Sports Illustrated TV
Go beyond the game.
SUMMARY
Oversaw the launch of Sports Illustrated TV, Time Inc’s first subscription video service dedicated to sports news. In just 64 days, we delivered over 130 hours of new sports content to Amazon Channels from over a dozen studios and content sources.
THE MISSION
In Aug 2016, Sports Illustrated signed a deal with Amazon Channels to launch the MVP of their monthly subscription service by the following quarter. While SI was a powerhouse of video content, this was the first time the company would be diving into the world of SVOD, and I was tasked with leading the product launch. My role was to establish new video delivery work streams, communicate tech requirements and coordinate between the many different departments to make sure we got the best service to our sports super fans.
THE CHALLENGE
The Production team’s vision was to bring fans beyond the headlines with riveting storytelling, high-quality journalism and exclusive interviews with sports stars. This diverse library of content broke down into three content categories, each which required different Product approaches to delivery:
House Productions
For launch, SI’s Production team developed five new original shows of sports game analysis and interviews. To ensure the episodes were released when the sports news was still fresh, the engineering team had to complete transcoding, closed captions and delivery of the videos to Amazon within 6 hours after every football Sunday. This meant getting very buttoned up on our delivery process!
Studio Acquisitions
SI TV acquired some of the world’s best sports movies, TV shows and docs from companies like Warner Bros., Paramount, Fox and more. To help feature beloved classics like Rocky and Bad News Bears, I coordinated content and art asset deliveries from a dozen studios, all with different work streams and specs.
Classic SI Archive
And finally there was the Sports Illustrated archive — decades of award-winning journalism and Swimsuit Specials that have made the brand the world’s leader in sports. Working with the production leads, I systematized video conversion, closed caption and poster creation for over 130 hours of SI content that could finally be found on one platform.
THE RESULT
In just 64 days, the engineering team and I were able to process and deliver over 130 hours of new content to Amazon Channels, all with brand new closed captions, video thumbnails and posters. Between vendor, stakeholder and developer management, we were able to make what seemed like an impossible task into a successful launch of Sports Illustrated’s first subscription service.
KUDOS
Engineering • Jason Kui • Sultan Keshwani • Yugandhar Suthari
Business • Mark Treiber
Design • Emma Darvick
