Tony Goncalves

Goncalves has excelled in two roles in the past year. Initially, he led DirecTV’s Digital Entertainment Products group through the merger with AT&T, where he helped advance multiscreen video. And in his most recent role as SVP Strategy and Business Development, his tireless advocacy for consumers and challenging his team to think from their perspective has become his hallmark. He sees expanded consumer choice as the key to improving the multiscreen experience. “We believe content needs to become more ubiquitously available across devices and access technology, driving a better price/value equation for consumers,” Goncalves says.

What does the multiscreen experience look like in 3 years?

We believe content needs to become more ubiquitously available across devices and access technology, driving a better price / value equation for consumers. We will overcome the hurdles we face today with varied content and channel line-ups by device and location, both inside and outside the home.

Consumer choice will continue to expand with new services and content models. The connected generation has varying tastes in content and means of consumption. As a result, the consumer and the industry will begin to meet in a common place where experience and monetization coalesce.

We also believe that consumers will be given the option of buying content in the manner they access it, whether that’s via mobile, connected devices or pay-TV.

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

Constant curiosity. You can never stop listening to the marketplace and learning with every opportunity. We are users of emerging products and services and learn how to maximize our business and our own experience. We also observe various demographics’ evolving usage patterns and look for ways to adapt.

We listen to varying opinions across the ecosystem and value chain, as no one opinion is 100% accurate. Staying connected with people who are experts in their domain is essential. Not to mention a willingness to adjust one’s approach.

Data and research. Having a constant flow of information on how consumers are engaging and evolving is something everyone should make a priority and we do. We analyze our user behavior, conduct primary research, and evaluate secondary research – all to ensure we are making informed decisions.

We take these various activities and our team produces weekly, monthly and quarterly internal thought leadership blogs and reports to ensure the broader organization is aware of the evolving marketplace and our strategic points of view.

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

While one of the most challenging aspects of the multiscreen evolution, I believe measurement is the most meaningful and exciting piece of work ahead of us.

Monetization, scale and content ubiquity are the opportunities we have ahead of us to shape a robust multiscreen future. The three go hand in hand. Without a robust and consistent content offering, scale is challenging to achieve and without scale, monetization is challenged.

Measurement is at the core of the monetization path for multiscreen, when attempting to drive a meaningful business proposition in digital video. The advancements over the past few years are promising and we believe competition in this area will fuel the needed innovation. We must envision a world where an ad is engaging to the viewer because it’s relevant and measurement is based on viewership regardless of the device. This beacon pushes us to re-think not only measurement but also ad formats.

What are your 3 go-to apps?

I have a rather utilitarian app usage pattern. I need to stay informed … Flipboard organizes my news in an engaging and simple user experience on the devices I use the most. I need to get to destinations as quickly as possible … Waze gets me there fast. The social and data aspects of this app are admirable. I need to stay entertained. I love TV, but am not always in front of one. The DIRECTV app keeps me entertained, wherever I am.

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

I would have to balance an amazing personal experience vs. living in a more stable state of the world. We are living through some tough and uncertain times, with human rights challenges and war erupting in multiple parts of the world. Perhaps putting on a set of VR goggles and for a full year using the experience to help bridge political and social differences would be ideal. These destinations and people I would engage with would solidify the personal experience!