Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group (AMG) recently promoted Michael Senzon to president of digital, where he’s now taking the lead on the company’s direct-to-consumer streaming portfolio, particularly with an eye on content and product experiences.
Senzon was already SVP of digital and general manager of AMG’s Local Now ad-supported streaming service, and the new role expands his responsibility to other streaming assets, including The Weather Channel’s recently launched direct-to-consumer app.
In terms of priorities, Senzon told Fierce Video that AMG wants to continue to drive the business forward in pursuit of Allen’s ambition of building “the most formidable portfolio of streaming assets in the industry.”
“In the short term we are focused on the successful roll out of The Weather Channel streaming app, accelerating the already rapid growth of Local Now and building out the rest of our streaming portfolio,” Senzon said.
Senzon has been with The Weather Channel Group since April 2018, just as Allen completed its acquisition in March. Before joining AMG, he held roles at CNBC as head of video across OTT, digital and social platforms. Prior to that Senzon spent more than 10 years at CNN including building and leading CNN’s first original video unit.
"Michael Senzon’s promotion is well-deserved and he is the ideal executive to lead and accelerate our digital first strategy as we expand our direct-to-consumer products worldwide," said Byron Allen, founder and CEO of AMG, in a statement. “Delivering excellent user experiences demands passion and expertise across business, content, product, and technology – and Michael provides this unique blend of leadership for AMG Digital every day.”
Senzon will continue to lead Local Now in his expanded role, which has grown to over 450 local and national channels, with local news weather, traffic, sports and over 14,000 TV shows and movies. Local Now also touts additional free localized content, geofenced to a user’s zip code in cities across the U.S. Last month it added five new FAST channels from Crackle Plus to the content lineup.
Since AMG relaunched and began aggressively marketing Local Now in the second quarter of 2021, “we’ve seen tremendous growth in users, minutes and engagement,” Senzon noted.
Asked about expectations for signups and consumer appetite for The Weather Channel paid streaming app, Senzon said The Weather Channel is one of the top 5 most trusted brands in the country, “so not surprisingly we are seeing a strong response.”
“Consumer feedback over the years has been loud and clear – people wanted another way to access The Weather Channel television network beyond traditional distribution channels,” he continued. “No one can match the quality of our team, our proven history of constant innovation and use of technology and brand affinity.”
The $2.99 per month streaming TV app features a livestream of the 24/7 weather news channel network, along with radar and local forecasts. Still, how can a strictly weather service fare – as analysts have noted direct-to-consumer news efforts like the short-lived CNN+ faced challenges of people paying for content, and weather is freely available from other sources.
“It’s a great product experience that delivers on what the users wanted,” Senzon said about The Weather Channel. “By making it easier for people to access the same core live feed of The Weather Channel they’ve loved for 40 years, we think our offering will stand out and resonate with consumers.”
AMG also has content assets like Pets.TV, Comedy.TV, and Recipe.TV, among others, with platforms HBCU Go, Sports.TV, and The Grio.
As to whether integrating additional AMG content into The Weather Channel service or vice versa, Senzon didn’t rule it out.
“We will always look for opportunities to better serve customers based on our data driven strategy,” he commented.