Noon - 1:00 PM
Session A:
DH11: Subscription Models in Music, Film and Information Content Distribution
The conversation is about subscriptions. Whether it’s the cable, satellite and Internet SVOD/VOD industry, the music streaming and MP3 industry, the radio industry or the information content industry, everyone is experimenting with subscriptions. In the cable industry, the original subscription model is being gussied up with new packages, genre choices and greater access to content. In the music industry, the goal is to strike some a necessary answer to the upside down world of Napster, and in the news and content industry, subscription models are being tested out every day to determine customer appetites. The question of which subscription model will serve which type of product is yet to be determined. In this session however, we bring together companies who are investing their futures on the answer.
Michael Kassan, co-President Digital Media & Entertainment Group, CenterSpan Communications
Matt Kleinschmit, Director, Ipsos-Reid
Gary Cohen, SVP Business Development, FullAudio
Reed Hasting, CEO, Netflix
David Pritchard, Senior Director, Music, TV & Film, Terra Lycos
Bradford Singer, Vice President of Market Development, TeleKnowledge
Chris Kitze, CEO, Yaga Media, Moderator
Michael Kassan, co-President Digital Media & Entertainment Group, Ce
nterSpan Communications: Michael E. Kassan is a nationally recognized leader in the area of media and entertainment. Mr. Kassan currently operates on a consultative platform within these industries, representing such companies as CenterSpan Digital Media and Entertainment Group, CenterSpan Communications (CSCC: NASDAQ), Artist Direct (ARTD: NASDAQ), DIC Entertainment (a leader in children’s production), Verance Corporation (a media industry technology supplier), Unilever Corporation (world’s largest advertiser), The Home Depot, and Creative Artists Agency (CAA). Previously, Mr. Kassan was a founder and partner (with Frank Biondi, Howard Weitzman and Greg Meidel) in Massive Media Group, Inc., a technology driven company focusing on providing digital rights management (DRM) enabled applications and services to the entertainment and advertising markets. In addition, Mr. Kassan is an investor/advisor and board member of several new media and technology companies. Previously, Mr. Kassan was the President/Chief Operating Officer and Vice-Chairman of Initiative Media Worldwide a division of The Interpublic Group of Companies (IPG:NYSE), the largest and most diversified media management company in the world, with more than 75 offices in North America, Europe and Asia. In 1997, he was named one of the top media executives in America by Advertising Age magazine. Mr. Kassan joined Initiative Media Worldwide in 1994 and was instrumental in the sale of the company to IPG. While there, he oversaw the day-to-day operations in North America and was the architect of the firm’s international expansion and grew media billings from $1.5 billion to over $10 billion. Mr. Kassan, an attorney was counsel to the Los Angeles law firm of Christensen, Miller, Fink, Jacobs, Glaser, Weil & Shapiro. He had been President and Chief Operating Officer of International Video Entertainment (Artisan Entertainment). Mr. Kassan is a director and advisor to many charitable and community organizations, currently serving on the Board of the Hollywood Radio and Television Society, and previously serving on the Commission on California State Government Organization and Economy. He also has been Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on the Entertainment Industry in California and in 1998 was elected to the Board of the American Advertising Federation. Mr. Kassan serves on the following Boards as Director: H.E.L.P Group, Big Brothers of Los Angeles, Stephen S. Wise Temple and Skirball Cultural Center.Reed Hastings, Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder, Netflix: Reed
founded his first company, Pure Software, in 1991, after inventing the company's initial product, Purify. As CEO, he led Pure Software to go public in 1995, completed several acquisitions and made it one of the 50 largest public software companies in the world by 1997. Pure was acquired in the spring of 1997 by Rational Software. In the fall of 1997 Reed and his cofounders started Netflix. In addition to business, Reed is active in Silicon Valley politics. In 1997, he led a business coalition that got California to pass a strong charter school law. In 1998, he served for a year as CEO of TechNet, the high-tech industry's foremost political advocacy group. Governor Davis appointed Reed to the State Board of Education, where he serves as President. He was a co-chair of the victorious Proposition 39, along with John Chambers, John Doerr and Governor Davis, which makes it easier to pass local school bonds to build more classrooms. Reed is a co-founder of Aspire Public Schools, NewSchools.org, and EdVoice.org. Reed received an MSCS. degree from Stanford University in 1988 and a BA from Bowdoin College in 1983, and holds several patents. Between Bowdoin and Stanford, Reed served in the US Peace Corps at a rural high school in Swaziland.David Pritchard, Senior Director of Music, TV and Film for Terra Lycos: David Pritchard, senior director of music, TV and film for Terra Lycos possesses more than 15 years of business experience, including seven years in the Internet industry. In his role, Pritchard is responsible for managing the P&L and product development, overseeing strategic relationships, evaluating merger and acquisition opportunities, negotiating partnerships with external companies and evaluating marketing opportunities for Lycos in the areas of Music, TV and Film. Prior to his current position, Pritchard co-founded and launched Lycos Music, one of the Internet's leading music destinations. He was charged with strategic planning, overseeing product management and development and coordinating marketing and sales activities. Pritchard also co-founded and launched HotBot.com, which became one of the top 20 most visited sites on the Internet and has received more than 20 industry awards for product excellence. Prior to joining Lycos, Pritchard worked as a business analyst for Supercuts Inc. and Levi Strauss & Company. Before that, Pritchard was employed by Travers Morgan International in London, where his last position held was as marketing manager. Pritchard was responsible for developing new business strategies for emerging markets in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Pritchard received his bachelor's degree in philosophy from the University of York, England in 1986, and earned his MBA in 1995 from the Haas School of Business at the University of California at Berkeley.
Chris Kitze, CEO, Yaga: A proven entrepreneur with a successful trail of startups,
Chris Kitze co-founded Yaga, Inc. in September 2000. As CEO and chairman of the board, Kitze provides a strategic vision as well as extensive technology and electronic media expertise, from startups to multibillion-dollar market cap companies. Prior to Yaga, Inc., he was the CEO of NBC Internet (NASDAQ:NBCI), a company created in December 1999 as a result of the XOOM.com and Snap.com merger. Kitze also co-founded XOOM.com in September 1996, took it public in December 1998, and served as chairman of the board and secretary since its inception. With his Internet and marketing savvy, Kitze has started and sold three interactive companies. Prior to XOOM.com, Mr. Kitze co-founded Point Communications Corporation, a Web directory company that was acquired by Lycos in October 1995. Mr. Kitze remained and managed the Point division, as well as served as overall vice president of marketing for Lycos, where he helped take the company public with a $225 million valuation. Prior to founding Point, Kitze co-founded Aris Entertainment, which published interactive CD-ROM titles, including the award-winning MPC Wizard, MediaClips and Video Cube product lines. Aris Entertainment sold more than 2 million CD-ROM units in less than three years and was purchased by SoftKey International (now The Learning Company), a publicly-traded, $300 million company, in June 1994. Kitze is a recent recipient of Israel’s prestigious Albert Einstein Technology Award that recognizes path-breaking leaders who have pushed the envelope of technology in the service of mankind through their entrepreneurship and risk taking, enabling others to benefit from their cutting-edge technologies. Presently, Kitze serves on the boards of eVineyard and ShopEaze. Mr. Kitze holds a B.S. in chemical engineering from the University of Colorado.Gary Cohen - SVP Business Development, FullAudio: As founder and Senior Vice President of Business Development at FullAudio, Gary Cohen leads strategic partnership initiatives as well as guiding all business affairs. Gary brings to FullAudio an extensive background in operations and business development. Prior to FullAudio, Gary established the Sapean Corporation, a profitable international investment and consulting firm. Prior to Sapean, along with Chris Gladwin, Gary founded Cruise Technologies where he served as Chief Operating Officer. Along with being responsible for daily operations, Gary established successful distribution partnerships with IBM, Motorola, Telos, and Wyse Technologies. Gary's depth of experience can also be attributed to his position as Director of Operations and Finance at Zenith Data Systems. Gary holds a Bachelor's in Economics from Union College in Schenectady, New York, and a Master's of Business Administration Finance and Marketing from University of Chicago.
Matt Kleinschmit, Director, Ipsos-Reid: Matt is a Director with Ipsos-R
eid, one of the fastest growing full service research firms in North America, and a part of the global Ipsos Group of research companies. Mr. Kleinschmit specializes in managing custom consultative research partnerships with leaders in the Digital Music and Entertainment sectors, including the methodological design, execution, and analysis of quantitative primary consumer research initiatives. Over the course of his research career, Matt has gained a reputation for designing and implementing unique hybrid methodological approaches that best meet the market research objectives of his clients, as well as employing cutting edge advanced statistical techniques to better understand the data collected. In addition, Mr. Kleinschmit has the unique perspective of having designed and developed the groundbreaking quantitative research initiative "TEMPO: Keeping Pace with Online Music Distribution", which has measured and tracked global consumer digital music behavior since 1998, with sponsors from the retail, consumer electronics, computer hardware and music recording industries. A frequent writer and commentator on developments involving digital music and youth behaviors, Matt is able to speak about both consumer and industry trends from the perspective of the primary data he has collected and analyzed throughout his research career. Matt attended the University of Minnesota as a Presidential Scholar, where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science, specializing in geo-political economic theory.Bradford Singer, Vice President of Market Development, TeleKnowledge
. Brad leads the company’s efforts to enable content and communication providers to profitably grow their fee-based businesses. Brad brings over 18 years of business and general management experience in the content, media and technology markets. Previously, Brad served as Vice President of Marketing and Content Licensing at NewsEdge (now part of Thomson Corporation), which achieved annual revenue growth rates of 40%, consistent profitability, and a successful IPO during his 8-year tenure. NewsEdge was a pioneer in electronically delivering, licensing and syndicating content for subscription fees before the internet was even an option. Brad also served as General Manager of the NewsPage.com business, an early pioneer of the online subscription and internet advertising models. Prior, Brad was also Vice President of Marketing and Product Management at Experience Inc, and has also held management positions at two Fortune 500 organizations, Citibank and General Electric. He served on Dun and Bradstreet’s Executive Advisory Boards. Brad earned a BS in Computer Science and Economics from Tufts University, and an MBA in Finance from the Wharton Business School. Brad enjoys running, coaching and time with his wife and 3 boys in Sudbury, MA.