Jacob Ahlin heads up Narrative Entertainment’s digital strategy following its growth in the FAST space last year, the launch of on-demand service the GREAT! player and continued success of the POP Player.
Jacob joined from A+E Networks where he held the position of Director of Digital Propositions, a role that saw him build, launch, and scale digital products in partnership with Amazon, Apple, and Google. Prior to this, Jacob’s career included launching branded services for DreamWorks, British Telecom, Discovery, and Disney.
Jacob is one of the 'Brains behind the Bigger Picture' and below we asked him some of the burning questions from this year's programme:
What’s the biggest misconception people have about where TV is heading?
TV is dead.
That’s the biggest misconception. It isn’t even dying. TV is evolving, but it isn’t going away.
TV is about serving content that audiences engage with, and then driving value out of that exchange.
As audiences’ behaviours and expectations change, the way we produce, distribute and monetize TV evolves – but we’re a creative industry, and we thrive on disruption. It’s bringing out the best in brilliant teams.
In this world, every player has the potential to be both a competitor and a partner. A rival and a means to an end. That’s a change of dynamic that will continue to produce innovative new business models and go-to-market strategies, constantly challenging the norms we’ve come to accept.
TV can be whatever we make of it – and for sure, it’s alive and kicking.
How do you lead through uncertainty, especially when the pace of change is accelerating?
There’s no blueprint to copy now. There’s no formula for success. Any approach you follow is already out of date because the game has changed, and it keeps changing. Wind back ten – or even just five – years, and there were established ways of bringing, say, a linear channel to market or launching new IP. That’s simply not the case anymore, and good leadership in this environment focuses on getting every team member on board with that realisation. Developing the confidence to make big decisions without all the information – predicting (not guessing!) based on experience, insight and instinct. That’s what the pace of change in today’s media landscape forces the best leaders to do.
How do you foster innovation in environments that are risk-averse or highly regulated?
In any business, you need people to run it, and people to change it. I do change. And that’s essential for fostering innovation. I’ve been very fortunate, having had the opportunity to work across a wide range of disciplines, and that breadth allows me to lead cross-functional teams because I have experience of what they all do. When you’re trying to innovate within an established business, you can’t assume that every team has the same goal and is motivated by the same outcomes – it’s essential to understand how each team works, what counts as success for them, and ladder that up to a single company objective. That approach can deliver change and innovation, and evolve a company’s culture.
What role will traditional broadcasters play in the hybrid future of live, on-demand, and immersive viewing?
There’s no such thing as a traditional broadcaster now. Every broadcaster is a hybrid. Let’s call them broadstreamers. Or Streamcasters. Take your pick! But let’s not forget that those ‘traditional broadcasters’ still set the standards in curation, execution and delivery – especially for live events and news. Those players that were once the traditional broadcasters have made huge shifts in their business and operational models, adapting to how things are today. They may have been late to new capabilities and new viewer behaviours in some ways, but they have the presence and brand equity to catch up fast. The streamers have set the pace in recent years, and they are now trying to replicate what traditional broadcasters have decades of expertise in, so the effort to stay relevant is by no means one-sided. It’s not about choosing either model – it has to be both, and working to bring the best skills and experiences together. And most viewers won’t know the difference.
If you had to choose one principle to guide the next phase of television’s evolution, what would it be?
The lazy principle is just to be everywhere. To maximise the chance of being discovered and watched. To boost ad revenues by going wherever your audience might be. But being everywhere is expensive, so it doesn’t necessarily mean doing it all by ourselves, and it does mean that every competitor can be a partner. Uncertainty drives these choices. The more nuanced principle is to be in the right places. The irony is that to know the right places, you need to have tried everywhere. We don’t ultimately want to be everywhere with our channels, but we can’t afford not to try the range of platforms and formats so that we can know what works for us. And if you don’t move quickly to try new ways of reaching your audiences, you miss the opportunity.
Legacy vs Innovation – Broadcasters must balance legacy business models with digital-first approaches. What’s the biggest operational roadblock to making that transition?
People – in every company, they’re both the greatest asset and the biggest roadblock to change. Because until people know what the rules are in the new game they’re being asked to play, they’ll just stay on the sidelines. It’s essential for broadcasters to bring in outside experience that can develop an acceptance – and even a love – of change. That way, teams can bring their vast experience to shape the future of broadcasting, whether that’s evolving legacy models or being inherently digital-first.
Linear vs Streaming – As the line between linear and digital increases will linear still have standalone value in the next five years?
The line between linear and streaming is blurring. There’s a convergence of the two experiences. FAST is both linear and streaming. Features – like start over – are being added to linear that make it like on demand, and streaming – with play next - is styling itself more like lean back telly. Both approaches are about delivering what audiences want. There are lessons to be learned from both sides. Whatever the approach, we want audiences watching, not spending their time searching.
