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>> Okay, and welcome back to "theCUBE"'s live coverage here
in San Francisco, California
for AWS Summit 2022.
Amazon Web Services Summit 2022 New York city
is coming up in the summer.
We'll be there. Check us out: "theCUBE".net.
Our next guest here is Jim Long
who's The CEO of Didja also known as LocalBTV.
A very interesting AWS customer
doing some really progressive things around video
and challenging the status quo
in cord-cutting
and all kinds of broadcast models.
Jim, welcome to "theCUBE".
Great to see you.
>> Thank you, John.
Great to be here.
>> Okay, so first of all, before we get into
some of the disruption,
take a minute to explain what is Didja and LocalBTV?
>> Didja is all about providing edge video networking
for broadcast television.
Basically, modernizing local television
and hopefully extending it to hyperlocal content
like high schools,
and community government,
and community channels,
and things like that.
So essentially using the internet as an antenna
to bring broadcast television to your phone,
your laptop, you're connected TVs.
>> So if I understand it correctly
and I look at the materials of your site,
you basically go into each market:
metro areas like New York, Philly, Bay Area,
grab the TV signal out of the air-
>> Jim: Yep.
>> Local TV, and then open that up to everyone
who's got an app. >> Correct,
and what where we're essentially building
a hybrid network with AWS.
I like to say we got all the smart and account stuff
in the cloud at AWS,
and we have all the dumb, FAST stuff
in the actual TV market.
So we have servers and transcoding there.
We work with, of course,
AWS on that centrally as well.
But basically, that hybrid cloud allows us
to be the fastest, simplest,
and lowest cost way to get a local video.
Any type:
could be an antenna
or an IP stream to a local house.
So we're sort of the local pickup and delivery people:
we're not building a brand,
we're not building content,
we're delivering the local content
to the local viewers. >> You're like the pipes.
>> We are. We're essentially an infrastructure company.
We're right at that wonderful intersection
of the infrastructure and the content,
where I always like to play.
>> I love the story.
I think the cost-effective nature
of how you're using Amazon
it's really impressive.
What are some of the cool things you're doing on AWS
that you think's notable?
>> Well, of course,
the standard issue stuff
where you want to store all your data in the cloud, right?
And we use QuickSight to get to that.
And obviously, we're using S3,
and we're using MediaTailor, which we really like
'cause we're the first actual company on the planet,
I believe, that's inserting digital ads,
impression based ads
into local broadcast streams.
So that's fun because the advertisers
they like the fact
that they can still do traditional TV buys,
and they can spice it up
with digital impressions based ads on us.
>> John: Yeah. >> And we're adding
to it a real fun thing called Clippit,
which is user clipping.
It's an app that's been running on AWS for years.
It's had over half a million plays in social media.
>> John: Yeah.
>> We're combining those together,
and AWS makes it very simple to do that.
>> Well, I've been using your app on my Fire Stick,
and I'll download LocalBTV on the App Store.
I got to say the calendar's awesome,
and the performance is 10 times better
than some of the other streaming apps
because the other performance
they crash all the time,
the calendar's weird.
So, congratulations.
Clearly, you're running cloud technology,
but I got to ask you,
what's going on in the market?
Netflix missed their earnings;
their stock was down big time,
obviously competition.
What's it going on with Netflix?
>> Well, it's a big shift-
>> What does it mean for the streaming market?
>> Well, what it means is a consumer choice.
It's really the golden age of consumer choice.
Originally, back when I was a kid,
it was all antenna TV.
We didn't even have DVRs, right?
And then the cable companies
and the satellite companies, the phone companies,
came in and took over,
and all of a sudden, everyone started paying for TV,
for just linear TV, right?
And then the next thing you know,
streaming comes around.
Netflix shows up for VOD or SVOD
they call it
'cause it's pay TV,
and that ecosystem starts to melt down,
and now you have a consumer choice market
where you can pay for VOD
or pay for linear,
and everyone does linear,
and everyone does VOD
or you can use free TV.
Now we correctly guessed
that free TV was going to have a huge comeback.
What is it about free even?
Obviously, gen Z smarter than us boomers.
They love free too!
Targeted advertising makes the ads less painful
or less of a distraction.
So we knew that free ad-supported TV was going to happen.
Lots of stuff happened.
And then the major media companies
started doing their own subscription apps, right?
They're all cool- >> Yeah, like Paramount Plus-
>> Paramount plus, Disney Plus, ESPN, Peacock,
Time Warner's doing something.
I mean, it's all cool,
but people only have so much of a big pocketbook.
So what it's doing is pay TV has now
become much more complicated,
but also you got to trade-off.
So you saw it with Netflix, right?
>> Yeah. >> Netflix is suffering
from there's too much pay TV.
So where are you going to put your money on?
Comcast, on YouTube TV, Paramount Plus, Netflix?
>> I mean, I love the free thing,
and I got to bring up something
that I want to get your reaction to.
A company called Locast went under;
they got sued out of their deal.
They were the free TV.
Are you guys having issues like them?
What's the Locast-
>> Jim: Well, we're- >> Locast was doing-
>> Correct, so we started before Locast,
and we're what we would call a permissions-based system,
legal system.
The broadcast industry is the wild wild west.
I mean, I like to say antenna TV is a direct-to-consumer.
The antenna's a direct-to-consumer device
and it's controlled by the channel people.
It's not controlled
by a platform like Comcast, right?
It's not controlled by a stick.
>> John: When you say channel, do you mean like CBS or-
>> Yeah, CBS or the local Korean religious cooking channel
or Spanish channels
or local independent television
which is really a national treasure for us.
The United States really should be making sure
that local content,
local channels do well,
local businesses,
with targeted advertising
Jane's Nail Salon can now advertise just in San Jose
and not the entire San Francisco TV market.
So you have have all that going on
and we recognize that local content,
but you have to have permission
from the channel, so.
It's not easy because you got channels on stations,
you have syndicators.
It's hard to keep track of
and sometimes you have to shift things around,
but Locast like another company before it
just went hog wild illegal.
Trying to use a loophole didn't quite work out for 'em
and now- >> Basically, they are
put out of business by the networks:
the names, the big names-
>> Yes. >> Content people.
>> Correct, I mean the big guys,
but I mean, because they weren't following the rules-
>> The rules meaning license the content, right?
>> Well, correct or yes.
>> Basically, they were stealing the content
in the eyes of the-
>> Well, it is a little bit of a gray area
between the FCC
and the copyright laws the Congress made.
So there are people certainly out there
that think there is a path there.
Lowcast, didn't find it.
We're not trying to find it.
We just want to get all the free TV,
but the bottom line,
and you've seen FAST channels explode recently:
Pluto,
Samsung TV.
>> And what does that all mean?
>> Well, what it means is people love free TV,
and the best free TV out there is your local TV.
So putting that on the internet,
but the media companies
they have trouble with this new stuff.
>> What trouble do they have? >> They're overthinking it.
Well- >> What's trouble does
CBS, NBC, all these big guys have?
>> Well, those guys have a little less trouble
than the people that actually are their affiliates, right?
So there's 210 TV markets
and your major networks
they have their own stations
and in about 39% of the population,
which is about 15 to 20-
>> John: Is it cultural or is this system problem?
>> No, it's a problem of all the media companies
are just having trouble moving towards a new technology
and I think they're siloing it.
>> You're going to let 'em die?
Are you trying to do deals with 'em?
>> Oh no, no. Absolutely.
For us, we don't make money
unless stations make money.
We want local TV to flourish.
It is local TV
as Neilsen just reported yesterday
that local TV is growing.
We're taking advantage of that.
And I think the station groups are having a little trouble
realizing that they have the original FAST channels.
Before Pluto, Tubi did it in movies and-
>> What are people understanding in the industry?
I know NAB's coming up a show
which is the National Association of Broadcasters.
What's going on in that industry right now?
And if you get to put it down
to top three problems
that are opportunities to be solved,
what would they be?
>> Well, I think the best one that's left
is what we're doing
and I have to say
I think it's worth billions-
>> You mean free TV over the air and streaming IP?
>> Yeah, over-the-air TV
that also works with the internet, right?
Public internet connected
to public television stations
so that everybody,
including homeless people et cetera,
they don't have a TV,
they don't have antenna,
they can't afford Comcast. >> They got an iPhone though.
>> They got an iPhone, (John chuckles)
for sure.
And so it's a wonderful thing
our national broadcasting,
and I don't think the station groups
or the major networks are taking advantage of it
as much as they should.
>> John: Yeah. >> And I don't think,
obviously, NBC and CBS with their new apps,
they're sort of done with that.
They did their mergers.
They got the "virtual pay guys."
>> John: I mean- >> YouTube TV off the ground.
The only thing left
is suck another shitload of good eyeballs
and advertising.
>> Yeah, I think that
and what you said earlier around subscription fatigue.
I mean, nobody wants to have 20 subscriptions.
>> Well, that brings up a whole new other war
that's going on
that thank goodness we're not part of.
It's the platforms versus the cable companies, right,
versus whatever, right?
Everyone's trying to be your open garden
or your closed garden.
They're trying to get your subscriptions in bundle,
self-bundling.
But I mean, it's wonderful for consumers
if you can navigate through it.
We think we'll have one of the gems in any of that.
Everyone's going to want local TV
and so we'll supply that.
We're already doing that.
We're supplying it to a couple companies.
FreeCast has a company app.
A universal streaming manager:
all your streaming aggregation,
put your paid stuff in,
put your free stuff in.
They do that.
And as does Roku's trying to do that,
Fire TV,
Xfinity's trying to do it.
So it's a new war for the platform
and hopefully we'll be on everyone.
>> Well, you've been in this industry for a long time,
you know the streaming market,
you know the TV market.
So I think it's a new battle.
The shift's happening.
What should people know about Didja and LocalBTV?
What are some of your goals for the next year or two?
What are you trying to do?
>> Well, what we're really trying to do
is make sure that local television thrives
so that it can support wider communities.
It can support hyperlocal content.
And we love the old paradigm,
I mean, channel change, right?
Every other app has all these boxes going by
on different rows and stuff
and you can search and find stuff,
but there's nothing like just changing channels,
whether a commercial's on
or you you want to see what else is on,
you're going to go from local television
and maybe all of a sudden
you'll see the local high school play
over on another part of the spectrum.
And what we're trying to do
is get those communities together
and head to the local high school people
come over and find the local Spanish novella channel
or something like that. >> So local is
the new hot trend? >> It is. Absolutely.
And by the way, it's where this high CPMs are going to go
and the more targeted you get-
>> You mean the ad revenue?
>> Correct, I mean that for us is our number one,
we have a number of revenue streams,
but targeted ads are really great for local, right?
And so we're going to make an announcement-
>> We've lost that local.
I see local things.
The local Palo Alto paper, for instance,
just shut down this local sports high school coverage
of youth sports,
because they don't budget-
>> Jim: Right, so- >> and there's no
TV community channels like some Comcast throwaway channel.
We're losing local.
>> No, I think that's a real national shame.
And so I think if we can strengthen local television,
I think it'll strengthen all local media.
So we expect to help local radio and local newspapers;
that's a bigger part of the vision,
but I believe leave it's going to happen.
>> Was their an education angle here too?
>> There is an education angle
because the bottom line is you can use linear television
as a way to augment.
We have a really exciting project going on in New York
with some of the housing projects in Harlem
and and the Bronx.
Their idea is to have the homework channel
and literally with swiping and everything
you can have, I mean,
literally you can have
a hundred schools that have things-
>> Well, we know zoom schooling sucks.
I mean, that didn't work.
So I think you're going to see a lot of augmentation-
>> Right- >> Being at Amazon,
I was just talking to some people here.
AI training, machine learning training, all here,
could be online in linear format.
>> Yeah, and exactly,
and the nice thing about the linear format
is it's discovery television
and you can also record it, right?
If you see a program and you want to record it,
just you hit record.
>> So final minute we have left.
I want to just get your thoughts on this one thing
and and ask you a question.
Are you looking for content?
Are you outreaching to content providers?
Who's your core-
>> Well, our primary mission
is to get more local channels on
which really means station groups and independence.
We have a number,
I mean, basically,
50% of the channels in any market
when we move into it are like,
"This is a no-brainer.
I want more eyeballs."
We're Nielsen rated.
I mean, we support and so we-
>> John: How many markets are you in right now?
>> We're in 21 now
and we hope to be in over 50
by the end of the year
covering more than half the United States, so.
>> All right. Jim, thanks for coming on "theCUBE".
Really appreciate it.
>> My pleasure, John. >> Good luck with your mission.
Very disruptive,
disrupting media combination of over-the-air TV, local,
with IP internet.
Obviously, we love that with "theCUBE".
We want a CUBE channel anywhere possible.
I'm John Furrier, host of "theCUBE" here at AWS Summit,
highlighting all the big trends
and technologies in cloud and media.
Be back with more coverage after this short break.
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