Jonathan Gladwin

My background is all about creating relationships that grow and develop, firstly in Entertainment Marketing and more recently in content distribution. With a reputation for tenacity and building new networks, I worked with a content owner looking for ways to distribute the films they held licenses for.

To test the market I first established and built a traditional content licensing business, working across a wide variety of channels and platforms including TV channels, UK, European, and US trains and coaches, airlines, and mobile handset manufacturers. One project was a collection of film for My5. According to Viacom data, it was the 4th most successful launch on the service, outperforming much of their own content, and increasing the audience at a time when they were losing overall numbers.

This initial content licensing phase proved extremely profitable, bringing in revenues in excess of $170,000 but more importantly enabled the leadership team to assess the viewing data that I had negotiated as part of licensing agreements. This data was used to inform the design, build, and UX of an OTT app. Through direct distribution via app stores and partnerships quickly achieved 2 million views a month. We had already noticed the rise of FAST channels - driven particularly by Samsung TV Plus in the US - and with a strong product and good audience viewership, we spoke to Samsung who recommended Wurl as the delivery partner. I was assigned to be the point of contact and look to expand the distribution of the FAST channel, building relationships across the world including Amazon and Viacom. Additionally, at the time when my contract came to an end, I was working on distribution agreements with vehicle manufacturers, electric car charging networks, hotels, and ISPs.