One Touch Intelligence’s new podcast series focuses on innovation in the video, broadband, and wireless industries, with some of the more video-centric conversations featured here in partnership with StreamTV Insider.
As part of the OTIcast series, OTI SVP & Lead Analyst Michael Grebb interviewed Sylvia George, AMC Networks’ EVP of Media & Audience Strategy during StreamTV Insider’s last StreamTV Show in Denver – and her comments have never been more relevant.
AMCN remains a smaller, independent player swimming with much larger sharks that are about to get much bigger (just ask Paramount, Netflix, and Warner Bros. Discovery), and AMCN remains one of the last truly independent voices out there. George outlined several ways that AMCN plans to survive and thrive within this new media landscape.
Watch the full interview here or below and check out an edited Q&A transcript excerpt from the conversation further below.
Excerpted Q&A
Michael Grebb
You know more about your audience than ever through your direct-to-consumer efforts. But how do you balance that with your traditional linear TV business?
Sylvia George
We’re constantly learning about our audiences, trying to understand all the different signals we can across of content affinities, lifestyle affinities, where they prefer to watch content, what devices they prefer to watch, and what are the leading indicators that turn somebody from a casual viewer into somebody who's a long, 10-year, high-value subscriber… It's a constant evaluation.
And when it comes to our partner relationships, we've been able to really unlock value in terms of actionable data they give us that allows us to really drive targeted marketing campaigns to these audiences based on everything that we've learned about them. Everything changes so fast. Audience behavior changes so fast. So we're constantly diving into data. We're data nerds.
MG
Do you treat the DTC audience differently – or is it just about dividing the revenue into different baskets?
SG
We are agnostic, really. For us, it's all about meeting the consumer where they are. So if they're on an MVPD… [or] if they download us from an app store and watch us that way, we are agnostic. We really are focused on driving engagement. As long as those customers continue to engage with our content and keep engaging with our content, that's what we find valuable.
MG
So there's no preference internally as to how viewers access content?
SG
I think we really see the value in leveraging our partner relationships because of the scale and access and audience that drives. We’re not in the days where we could build a massive DTC infrastructure or where we could throw a ton of money at it. So rather than trying to build into growth, which is not sustainable… really understanding where we can unlock opportunities with partners and really leverage their scale… [has] proven to be a really valuable business model for us.
MG
You talked about throwing money at it. But you’re competing with massive companies that can outspend you many times over. What’s it like being a smaller company surrounded by these giants?
SG
You know, we have some interesting advantages from different angles. One is we're serving these niche passionate audiences. So for us, it's not about an either-or situation: you know, sign up to our service or one of the bigger services. We view ourselves as complementary. We really serve very specific, passionate fan bases. Whether somebody's into brilliant mysteries from around the world or the best in horror content or indie content or the world of the “Walking Dead” universe. They can access that through us. We in no way believe and assume that our customers will choose us at the expense of something else. We are very focused on really leveraging our partner relationships in ways that I think is unique to us.
We can be nimble. We can try new things. If a partner has a new idea or they want to beta test something, we're usually the first in line. And that's actually unlocked opportunities for us that some of the bigger players get, that somebody our size wouldn't normally get, because we're very flexible and we really think about our partner's priorities and how they can align with ours to get to someplace bigger.
MG
To switch gears, how has artificial intelligence changed your job and how you market to consumers?
SG
It’s something we are thinking about a lot as a company. We have a strategic task force that thinks about how we can leverage AI responsibly throughout everything we do. But in my specific world, where we've seen it really start to add value is particularly with our technology media partners. They're leveraging AI to help uncover and identify audiences that might have an affinity to our content that we haven't found before or audiences that might have a propensity to churn. How do we make sure we keep them? How do we message them? So it's sort of this predictive audience approach that is becoming more of a mainstay.
MG
So the AI gives suggestions on how to keep an audience?
SG
Yeah, yeah. And it's all done in a very privacy compliant way, right? We want to make sure that we're not running afoul of that. But at the same time, it helps to really uncover opportunities across the media landscape and across audiences. But each partner has a different approach. All of the advertising partners we work with have an AI product or some version of AI that they have incorporated into their tactics. And so we're absolutely testing that with them. And we've seen some really strong results, particularly in retention and engagement.
MG
What does that process look like internally?
SG
It’s always a human who makes a decision on which way to go. It's a tool that we use and that our partners use to surface opportunities and risks, and then we evaluate it to understand whether or not it makes sense. But it's really leveraged as a tool, not as the driver if that makes sense.
MG
So is it an idea generator in some ways?
SG
Yeah, for us, for what we do, it might point us to opportunities where, “hey, you haven't thought about this audience cohort for this title.” There might be an affinity we just haven't thought about. And it might say, “hey, you have an opportunity here. That is an audience that is more likely to engage with your piece of content you should test.” And so we're like, “OK. Let's test it and see what signals we get from it.” So that's how we're using it right now. There are so many uses of AI in the marketing and advertising landscape. For what we're doing to try to drive growth and engagement across audiences, it's been a really interesting way to uncover opportunities and also risks because it points to, “hey, here's a cohort that we're getting signals that they might be turning out quickly, signals that we not surface readily to us for some reason. So that's where we see the value right now.
MG
OK, last question. Where do you see sort of the biggest challenge and the biggest opportunity over the next couple of years?
SG
It's this sort of highly fragmented, highly competitive landscape. There are so many players in the business. Audiences have so many choices. So being able to efficiently market to people and drive growth and engagement - without breaking the bank, but still finding that growth and retention - is an ongoing challenge. But I think, again, we're uniquely positioned to do it because of the really deep engagement we have with these very passionate audiences across the niche channels and services we have. It's more efficient for us to drive growth and engagement that way than cast a really broad, expensive net to get these broader mainstream audiences, right? We can find those audiences that love horror. We can find those audiences that love “The Walking Dead.” We can find those audiences that love mystery really efficiently… And we're not beholden to a big company or siloed in a way that doesn't allow us to move and react and respond to opportunities.
Michael Grebb is Senior Vice President and Lead Analyst for One Touch Intelligence, which provides market intelligence and industry analysis services for leading companies in the media and telecommunications space.
The OTIcast podcast is a complimentary service offering industry professionals insights and context around developments in the digital media sphere and may sometimes feature companies that are also One Touch Intelligence clients. If you are a media or telecommunications company with an innovation story that you’d like to share, please reach out to us at [email protected]
The contents of OTIcast and excerpted Q&A do not necessarily represent the opinions of StreamTV Insider.