Live blog at #V21 Melbourne – Robbee Minicola from Hybrid TV

The second presentation for the day was delivered by Robbee Minicola, the chief executive of Hybrid TV, the company behind the introduction of TiVo into Australia. Minicola started by talking about the evolution of YouTube into professional activities – longer form content, live streaming, professionally-produced content, and so on, and encouraged the audience to learn more about the professional side.

“YouTube is embedded in tens of millions of devices,” Minicola said. “LG have a suite of 140 devices – YouTube is embedded in those, YouTube is embedded in the iPhone. I’m talking ubiquity.”

She also talked about how 90 percent of televisions sold this coming Christmas will feature Internet connectivity, and you can be sure that YouTube will be a featured app. The big message was that people need to be thinking about the implications now – before they get squished by the elephants of the industry. She also talked about the great capacity for contextual advertising through new formats with advertising becoming more bespoke.

“You have to coalesce – the big brands are the ones that survive,” Minicola said. “Create a consortium – a consortium is going to make it work for you. You need to unite and fight. Come together and create a brand. If it is just you on your own it won’t work.”