Latest from Next TV in Machinima

Machinima Names VP, Brand Partnerships

Jeff Baumgartner — Thu, 08 Mar 2018 17:37:00 +0000

Machinima, the digital service focused on gamers, has hired Steve Reed to the post of VP, brand partnerships.

In that role, Reed, who reports to Machinima SVP and GM Russell Arons, will head up the service’s U.S. sales operation.

Reed most recently was a founding partner of Tier Zero, a boutique agency that advises Fortune 500 brands on digital strategies, and was national VP of sales at CBS Interactive, managing sales on products and services such as GameSpot and CNET. He also led sales for the launch of Studio 61, a CBS Interactive content studio.

Reed comes on board at Machinima soon after the service rebranded and refocused its efforts on the gamer community.

“Steve comes to Machinima with a reputation for innovation and the ability to develop unique large scale brand experiences, connecting audiences with products in a way that is creative, compelling and entertaining,” Arons said in a statement.

Reed studied Visual Arts at Penn State, and spent most of his career working in NYC and living in Brooklyn before recently relocating to Los Angeles with his wife and two sons, Machinima said.

Machinima Rebrands as It Refocuses on Gamers

Jeff Baumgartner — Wed, 14 Feb 2018 16:56:00 +0000

Machinima, the digitally-focused service focused on gamers and fandom, has moved ahead with a rebranding and a revised strategy spanning content and distribution.

The shift, which comes about two years after Warner Bros acquired Machinima, is about much more than a logo change, tying into a larger strategy that will enable Machinima to focus on gamers and continue to extend well beyond its YouTube roots.

A major strategic priority out of the rebrand is to ensure that Machinima is “laser-focused on the gamer audience,” said Russell Arons, who was named general manager of Machinima about a year ago. “Machinima, over the past couple of years became a little more broad in how it was focusing. I wanted to bring it back to gamers.”

At last check, Machinima’s service has about 140 million monthly uniques.

To strengthen its connection with its core audience, Machinima will lavish more attention on the white-hot eSports market (keeping tabs on online and physical tournaments and events), shoring up partnerships with major game publishers, creating digitally-driven stories about characters from popular gaming titles, and working more closely with talent and influencers from the gaming community.

“It’s really [about] keeping our eye on the gaming audience,” Arons said. “We wanted to reestablish our relationship with talent and connecting them into the core of Machinima more than ever.”

Machinima’s talent network is being realigned to focus the development of content and new channels in four content areas: Action/First Person Shooters; Role Playing Games; Fighting/Sports games; and Sandbox games.

Changes in that direction include the combination of the head of Machinima’s talent network with the head of its owned-and-operated channels and programming.

“We’re connecting the dots between these two groups more than ever,” Arons said, adding that the talent base will start to appear at increasing frequencies in Machinima’s programming.

The rebrand also comes as Machinima continues to diversify its distribution strategy well beyond YouTube using a blend of short- and long-form programming.

That includes a linear-style 24/7 offering on Twitch, the Amazon-owned streaming service that debuted last November, and working with internal partners like The CW.

Machinima has also forged linkages with Facebook Watch in the form of three shows – Co-Op Connection (a gamer-focused dating show); Dank/Fire (a humor offering for that audience); and Action Figures Comics (a series dedicated to comics, superheroes and fandom). Machinima plans to launch two more Facebook series this spring: Gaming Rap Battles and Win, Mine or Die.

“We want to be anywhere the gamers are…and tap into audiences that maybe we necessarily haven’t found on YouTube,” Arons said.

Machinima has also teed up a new slate of programming that includes Machinima: Game On (exclusive gamer fan programs and tournaments at events such as PAX South, E3, and TwitchCon); Body Count Fighting (a focus on titles such as Injustice 2, Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter and Tekken, including live eSports tournaments every 6-8 weeks); VR Power Hour (focused on virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality); and Game Night (billed as a next-gen online LAN party.)

There’s now also a tighter integration with Warner Bros. and its studio divisions, such as WB Pictures, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, DC Entertainment and The CW.

“Machinima is building on a solid foundation that is resonating with its growing audience while celebrating the best fandoms and gamer content,” Craig Hunegs, president of business and strategy, Warner Bros. Television Group, and president of Warner Bros. Digital Networks, said in a statement. “This rebranding highlights Machinima as one of the most unique and successful platforms in the industry.”

More about Machinima’s rebrand and revised strategy will be features in the Platforms section of the Feb. 19 issue of Multichannel News.

Machinima Launches Channel on Twitch

Jeff Baumgartner — Thu, 09 Nov 2017 17:01:00 +0000

Machinima, the digital programmer focused on gamer and “fandom” fare, has launched a new 24/7 channel on Twitch, the gaming-focused streaming service that Amazon acquired in 2014.

The channel, called Machinima 24/7, runs a curated mix of gaming/fandom content along with two hours of live programming each week day.

Update: Like other Twitch channels, Machinima's new offering on the service is free. The new Machinima channel is ad-free to Twitch users who subscribe to the feed (and get other perks), and ad-supported if they do not.

Machinima, now part of Warner Bros. Digital Networks, said it is emphasizing “best of” gaming and animation content at launch, including videos from Body Count Fighting and Mega Man Dies At The End, among others.

New live content on Machinima’s 24/7 offering includes VR Power Hour (a show focused on VR and mixed reality games and other content); ETC Party Time (ETC’s Ricky and Elion play a combo of top video and table games with a rotating supporting cast); Spacebar (“nerd talk for nerds, not noobs”); and Games With Shibby (a show with internet personality Shibby2142 playing top gaming titles).

“Twitch is home to one of the largest and most loyal communities of fandom and gamer content in the world,” Machinima SVP/GM Russell Arons said, in a statement. “This new initiative with Twitch shows the power and appeal of the Machinima brand and is another important step as we continue to expand our programming service to an increasingly significant number of digital video platforms, providing them with high quality, millennial-targeted video content for today’s mobile, social media world.”

The Twitch launch expands on Machinima’s digital distribution outlets, which also include go90, Amazon Video, Xumo, Comcast’s Watchable, Sky Q, Sohu (China) and AMC (Mexico, Portugal, Spain), as well as an SVOD service that is offered on Sony’s PlayStation Vue. VRV, Ellation’s SVOD aggregation service, launched with Machinima, but has since dropped Machinima, as well as RiffTrax and Ginx, and replaced them with other services.

Machinima doesn’t break out subscribers, but the company said the service attracts 144 million monthly uniques from around the world.

Russell Arons Named GM of Machinima

Jeff Baumgartner — Fri, 17 Mar 2017 21:20:00 +0000

Russell Arons has been named general manager of Machinima, the multiplatform service focused on gamer and fandom culture that Warner Bros. acquired late last year and added to its digital networks group.

RELATED Warner Bros. Deals for Machinima

Arons most recently was SVP of worldwide marketing for Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.

In her new role Arons will head up Machinima’s creative, marketing services, data analytics and business development and operations, as well as the Machinima multichannel network.

Arons, who joined Warner Bros in 2009 and previously was head of marketing for Electronic Arts’ EA Play division, will also work with Chad Gutstein, Machinima’s current CEO, on a multi-week transition plan, after which he will be leaving Machinima to pursue entrepreneurial projects, the company said.

“Russell is a terrific creative executive with exceptional audience experience and brand building capabilities,” Craig Hunegs, president, business and strategy, Warner Bros. Television Group, said in a statement. “With deep knowledge in gaming, she speaks the same language as our Machinima creators, community and team, and has the proven ability to build and unlock strong consumer relationships.

“I’d also like to thank Chad for his many contributions over the last three years,” Hunegs added. “He’s done a great job leading Machinima’s team as they’ve strengthened their creator network, improved audience engagement and launched a content studio. I know he’s eager to take on a new venture, and everyone at Warner Bros. wishes him great success.”

Machinima’s distribution partners include PlayStation Vue, Amazon Prime, Verizon’s go90, China’s Sohu and The CW Network, among others.

Arons, who is also late of InfoSpace and Mattel, is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of Lake Forest College in Illinois with degrees in Business and Philosophy.

Warner Bros. Deals for Machinima

Jeff Baumgartner — Thu, 17 Nov 2016 20:46:00 +0000

Warner Bros. has inked a deal to acquire Machinima, the digital service focused on gamer and fandom culture, an agreement that comes more than two years after the studio first invested in the upstart.

Financial terms were not announced (Varietyreported that it's slightly less than $100 million). Machinima has raised about $91.5 million, per Crunchbase. In February 2015, Machinimascored a $24 million financing round led by Warner Bros. Entertainment with existing investors Redpoint Ventures, MK Capital, Coffin Capital, with participation from Machinima founder Allen DeBevoise

Machinima will become part of the Warner Bros. Digital Networks, a unit founded in June 2016 aimed at growing the studio’s digtal and OTT offerings. That unit also works closely with Time Warner’s Turner and HBO divisions.

Of recent note, Machinima hired media industry vets Gary King and Dave Pullano as directors of development and a revamp of Machinima’s programming lineup.

After an earlier focus a YouTube MCN, Machinima has expanded distribution through other partners such as Playstation Vue, Amazon Prime, Verizon’s go90, China’s Sohu and The CW Network.

RELATED: Machinima Connects With Sky, Amazon

Machinima, which reaches nearly 150 million viewers each month, is also being offered through VRV, the just-launched SVOD aggregation service from Ellation.

“Machinima is a strong gamer and fandom content and social brand with enormous reach and high engagement with audiences that play our games and are big fans of DC films and television shows,” Craig Hunegs, president, business and strategy, Warner Bros. Television Group and president, Warner Bros. Digital Networks, said in a statement.

The acquisition of Machinima, he added, “is another meaningful move forward as Warner Bros. develops more direct relationships with our consumers.”

“Since making their first investment in Machinima in 2014, Warner Bros. has been an active business partner in our transformation, so we already have proof points as to how the companies can work together to accelerate Machinima’s growth plans,” added Chad Gutstein, Machinima’s CEO. “We’ll now be able to take full advantage of Warner Bros.’ intellectual property, sales and distribution, while still creating content for social and premium digital platforms that gamers and geeks love.”

Machinima Taps Directors of Development

Jeff Baumgartner — Tue, 11 Oct 2016 16:00:00 +0000

Machinima, the digital service focused on gamer and “fandom” culture, has hired media industry vets Gary King and Dave Pullano as directors of development.

King and Pullano, who report to Jason Dimberg, Machinima’s recently hired SVP of programming and editor-in-chief, will be responsible for developing content aimed at driving viewership and engagement for Machinima's multi-platform programming service. They’ll also coordinate programming in conjunction with Machinima's marketing, production and talent teams.

They are coming on board as Machinima moves to revamp its programming lineup and make changes that include the relaunch of Machinima Prime as Primr, and the repositioning of Machinima ETC and Machinima’s Main channel.

King joins Machinima from Disney/ABC Cable Networks Group, where he was manager of alternative programming and new media content. While at Disney, King was responsible for the day-to-day management of several unscripted shows, scripted short form programming and events/specials in development for both Disney Channel and Disney XD. King is also late of YOMYOMF Network, Justin Lin's digital production company, and was a creative executive at Verso Entertainment.

Pullano most recently was a consulting showrunner and executive producer for Machinima, writing, developing and producing scripted content for YouTube, go90, Facebook, Sony PlayStation Vue Vue and cable, including The Bacca Chronicles, and the upcoming Happy Wheels series. Pullano spent the previous two years as a senior creative executive at Zodiak Media, and has worked as an EP, writer and director at E! Entertainment, and a senior producer on series produced by Renegade 83 and 51 Minds, and a head writer on sketch shows for Nickelodeon and MTV.

El Rey Names Daniel Tibbets President and GM

thomas.umstead@futurenet.com (R. Thomas Umstead) — Tue, 03 May 2016 16:15:00 +0000

El Rey Tuesday named former Machinima executive Daniel Tibbets to the newly created position of president and general manager.

Tibbets will oversee the day to day operations for the urban audience-targeted entertainment channel. Tibbets will be based in Los Angeles and report to network chairman and founder Robert Rodriguez.

Previously Tibbets served as chief content officer for entertainment media streaming service Machinima.

"Daniel is an innovator. He isn't bound by convention and most importantly, he has a deep passion for what we are doing at El Rey Network,” Rodriguez said. “At his core, Daniel is a creative and I look forward to partnering with him and the rest of our extraordinary team to continue El Rey's momentum and demonstrate the power and impact of our cutting-edge brand."

Added Tibbets: "El Rey Network’s unique brand proposition is palpable. There’s an authenticity and energy to the content that sets it apart - the genius of El Rey is Robert’s distinctive point of view. Viewers understand what El Rey stands for and advertisers want to engage with our audience and that makes this a truly exciting opportunity.”

PlayStation Vue Reveals Epix Hits Pricing

Jeff Baumgartner — Wed, 30 Sep 2015 03:00:00 +0000

Sony shed some more light on how it is pricing and packaging Epix Hits on PlayStation Vue, its OTT-TV service, and announced the launch of a new premium channel from Machinima.

Epix Hits, a new channel that is paired with a VOD library, is now available on PS Vue as a premium pack with Showtime for $13.99 per month (or $11.49 for PlayStation Plus members), Lynda Chen, senior manager of product marketing for PS Vue, announced in this blog post. Epix Hits is also offered in the PS Vue Elite multichannel package ($69.99) and as an add-on to the Access and Core packages for $3.99 per month (or $2.99 for PS Plus members).

To prime the pump, PS Vue subs who take the premium pack for Epix Hits and Showtime in 2015 will get a discounted rate of $11.49 per month ($9.99 for PS Plus members) for one year.

Machinima’s new premium TV channel, announced in June, also launched today on PS Vue. It’s available on an a la carte basis for $3.99 per month ($1.99/month for PS Plus subs), or offered in PS Vue Elite multichannel TV package, which runs $69.99 per month.

PS Vue’s multichannel TV service (plus a cloud DVR) is currently offered in Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas; Miami-Fort Lauderdale, Fla; Chicago; Philadelphia; Los Angeles; New York; and San Francisco.

Machinima Ready to Raise Its Game

Jeff Baumgartner — Mon, 06 Jul 2015 12:00:00 +0000

Machinima, the ad-supported over-the-top multichannel network for gamers, is already a hit with the hard-to-reach millennials audience.

It’s now looking to parlay that success, open up its game and take on some new risks as it prepares to launch a premium channel that will initially be offered as part of a pay TV bundle and on an a la carte basis through PlayStation Vue, Sony’s broadband-delivered pay TV service.

On paper, it looks like a perfect match. Machinima is for gamers and the fandom culture. PlayStation Vue is offered on PlayStation 3 and PS 4 consoles. Machinima estimates that more than half of its U.S. audience already owns a PlayStation console.

The challenge ahead is to develop and launch a new service that PS Vue users will find appealing, but take that next step and also pay extra for it.

Machinima CEO Chad Gutstein won’t yet provide the full playbook for the coming subscription offering, but said it will feature a blend of originals that are exclusive to subscribers alongside a curated collection of “best of Machinima” content.

CONTENT ROLLS IN

Machinima’s premium service would offer the television-equivalent of at least 250 hours of original programming per year, Gutstein said, noting that the company is in “late-stage development” on its first batch. Some of the content tagged for the subscription offering will start rolling in by the third quarter, he said, ahead of a full-service launch expected in the early part of the fourth quarter.

The company has already put out nearly 400 scripted and unscripted original series, he added, spanning animated comedy to horror, competition and documentaries.

“We know how to produce, for our audience, the kind of content they want to watch, and we know how to do it across all formats and all genres,” Gutstein said. “I think you’ll see us take our capability set and apply it here [on the premium service].”

The supplemental, curated content will come from the quite-staggering 33,000 hours of new, additional content that is generated by Machinima’s army of creators. That content will appear on the premium service based on usage data, determined by what’s trending, getting the most viewership and being shared most frequently via Twitter, Facebook and other social networks.

PlayStation Vue is Machinima’s launch partner for the service, but Machinima will also seek out other distribution partners, including cable operators and other types of MVPDs that are trying to connect with millennials and the gaming/fandom group. Because distribution partnerships are the initial focus for Machinima’s premium service, it won’t try to sell its premium product direct-to-consumer.

“But I wouldn’t rule anything out. We have an extraordinarily powerful, difficult to reach affluent audience,” Gutstein said, noting that the core audience is 18-34, skews male, and has a median household income of $87,000.

But not everyone agrees that Machinima will have success trying to gain distribution outside platforms such as the PlayStation (Machinima, by the way, does offer the free version of its app on the Xbox One and Xbox 360.)

“There are a lot of synergies there on PlayStation,” Colin Dixon, founder and chief analyst at nScreenMedia, said. “But I don’t see the same synergies with [traditional] pay television.” He also said he doesn’t see Machinima having more than limited interest on a service such as Sling TV, Dish Network’s new over-the-top pay TV service for cord-cutters.

Gutstein, the former chief operating officer of Ovation who took the helm of Machinima in March 2014, believes his company is well equipped for “this third wave of television” and can help partners get in touch with this large, coveted group of viewers.

“There’s this huge digital, native video-driven, mobile first audience that is amazingly difficult to reach and [one] that traditional television is now doing a worse and worse job of serving and reaching. And we have them,” he said.

And the distribution world continues to evolve, he said, noting that Hulu, which will bundle subscriptions to cable premium channel Showtime, is starting to look like a digital MVPD of sorts.

REAPING GREEN FIELDS

Plus, Machinima isn’t hindered by digital rights issues that have slowed or limited the progress of others that pushing onto new platforms.

“We are not burdened by the 30 years of business history that exists,” he said. “We have a lot more flexibility.

“I think traditional networks have done a fantastic job of the last several years of making progress on getting differing rights and preparing themselves for this new digital future … but we’re already there.”

Playing Soon on PlayStation Vue

Machinima has lined up multiple ways to gain distribution for its new premium service on Sony’s recently launched pay TV platform:

■ Bundled with PS Vue’s Elite package ($69.99 per month) that’s currently offered in five markets: Los Angeles; San Francisco; Chicago; New York and Philadelphia.

■ Nationally, via the PS Vue service on an a la carte basis — for $3.99 per month, or at the discounted rate of $1.99 per month for PlayStation Plus members.

PlayStation Vue Launches in San Francisco, L.A.

Jeff Baumgartner — Tue, 16 Jun 2015 02:30:00 +0000

Sony used its presser at E3 Monday night to announce that it is launching PlayStation Vue, its over-the-top pay TV service, in two more markets: San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Sony Computer Entertainment CEO Andrew House paired that with word on new national a la carte offerings that won’t require a multichannel bundle, starting with Showtime (announced last week); a channel from Machinima (more than half of Machinima’s U.S. audience owns a PlayStation platform, according to a statement from Machinima CEO Chad Gutstein); and Fox Soccer Plus, a premium service that’s also offered today through MVPDs such as DirecTV, Cox Communications, Time Warner Cable, AT&T U-verse, Verizon FiOS, Frontier Communications and Cablevision Systems, among others.

House also announced that PlayStation Plus subscribers will also get access to discounts on programming packages, but did not elaborate.

The PS Vue launches in Los Angeles and San Francisco (more detail about the lineup of regional sports channels in those two markets was not immediately known) follow the service’s initial debut in March in New York, Chicago and Philadelphia.

Update: Sony revealed pricing on its initial slate of a la carte options and provided more detail on its TV lineup in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Early on, Sony’s OTT-TV service features three tiers -- “Access” for $49.99 per month; “Core,” which includes local sports channels, for $59.99 per month; and “Elite,” an offering that includes everything in Access and Core plus more than two dozen additional channels. To prime the pump, Sony lets new, qualified users try PS Vue for free for seven days.

PlayStation Vue is currently supported on the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 and via a recently launched app for the iPad.

Expect to hear more about PlayStation Vue this Thursday (June 18), when Dwayne Benefield, vice president and head of PlayStation Vue, speaks at the Multichannel News/Broadcasting & CableNext TV Summit & Expo at the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel.