Tom Beers

Going Over the Top: New Currents in the Digital Stream

Ken Rakowski, Mark Greenberg, Chad Gutstein, Andy Schoen, Tom Beers

Industry leaders at this panel discussion emphasized that content-only strategies are failing in favor of models integrating distribution control, curation, and hybrid monetization tactics like transactional entertainment and micro-subscriptions. Key figures such as Tom Beers of Fremantle Media and Chad Gutstein of Machinima outlined a strategic shift where legacy IP migrates to OTT platforms, production costs diversify between high-budget originals and high-volume social video, and regulatory arbitrage creates new competitive dynamics. The event concluded with projections that the next five years will be defined by augmented reality integration, app-based discovery replacing linear channels, and significant market consolidation around entities that successfully combine intellectual property ownership with direct-to-consumer pipelines.