Streaming platforms have garnered a huge audience over the past few years, especially during the pandemic. As technology advances and new media platforms develop, staying on top of trends, patterns and data becomes important. Candle Media CEO Kevin Mayer on Tuesday joined MediaLink founder Michael Kassan in a conversation on the SXSW stage to talk about the future of the media landscape.
“When you have the goods the streamers need, you have some leverage,” Mayer said
Mayer cites the popular cartoon “CoComelon” as an example. According to the current owner of Moonbug Entertainment, Mayer said “CoComelon” was the second-most streamed TV show on Netflix last year. The show started out on YouTube and the episodes are the videos strung together. It was then sold to Netflix for a licensing fee.
“[It was] a huge win for them and huge win for us, and it’s still on YouTube,” said Mayer. “If you have the goods and the finished products, you can get the deal you want.”
Kassan added that now is a time when independents have leverage.
“Producers don’t have to go to the streamers now. Streamers are coming to the producers,” he said.
A couple months before COVID hit, Mayer, who is the former chairman of Walt Disney direct-to-consumer and international division, helped launch Disney+. He had previous experience launching ESPN+ and leading Hulu after it was largely acquired by Disney.
“[We] launched Hulu to do better on new devices, with more pleasant experiences. It is linear TV with 24/7 streaming channels. We thought it’d hopefully offset the down set of paid content,” said Mayer.
