Tracey Arrowood-Shaw, WWE, SVP, Global Strategy and Innovation

Tracey Arrowood-Shaw is an entertainment executive with extensive experience overseeing industry-leading production and distribution initiatives. These include the launch and re-launch of the award winning and first-ever live linear and VOD OTT WWE Network. Arrowood-Shaw took her experience as SVP of TV and network operations at WWE where she was responsible for the oversight of strategy, planning, content distribution, finances, workflow, and operations of WWE’s television studio and network operations, into her role as SVP of global strategy and innovation. Currently, she is tasked with managing the scale, complexity, and cross-functional collaboration across the WWE to implement initiatives to achieve growth of the company.

Arrowood-Shaw brings over 25 years of experience in the film and television industries. Her storied career has spanned multiple media operations from content acquisition to distribution, network programming, media asset management, the transition to HD capture and broadcast technology, media space construction, re-branding campaigns, and the production of animated films, documentaries, commercials, radio spots, and TV news programs.  She volunteers on the board of the Southern Connecticut chapter of Swim Across America, a non-profit organization benefiting cancer research.

Jason Justman, Sinclair Broadcast Group, Distinguished Engineer

As a distinguished engineer with SinclairDigital since 2015, Jason Justman is focused on developing next-generation cloud-based solutions for converged OTT, digital, and broadcast systems. While at Sinclair, Justman has helped architect and deliver digital products to innovate capabilities across all touchpoints of media workflows, with a focus on embracing cloud solutions for both VOD and live workflows. This investment in digital products has allowed Sinclair to bring new tools and capabilities for news and sports production to help deliver the right content, to the right audience, on any device.

Jared Smith, WWE, SVP, Digital Products

Jared Smith is currently the senior vice president of digital products at WWE, where he has been since January 2016. In that capacity, Smith leads digital product development for all digital properties, including the award-winning WWE Network. Previously, he was at AOL where he held roles as general manager of AOL Core businesses, Huffington Post News & Information properties, and AOL’s digital travel businesses.

Smith previously served as general manager of CruiseDeals.com, one of the largest sellers of cruise vacations in North America. From 2002 to 2007, he was the president of iCruise, an online seller of cruise vacation travel and a provider of travel booking technology. iCruise was recognized as one of the Inc. 500 fastest growing private companies in the United States. Prior to iCruise, Smith was a financial analyst at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, and Credit Suisse First Boston.

Smith graduated from Duke University with a B.S. in economics and certificate in markets and management. He received a Congressional Proclamation from the U.S. House of Representatives in recognition of charitable work with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

Steven Thorpe, Fox Corporation, VP, Video Platforms

Steven Thorpe is vice president of video platforms at Fox Corporation where he is responsible for audience-facing video solutions and operations across the company’s portfolio of sports, news, entertainment, and local apps/websites.

Since joining Fox, Thorpe has led an overhaul of the video supply chain and content delivery ecosystem focusing on quality of service and delivering a “better than TV” customer experience. Additionally, he led the launch team in the creation of FOX NOW Live, offering a simulcast of the network’s programming across web, mobile, and living room devices, in what was and remains the only broadcast network to offer pay TV customers in all 210 television markets nationwide a live stream of its primetime entertainment and sports programming.

Prior to his current role, Thorpe worked at NBCUniversal in a variety of positions – including on the NBC.com team responsible for the award-winning iPad app and full episode player.

Thorpe began his career as part of the College Football production team at Fox Sports while attending the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication at Washington State University.

Ben Ziskind, Fox Corporation, Executive Director, Live Video Platform

Ben Ziskind is the executive director of live video platform for Fox Corporation, where he is responsible for audience facing video solutions and operations across the company’s portfolio of sports, news, and entertainment apps/website.

Since joining Fox, Ziskind has led an overhaul of the live video platform focusing on quality of service and delivering a “better than TV” customer experience. Recently, Ziskind led the launch of 4K UHD live streaming in the Fox Sports and FOX NOW apps with the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup and NFL Thursday Night Football.

Ziskind holds a B.S. in information & decision systems and human-computer interaction from Carnegie Mellon University and an M.B.A. from USC Marshall School of Business. He has 10 patents and patents pending in the areas of video streaming, digital rights management, messaging, and digital marketing automation.

Scott Blomquist, Sony New Media Solutions, VP

Scott Blomquist is a vice president at Sony New Media Solutions. He leads the engineering program for Ven.ue, the end-to-end white label OTT suite that serves up content ranging from TV and movies to live sporting events to their partners’ die-hard fans. Prior to Sony, Blomquist helped build and run engineering teams at Microsoft and multiple startups.

Brandon Costa, SVG, Director of Digital

Brandon Costa covers the sports video production industry with a focus on live streaming, over-the-top (OTT), social media, and other digital distribution technologies and platforms. He also directs SVG’s internal digital strategies launching the company’s video outfit, ‘SVG On Demand,’ designing and overseeing its mobile application, ‘SVG Mobile,’ and serving as executive producer and host of The SVG Podcast. Costa serves as program director of networking events serving the SVG College and SVG Digital communities. Prior to his time at SVG, Costa spent five years producing digital content for MLB Advanced Media.

Andrew Crowe, Limelight Networks, Video Architect

Andrew Crowe is the lead video architect at Limelight Networks focusing on scale, performance, and stability for delivering the highest quality live and on-demand video for the company’s global customers. He has a broad level of experience centered around video streaming technology encompassing internet content delivery, product development, systems engineering, and DoD projects (UAV video/telemetry and flight simulation). Prior to joining Limelight in 2015, Crowe had software engineering roles at companies such as Volar Video, SAIC, and Siemens. He received his Bachelor of Science from Morehead State University where he now sits on the Computer Science Advisory Board.

Jason Dachman, SVG, Chief Editor

Jason Dachman oversees all aspects of SVG’s North American editorial operations, including the thrice-weekly SVG Insider newsletter and SVG’s annual print publications. A member of the SVG team since 2009, Dachman also serves as program director for SVG’s RSN Summit, Sports Content Management Forum, Sports Graphics Forum, and TranSPORT event. Prior to joining SVG, he spent three years covering local sports for The Patriot Ledger in Quincy, MA and two years on the production staff of SiriusXM Satellite Radio’s The Ron & Fez Show. Dachman began his career in the Sports Information Department at Northeastern University in Boston, where he also earned a B.A. in media communications and cinema studies.

Ethan Dreilinger, IBM Watson Media and Weather, Global Client Solutions Engineer

Ethan Dreilinger is a leader in applying AI to media workflows to enable unique customer experiences. His background was built from the ground up, as he started out in radio/television and learned the content creation side of the business. For more than 15 years, Dreilinger has worked with some of the largest media brands around the world to bring content to customers – no matter what platform they are using.

Peter Gallagher, Verizon Digital Media Services, COO

Peter Gallagher leads customer operations for the Verizon Media Platform. He is also responsible for professional services, customer service, engineering, and digital media operations in the over-the-top (OTT) and TV Everywhere space. Gallagher oversees the professional services organization that designs workflow solutions to address customers’ digital media delivery needs. His team supports the integration of the customers’ content management and storefront platforms with a media platform environment. Gallagher has more than 25 years of experience in the media and entertainment industry implementing operations that manage the rights and availability of content, solutions, and delivery technologies.

Ben Grad, fuboTV, Head of Content Strategy and Acquisition

Ben Grad is head of content strategy and acquisition of fuboTV, the leading sports-first live TV streaming service. He is responsible for content acquisition strategy, content analytics, packaging, affiliate relations, and contract negotiations with fuboTV’s content partners.

Grad joined fuboTV in August 2017 after a decade at Verizon, most recently as its executive director of content strategy and acquisition. He successfully led the content strategy and acquisition efforts for Verizon with major content providers and sports rights holders, managed financial and strategic analysis for key content-related initiatives at the company, and helped drive the development of Verizon’s multiplatform video offerings.

Prior to joining Verizon in 2007, Grad was head of strategy at Fuse, where he assessed programming and new business opportunities. He was also a member of Time Warner’s Corporate Strategic Planning Group, where he developed and analyzed new digital distribution opportunities for multiple divisions. He previously negotiated partnership agreements and developed strategy with eLabs, Universal Music Group’s digital group.

Grad began his career at Marakon Associates, a strategy consulting firm. He holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Princeton University and an M.B.A. in finance and marketing from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Jeff Jacobs, Skyline New Media, Managing Partner

Jeff Jacobs is the managing partner of Skyline New Media, a sports and entertainment production company which specializes in third party productions, as well as the development and utilization of emerging technologies for content and entertainment. Jacobs draws on his years of experience in television and multi-platform production, in addition to his years in Olympic production and technologies to contribute to the creation and execution of a variety of the company’s strategic opportunities.

Jacobs formerly held various positions at Viacom’s Global Entertainment Group including most recently serving as SVP of production and emerging technologies at MTV: music television. Prior to joining MTV, Jacobs was with NBC’s Olympic Division where he ran much of NBC’s Olympic production operations in Sydney and Salt Lake City. He grew up at NBC Sports, starting out as an intern and later working a variety of roles from stage manager to associate director and production manager of several Super Bowls, NBA Finals, and sporting events worldwide.

Jacobs is constantly on a quest to discover the latest technology enabling new creative heights and elevating levels of production. He is constantly developing strategic alliances with potential broadcast, social, SVOD, OTT, technology, mobile, and digital partners. Jacobs considers executive producing “RE-ACT NOW, Music Relief Telethon” for New Orleans as one of his proudest control room moments and has been able to develop tentpoles and mega-programs like the Video Music Awards from one-night shows into week-long programming events. His work with the NBA in developing the NBA Summer League into a virtual content and innovation lab has earned him accolades from technologists worldwide, as well as his peers.

Jacobs takes pride in the pro-social work he is able to take part in, including MTV’s “A Thin Line” addressing texting abuse among teens and GYT, the “Get Yourself Tested” campaign. He has been quite active with Global Citizen and several non-profit and educational technology groups.

Jacobs is a six-time Emmy Award winner, a Directors Guild of America member, and a member of several advisory boards and non-profit boards, including the Sports Video Group.

Ken Kerschbaumer, SVG, Co-Executive Director, Editorial Services

Ken Kerschbaumer is co-executive director of editorial services for the Sports Video Group and SVG Europe. He was a co-founder of SVG along with Paul Gallo and Marty Porter in 2005 and has been writing about how sports networks and leagues use video and audio technology to deliver a quality TV experience since 1991. Kerschbaumer began his career in 1991 at Television Broadcast magazine before joining Cahners where he was founding editor of Digital Broadcasting magazine. In 2000, he joined Broadcasting & Cable magazine as senior editor of technology where he covered all aspects of broadcasting, cable, and internet content creation and distribution.

William Mao, Octagon, VP, Global Media Rights Consulting Division

William Mao is VP of Octagon’s Global Media Rights Consulting division. Leveraging IPG and Octagon proprietary data, research, and technology, Mao advises rightsholders, broadcast platforms, technology companies, and the investment community within the sports media space.

A recognized expert on the intersection of sports and digital media, Mao was named “30 Under 30” in sports by Forbes in 2015, and is a recipient of both the SportsPro Media “10 NEXT in Sport” and Cynopsis Media Rising Star awards. He has been a featured panelist at the Intercollegiate Athletics Forum, SXSW, and Sportel, and has guest-lectured at Columbia University and the London Business School. Mao is also a member of Sports Video Group’s Digital Advisory Committee.

Mao was previously VP of digital at MP & Silva, where he brokered foundational media distribution deals for MPS client properties, and advised on event development and brand expansion opportunities for the agency. He has also worked in Content Partnerships for YouTube, where he oversaw the college sports business. At YouTube, Mao developed high-impact digital content partnerships with major rightsholders, broadcasters, leagues, athletes, and multi-channel creator networks on the world’s largest video platform. He originally joined YouTube in Google’s London office, where he reported directly to YouTube’s head of football.

A graduate of the London Business School, where his M.B.A. studies focused on strategy, Mao was president of the London Business School Student Association and led an executive team that managed an annual operating budget in excess of £1 million. Prior to his M.B.A., Mao spent 4 years as a management consultant with Novantas, and held positions with IMG and Masterplan Group International.

Mao completed his undergraduate studies at Yale University, earning a B.A. in psychology with honors. Originally from Los Angeles, he speaks both Mandarin Chinese and Spanish.

Michelle Munson, Eluvio, Co-Founder and CEO

Michelle Munson is the co-founder and CEO of Eluvio (www.eluv.io), based in Berkeley, CA. The company recently launched the Eluvio Content Fabric, a global software overlay network enabling content owners to manage and distribute ultra-low latency, high quality video (live and on-demand) to consumers and business partners without CDNs – and reduce their reliance on transcoding services, cloud storage providers, and aggregators. Munson previously founded Aspera in 2004 and led the company as CEO until May 2017, including through its acquisition by IBM in 2014. She created the Aspera FASP transport technology, an Emmy-award winning technology used in the digital media supply chain for high-speed low-cost secure digital content transport, replacing satellite and traditional tape-based delivery technologies.

Munson holds several patents and is a frequent speaker in the areas of content networking, machine learning, block chain, and cloud infrastructure. She was recently awarded the 2019 David Sarnoff Medal from the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMTPE) for inventing FASP. Munson also received the Charles S. Swartz Lifetime Achievement Award from the Hollywood Professional Association (HPA); was named Woman Entrepreneur of the Year by the International Association of Broadcasting Manufacturers (IABM); serves as an SMTPE Fellow; and is on the board of directors at Avid. She was the 2019 Kansas State University College of Arts and Sciences Commencement Speaker and the 2006 Alumnus of the Year for the College of Engineering.

Munson holds dual B.Sc. degrees in electrical engineering and physics from Kansas State University, was a Goldwater Scholar for achievement in science and mathematics, and was later a Fulbright Scholar at Cambridge University where she received a postgraduate diploma in computer science.

Raphael Poplock, Bleacher Report, SVP, Business Development and Strategic Partnership

Juan Rotger, LaLiga, Global Content Protection Manager

A former trademark attorney, Juan Rotger has taken on the important role of overseeing LaLiga content security and protection from live piracy. LaLiga has played a highly active role working with government agencies to ensure the league’s ability to act swiftly when combating piracy during live match broadcasting in a digital ecosystem.

David Shapiro, Pixellot, President, North America

David Shapiro is currently Pixellot’s president of North America. He is the former CEO of Steel Sports and brings with him nearly 20 years of experience in management, coaching, and corporate development in the youth sports arena. In addition to his time at Steel Sports, Shapiro spent 13 years helping build Positive Coaching Alliance, a national non-profit with the mission of developing ”Better Athletes, Better People” and is currently a member of its National Board of Directors.