mipcom
FEATURE
Paolo Roatta
Alexander Mazzara
‘Take part, share, connect’
‘Direct route to consumers’
Brand name: iLIKE.TV
Brand: joiz
Based in: Rome, Italy
Based in: Zurich, Switzerland
Owner: Arkimedia
Owner: joiz Group
The disruption: Paolo Roatta, iLIKE.TV’s CEO and founder, was inspired by social media’s ability to re-enact the shared viewing experience that traditional mass-market broadcasting is famous for supplying. This time, however, the technology exists to encourage viewers to “take part, share, connect” — and iLIKE.TV’s propriety technology offers social TV that is more than just a second-screen experience. “Today, viewers want to experience richer TV entertainment,” Roatta says. “Instead of passively watching linear broadcasting, they want to take part in the actual entertainment, as they do on Facebook or YouTube. They want to be able to share with their friends in real time, as they do on Snapchat or on Instagram. And they enjoy and value the possibility of connecting with new friends, as they do on Tinder or WeChat. Television has always been a shared experience. We enjoy something on TV because we know we’re not alone watching it. When Miley Cyrus is twerking live on stage at the MTV Video Music Awards, it’s sensational because millions of people are watching it at the same moment that I’m watching it. We came up with our award-winning technology because we noticed that advertisers are increasingly interested in the mix of traditional TV and the emerging digital platforms.
The disruption: Alexander Mazzara, cofounder and CEO of joiz, has created a business where the millennial audience not only watches but also creates and contributes to content in real time. And it is proving to be a hit with brand-owners. “It’s all about taking entertainment and marketing to a whole new level — a very personalised level,” Mazzara says. “As consumers and users engage with entertainment across multiple platforms, the new TV networks, along with brands and advertisers, can harvest and take full ownership of a huge amount of smart data. This provides new revenue streams and business models as we monetise those audiences. It’s that direct route to consumers that is revolutionising the industry.”
It’s all about taking entertainment and marketing to a whole new level Alexander Mazzara 98
Michael Grams
‘About giving viewers a choice’ Brand: KlowdTV Based in: Virginia, US Owner: KlowdTV The disruption: Tech startup KlowdTV spotted that the US pay-TV market, with its expensive monthly fees, was declining but that no one was truly addressing the reasons why. With a growing number of independent TV networks as partners, including beIN Sports, Bloomberg Television and outdoor lifestyle channel RIDE TV, KlowdTV promises more affordable subscription packages for viewers. Chief financial officer and co-founder Michael Grams says: “The broadcast and cable-TV industry business model as it is today is one of the most unsatisfactory experiences there is. When you look at consumer satisfaction surveys, it’s one of the lowest. And while Netflix and Hulu offer great content, they don’t offer live channels. That’s where we come in. We believe there’s a certain amount of viewing fatigue [with the on-demand services]. Some consumers just want to sit down and watch TV without going through 10,000 titles. The traditional price points have been too high at between $20 and $150 a month. We offer $8-$12 and bundle everything into smaller packages. The market is becoming more receptive to streaming, and transmission costs are coming way down. It’s about giving viewers a choice.”