Laura Martin

If anyone has their finger on the pulse of the content industry, it’s Martin. As an entertainment and Internet analyst for Needham & Co., she publishes research on a broad range of public content companies, from Facebook to Yahoo to Disney to CBS. She also champions female entrepreneurs, having co-founded Women Founder’s Network in order to invest and donate money to women who have founded and/or run start-ups. These days, she has her eyes on measurement. “We expect third party measurement of online video to become much more widely adopted, which should improve monetization across all platforms,” she says.

What does the multiscreen experience look like in 3 years?

In 3 years we expect the current trends to have continued including: more choice of bundle sizes; more viewing on mobile devices and out of home; more international content available in the US, and more direct-to-consumer TV channels. We also expect viewers to be consuming more premium content in more places on more screens.

How do you keep yourself and your team engaged and informed on the changing multiscreen universe?

We read and speak to public and private companies in the TV ecosystem.

To what degree will measurement factor into multiscreen monetization in 2016?

This is the most exciting area in 2016 because it will change the most in the next 12 months. With comscore buying Rentrak and Nielsen in the market with cross-platform advertiser and content products, we expect third party measurement of online video to become much more widely adopted, which should improve monetization across all platforms (TV and digital) where premium long-form video content is viewed.

What are your 3 go-to apps?

TWC, Netflix, YouTube.

If you had to spend a month in the virtual reality, what would your environment be?

It would be walking along the most beautiful wooded mountain trails in the world, or touring famous landmarks of the world without leaving my seat. It would NOT be water, because VR makes me seasick.