Videoage International November 2020

8 World November 2020 V I D E O A G E smart TV set manufactures got an estimated 30 percent of ad revenues (up from 10 percent in 2019) with the remaining 70 percent still going to streaming OTT hardware makers. However, OTT makers make extra money by licensing their technology to smart TV receiver manufacturers. Roku, for ex- ample, licenses its platform technology to 15 different TV set makers and 33 percent of TV sets sold in the U.S. today come embedded with Roku’s operating OTT system. Gazzolo Exits Viacom After 27 Yrs L ast month, Pierluigi Gaz- zolo stepped down from his role as president of Streaming and Studios for ViacomCBS Networks Inter- national (VCNI) to focus on other interests. Before taking on this role, Gazzolo was president, Ame- ricas, for Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN), which was renamed VCNI after the ViacomCBS merger. Based in Miami, Florida, he spearheaded two major acquisitions — ownership of Argentina’s Telefe (2016) and a majority stake in Brazilian comedy producer, Porta dos Fundos (2017). Combining Telefe’s studios and Porta dos Fundos with VIMN’s existing activities in the region, Gazzolo formed Viacom International Studios (VIS) and expanded its production in the U.K., Europe, and Asia. At the same time, he continued to lead Nickelodeon internationally, Reporting to David Lynn, president and CEO of VCNI, and working closely with Tom Ryan, president and CEO of ViacomCBS Streaming, Kelly Day, COO of VCNI, will take over leadership of the division’s streaming business as president of Streaming and COO of VCNI. Also reporting to Lynn is JC Acosta, who oversees VCNI’s operations in Latin America and Canada as president, VCN Americas, with added responsi- bility as president, ViacomCBS International Studios. A round 2012, after consumers’ TV receivers became mostly flat (but were not yet too smart), in order to display streamed TV video, the sets needed conversion devices, which were called Over-The-Top (OTT) boxes because they were placed on top of the TV sets. When the TV receivers became smart in 2015, the electronics that permitted the set to receive streamed programs via Internet connections were incorporated. That’s why they were also called “Connected TV.” The embedded electronics continued to be called OTT, and the TV set makers intelligently first changed the consumer electronics business by eliminating stand-alone OTT hardware, and later, demanding a share of the advertising revenues that platforms get from services such as AVoD, FAST, and even SVoD, just like other OTT hardware makers, such as Roku and Apple TV, do. The trend was started last year by Vizio, one of the largest makers of TV sets in North America, which even started its own unit to sell advertising. The TV sets of Vizio, an Irvine, California-based company, are made by AmTran, a Taiwanese company. Its embedded OTT system now offers more than 200 free TV channels. Recently, Seoul, South Korea-based TV set maker Samsung entered the OTT business and almost overnight, Smart TV Set Makers Rev Share OTT Money (Continued from Page 6) C M Y CM MY CY CMY K