In our new series of blogs, we get to know the never.no team a little better - kicking off with our CEO Scott Davies.What's your role at never.no?
CEO, or general dog's body', if the team need me to make teas to deliver projects then I'm happy to brew up! Joking aside, being CEO of a small but leading edge business, it can be all hands to the pump'. So like any good CEO, I get involved in many areas, making sure that our core platform STORY' is the best social media, polling, dynamic Ad delivery, and rendering platform in the market.
What do you think is the biggest TV industry myth?
That TV is dying. I've heard iterations of that comment for about 20 years, and yet, TV has never been stronger. I think people get confused between the term TV' and essentially what is Linear Broadcast'. The term TV always applied to the CRT box in the corner of the living room, but now TV is much much more. At the core, its about Linear TV, but with the flexibility that it can be consumed across multiple devices. And, while people consume more time-shifted content or on-demand services, live broadcast is very much a major player in the video consumption market-place. If it wasn't, social and digital platforms wouldn't advertise on it!
Best piece of advice ever given?
In life, Live today as you don't know what tomorrow holds'. In work, Surround yourself with quality people'. The latter is a major factor in good business.
What are you watching at the moment?
Ozark. I'm just about to complete the second series. It's been a rollercoaster of a series without any boring episodes. I was also excited this weekend to discover I could download and purchase Deadpool2.
Whats your favourite STORY feature?
This is a tough question. As we release a major STORY upgrade about once a quarter, I can't help focusing on new elements like the polling capabilities, where we can generate polling results from all sorts of third party or social media feeds, including Facebooks Reactions'. However, for me, just the general editorial tools stand out as an unsurpassed feature for production staff. It's a very generic thing to say editorial tools' but its a major part of delivering good content - from comments, to video, to pics and having the capability of tagging, editing, seeing reactions or reposts or simply being able to reply all in one easy interface.
Best Ad you've seen recently?
I'd like to say one of our own deliveries, as I believe Ad's should be unique every time they air. It sounds silly, but I do like the House Simple Ad ( Noooo, Derek), as I seem to laugh when I see it. I just wished they changed the characters regularly (of course I would say that as we'd be able to deliver the capabilities to handle this), as this would make it entertaining on a daily basis. I do miss the old classics like Carlsberg however.
If you could work in any city in the world what would it be?
I fell in love with a brief visit to San Francisco. I could definitely see myself working there. Other than that, I'd consider anywhere hot', whilst I love Manchester and its certainly become my home over the last 20 years, it does have its unfair share of rain.
Next destination on your travel bucket list?
I cant get enough of Thailand, however, as I've been a few times I guess this cant be next on my bucket list'. I would like to visit India, and I also fancy an adventure like Nepal. A dream would be to do a Tiger safari in Nepal and perhaps trek around the Himalayas (I think I need to work on my fitness though).
Whats your social network of choice?
This is tough. I'm split, I like Facebook for sharing and viewing content between family and friends, but I also enjoy Instagram for a wider social experience, so much so, that both myself and my cat have our own pages!
Dogs or cats?
Cats. I like the idea of dogs, but cats are so much more independent, and they manage their lives well while I manage work with mine. I have 3 cats, so it was always going to be cat win on this question.
What song do you currently have on repeat?
Not sure I can be truthful on this or I'll never hear the end of it. So today I'll say Bangarang by Skrillrex thanks to Deadpool!
What do you think is the biggest missed opportunity in broadcast/advertising at the moment?
I'll have to say social engagement'. I know this sounds like an obvious comment for a CEO of a social management tool/engagement service, but it's true. The new audiences are connected to media in so many ways, and to not offer social engagement as a norm for programming or advertising is a massive missed opportunity. I'm not a millennial but I still get frustrated when I can't engage with a show, or brand. It will also lend itself well to the more glam' techs such as AR and VR, which currently are missing their commercial hooks for traditional TV at the moment.
Any predictions for tech/media in 2019?
VR/AR will mature. Current solutions are of course great for gaming, but questionable for mass TV broadcasting and lack a solid commercial viewing need/desire. Augmenting AR, VR in the modern-day broadcast (home or on the move) will be the future. Social will also become a stronger part of broadcast interaction (both for live and pre-record), and be part of the content rather than a bolted on afterthought (which will help broadcasters and brands extend their reach and value properly) - bring the two together, and that's an exciting proposition, bringing the viewers to the studios and the studios to the viewers ..something that never.no hope to be bringing to the market in the near future.
Want to get to know Scott even better? Hell be at the IBC Show this week - get in touch to book a meeting!
