OTT: Optimizing Total TV: Strategies for the New Media Landscape
Featured Speakers’ Bios
Rob Aksman
President and Co-Founder
Brightline
Rob Aksman is the President and Co-Founder of BrightLine and has been leading the way in advanced TV advertising for over 20 years from the first VOD ads and set-top box interactivity to his company’s own connected TV ad solution, OTT Accelerator. Under Rob’s strategic leadership, BrightLine has cemented itself as the TV industry standard for interactive, dynamic, and shoppable ad experiences for all leading streaming companies including Disney, NBCU, and Warner Bros Discovery, across every major streaming device. More than 75 of the nation’s top 100 advertisers enhance their CTV buys with BrightLine’s Accelerator solutions suite under Rob’s leadership. He also works closely with BrightLine’s product and engineering teams to craft products and services that solve for the future of TV advertising, as it undergoes its continued seismic shift from linear to streaming.
Tracey Chen
Executive Director, Corporate Research, Data & Insights
Warner Bros. Discovery
Tracey Chen is an insights leader and digital platform strategist from Warner Bros. Discovery. Tracey has a decade of successful experience in delivering actionable insights from analytics and research, to continuously evolve OTT platform strategy and drive business growth. As an avid fan of movies and TV shows, she enjoys using her skills to explore content consumption and viewer mindsets, as well as studying emerging opportunities across generations, culture, and technology. Previously she worked at Warner Home Entertainment Group, where she managed sales forecasting on DVD/Blu-ray releases from Warner Bros. TV, HBO, and partner brands.
Her educational background includes a MS in Mathematics and a Master’s in Applied Statistics from Louisiana State University. She also holds a Bachelor’s in Applied Mathematics from Fudan University in Shanghai.
She currently lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two beautiful cats. In her free time, Tracey likes to travel, hike, and watch tennis.
Vera Chien
Executive Director, Corporate Research, Data & Insights
Warner Bros. Discovery
Vera Chien is a research leader with 20+ years experience in insights, analytics, CX, and UX – spanning entertainment, media, gaming, technology, and consumer products. Vera is Executive Director at Warner Bros Discovery, where she leads research on the entertainment landscape, corporate strategy, and emerging opportunities. The intersection of Vera’s experiences across content, games, VR/AR/MR, NFTs, and youth audiences fuels her passion and insight on the metaverse.
Karen Costello
Creative Chair
Deutsch LA
Karen Costello is Creative Chair at Deutsch LA where she is responsible for setting the overall creative vision for the agency. She helms the full creative department across Deutsch LA’s client portfolio in addition to overseeing the largest agency-owned production studio in America, Steelhead. As one of Deutsch LA’s first creative hires in 1997, she was instrumental in helping grow the agency from eight people to over 400 in its first few years. Costello is the ultimate creative “boomerang” returning back to Deutsch LA and the west coast as CCO in September 2020 for her third time. As Costello has grown, so too has the agency, as she was quickly promoted for her leadership and recently named Deutsch LA’s first-ever Creative Chair.
With over three decades of experience, Costello has launched iconic brands, created award-winning campaigns, and has touched just about every category in marketing—from cars to fashion to music and everything in between. She is also the brainchild behind the history-making Target commercial during the 2016 Grammy Awards featuring a live performance by Gwen Stefani.
Prior to her role as CCO of Deutsch LA, Costello led The Martin Agency’s creative department; her tenure marking the agency’s first-ever female CCO. Under her leadership, she helped drive double-digit business growth, while continuing to earn creative awards and implement progressive agency policies.
Costello has always considered herself a dreamer and an optimist. She believes in using creativity to make brands, the industry, and the world better. She’s an advocate who champions people above all and is passionate about creating and fostering equitable and humane work environments. She is the recipient of numerous industry awards, and repeatedly appears on top creative lists, including AdAge’s “Women to Watch,” Adweek’s “Trailblazers,” Refinery29’s “Matriarchy Power List” and No. 3 on Business Insider’s “Most Creative Women in Advertising.”
Paul joined the ARF as Chief Research Officer in October 2017. He is a highly-regarded leader in media and advertising research with more than two decades of industry experience. Earlier in his career he co-founded WPP’s Media Research Business Unit, served as CEO of Kantar Media, and Technical Director of IBOPE Latin America. He was the EVP and CRO for The Nielsen Company for more than a decade, overseeing Nielsen retail, consumer, mobile, and media measurement methodologies. Upon leaving Nielsen, Paul founded Jatopond, a media and market research firm. He currently sits on the Future State Committee of the National Air and Space Museum.
Greg Durkin
Founder and CEO
Enact Insight
Greg Durkin is the founder and CEO of entertainment research firm Enact Insight (formerly Guts+Data). Enact has tested and tracked more than 1,000 movies and series released to theaters and major streaming services around the globe. Through their ongoing syndicated research they have anticipated macro trends in the entertainment landscape and accurately predicted viewership of individual movies/series months ahead of release.
Over his 24-year career solving entertainment marketing problems Greg has counseled filmmakers, studio executives, tech companies, entrepreneurs, and investment firms. He’s also instructed hundreds of students about marketing and data analytics. From 2006 through 2015 Greg was an executive at Warner Bros. Pictures where he helped shape and market such films as The Departed, The Hangover, The Dark Knight, Godzilla, and The Lego Movie. In his last few years at WB Greg started the Marketing Analytics department where he was instrumental in updating the movie marketing model. Prior to his tenure at Warner Bros. Greg led entertainment teams at Harris Interactive (now The Harris Poll) and Alexander & Associates.
Greg has an MBA from University of California, Berkeley, an MS in Applied Social Research from City University of New York, and a BS in Marketing from Villanova University. While at Villanova, Greg made his first steps into the entertainment business as the night manager of an independent video store.
Brian Fuhrer
Senior Vice President, Product Strategy
Nielsen
Brian Fuhrer is SVP, Product Strategy for Nielsen. In this role, he helps guide Nielsen’s National and cross-platform television audience measurement initiatives supporting major media clients, Digital companies, MSO/MVPDs and advertising agencies.
Most recently, Brian has been working with a broad range of clients to focus on the dramatic changes being introduced by Subscription Video On Demand and Direct to Consumer offerings and developing appropriate measurement solutions for them.
With over 30 years in media research and product development at Nielsen, Brian’s experience spans the U.S. media and advertising industry as well as overseas markets where Nielsen has a media presence in more than 30 countries. He frequently speaks at industry events and has been extensively quoted in the press.
Based in Tampa, Florida, Brian is a site leader at Nielsen’s Global Technology and Innovation Center.
Brian holds a B.A. in Marketing from the University of South Florida, and has multiple research-related patents. He lives in Crystal Beach, Florida with his wife Rene, and enjoys watching his 5 children embrace disruptive technologies.
Jon Giegengack
Founder and Principal
Hub Entertainment Research
Jon Giegengack is the founder and principal of Hub Entertainment Research. Jon launched Hub in 2013 as the convergence of technology and entertainment created a need for real-time insights on how people discover, choose, and pay for content.
Jon works with leading brands including Netflix, Paramount, Comcast, Hulu, Amazon, and Sony Pictures. He is a sought after speaker at industry events and gave a TedX Talk on how entertainment technology is changing American culture. His work is quoted in publications like The Wall Street Journal, Adweek, Variety, and Bloomberg.
Wayne Goldstein
Head of Global Research
Sony Pictures Television
Wayne Goldstein oversees research function in support of TV Production, Global Distribution and Worldwide Media Networks.
He leads US and International teams providing qualitative and quantitative research to SPT Businesses with a focus on consumer insights, digital and linear audience analysis, content analytics and marketplace trends.
Matthew Gottlieb
Vice President, Insights & Research, Sports & Olympics
NBCUniversal
Matthew Gottlieb leads insights for advertising and partnerships sales across NBC Sports properties, overseeing research for the Olympics, World Cup, Sunday Night Football, golf and other sports. He started his career as a political pollster; he previously led the Insights & Analytics team at Whistle Sports and worked on Verizon’s NFL sponsorship team. Matthew is a graduate of Wesleyan University and the NYU Stern School of Business. He cheers on his beloved Washington Nationals from his home in Brooklyn, NY.
Lisa Heimann
EVP, NBCU Analytics, Insights & Measurement
NBCUniversal
Lisa Heimann is EVP, Analytics Insights and Measurement at NBCU and the chair of the NBCU Research Council. She leads the group targeting effective investment in new measurement approaches and analytic tools, with the aim of developing unified cross-platform measurement to improve monetization and program insights across NBCUniversal’s TV businesses. In addition, her group provides enterprise-wide research resource coordination as well as instituting unified practices across the portfolio. She previously served as SVP, Multiplatform Research for NBC Entertainment.
Before NBCU, Lisa had a long tenure at Disney/ ABC where she worked in several research capacities, including responsibility for the measurement strategy, forecasting and reporting of ABC/ABC Studios content across all platforms as well as measurement of emerging platforms. She also oversaw ABC ad sales research and previously ABC local research. Prior to coming to ABC, she held research positions within CBS’s syndication arm and Blair Television. She graduated summa cum laude from Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Public Communications and resides in California.
Ed Isabella
SVP Research, Insights, and Analytics
Disney Media and Entertainment
Ed is currently SVP Research, Insights, and Analytics for Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution, focused on delivering cross platform content performance research and analytics support for Disney’s entertainment networks (ABC, Disney Channel, Freeform, FX, and National Geographic). Ed is a 20+ year Disney veteran, holding various TV research roles over that time across a range of the company’s broadcast, cable, and syndication businesses. He is based out of Burbank, CA.
Meg James
Media Reporter
Los Angeles Times
Meg James is an award-winning media reporter for the Los Angeles Times, writing about the business of entertainment. She was the lead reporter for the L.A. Times’ coverage of the deadly shooting on the set of the Alec Baldwin western, “Rust,” in New Mexico last year — work that was recognized by Pulitzer Prize judges as a finalist in the breaking news category. A member of The Times’ Company Town team for more than two decades, Meg specializes in covering television, corporate media and investigative projects. She previously wrote for the Miami Herald and the Palm Beach Post in South Florida. A native of Wyoming, she has degrees in journalism from the University of Colorado and Columbia University. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, a dentist, and two senior Boston Terriers.
Dallas Lawrence
SVP, Brand Insights
Samba TV
Dallas Lawrence is an award-winning communication, crisis, brand and digital media executive with extensive leadership experience developing engaging programs that define, differentiate and disrupt market perceptions.
Dallas is the SVP and Head of Brand Insights for Samba TV, the global leader in television technology powering real-time insights and audience targeting. Prior to joining Samba TV, Dallas led global communications for the Roku platform business, America’s #1 streaming platform where he spearheaded the launch campaign for Roku’s Original Productions, The Roku Brand Studio, Roku Advertising and led Roku’s global public affairs and policy communications. He previously led global communications and government affairs for Mattel and served as the chief global digital strategist for WPP’s largest PR agency supporting clients including Coca-Cola, Bank of America, Ford, J&J and AIG.
During more than a decade in Washington, DC, Dallas served as a press secretary on Capitol Hill prior to joining President Bush’s communications team initially leading outreach efforts for the President’s signature domestic policy initiative No Child Left Behind. Dallas would later deploy to Baghdad, Iraq on behalf of the White House to serve as a spokesperson for the Coalition. Upon returning from Baghdad, Dallas joined the communication team of Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld where he served as the Pentagon’s Director of Public Liaison for both Rumsfeld and his successor Secretary Gates.
He serves today as the go to expert for media and emerging technology companies on the future of consumer media and advertising engagement in the new age of connected television viewing and is a regular contributor for Fox Business, Bloomberg Tech TV and Venture Beat. He has been named both the “Crisis Manager of the Year” by PR News and the “Social Media Professional of the Year”. In 2013 PR Week named him one of the 40 most influential leaders in PR and in 2022 PR Daily Named him the Corporate Communicator of the Year.
Dallas was previously a commissioned officer in the United States Navy and earned a BA in Political Science from the University of California at Berkeley and a MA in Government from The Johns Hopkins University.
Yan Liu
CEO & Co-Founder
TVision
Yan is the CEO and Co-founder of TVision, the only company which measures individual viewer attention to both TV content and ads. TVision helps brands, their agencies, TV networks and OTT platforms better understand how people really watch TV so they can make more effective media decisions. Yan founded TVision while earning his MBA at MIT. Prior to TVision, Yan started and managed Yo-ren, a leading digital marketing agency in China and also worked at McKinsey in Tokyo. He has an MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and a Bachelor of Industrial Engineering from the Tokyo Institute of Technology. Yan grew up in both Japan and China, and currently resides with his family in New York.
Tania Missad
Global Head of Corporate Research, Data & Insights
Warner Bros. Discovery
Tania is Head of Global Corporate Research, Data & Insights at Warner Bros Discovery. She leads a team of global researchers, data scientists & social analytics experts that work across the WBD enterprise, touching all divisions & the full portfolio of businesses at WBD, including motion pictures, streaming/DTC, WBTV, international divisions, sports, news, & brands/experiences.
Tania is a senior business leader with 25+ years-experience harnessing the voice of the consumer to drive global brand & franchise strategy, enduring innovation, award-winning content, and brand communications.
In her career she has worked with some of the world’s largest companies and most beloved brands, such as Procter & Gamble, Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, Neutrogena, Mattel & more recently Warner Bros Discovery. While at Mattel, she played an integral role in the evolution of Barbie, as one of the leaders driving the launch of both culturally diverse Barbies and body diverse Barbies (e.g. Curvy Barbie). The consumer insights work that underpinned those initiatives were featured in interviews with Time Magazine, the New York Times and other global publications. She began her career at Warner Bros in 2016, leading insights for the Global Consumer Products organization, and grew over time to lead work for HBOMAX Kids, key US Networks and Studios (Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, TCM & Warner Bros Animation), & the company’s largest IP & experiences, (Harry Potter, DC, Batman, Looney Tunes & Hanna Barbera). With the merger of Discovery and Warner Bros, she was elevated to lead Global Corporate Research covering the full enterprise with her incredible team of experts.
Her scope is global – working with many international partners & regions around the world, doing research on everything from brand health, segmentation, digital footprint & audience understanding to testing our shows and movies with global audiences.
She is a Mexico City native who speaks multiple languages, has lived in many cities around the world and now currently resides in Los Angeles with her husband, two little girls and four rescue doggies.
Tania is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton School of Business.
William Roberts-Foster
Vice President, Ad Innovation Strategy, Advertising and Partnerships
NBCUniversal
William Roberts-Foster serves as Vice President, Ad Innovation Strategy within NBCUniversal’s Advertising and Partnerships division. Roberts-Foster is responsible for the strategic development, implementation, and optimization of new advertising formats on NBCUniversal’s ad-supported streaming platform, Peacock.
He has worked for more than a decade in various aspects of advertising, marketing, media, and business partnerships with some of the biggest brands in culture including Ford Motor Company, Saks Fifth Avenue, Proctor & Gamble, Sony, and Mars.
Before joining NBCUniversal, his professional and educational background includes advertiser (Capital One), agency (Team Detroit [now GTB], Carat), and publisher roles (Marketing Director at NBCUniversal) as well as a dual BS/BA from the University of Tennessee in Public Relations and Psychology and a Master of Mass Communications in Brand Strategy from Virginia Commonwealth University’s Brandcenter graduate intensive program.
Roberts-Foster is a native of Memphis, TN and currently lives in New York City, NY where he serves as one of the Apollo Theater’s Young Patrons thus supporting the education, arts, and Harlem community investments and initiatives of the theater.
Horst Stipp, Ph.D.
EVP, Research and Innovation
ARF
Horst Stipp joined The Advertising Research Foundation in January 2011 after a long career in research at NBC Universal. Currently, he serves as EVP, Research & Innovation, ARF.
Stipp received his Ph.D. in Sociology from Columbia University and has been involved in media research for over 40 years. His publications cover a wide range of media and marketing topics. He is a recipient of an ARF Lifetime Achievement Award (2015). His current research focus is changes in media use and measurement.
Radha Subramanyam, Ph.D.
President and Chief Research and Analytics Officer
CBS
Radha Subramanyam serves as President and Chief Research and Analytics Officer at CBS. She joined the Company as Executive Vice President, Chief Research and Analytics Officer of the CBS Television Network in November 2017 and was promoted to her current role after 18 months. Subramanyam oversees all research and analytics operations for CBS, including audience measurement, analytics, market research, content testing and advertising research. She has extensive strategic and operational experience in all areas of the industry, including broadcast, cable, digital and OTT, as well as radio, music and social media.
Most recently, Subramanyam served as President of Research, Insights and Data Analytics for iHeartMedia, where she developed and managed wide-ranging of efforts involving digital analytics, ratings and measurement, ad sales research, mobile measurement, programming analysis, music research, campaign measurement and marketing research.
Prior to joining iHeartMedia, Subramanyam held senior executive research roles at Yahoo!, MTV Networks and Nielsen. Before beginning her career in the media industry, she taught media and entertainment at Vassar College and New York University.
Subramanyam serves on the board of directors of the Center for Communication, the International Radio & Television Society and the Advertising Research Foundation. She is the recipient of many accolades including Top 100 Women in Business, Top 100 Women Leaders of New York and Top Innovators in Data and Analytics.
Subramanyam is a graduate of Northwestern University, with a Ph.D. in radio, television and film.
Robin Thomas
EVP, Consumer Insights, Strategy and Analytics
Hallmark Media
Robin Thomas is executive vice president, consumer insights, strategy and analytics of Hallmark Media, home of three linear networks, Hallmark Channel, Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, and Hallmark Drama; subscription video on demand streaming service, Hallmark Movies Now; and publishing division, Hallmark Publishing.
In this role, Thomas leads the company’s research department to develop and execute comprehensive, integrated research strategies that align with and support Hallmark Media’s overarching strategic business plan. She is also responsible for supporting the strategic objectives of the programming, distribution, ad sales, and marketing departments to optimize the company’s performance in the marketplace.
A veteran in the media and marketing research industry, Thomas’ professional background includes senior positions at Disney-ABC Television Group, WGN America, and Turner Broadcasting, Inc. Most recently, she was Senior Vice President of Research at WGN America, where she oversaw all facets of research. In 2021, she was honored as one of Cablefax’s Most Powerful Women.
Thomas earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from The University of Georgia’s Grady School. She was an active member on the Council for Research Excellence and is a graduate of WICT’s Betsy Magness Leadership Institute, Class IV. Thomas is based in Los Angeles and reports to President & CEO, Wonya Lucas. She lives in Hidden Hills, California with her husband and is the proud mother of four sons.
Jon Watts
Managing Director
CIMM
Jon Watts is Managing Director of CIMM, the Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement. He has 25 years of professional experience in media and advertising, in the US and internationally, working as an advisor and consultant to major media and technology enterprises, investors, policy makers and regulators.
At CIMM, Jon is leading a range of initiatives, including work on the future of cross-platform measurement, the transition to a multi-currency market, and the use of data across the TV ecosystem. Jon is also Executive Director at The Project X Institute and Editorial Director of Beet.TV’s events and industry retreats.
Prior to moving to the US from the UK, Jon founded and led MTM, an international research and strategy consultancy. He graduated from Cambridge University with a top first in Social and Political Science and has an MPhil in Social and Political Theory.
Sean Wilkinson
Head of Corporate Development
Conviva
Sean Wilkinson is Head of Corporate Development at Conviva. A veteran in the tech and streaming space, Sean has been one of the prominent faces in the industry educating publishers on best practices across the enterprise from quality of experience to audience measurement and identity standardization. Sean currently works with Conviva’s premium publisher customers and partners, solving the industry’s biggest data challenges by utilizing Conviva’s data pipeline and powerful streaming analytics platform. Sean represents Conviva across the industry including the Streaming Video Alliance, ARF, CIMM, Beat Retreat and most recently at Disney’s Data and Analytics Conference
Edwin Wong
SVP, Insights & Innovation
Vox Media
Edwin is SVP of Media Insights and Innovation at Vox Media. He was most recently at Buzzfeed as the SVP of Research and Insights where he led audience insights, product insights, ad effectiveness, and played an active role as a thought leader in the industry. Edwin has dedicated the last 15+ years of his career to studying digital consumer behavior, particularly in previous roles at Pinterest, Veoh, and Yahoo. He is a recognized leader in the media industry, speaking at events, such as Omnishopper, Nielsen’s c360, Proxximma Brazil, Mumbrella360 Australia, Digital Summit Atlanta, MediaPost Digital Publisher Summit, and the B2B M.