MediaKind CEO Allen Broome talks exclusively to TVBEurope about his nerve-wracking introduction to the industry, and the democratisation of video
By TVBEurope Staff
Published: May 20, 2022 Updated: May 23, 2022
MediaKind CEO Allen Broome talks exclusively to TVBEurope about his nerve-wracking introduction to the industry, and the democratisation of video
target=_blank title=Share on LinkedIn class=share-linkedin>
How did you get started in the media tech industry? I spent about ten years working in telecommunications on VoIP at start-ups and Fortune 100 companies. Then, one of my close colleagues joined Comcast, and he made a few introductions on both the voice and video side of their business. The next thing I knew, I was on a flight to Philadelphia and interviewing for roles within both of those teams.
I will never forget my final interview for the video team. It was with a very well-known senior engineer who authored many cable and MPEG specifications. I remember sitting in his office sweating as he flipped through my resume for what seemed like ten minutes. Although it was printed in black and white, my interviewer's red pen notes ensured more red ink on the pages than black. Finally, he looked across the desk and said: Well, the way I see it is we could hire someone with video experience, or we could hire you. Tell me why we should hire you. I had created this story around the similarities of VoIP and Video over IP, and how they were very similar, only voice was more challenging because of the latency issues with crosstalk in a conversation. Boy, was I wrong. Video turned out to be a lot harder!
I received offers from both teams and decided to take the IP video role as it was something brand new, both for Comcast and for me. From there, I built a lab and a team that ran some of the first IP linear testing over DOCSIS.
How has it changed since you started your career? VoD was still a recent product launch at the beginning of my career, and IP video was in its infancy. There was no such thing as direct-to-consumer' (D2C) as all video was delivered through an aggregator. And Netflix was still shipping DVDs! The cloud has since taken a much more prominent role in the media and entertainment space in terms of operation, processing and media commercial and deployment. Streaming is growing exponentially in terms of how viewers and subscribers want to consume their media. It is almost unrecognisable as an industry since I took my first tentative steps into it and continues to evolve at pace. This is one of the most enjoyable parts about being part of it!
What makes you passionate about working in the industry? There isn't one single element. I have been fortunate to meet so many great people over the years who have not only been fantastic colleagues but have also become wonderful lifelong friends. Another key point is that you must be driven to tackle and solve new challenges. Video is hard. It presents some of the most difficult scaling problems in technology, whether it's Super Bowl-type live events, addressable advertising with millions of viewers hitting an SCTE-35 trigger at the same time or ultra-low latency synchronised streaming for sports betting. However, the world's leading media brands rely on innovation to respond to the demands of their viewers. It's this responsibility and trust that is hugely motivating.
If you could change one thing about the media tech industry, what would it be? On International Women's Day in March, I saw a powerful advert campaign on LinkedIn from a company in the UK. One of the ads asked the reader to imagine a CEO and another to imagine someone crying in the office. The first ad then asked, Is it a man? and the second Is it a woman? If you polled a hundred people, I doubt the response would be even close to 50/50. To make our industry more inclusive, we must first address and shatter stereotypes and unconscious gender biases that are inherently at play.
How inclusive do you think the industry is, and how can we make it more inclusive? Not nearly enough. There have been big efforts and notable improvements over the years, but meaningful change takes time, and we have a long way to go. It all starts with awareness and education. People must understand what it means and understand the value of diversity and inclusion.
I am a huge fan of the OODA (observe, orient, decide, act) loop for problem-solving. The way diversity really clicked for me was when I understood the orient phase. This is where you take all the information you have gathered about a problem, and you start applying mental models to that data to understand it, matching patterns based on previous experiences. One of the key things you must do is to try and remove your own bias from these mental models or how you interpret the data, and having as much diversity as possible in this phase creates the most accurate orientation of the problem. I know there are many benefits, but I believe this is one of the fundamental ones that helps everyone learn and become better every day. Wider diversity ensures that we all have a broader perception of the world and environment around us.
How do we encourage young people that media technology is the career for them? Like everything else, it's through awareness. There is such a broad range of careers in the media space. From cameras, video editing and production, marketing, legal, finance, and all the engineering and technical roles, ranging from building better codecs, streaming protocols, and the networks that deliver video down to the devices and applications. If you really think about it and look on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, etc., more young people are in the media technology space than ever before. Video is truly becoming democratised.
Where do you think the industry will go next? The
Europe Stories
04/11/2022
The best gamers know DTS Headphone:X technology ups their play. Now major magazines have caught on, too.
DTS Headphone:X technology creates immersive soundsc...
05/07/2022
Imagine Communications Cassidy Phillips argues that IP systems built on COTS hardware and SMPTE ST 2110 standard are not a science project
By Contributor
Publ...
05/07/2022
The combined FLEX/SMODE xR solution works as an additional server on top of the existing Unreal/nDisplay set-up
By Jenny Priestley
Published: July 5, 2022
...
05/07/2022
AE Lives Jodie Butcher reveals how she went from PE teacher to working on some of the biggest sporting events in the world, and why she would advise anyone look...
05/07/2022
The acquisition generates a broad solution portfolio combining MEDIAGENIXs WHATS'ON Media Business Management Platform with BeBanjo's Movida VoD-first s...
05/07/2022
Company has acquired 88 per cent of the Euronews shares after reaching an agreement with previous holder, MGN
By Jenny Priestley
Published: July 5, 2022
Co...
05/07/2022
Banijay Rights, the global distribution arm of Banijay, today announces the sale of new eight-part historical drama Marie Antoinette to BBC First in Australia.
...
05/07/2022
Arvato Systems Enters Partnership with the Smart Service Engineering Research Ar...
05/07/2022
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
En tant qu'initiateur du Deuxi me concours national tudiant RISC-V co-organis avec le GDR SOC2 et le CNFM1, Thales a r com...
05/07/2022
European Parliament adopts the Digital Services Package, setting the bar high fo...
05/07/2022
Rohde & Schwarz supplies technology for network of compact remotely controlled m...
05/07/2022
Movicom delivers Robycam, Frecciarossa cam and other specialty cameras to Italia...
04/07/2022
Guy Parry-Williams, founder of Imedia8, takes a look at the value of video and immersive technology in helping companies reach a bigger audience
By Contributor...
04/07/2022
The series has been designed to drive high-power cine cameras such as the ARRI Alexa 35
By Jenny Priestley
Published: July 4, 2022 Updated: July 5, 2022
...
04/07/2022
Kaplan has previously worked at Technicolor and Company 3
By Jenny Priestley
Published: July 4, 2022
Kaplan has previously worked at Technicolor and Compan...
04/07/2022
The Assoication has also elected a new Steering Group, containing representatives from broadcasters and technology vendors
By Jenny Priestley
Published: July ...
04/07/2022
With public cloud ready to transform live sports distribution models right now, ...
04/07/2022
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
After hiring 9,000 people worldwide in 2021, Tha...
04/07/2022
3 questions to Bernhard Hanneken, Programmer of the Rudolstadt Festival...
01/07/2022
Thomson Foundation is celebrating 60 years of promoting excellence in journalism and to mark the occasion, we're offering six rising stars the chance to con...
01/07/2022
iWedias J r me Vial takes a look at the OTT landscape
By Contributor
Published: July 1, 2022
iWedia's J r me Vial takes a look at the OTT landscape
t...
01/07/2022
Amazon has won the rights to Tuesday night games, with BT Sport airing Champions League matches on Wednesday
By Jenny Priestley
Published: June 30, 2022 Upd...
01/07/2022
Organisation also appoints two new members to its executive board
By Jenny Priestley
Published: July 1, 2022 Updated: July 4, 2022
Organisation also appo...
01/07/2022
Co-founders Peter Thum and Hanno Mahr will become advisors to the company, which will remain in Monheim an Rhein
By Jenny Priestley
Published: July 1, 2022
...
01/07/2022
Awards celebrate the innovation and craft of the industry's R&D teams by recognising some of the standout products and solutions on display in Amsterdam
By...
01/07/2022
Audio rental company, Britannia Row Productions, was appointed to realise this huge logistical challenge, which took place in the environs of Buckingham Palace,...
01/07/2022
HENDERSON, Nevada - July 2022 - They call it The Buck or The Stronghold, but either way the Dollar Loan Center in Henderson, Nevada is a first-class venue f...
01/07/2022
Strong support from the broadcasting sector for the Revised Draft Text for the W...
01/07/2022
EBU Members primed for summer of top women's sport...
01/07/2022
HMS Industrial Networks AB, a wholly owned subsidiary of HMS Networks AB (publ), has today acquired all shares in Global M2M Pty Ltd, located in Melbourne, Aust...
01/07/2022
Fujifilm announces price increase for select Fujifilm-manufactured LTO Ultrium d...
01/07/2022
How EBU Members rallied to help keep Ukrainian broadcaster UA:PBC on air...
01/07/2022
The future is bright for the Revised Draft Text for the WIPO Broadcasting Organi...
01/07/2022
EBU President and Vice-President re-elected with two new members joining the Exe...
30/06/2022
30th June 2022 Golds comedy murder mystery Murder, They Hope led by Johnny Vegas...
30/06/2022
30th June 2022 DAVES EDINBURGH COMEDY AWARDS will return at the Edinburgh Festiv...
30/06/2022
New reports on Low- and High-band Spectrum Needs Deliver Complete 2030 5G Spectrum Vision for Governments and Regulators
30 June, London: The GSMA today releas...
30/06/2022
Verizon Consumer Group CEO Will Make Her Debut Keynote at the First MWC Las Vegas; Register Now For Early Bird Ticket Offer
30 June 2022, London: Get ready for...
30/06/2022
TVBEurope meets Gal Oz, co-founder and CTO of AI video technology company Pixellot, to learn how theyre transforming the way sport is produced
By Jenny Priestl...
30/06/2022
The two companies are reportedly planning to split the UK broadcast rights as part of a new deal with UEFA
By Jenny Priestley
Published: June 30, 2022
The ...
30/06/2022
Numerous companies are circling the broadcaster ahead of privatisation
By Jenny Priestley
Published: June 30, 2022 Updated: July 1, 2022
Numerous compani...
30/06/2022
Including Little Simz, It's A Sin, We Are Lady Parts, Cabaret, Boiling Point, Opera North's Rigoletto & Many More
30 June, London, UK. The South Bank ...
30/06/2022
Published On: June 23rd, 2022
--
--
--
--
data-orig-src=https://www.sg...
30/06/2022
Stockholm, Sweden - Mobile operator Three Sweden ( Three') has selected Net Insight for synchronizing its 5G network. The companies have worked in close coo...
30/06/2022
Channel 4 News is boosting its award-winning foreign coverage with the appointment of two new correspondents.
Secunder Kermani, the BBC's Pakistan and Afgh...
30/06/2022
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
This technological project - in the new sec...
30/06/2022
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Thales announced today the creation of S3NS, a P...
30/06/2022
RT continues to champion Women's Sport with historic first ever broadcast o...
30/06/2022
The Main Stage is set for Friday nights in the summer on RT One.
The first programme features Lyra, Rejjie Snow, Villagers, Cormac Begley,Mark Feehily and DJ...
MediaKind CEO Allen Broome talks exclusively to TVBEurope about his nerve-wracking introduction to the industry, and the democratisation of video
