Cablefax The Magazine - March 2017 - 21

the company. He's digging in deep to continue understanding
where Hulu customers' mobile viewing occurs,
serving the content they're drawn to, and ironing
out ways to serve the company's streaming customers
offl ine. The former Microsoft Xbox exec says it's time to
eulogize set-top boxes. " Consumer devices, like game
consoles, streaming players and mobile phones, have
long since surpassed set-top boxes in delivering meaningful
innovation to consumers and the gap is only
growing, " he notes. " Set-top-boxes died a while ago
and are simply living out their existence, like zombies. "
Bart Spriester
SVP, PRODUCTS
HARMONIC
Under Spriester's leadership, Harmonic
has introduced a slate of innovative
technologies, including the new VOS
cloud offering and EyeQ video compression
optimization solution. Spriester and his team
make sure the behind-the-scenes aspect of multiscreen
is fi ring on all cylinders by helping to reduce
network delivery and storage costs and enabling a
more consistent viewing experience with less of that
dreaded buffering. He knows the industry is excited
about UHD HDR, but there's some work to be done.
" There needs to be an end-to-end production workfl ow
and an established solution for delivering UHD to SDR
legacy screen sets before it can truly be successful, "
he says, predicting 2017 will see the industry work to
resolve those challenges with estimated mass deployments
by the end of 2017 and early 2018.
John Stankey
CEO, ENTERTAINMENT
GROUP
AT&T
Having been with AT&T for three
decades, Stankey has led tons of
innovative consumer-facing projects,
including the initial U-verse launch, the acquisition and
integration of DirecTV, and the company's expansion
into Mexico and Latin America. He is the vision behind
the recent DirecTV Now launch, and the architecture of
the company's video platform is creating disruption in
the pay-TV industry. Stankey's goal is to provide customers
with a premium, effortless mobile and entertainment
experience.
Kent Steffen
PRESIDENT, DIGITAL SERVICES
CSG INTERNATIONAL
Leveraging his extensive knowledge of
the technical and operational challenges
cable providers face, Steffen leads
the CSG digital services team in helping
cable operator clients transition into digital service
providers. During the past year he spearheaded multiple
customer wins including projects with a U.K.-based
quad-play services provider, Sony Pictures Home
Entertainment and a North American telecom provider,
in addition to expanding CSG's partnership with Comcast's
Xfi nity on Campus. Additionally, CSG deepened
its partnership with Xfi nity On Campus. Looking ahead,
Steffen says the longevity of the set-top box is not the
question, " but the enabling middleware evolution that
is taking place as more of this infrastructure move from
proprietary middleware to open IP middleware, and the
role the apps will take to increase the value of the user
experience. "
Billy Stewart
SVP, DIGITAL PRODUCT &
STRATEGY
VIAMEDIA
Recognizing the need for multiscreen
monetization that can " better show
advertisers how effectively their campaigns
are delivering audiences deeper throughout the
sales funnel, " Stewart continues to prove himself a leader
in cross-media ad platform innovation. From interactive
mobile ads to new methods for advertisers to calculate
total viewership, his never-ending quest for the next
big idea has been instrumental in Viamedia's continued
growth. Looking to the future, he believes that " being able
to report beyond simple estimated audience delivery to
include more mid-funnel matrix like engagement and user
actions will drive better monetization. "
Matt Strauss
EVP/GM, VIDEO SERVICES
COMCAST CABLE
With Strauss at the helm, Comcast's
video strategy rests in very capable
hands. As the company continues to
amplify the power of X1, this seasoned
exec is executing on delivering an expanding
array of video products and services on the platform
as well as via the cloud infrastructure for both streaming
and DVR that's available across the Comcast
footprint, and the Xfi nity app. This year more than
Cablefax: The Magazine
March 2017
cablefaxmag.com
19
http://www.cablefaxmag.com
Cablefax The Magazine - March 2017

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Cablefax The Magazine - March 2017
