How To Make Money with Live Sports on Streaming with Scott Young, Co-Founder of Transmit

Tim Rowe (0:00): Welcome back to the State of Streaming podcast. I'm your host, Simroe, and today we're catching up with Scott Young, cofounder and chief product officer at Transmit, a company that is truly reshaping the way we watch TV, especially live sports. In today's conversation, we'll be learning about how streaming publishers are adding 20 to 30% incremental revenue without compromising the viewer experience, actually driving up to 4x ROAS for brands. We're gonna talk about why the opportunity could be even bigger in subscription video on demand environments SVOD and how to do it without compromising the promise to ad free viewing for those platforms. And we'll tie it all together in a pretty little bow with what 2026 has in store for live sports and streaming.

Unknown Speaker (0:49): We'll talk about the World Cup. We'll talk about the Olympics taking center stage. So if those are things that you're thinking about or wanna learn more about, this is the episode for you. Enjoy. We'd love to learn a little bit more about the problem that transmit solves.

Scott Young (1:11): Yeah. Where the problem starts is that the media industry is suffering. The entire economic model is changing faster than they could devise solutions for. And by they, I mean media owners, rights holders, streaming operators, broadcasters. And that's really because of a couple things.

Scott Young (1:35): First and foremost, it's because it used to be really easy. We would sign up for cable. We would have a regional cable provider, and then they would share in that subscription revenue to each media operator or rights owner that had a channel with the cable operator. And that's very easy economics for the networks to kind of, like, look at when they're considering their media rights acquisition strategies because they can just be like, alright. I know I'm getting I can rely on this revenue month over month.

Scott Young (2:05): It's very stable, and I know how I could even encourage more. More subscribers, more sign up, equals more revenue to my channel or network. Well, that's deteriorating. That reliable revenue stream is completely deteriorating, so they have to look towards other options. We feel that one of those options and the best options is how do we do better at advertising so advertising can contribute to an enhanced and accelerated revenue stream for media rights holders and streaming operators.

Scott Young (2:35): And I think that's absolutely necessary, especially when you look at what are we doing right now. And we're still just doing the same exact thing we've done in TV, which is long duration ad pod breaks. So they don't really have something they can fall back on for an incremental lift. We solve for that incremental lift.

Tim Rowe (2:54): That's interesting. I just started watching I don't know if you've seen the the show on Netflix about the Spotify origin story. And so many of the themes actually feel similar to to the problems that Transmit and others are are working on solving, which is this monetization problem. Hey. The way that it was is not working.

Tim Rowe (3:15): It's not making us money the way that it used to. We have to kinda reimagine this playbook a little bit. It's gonna look a little different. It might feel a little bit uncomfortable. So what does that start to look like beyond the standard AdPod?

Tim Rowe (3:27): How does Transmit help publishers monetize content in other ways?

Scott Young (3:32): Yeah. Well, I think when you look at the standard AdPod, you also begin to realize that it's not even working for advertisers as well. I mean, I think that it's also not going away. Like, there's effective ways to utilize it, but it's finite. Like, it's not going to grow.

Scott Young (3:51): It's just gonna be what it is. And advertisers really starve for attention, and viewers really hate disruption. So you really need so from a media rights holder perspective, you need really need to balance your viewer experience with your monetization needs. So, yeah, what that looks like is we've developed the infrastructure that supports a really scalable way of aligning new ad opportunities into the content stream without disrupting the viewer experience. But the most important thing is allowing this to happen at scale with massive concurrency and also personalization.

Scott Young (4:30): Because if ads aren't personalized, then viewers are even even maybe they're not disrupted. They're able to watch ads alongside their content. It's still not resonating with them, so it's not as valuable to an advertiser. So that's what our technology solves. It's able to integrate new premium ad experiences without disrupting the content and to align the ad experiences with context.

Scott Young (4:53): So that looks like in the form of, you know, dynamic graphics, like, Lbar creative squeeze back ads that run within the programming itself in the actual content stream outside of the traditional ad pod break. And each viewer that's watching simultaneously can see different messages. That's also if you ever see the picture in picture squeeze back ad where you can actually take video ad creative and integrate that into a background skin with, also while alongside content playing while it's live. We do things like that as well. We even incorporate vertical video into, the horizontal element to create more engaging ad experiences that can even enhance the experience for viewers.

Tim Rowe (5:34): Very interesting. I was, over the weekend watching something on YouTube with my son. It was like a live live influencer boxing match, which was ridiculous in itself. But there was an ad that came on screen during the live broadcast, and there was some sort of YouTube. This is like a live in stream ad, but it was it was a political ad, and it was, like, a terrible political ad.

Tim Rowe (5:58): And it was so misaligned to this content experience, which is like this very funny. We're watching this influencer boxing match that's not very serious. It's my son and I. And then bam. This politician's really bad doom and gloom.

Tim Rowe (6:12): Make sure to go vote. It was so disruptive. So how do you think through that? How do you think through, like, the user experience as we start to okay. We're gonna introduce more ads into an ad supported viewing experience where we're already we we're we're open and willing to receive ads.

Tim Rowe (6:31): We want them to be personalized. We like that they're relevant to the content. But how do we how do we think through the user experience? I'm sure this is something you've spent a lot of time thinking about, but how do we think about the user?

Scott Young (6:43): Yeah. Absolutely. So there's a lot of considerations that go into that because, one, you have to know what the viewer's watching, and then you have to be able to prompt the ad creative to adjust to that. So what I mean by that is, like, so we basically mapped out every certain style of content. Mean, we've we've been doing this over the last ten years.

Scott Young (7:05): So we've gained a lot of learnings that we can put forth in our algorithms of how we determine the right moment for an ad to appear within the content. So first is about right moment. So someone's watching NBA. When are the best moments? Well, we've identified walls in action after, you know, if there's a shooting foul occurs or, you know, certain fouls are called, and we fine tune that so we can signal also what's happening on screen.

Scott Young (7:30): So this is a shooting foul moment or a basket was just scored or a slam dunk just happened. So not only have we aligned the viewer experience of, like, when these right moments are by sport, by program, but we also can, in real time, send a signal of what this moment is so the ad creative can adjust dynamically. So there could be elements of different types of ad creative messages for different types of moments on screen that also can fluctuate in price or value back to the advertiser decision.

Tim Rowe (8:01): That's a that's a great point too. Just being able to price the inventory based on, hey. Who who's trying to reach who in that moment with which creative, what matches best? And, obviously, there's a lot of moving parts to make that all work in a perfect world, but it does seem like this continues pushing the conversation back towards creative.

Scott Young (8:21): Yeah. I think creative in context is the most important thing and the most important missing pieces that kind of plagued the advertising industry. As digital advertising became an opportunity, all technologies immediately went for data, audience data. Let me find out exactly how to pinpoint my audience to eliminate message waste. There's a great platform for them now.

Scott Young (8:45): So we have all these tools and all these sophisticated technologies to identify a consumer and target them. But what we lack is the template in which we engage them. So now, alright, we know someone's watching something, but they're not paying attention when my ad was served. Or I don't have the right tools to actually make this ad creative engaging. So I think that that was that's been lost.

Scott Young (9:07): And I think where technology really has to step up is to create a better template for advertising. So audiences pay attention so your consumer can pay attention to your ad and then allow for, like, more of a conversational native element so you can communicate with them about what they're watching and what you're trying to get them to buy so it's more personal.

Tim Rowe (9:26): You guys have clearly been at this for a while. What does success look like for for the publisher, for maybe a specific content experience? Can you kinda paint a picture of what a win looks like for

Scott Young (9:39): for this? So for the so what and what what we've seen for the publishers that adopt our software in their stack is they could experience over 20 arrangement 20 to 30% lift on incremental revenue growth throughout their, you know, entire portfolio from their ad revenue. I mean, when we work with publishers that already streamers that already do a ton of ad revenue. It's a really big lift. I mean, I think it could go even farther, and we can get into what that looks like.

Scott Young (10:08): But that's on the revenue side. But then you have more of the performance driven elements of, like, from the advertiser perspective. Like, is it is this working for them? And, they're adopting these, you know, in content ad experiences because it does. They see attention rates go up all based off of third party measurement standards that they're tracking and measuring their campaigns effectiveness.

Scott Young (10:33): We've seen return on ad spend get driven up by four times, which is a really big lift. Obviously, one of the most important drivers behind advertising because if no one's seeing it and your revenue is not growing as an advertiser, then you're not gonna pay a premium for it. And that publishers like these types of formats because they drive a premium because you get more of a one to one experience with an intended consumer.

Tim Rowe (10:55): So how do you buy it? How do you find this sort of inventory? Is it is it direct through the publisher? Is it available programmatically? How how do folks buy it?

Scott Young (11:04): So I think that that's the best question because I think technology has existed for a long time to put a graphic on a screen. The challenge is how you make that graphic or whatever that in content ad is, how you make that compatible with the way that advertisers buy ads today, track and measure. And they do that all from an ad server, all from a demand side platform. So we've designed this to not be a heavy lift or overly customized effort on the advertiser or buying platform. So, yes, there are certain ways that you can tap into this inventory programmatically.

Scott Young (11:45): There are certain ways that you could create a really custom creative ad opportunity on a direct sold basis, but the bottom line is you can target this inventory just like you can target a mid roll or pre roll ad that exists online with all the same tools, measurement, and ad decisioning. So compatible with any industry standard ad servers, and we're actually one of the only we are the only compatible server side ad insertion partner that can facilitate this among, you know, freewill and Google Ad Manager activated ad delivery. You know, we've been doing this for ten years, like I said. So we've actually built our own like, we work with the publishers to create the inventory. We also work with ad agency holding companies and preferred partners to buy it.

Scott Young (12:27): So we have a demand marketplace that operates this as well. So the publishers themselves can sell it programmatically or direct however they want, but we also have, like, our own programmatic marketplace that we allow advertisers to connect with across our entire network. So we've kind of proven it from both sides.

Tim Rowe (12:44): Where are some of the publishers where we were likely to have seen this already? Is this something that I probably, like, came in contact with?

Scott Young (12:52): Sure. Yeah. We work with a large majority of the regional sports networks. Yeah. If you're watching a Yankees game, you're watching the Nets game, you're watching the Knicks, like, you know, Bill Liss, Marquis, the list goes on and on.

Scott Young (13:04): So streaming sports content, also, we power over 250 fast channels, and that's continues to grow. So we're working across major OEMs to, power this ad experience within the free ad supported streaming platforms that they like video plus LG channels, etcetera.

Tim Rowe (13:25): So we've definitely already seen it. And you said there's a bigger picture. There's there's more opportunity beyond what we've already achieved. The 20 to 30% additional revenue growth, the great results for advertisers. There's more opportunity you think.

Unknown Speaker (13:39): What what does that mean? What does that look like?

Scott Young (13:42): Yeah. I think, you know, the the first point of adoption is usually if you just look at any broadcast network or streaming platform, they're gaining subscriptions, but they have a lesser tier, right, for this comes with ads and then one that doesn't. So their first point of adoption for this is let's put this in the ad tier. And I think you gain a lot of value. That's a 20 to 30% incremental lift.

Scott Young (14:02): But we've been working to deploy this with a select few directing consumer applications that have a, you know, a no ads tier because this isn't like a break in act you know, you're not taking the viewer away with a long duration ad pod break. So you can gain a lot of incremental value by delivering a better quality ad experience that's not annoying to the viewer with the higher pricing plan for a subscription. So I think it enhances the value of, like, you know, you you can even think of this as just a more native ad experience, and it doesn't have to fit into, like, the standard classic. I'm gonna disrupt you for two minutes every thirty minutes, you know, or it's a lot longer on some plot.

Tim Rowe (14:43): It feels more like an extension of the content than than it does an ad to your point that's disrupting this viewing experience. It's just it's maybe we'll call it an enhancement because, obviously, we like selling ads. Exactly. It's very interesting. Very interesting.

Tim Rowe (14:58): What's the timeline? Is that is that something that's already in testing? Is that something that's already in market?

Scott Young (15:05): Yeah. I mean, that's something that we have right now. We're in market with a few on this, but we're launching in 2026 with some really large players who will be releasing this type of ad in innovation on their no ads tier subscription plan. Interesting. Well, hopefully,

Tim Rowe (15:23): folks are learning about it here first. And, Scott, if they wanna get in touch, where do they go? What's the best place to get in touch with you to connect with you, learn more about Transmit?

Unknown Speaker (15:32): They could email me, Scott@Transmit.live.

Tim Rowe (15:35): Awesome. Before we let you go, I do wanna talk about, obviously, 2026. You you just teased a little bit there. If we look forward to the World Cup, that was a big headline for Transmit here in 2025. What's Transmit's involvement with the World Cup?

Tim Rowe (15:51): Why should we be excited about live sports and the opportunities going forward?

Scott Young (15:56): Yeah. So we'll be, powering some major ad experiences in and around the World Cup, especially with our work in the FIFA streaming network. I think just 2026 is a major year for sports streaming in general. I mean, you're it's an Olympics year. It's a World Cup year in North America.

Scott Young (16:14): So I think we'll just experience such massive volume of viewership from the North America market unlike we've ever seen. And I think it'll be a major indicator of streaming's future growth potential. And I think we'll see some new and innovative ad experiences that we have teed up in and around that content. And then I also think it's also a major year where we'll see the fast streaming space gain a lot of growth, not just from a viewership perspective, and I'm talking about the the interface from the OEMs. I think they have such a major opportunity like Samsung, LG, Vizio in their free streaming channels because I think we'll continue to see a lot more and more and pull live content be exposed through those channels and be available to viewers.

Scott Young (17:03): And I think that we'll see a ton of ad innovation around that, especially because they have so much control over the entire interface and experience, and, we're working with a lot of them to do that. So I'm really excited about the growth in those sectors specifically.

Tim Rowe (17:17): That is interesting. And and, actually, I guess we we just chatted with recently. We're talking about it's not just sports anymore. It's live anything. Live anything is the most premium opportunity.

Tim Rowe (17:30): Can you give us maybe tease a little bit more detail around what some of those experiences might look like?

Scott Young (17:37): Yeah. I mean, I think it's just a lot it's a lot of what we're talking about. I think it's more of just, like, the live sports, which is historically contained just within, you know, subscription walls or providers. I think we're seeing a trend of wider distribution across varying platforms. And I think the fast platforms are one that we're starting to see more and more live tentpole events from the regional sports networks, MLB games, NBA games, NHL games, even NFL to a certain extent, releasing live tentpole sporting events, professional sporting events for free across those channels.

Scott Young (18:17): And the main driver for that is ad revenue, ad revenue, and discovery. And, we're powering a lot of those ad experiences.

Tim Rowe (18:25): It's a good theme. Hey. The game is changing, and we've gotta find a way to continue to make money and ideally make more money. And I think this is obviously a great way to to do that. So, Scott, thank you again for being here.

Tim Rowe (18:38): Thank you for this great conversation. We look forward to 2026 and, obviously, having more dialogue just like this.

Unknown Speaker (18:45): Thanks so much.

Unknown Speaker (18:46): Thanks, Scott.