Challenge

“The mechanisms for the monetization of content are in disarray,” said AMC Network’s chairman. Long before the pandemic, people were abandoning their cable subscriptions and advertisers were pulling back on spending. More television than ever was being made but consumers’ attention was narrowing. And so, AMCN, one of the last remaining holdovers from the cable boom, found itself in profound transformation. It had to adapt to streaming. It had to shift from an ad- to subscription-supported business. And, it had to reinvent itself in an arena with Netflix and Disney, and their movie studios and theme parks.

Product

The antidote? A service that leant into its ability to curate only the best, that catered to niche rather than general interest and challenged an industry that favors the endless scroll. Initially launched through existing partnership and distributor relationships, if AMCN was to meet its goal of engaging and retaining millions of subscribers, the answer would lay in creating an immersive product experience. And so, AMC+ needed a standalone service that delivered on its promise of “only the good stuff.”

We set out to create a deeply immersive, cinematic escape with minimal distraction and noise. An experience that whisks fans away to epic worlds and invites viewers to watch more and browse less. But, there is a steep learning curve as linear businesses aim to become product shops. Nearly overnight, Product found itself with new leadership attention, an ambitious MVP and estimates of effort at odds across teams. On top of that, I found myself with a manager unexpectedly out of the office for months so it fell to me to advocate for building smart. I leaned on my familiarity with the development team and turned to research to design, roadmap and build a shippable product that delivered on business goals, technical feasibility and user demands. As timelines inched up and up and features were shed for launch, I balanced managing competing stakeholder requests, championing for building iteratively and honoring user agency.

Results

Ahead of the highly anticipated premiere of the final season of The Walking Dead, AMC+ launched its standalone apps on web, mobile and OTT. With the launch, streaming became the most significant area of growth for AMC Networks. The company ended the year with more than 9 million subscribers, exceeding its first benchmark and beating Wall Street forecasts.