Firstlight Media has launched a new initiative to incubate and accelerate the growth of scalable OTT services, to be led by longtime Walt Disney Company and Discovery Communications strategy and viewer experience leader Paul Pastor.
Pastor, a member of the Disney Hulu launch team and more recently a co-founder of OTT services in North America and Europe, will spearhead faster growth of the streaming ecosystem by ensuring that aspiring Tier 1 providers – as well as Firstlight Media’s current and future Tier 1 customers – have access to the technology, knowledge and strategic drivers of business success. Firstlight Media is a leader and innovator in delivering cloud based OTT infrastructure that powers some of the most iconic video apps and platforms.
“Paul Pastor’s limitless vision of what television engagement can be and his understanding of how to bring that to viewers have fueled networks’ growth throughout his career,” said Andre Christensen, CEO and co-founder of Firstlight Media. “Our OTT accelerator will extend Firstlight Media’s value beyond Tier 1 clients by harnessing Paul’s success with major brands and his entrepreneurial expertise to benefit new entrants who are on Tier 1 trajectories.”
In his role as Chief Business Officer and a co-founder of Firstlight Media, Pastor will head multiple disciplines – including business and corporate development, sales, marketing and others – that can advance the objectives of OTT providers. Pastor will leverage vast experience in the direct-to-consumer market: He was the Disney ABC investment and operations lead for The Walt Disney Company’s Hulu investment. More recently he has co-founded two next-generation streaming entries: TVPASS, an aggregation service that allows consumers to seamlessly discover and consume content from multiple SVOD providers; and Unite Broadcast Ventures, a branded SaaS OTT platform to support European local market streaming joint ventures.
During eight years with Disney, Pastor rose to become senior vice president, strategy and customer analytics. He leveraged the team’s customer relationship management, research and media planning groups to drive insights that increased viewing across Disney broadcast, cable and OTT properties. For Discovery, as executive vice president, strategy, revenue and operations, he managed the portfolio’s P&L, partnered in the delivery of record ratings for flagship networks, and led an award-winning social media team.
“As industry trends accelerate toward OTT services, media companies are quickly finding out that content alone does not ensure success,” said Pastor. “The goal of our accelerator initiative is to provide OTT services of all sizes with what’s needed to compete and win: scalable product, data and technology that can reduce customer acquisition costs and churn, optimize the lifetime value of the consumer, and ensure long term growth.”