The Next TV Summit on September 13, part of the 10th annual NYC TV Week, will for the first time include the Next TV Innovation Awards, recognizing CEOs, technologists, strategists, creatives, marketers and other executives leading some of the most innovative companies in the video business. Each day from Sept. 2-13, our Next TV SmartBrief will profile one of our seven 2022 Innovation Awards honorees. (You can sign up for the SmartBrief here.) For more information about the summit and the award winners and other NYC TV Week events visit nyctvweek.com.
Todd Achilles
Co-founder, CEO and President, Evoca TV
Achilles leads a fledgling video company positioned on numerous cutting edges. The Boise, Idaho-based Evoca TV is a virtual pay TV operator, infiltrated into 10 markets across five states.
The low-priced, skinny-bundled Evoca platform, which is primarily targeted to hard-to-reach, primarily rural customers, delivers most of its content via ATSC 3.0, not streaming (although there is a lower bandwidth IP component to the service). To provide hardware for the platform, Achilles bootstrapped manufacturing of Evoca’s proprietary set-tops out of Asia himself.
And as regional sports networks begin to go over the top, Evoca has evolved to package these channels in inexpensive bundles that achieve a largely similar objective for sports fans who don’t want to pay the Full Pay TV Monty.
“I think innovation is key to the future of broadcast, and I think the future of broadcast is incredibly bright,” Achilles told Next TV. “The new technology opens up new business models and that's what we're experimenting with.” Evoca’s rapid evolution has come despite ATSC 3.0’s slow rollout. “Part of that regulatory driven, part of it is broadcasters have lost that innovation muscle, and it’s coming back now,” Achilles said. “I believe the whole broadcast sector is going to transform.”
Reading the checklist of what Evoca and Achilles have accomplished recently can be exhausting:
* Expanded into 10 markets in five states;
* Added Altitude Sports, GAC Family, Hallmark, and even a Basque-language channel;
* Partnered with Sling to integrate the vMVPD’s national channels into Evoca’s independent, local and regional programming;
* Partnered with broadcaster Heritage to launch in Traverse City, Mich.;
* Launched DVR app Evoca Record;
* Conducted first U.S. test of “MIMO” technology that promises to dramatically expand bandwidth capacity and enable new business models, including data-casting businesses;
* First test of HDR10+ format to further improve 4K video quality;
* Testing emergency information data casts;
* Designing in-home receivers compatible with ATSC 3.0 and wireless 5G.
Evoca’s rapid evolution has come despite ATSC 3.0’s slow rollout.
“Part of (the slow rollout was) regulatory driven, part of it is broadcasters have lost that innovation muscle, and it’s coming back now,” Achilles said. “I believe the whole broadcast sector is going to transform.”
Previously announced Next TV Innovation Award honorees:
Todd Achilles
Co-founder, CEO and President, Evoca
Meredith Brace
Chief Marketing Officer, Samba TV
Matt Duarte
VP of Strategy and Business Development YES Network
Shalini Govil-Pai
GM and VP of TV Platforms, Google
Erick Opeka
Chief Strategy Officer, Cinedigm
