Cablefax The Magazine - June 2018 - 62

93. DIGITAL DEALER
Kent Steffen
President, Ascendon Digital
Service & OTT
CSG International
Years in Cable: 22
Education: Bachelor's,
Computer Science, the University
of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign
Steffen's
multi-faceted and hands-on leadership
style has resulted in several key deals that
have positioned CSG's digital service platform,
Ascendon, as a top competitive player in an
ever-shifting and evolving marketplace. Whether
finding new ways for TalkTalk TV customers to
access video content, or building a platform for
Formula 1's new F1TV, Steffen and his team
94. PROGRAMMING
MASTERS
Luis Silberwasser
President
Telemundo Networks
Years in Cable: 20
Education: BA, Industrial
Engineering, Georgia
Institute of Technology; MBA,
Harvard Business School
Ray Warren
President
Telemundo Deportes
Years in Cable: 10
Education: BA, Communications,
York College, CUNY
Silberwasser knows how
to draw viewers to event
95. A STRONG BACKBONE
Sam Schwartz
Chief Business Development Officer
Comcast Cable
Strategic development and technological innovations are the backbone
of Comcast Cable's success, and Schwartz is involved with everything
from developing innovation teams to cultivating effective partnerships. In
addition to heading the company's entrepreneurial engagement initiatives,
he is focused on syndicating the X1 platform to additional worldwide
partners. Schwartz is also actively building on the Netflix and Watchable
launches and continues to lead the integration of new content on
Comcast's video platforms.
62
cablefaxmag.com
continue to provide cutting-edge solutions
to clients and partners like DISH and iflix.
Bitcoin - pro or con? The concept of
a digital currency with limited supply,
high privacy, limited regulation and decentralized
management schemes like
blockchain are outstanding. The next
step we need to explore is how this
currency exchange model can be incorporated
into everyday transactions to make
them more frictionless. The hyper-volatility at
this stage of bitcoin's maturity curve makes
it very difficult to be a substitute for existing
" traditional " currencies.
What's the first thing you read in the
morning? Unfortunately, email.
What does the future look like for skinny
bundles and flexible packaging? I think
eventually we move away from the bundle and
programming like the " Latin American Music
Awards, " and Warren can do the same with
sports. 2018 is Telemundo's first year as
the exclusive Spanish-language television
carrier of the FIFA World Cup, and Warren
is overseeing 500-plus hours of World Cup
programming for Telemundo Deportes and
Universo, plus 1,000 hours of original digital
content. Meanwhile Silberwasser is steering
series based on the lives of Latin musicians
Nicky Jam and Luis Miguel.
Luis Silberwasser
The biggest innovation in media/broadband
over the last year? Alexa (artificial/
intelligence)
Favorite restaurant? Andres Carne De Res
(Bogota , Colombia)
Your social media platform of choice?
Instagram
more to a token-based model where consumers
pay for tokens and can redeem them for all
types of content across models. If a consumer
buys/rents/subscribes to more content, they will
get a lower per unit cost. Ultimate consumer
flexibility - might be time/episode/channel/
series-based offers. Consumers can buy tokens
as well as " win " for brand engagement, gamification
and loyalty.
Last show I binged: " Black Mirror " -Super
scary. Super thought-provoking. Super realistic.
Every episode different.
If you could have a superpower, what
would it be and why?
Definitely time travel. There are so many
interesting people in history that I would love
to meet, and I'd like to have the power to go
ahead a day and see what Trump tweets to plan
for tomorrow's stock market volatility. ■
What product or service could you not live
without? TV
What's the first thing you read in the
morning? Listen to NPR
Last show I binged not on my network(s):
" Money Heist " (La Casa De Papel)
Ray Warren
The biggest innovation in media/broadband
over the last year? eSports
Favorite restaurant? KYU in Wynwood, Miami
Best advice your mom or dad ever gave
you? Shoot for the moon and you might reach
the stars...
What product or service could you not live
without? Food and water... but Digital Parking
is very cool
If you could have a superpower, what
would it be and why? To see the future so I
can be prepared... ■
Favorite Restaurant:
House of Nanking, San
Francisco
Favorite Podcast:
" Techmeme's Ride Home "
What's the first thing you
read in the morning?
My Twitter feed
The biggest innovation
in media/broadband over
the last year? Cable's entry
into mobile services ■
June 2018
Cablefax: The Magazine
http://www.cablefaxmag.com
Cablefax The Magazine - June 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Cablefax The Magazine - June 2018
