Randy Malinoff

I often picture the media ecosystem as dots of light - like stars across the dark sky. There’s a studio here, a streaming platform there, and a device maker in another market. At first, each dot stands on its own, but as they begin to connect, new opportunities emerge and a complete picture comes into view - revealing a constellation of stars. Dolby helps connect partners like Mercedes-Benz AG and Audible, for example, when Dolby helps “light up” both sides with our product and makes a partnership possible. Progress emerges in the interplay between each side of the chain. And Dolby’s global reach - from Hollywood to Bollywood, from Europe to China to Latin America - gives us the privilege of helping connect those dots. Dolby Laboratories

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Vinyl Group (ASX: VNL) has delivered another strong quarter, driven by disciplined execution, record revenue growth, and a significant reduction in fixed costs. Key Highlights: • Record revenue of $4.9M, up 37% quarter-on-quarter • Cash receipts from customers of $4.02M, up 105% year-on-year • Underlying operating cash outflow reduced to $835K, down 65% year-on-year and 53% quarter-on-quarter • Finalised equity conversion deal with Songtradr, securing full ownership of Vinyl.com • On track for an EBITDA-positive quarter in Q2 FY26 We enter our seasonally busiest quarter with strong momentum and a structurally lower cost base. 📈 Full update and brand-new investor presentation now live: https://lnkd.in/gc2Ts3dx #ASX #VNL #Results #Leadership #VinylGroup

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Excited to see Studio71, LP LP join Sounds Profitable. Podcasting continues to evolve, and strong industry partnerships matter more than ever. At Studio71, we are focused on scaling premium shows, driving measurable monetization, and building long term value for creators and brands. Looking forward to collaborating with partners who are pushing the industry forward.

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Warner Bros to split cable and streaming businesses in major restructuring As cable television continues to experience stagnation, with the trend of cord-cutting growing stronger each year, Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) is adapting to the evolving media landscape by separating its streaming and cable operations. This landmark decision aims to maximize the potential of both businesses, according to WBD. The company announced Monday its plan to split […] https://lnkd.in/gPMRgxkn

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Simulmedia has appointed Adam Gaynor as SVP and General Manager of Skybeam to scale its self-serve converged TV advertising platform for the performance era - https://lnkd.in/dTs9xUSG “Adam is a proven builder who has spent his career at the intersection of traditional television and the digital future,” said Dave Morgan, Founder and CEO of Simulmedia. #AdvancedAdvertising #PerformanceMarketing #TechIntelPro

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After ten years, hundreds of millions in investment, and a major relaunch, Showmax may be heading toward an abrupt end. In an email sent to subscribers on Thursday morning, the company said the Showmax board had decided to phase out the service following a review of its streaming operations. Read more: https://lnkd.in/ebDmZj84

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Great article about the ecosystem here at Trilith with Trilith Studios, Trilith LIVE, Trilith Institute and the town of Trilith. Everything you need for any kind of production all within walking distance.

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IDEAL Systems Group is launching Tabatha, an AI-powered newsroom platform built with CTS' VideoAI. https://comca.st/47ELYx9 Tabatha helps broadcasters streamline workflows, surface content faster, and deliver more value to audiences. Read the full announcement and see how your newsroom can evolve with AI.

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Last week TCL announced its first #Google TVs with #Gemini AI integrated. For more than a decade, the television has been quietly evolving—shifting from a passive display into a smart, interactive hub in the living room (with a nod to my previous employer #Roku for pioneering that revolution). Today we expect regularly updated interfaces, robust streaming apps, and increasingly, always-on functionality with intuitive, conversational capabilities. These new Gemini powered TVs embody that shift: presence-aware, always ready, displaying curated ambient content and powered by far-field microphones for seamless voice interaction. The TV is no longer just a screen—it’s becoming a living interface. As smart TV platforms compete for dominance, cost, differentiation, and scale will define the winners. With more than 300M monthly active devices, Google’s footprint means each update reshapes the market. And as TVs become more central to daily routines, new opportunities emerge for content and advertising partners to integrate more organically into the experience. Once again, technology unlocks fresh pathways for innovation and growth. #streaming #smartTV #AI #OTT #partnerships https://lnkd.in/gpF-TpCX

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Luminate has partnered with Tencent Music Entertainment to include China’s streaming and sales data in its global metrics for the first time. This means Billboard’s Global Charts will soon reflect music consumption from platforms like QQ Music, Kugou, Kuwo, and JOOX, bringing greater representation to one of the world’s largest music markets. Luminate says the move fills a long-standing data gap and will give artists and industry professionals a clearer picture of global music trends. https://lnkd.in/g-PHrxXf #musiccharts #musicindustry #musicbusiness

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For decades, the inefficiency of broadcast TV advertising has ironically been one of its most lucrative features. But as the industry evolves, the rise of Dynamic Ad Insertion (DAI) is challenging this traditional model. In Tom Sly's latest column for TVNewsCheck, he asks: Could DAI be the catalyst that finally forces a shift toward programmatic precision, or is the broadcast ecosystem too inherently distinct to fully adopt this digital-first approach? The tension between legacy success and future efficiency is palpable. We’re at a crossroads where technology meets tradition, and the implications for revenue models are massive. Are you seeing widespread adoption of DAI in your workflows? Do you believe programmatic efficiency will eventually outweigh the long-standing benefits of traditional broadcast ad-buys? Read the full column here: https://lnkd.in/ggGthJ9j #BroadcastTV #DAI #MediaTech #TelevisionAdvertising #FutureOfMedia #AdTech #TVNewsCheck

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How can radio and complementary audio channels attract next-generation listeners? In today’s RedTech Summit session led by Tapas Sen, former chief content officer at Mirchi in India, we heard how Bauer Media Group Finland CEO Sami Tenkanen and YFM ’s Haseena Cassim attract Gen Z and 20+ audiences. #Audio #Radio #RedTechSummit #Strategy #GenZ

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Will the Paramount & Warner Bros. merger kill off our favorite mid-tier brands? David Born's breakdown of the massive Paramount/WBD consolidation raised a very real concern. When you create a combined $22 Billion licensing juggernaut, what happens to the smaller brands? Do Yogi Bear, Ren & Stimpy, and The Jetsons just get left on the shelf because the team only has bandwidth for Harry Potter and SpongeBob? It’s a valid fear. In fact, if they stick to antiquated ways of tracking this data, it is a guarantee. When you manage a combined catalog this massive using manual spreadsheets, the mid-tier brands will slip through the cracks. Operations teams will be forced to prioritize the blockbusters just to survive the workload. But it doesn't have to be that way. The technology exists right now to automate the heavy lifting and manage a massive, long-tail IP portfolio with a fraction of the effort. The real danger to these classic IPs isn't the consolidation itself - it’s the studios choosing to ignore modern tools. If they finally let go of manual operations, they won't have to choose between their mega-franchises and their cult classics.

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Seven West Media reported a stronger second half of the financial year, leaving CEO Jeff Howard upbeat that the rise of BVOD revenue can eventually overcome losses in its broadcast business. https://lnkd.in/gC2VyUUu

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Just catching up on some overdue reading in the MVPD/vMVPD space and how it's shaping up as we hit the midpoint of 2025: 🔗 Streaming Bundles Are Booming: Over 60% of streaming subscriptions in mature markets are now purchased through bundles or aggregators—think Disney+/Hulu/Max, Xfinity StreamSaver, and telco/retail packages. The market is quickly consolidating, and we’re on track to see just 3–5 “central hubs” dominate TV distribution. 📉 vMVPDs Are Peaking: Virtual pay-TV services like YouTube TV and Hulu Live are hitting their high-water mark. With live sports and news moving to direct-to-consumer apps, vMVPDs lost over 1 million subscribers in Q1 alone. The skinny bundle era is fading. 😵 Fragmentation & Frustration: With 200+ streaming platforms globally, viewers are overwhelmed—spending over 11 minutes just picking what to watch. Only 28% of Americans say it’s easy to discover new content. Price hikes and “subscription fatigue” are real, and bundles are becoming the answer. 🤖 AI Is Reshaping Creativity: AI is now a core part of TV, film, and gaming production. It’s not replacing creative jobs, but it’s changing them—and there’s a growing talent gap for creatives who can harness these new tools. 🤝 M&A Is Back: Media consolidation is heating up as regulatory scrutiny eases. Comcast’s NBC cable carve-out is just the start; expect more big moves this year. Bottom line: We may see the rise of a few super-aggregators, smarter bundles, and a race to simplify the viewer experience. If you’re in media or entertainment, it’s time to rethink distribution, partnerships, and tech to find new and innovative ways to cut through a lot of the clutter. #media #streaming #entertainment #AI #industrytrends #bundling Here's a link to the full report in case you were interested in the read. https://lnkd.in/eqNEc33s

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Today, Quickplay announced the latest evolution of our Shorts product with AI Studio. Why AI Studio? Because our metadata enhancement process and moments identification tool, that is the foundation of our Shorts product workflow, has tremendous application outside of just Shorts - we are applying it to client use cases in personalization, recommendations and contextual advertising to drive more engagement and monetization opportunties. How do we do this and what makes us unique? As you will recall, Architecture Matters! and therein our orchestration layer opens these use cases up with little to no effort on behalf of the client. So AI Studio not only provides you with all of the tools to participate in the Shorts / Creator Economy with our smart clipping and verticalization tools, but we can help upgrade your entire E2E platform without having to rip-and-replace your existing OTT stack / vendor! This is a huge win for product, tech and content operations teams; a rip-and-replace process takes at least 24 months end-to-end (gather requirements, align on requirements, RFI / RFP, legal and implementation); we can help deliver time-to-value in weeks. And to our cloud partners, GCP, AWS and Azure, we can drive consumption, in client tenants, in Q4! I hope to see you at IBC to talk more - ping me if you are interested in a demo. I will also be speaking at the IBC showcase.

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This clip sums it up well: FAST is a business, not a button you press. The full episode is definitely worth the watch, but I especially liked this point from my CEO, Stephen L. H.. Success in streaming comes from understanding the full range of opportunities available, and knowing which ones create the most value at the right time. That’s what I enjoy about being part of OTTera. We’re not here to force one solution into every conversation. The goal is helping partners figure out what brings the most value at the right stage. Because in streaming, “we should launch something” is not a strategy 💡

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