Lloyd Scott, veteran of network TV programming, brings his video and TV savvy to Microsoft. He’s the newest addition to the Media & Entertainment Group.

By Steve Birge

May 30, 2008

Quick quiz: Who has the largest library of on-demand high definition (HD) programming available online? (It’s not the networks, not Hollywood studios, and not a cable company giant.)

The answer: Microsoft, with 1,600 hours of HD content among a library of 5,000 total hours of content. Microsoft is still a software company, have no fear. But it also is on its way to “defining the future of entertainment delivery,” behind such products as Xbox and Zune, and is building itself to further expand Redmond’s collection of world-class content.

The latest move in the Media & Entertainment Group (MEG) toward this end is the hiring of Lloyd Scott, an 18-year veteran of guiding networks, studios, and cable distributors through programming and acquisition of content. Scott serves as a business analyst in a MEG team assembled by Corporate Vice President Blair Westlake that already boasts phenomenal networks of contacts and experience in Hollywood and content centers around the world.

“I’m keenly aware of how content works in this space,” said Scott, who has guided programming for Apple iTunes, NBC, Fox Net, MGM, and others. “Microsoft is still in the early stages of digital [entertainment] downloading, and my objective here is to analyze early stage data and research based on performance of the content and see patterns of how and when things are downloaded and why. Then we can not only improve performance, but make better decisions on content to be offered for download.”

Westlake’s MEG team has three main arms. General Manager Kathy Styponias heads the business development team, which manages the relationships with television and movie moguls. Senior Director Ross Honey leads the content acquisition and licensing team, which executes the deals for the growing video library in the Entertainment and Devices Division. These groups operate based on analysis from the business analytics team, headed by Business Manager Bob O’Brien, where Scott sits.

Through industry connections and experience, this team has brought in big HD deals—for example, Microsoft’s Xbox LIVE was the first online platform to get HD content from Warner Bros. MEG was the second group, after Apple, to win a content deal with ABC, and the first ever to obtain ABC’s HD content.

Scott’s role is to help determine what content will best populate the Microsoft video entertainment library, which is provided through Xbox LIVE Marketplace and the Zune Marketplace for rental or download to own. His research and savvy about the programming that might appeal to particular audiences using a particular device is critical in pursuing deals. Analytics numbers are “hard to negotiate against,” Honey said.

“Lloyd’s programming expertise is helpful in identifying content we wish to secure,” Honey said. “The major content providers like networks or studios are the obvious list. Where it gets more complex is when you get to the second tier or third tier of providers, where content may be less obvious but very interesting to the Xbox demographic, for example. Lloyd’s programming expertise is very helpful there.”

Scott said his ultimate goal is to act as a resource to help Microsoft platforms create “better channels,” meaning packaging a disparate set of content from multiple sources within an overarching theme, allowing users to consider and consume content according to particular interests or tastes. Scott has a deep understanding of the audience that uses Xbox, as well as broader audiences interested in downloadable content, and is excited to be in on the evolution of new entertainment delivery.

“The entertainment model itself is going through unbelievable changes. TV is changing, and the movie business is very different as well,” Scott said. “Obviously, you want blockbusters to appeal to the male 18–35 demo, but a lot of them don’t feel compelled to go to movie theaters anymore. The way we see the digital space existing today, with $2-per-show content, is really an early stage. The way it exists today is not the way it will exist in three to five years.”