Streaming News 2022 Webinar: Maximizing Audience And Revenue

As streaming becomes more of a focus for national and local news, executives from Estrella Media, NBCUniversal, Scripps Networks, Gray Television, Fox Television Stations and Allen Media will unpack their strategies for building audience and revenue opportunities in Streaming News 2022: Maximizing Audience and Revenue, the second of a two-part TVNewsCheck webinar event on Aug. 25 at 1 p.m. ET.

The streaming leaders will discuss how their organizations are adapting to maximize direct sales and get the most out of programmatic exchanges. They’ll also share their strategies for audience development on OTT channels, the role of vMVPDs and where marketing and UX continue to evolve to give newsrooms a competitive edge.

“News organizations are past the plant the flag stage of their streaming operations and have shifted towards making them a viable business with robust audiences,” said TVNewsCheck Editor Michael Depp. “This webinar will build on our first streaming news webinar in July, which centers around content and workflow strategies, and dive deeply into where and how news organizations are finding their audiences and advertisers, alongside their ongoing efforts to maximize revenue from vMVPDs.”

Register here.

Speakers:

Brian Fisher

Brian Fisher, SVP, Digital Sales, Estrella Media — He was elevated to his role in February 2022, having previously held the position of VP, digital sales. In his new expanded role, he continues to drive the national digital sales opportunities and strategy for Estrella Media’s AVOD, FAST and digital platform sales, as well as lead the digital sales team strategy. He reports to Steve Mandala, chief revenue officer and local media officer and remains based in New York.

Fisher joined the company in 2019 after running a successful media consulting company guiding and building media properties. He brings extensive traditional and digital media platform knowledge and a passion for building and strengthening media companies. During his career he has held positions at McCann-Erickson, one of the world’s leading advertising agencies, Tribune Media, Bloomberg Media, ABC Television Network, LookSmart, one of the leading search directories and The Excite Network.

Erin Overstreet

Erin Overstreet, VP, Digital Sales, Gray Television — With a drive to contribute to the industry’s convergence of traditional broadcast and digital, Erin Overstreet oversees digital sales for Gray, the owner and/or operator of television stations and digital properties in 113 markets that currently reach 36% of U.S. households.

A former financial advisor with a background also in both sales and news, Overstreet joined Gray in 2008 with the aim to help local advertisers continue to successfully market their brands in a rapidly changing consumer environment. OTT is no exception to this, and Gray continues to evolve in content creation and delivery.

Michael Page

Michael Page, SVP of Digital Sales for Fox Television Stations — He has been with Fox Television Stations since 2019. Before joining FTS, Page was VP of digital sales for Tribune Media, increasing the group’s revenue by 45%.

Previously, he led Tegna Digital in the $2.5 billion acquisition of Cars.com as VP of digital automotive. Prior to that, Page was the head of product marketing for Amazon Media Group. For over a decade, he held various sales roles at Cars.com, including VP of advertiser solutions and VP of advertiser pricing and analytics. Earlier in his career, Page held positions at All-Advantage.com, Congressional Quarterly Magazine, Claritas/Nielsen, Prospects of Wealth and Resources (POW&R), Prognosis Weekly, Legal Time/American Lawyer and Times Journal Company.

Shawn Makhijani

Shawn Makhijani, SVP of Business Development and Strategy, NBCUniversal Television and Streaming & SVP, NBC Spot On — He is responsible for business development and strategy across NBCUniversal with a focus on the broadcast businesses including NBCUniversal Local, NBC Affiliate Relations. He works with TV, digital and sales leaders to create strategies and identify opportunities for growth through strategic alliances, partnerships, mergers and acquisitions and organic business creation.

Makhijani also runs NBCUniversal Local’s NBC Spot On business and manages sales strategy for NBCUniversal Local’s local and regional sales businesses. NBCUniversal Local includes 42 NBC/Telemundo owned stations and their associated digital platforms, 7 regional sports networks, regional news network NECN, a robust digital out-of-home group, national multicast networks NBCLX, Cozi TV and TeleXitos, and the division’s in-house production, marketing and promotions companies.

Makhijani joined NBCUniversal in 2007, initially charged with growing the digital businesses of the NBC Owned Television Stations group.  With the formation of the NBCUniversal Owned Television Stations division, which combined the NBC Owned Television Stations group with the Telemundo Station Group and NECN, his role expanded and was charged with overseeing business development and strategy across all local businesses. The NBCUniversal Owned Television Stations division was rebranded to NBCUniversal Local in 2021.

Before joining NBCUniversal, Makhijani held business development positions at AOL, TellMe Networks, Excite@Home, Twentieth Century Fox and Indo American Enterprises. In addition, he worked in M&A and Equity Capital Markets for JP Morgan. He started his first broadcast television venture at the age of 15, when he co-founded the popular U.S. based television network, Namaste America, where he produced and hosted several shows.

Makhijani earned a bachelor’s degree in Government from Dartmouth College, and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Ken Ripley

Ken Ripley, VP of Digital Sales, Scripps Networks — He manages the CTV sales team for Scripps Networks, guiding relationships with brands and agencies in helping to grow advertising revenue in the streaming ecosystem.

Ripley has close to 30 years of experience in the media industry and has launched new sales divisions for major entertainment companies, repositioned existing and underperforming businesses and launched new marketing and media concepts.

During his career, Ripley has:

• Drafted the business plan, launched and managed ad sales for DirecTV ‘s entry into the national advertising marketplace – a business model that is still in place today.
• Created and launched the sales development department for Discovery Communications, bringing in blue-chip clients and generating tens of millions of dollars of new to Discovery digital, linear and sponsorship revenue.
• Launched and managed market leader TiVo’s partnership group at the birth of interactive advertising.
• Launched and managed sales divisions for Columbia TriStar Television, Sony’s Game Show Network, Al Jazeera America and IGA Worldwide.

Ripley graduated from Denison University in Granville, Ohio, with a bachelor’s degree in economics.

Michael Depp, Editor, TVNewsCheck  (moderator)