The Fierce Video editorial team is proud to present its third annual Emerging Leaders Awards, recognizing the brightest young professionals rising up the ranks of the streaming TV industry. Throughout the month of May we’ll be featuring these profiles with each of our finalists. We will announce the winners during our StreamTV Show with a live awards ceremony in Denver on June 6 at 7:30 p.m. MT. Not yet registered for the StreamTV Show, running June 6-8? Be sure to register now!
Nikki Grenoble/Pluto TV:
Nikki Grenoble is the programming director for the Entertainment, Explore, Reality and Music categories at Pluto TV. In this role, she is responsible for leading and developing the programming strategy while overseeing a team of editors who curate those categories and channels on Pluto TV. Nikki majored in anthropology at Cal State Northridge where she focused a majority of her projects on how the events of the past affect contemporary culture. Her eclectic journey to programming included immersing herself into the world of entertainment from leading claymation workshops to literacy tutorials and working in production alongside the creative development teams to script coverage. Her love of MS3TK brought her to Pluto TV where she used her background and knowledge to look and interpret trends to see what audience watched. Growing alongside the company, Nikki has built multiple categories from a few linear channels to entire content verticals and she's just getting started.
What her colleagues are saying:
"Nikki Grenoble has the rare ability to master the balance between analytics and creativity to discover and implement winning strategies. She has also developed strong management instincts that enable her to pass along her process and knowledge, making the entire team stronger." - Scott Reich, SVP of programming at Pluto TV
"Leaders are often recognized for their successes, which Nikki has no shortage of. However, great leaders are those who inspire, motivate and help their colleagues to become more. That is Nikki. Not only is she extremely organized, but she has a unique talent for problem-solving and has established herself as an admirable leader among her peers and colleagues. She thinks of everything and pours her heart into all that she and her team create, bringing out the best in everyone around her." - Jodi Lederman, head of global communications at Pluto TV
Streaming Industry Q&A:
What streaming services do you subscribe to?
I like to see what's going on in the space so I subscribe to a lot of services. I'm a big fan of Shudder and Criterion for their curation and content discoverability. I grew up on PBS, so their app is a mainstay. Paramount+ also holds a special place in my heart since I'm a Trekkie. When I got to help launch the Star Trek channel on Pluto TV it was a dream come true. Beyond subscriptions, Pluto TV is my #1.
Describe your biggest career highlight so far.
A really big highlight for me has been growing with Pluto TV through the acquisition and seeing how it expanded - and continues to expand - our ability to really hone our strategy. I initially programmed our only reality channel, and now we have 26 channels (and growing) in that category alone. I've been given the opportunity at Pluto TV to dream up programming ideas and stunts and have been given the runway to see it through to execution. We're a unique platform in our ability to be nimble; we can execute and spin up channels at a moment's notice. Human curation is a big part of Pluto TV and a highlight of my career managing and helping grow our team with people who could translate their fandom into channels that others would appreciate. Throughout all of this, there have been a million tiny "a-ha!" moments and all of them build to one big career highlight.
What has been your biggest career learning experience?
We are in an industry that is ever changing and growing. The biggest learning experience has been adapting to the growth at the same speed. My team in the last three months has nearly tripled. With growth like that, you have to adjust how you manage and juggle things. I am so fortunate that my team is incredible and that they all love a challenge as much as I do.
What's next for you in terms of new challenges in streaming TV?
Content programming is my day-to-day, but when you zoom out the user experience doesn't necessarily start or end with the content itself. With the breadth of streaming options available, I'm focused on the user. Your brand doesn't matter if the experience with it isn't worth coming back to.