The Chief Content Officer has become a key senior role within most media organisations. As platforms continue to implement explanation plans, incorporating more media formats, the need for the Chief Content Officer to oversee those plans is crucial. Lumina previously looked at the responsibility of the CCO in the SVOD market last year. Yet, now we investigate recent news stories and how CCOs are changing expansion plans in the wider media industry.
Television
First up, news from the world of television. It was announced that Helen Jackson, CCO at BBC Worldwide, would depart after three decades with the corporation. As the pubcaster merges its WW operations arm with the Studios business, to create one commercial entity, there was a restructuring. The commercial venture will now be headed up by four genre-specific Managing Directors, plus three regional Presidents – leading the content sales.
The CCO position has been discontinued at BBC Worldwide, with all the responsibilities now spread across seven individuals. This demonstrates the importance of the CCO role within a modern media organisation and this marks a significant change in the management structure at the BBC’s commercial operations. Jackson led BBC Worldwide in developing its content-focused business model, and in a world where content is king, the CCO responsibilities are paramount.
Music
The big news from music streaming earlier this month was Spotify’s Chief Content Officer, Stefan Blom, leaving the world’s largest music streaming service. It recent years, it has been experimenting with a video platform included with the music streaming. However, the decisions behind Blom’s departure remain private, there are suggestions that the video platform failure was a key motivator.
This move from audio to video is something that major music streaming brands are looking into. Apple Music are approaching the video revolution by snapping up exclusive rights to documentaries. These focused on artists including the likes of Taylor Swift, Major Lazer and Harry Styles to attract new subscribers. For Spotify, their video strategy had launched to a rocky start. But in recent months, the Swedish company brought in Courtney Holt – former EVP at Disney – to oversee video strategy. In one of his first major changes, Spotify shift into the visual podcast format, similar to rival Deezer. So, with the French music streaming service first implemented their podcast features back in 2015, it has jump ahead. Whether music streaming service morph into SVOD-like businesses is certainly not out of the question.
In this era where original content has become a major selling point numerous services, the Chief Content Officer position holds considerable power. The power to change entire business strategy and to introduce brand new features. It remains to be seen if Spotify identifies its next CCO, but one aspect is certain: the CCO role will transform as new ideas and concepts are introduced.