MUMBAI: Anjali Sud loves going on the offensive and throwing big and wide. Rarely, has she failed to get a touch down during her career no matter how bold her move. The former rather young CEO of Vimeo - who transformed the service into one valued at hundreds of millions of dollars - and current Tubi CEO, is once again putting herself to the test – she is pressing the pedal on free streaming television.
Said she on Linkedin: “I believe in the power of video. I have dedicated my next chapter to empowering audiences with free, frictionless entertainment at Tubi. Viewers deserve fewer barriers, more joy and greater diversity in storytelling. As the most watched free TV streaming service in America, Tubi is committed to defining next generation entertainment.”
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Come 9 February and Tubi will be walking her talk and, in her words, “even the walk when it will stream the Super Bowl LIX, free in 4K, for US audiences.”
The game will be played between American Football Conference (AFC) champion and two-time defending Super Bowl champion, the Kansas City Chiefs, and National Football Conference (NFC) champion, the Philadelphia Eagles. For traditional TV watchers, the action on the green will be aired on Fox Sports with over 100 cameras being used for filming, including a new 4K, 240 Hz model from Sony as its high skycam. The lower skycam will employ the use of lidar and simultaneous localisation and mapping (Slam) technology to provide more precise tracking of its position, data which will primarily be used to improve the performance of augmented reality (AR) graphics. The game will be made available with Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos surround sound on Comcast Xfinity.
Sud revealed that it will be a series of firsts for Tubi at America’s biggest sporting event: “from the first-ever Tubi Red Carpet featuring the fashion and celebrity surrounding the game (including the ability to shop the trends from your phone!), to wacky Tubi brand spots that cut to the heart of what we stand for, to airing our biggest original ever, The Z-Suite starring Lauren Graham, after the trophy ceremony.”
She acknowledged that none of this would have been possible “without the boldness, creativity and steady determination of the Tubi team and our excellent partners at FOX Sports. It has been a true effort from all and I couldn’t be more proud to work with people who aren’t afraid to try new things and reach new heights together…especially when it offers a great entertainment experience for millions of Americans.”
TV spots are going at $7.5 million to $8 million per 30 second slot. Wow If that is not steep, we wonder what is.
Could we have Uday Shankar, Sanjog Gupta and gang take a similar punt with this year’s IPL?
