had won or placed second in the numerous hackathon/startup weekend in which he had participated. Passed every coding test every client had given him – and all were happy to hire him. As an unpaid intern. After an exhaustive search here, he sent his resume out to a handful of companies in Silicon Valley, and was snapped up immediately. In fact, he had his pick of offers, and there was nary an internship in the lot.

So you see, New York does not lack talent: it lacks vision and foresight. Maybe Silicon Valley learned that lesson of hiring entry level people long ago. Time for us in other parts of the world to do the same. Don’t turn someone down because they lack on-the-job experience: train them. And if you’re willing to offer them an internship instead, kick in a few bucks – if only for good will. They have rents to pay, too. Those people you see on park benches? No rents to pay – but we doubt that they’d be willing to pick up HTML any time soon. Next: don’t turn someone down because they have more experience than you were looking for, either. It’s a tough market out there: that person needs a job, too, and he or she may bring experience you didn’t even suspect that you needed. And might teach you a thing or two, too, as an added bonus. Everyone, yea, even the lowly intern, potentially brings something to the table, so also make sure to teach them something, and treat them like you need them. They want the experience – give it to them and make sure it’s something beyond doing your grunt work. If they prove to be invaluable, find the money and/or the equity or both to compensate them. If you think that they’re going to stick around and continue to work for you, for free, while you’re pursuing your dream, well, in the words of Judy Holliday (Born Yesterday, 1950):” I might have been born yesterday, but I’ve been up all night thinking.” So have they,so dream on. And onward and forward.

Years ago, I worked at a place called Broadcast Arts, a special effects studio of the kind where they made miniature models and neat mechanical rigs and so on. We did stuff for Pee-Wee’s playhouse, the old (pre-CGI) “Bud Bowl” commercials, lots and lots of MTV “Bumpers” and so much more. We built cool stuff and filmed it. I was the studio manager.

One of the projects we had was for a commercial for Twinkies. The creative for the spot called for a “magical land” made out of twinkies, and in the middle of it all was a sliding board that ended in a pool full of twinkie cream. A kid would slide down the board, into the pool, and scoop up a mouthful of twinkie cream. The scene required us to literally cover two walls, each 40×16′ with tens of thousands of Twinkies, and to get a small swimming pool, which was filled 2/3 with water, and the rest was mostly shaving cream, sparing a section where we would place about 25 gallons of twinkie filling for the shoot. Hostess sent us a truckload of unfilled twinkies and several 25 gallon containers of the filling.

Now prior to the assembly of this set, we were also experiencing a massive rat infestation, owing to demolition of a building next to the studio. By “massive rat infestation” I mean both quantity of rats and size of rats. And by infestation I mean that they were running in the hallways during the day, basically ignoring everyone. And they chewed EVERYTHING. More than a few rats blew their faces off from chewing wires. They chewed wood. They chewed sheetrock. They chewed plastic. They would be found eating the coffee grinds out of the coffee makers and in the trash. We laid poison and traps. The traps would fill in a matter of an hour, and the poisoned rats would burrow into the walls and die, and then stink for days on end. I personally killed over 100 rats during this time, using any number of unattractive means.

So, into this environment, we are asked to place about 40,000 real twinkies for a shoot that would last 3 days. My friend Chuck and I decided that the only way to save the set was to sit in the studio all night long with a pellet gun and shoot every rat that we saw on the twinkie set. We took shifts sleeping and waiting on the set for the rats.

And those rats – the same rats that would eat the sludge out of the bottom of a trash can, the rats that ate styrofoam containers that had a little sauce on them…they never once came near the Twinkies.