FierceOnlineVideo Leaders - Roxanne Austin, CEO Move Networks

FierceOnlineVideo got a chance to catch up with newly appointed Move Networks CEO Roxanne Austin near the end of her first day on the job. Though Austin couldn't answer some of the questions posed because she is still familiarizing herself with aspects of Move's business, she was upbeat about Move's market opportunity and chance to turn around the company after a tumultuous first half of the year. I'd also like to note that Austin is the first female representative in the FierceOnlineVideo Leaders series. I hope there are many more to come. 

FierceOV: Roxanne, so you're almost through your first day on the job as the leader of Move Networks. What do you think of the company's general market positioning right now? What opportunities do you think are the most exciting for the company? 

Austin: Well, most of the day I've spent in an all hands meeting, then answering questions, doing interviews, all the stuff you've got to take care of when you're taking over a new business. But I think Move has a tremendous opportunity, with the Inuk acquisition, to offer a full end-to-end solution that is truly unique in the marketplace. It has truly linear multi-channel capabilities, DVR, and full EPG (electronic programming guide) all online, and the quality is unmatched.

The timing in the industry is one of the reasons I made this decision, because of the conversations that are being had, and the realization that most people are coming to that we need multiple revenue streams to support this (internet television), whether it's subscription based, or advertising and fees, or some mix of many different strategies. 

With professional content, someone has to pay for it. I think it's the right time for Move to be a party in these conversations, because if we are to offer paid models for this content, the customer is going to have to have access to all their channels, in the same interface, and the look needs to be as good or better than on their television. If someone is paying for this content, they will expect high quality. 

FierceOV: During the unveiling of Time Warner and Comcast partnership in "OnDemand Online," Move's technology was mentioned as a key component of the offering. Can you comment on what role Move will play in the initative? 

Austin: Well, Comcast made that quote, and we're not ready to publicly announce anything. But I'd stay tuned on that one. 

FierceOV: What do you see as your biggest challenge in taking over Move Networks? 

Austin: I think it will be prioritizing our opportunities. We have to examine our customer base, our new potential customers, and figure out where we're going to focus initially. We will be asking ourselves: ‘Where can we have the most impact the fastest, for our partners and our company?' I'm about win-win situations, and we have to create them here, but we also have to look and realize that it can't all be at once. Where can we have the biggest impact?

I am committed to propel Move to where it needs to be, and along the way change the thinking in an industry. We're going to grow, hopefully we're going to be a very big company one day, and focus is a very big part of day one and going forward.

This interview is continued here.