The Final Four: Amazon vs. Netflix and Comcast vs. T-Mobile

UPDATE: Polls are now closed. Click here for results.

The quarterfinals are over, the polls are closed and now we’re down to the Final Four.

At this point in the competition, it’s beginning to look like Jeff Binder is unstoppable. The executive vice president of home and entertainment at T-Mobile has been receiving a big social media push throughout the voting and it’s helped him beat Viacom’s Bob Bakish, Disney’s Bob Iger and NBCUniversal’s Steve Burke. Can Binder sustain his momentum in the Final Four when he goes up against Comcast CEO Brian Roberts? It will be a battle between one of the entrenched giants of cable in the U.S. and the man behind T-Mobile’s efforts to “Un-carrier” the pay TV industry.

On the other side of the bracket is another intriguing matchup with Netflix CEO Reed Hastings taking on Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon Studios. It’s a subscription streaming standoff between the two biggest SVODs in the land.

Voting for this round will stretch through this weekend and will end around 10 a.m. Eastern time Monday. Then the final round of voting will run through Tuesday morning, when we’ll announce the winner of our weeklong “powerful people” tournament.

We hope you’re having as much fun with this feature as we are. Thanks to everyone who voted and best of luck to the Final Four. — Ben | @fierce__video

FV powerful people fourth round bracket

 

 

Reed Hastings: As CEO of Netflix, Hastings oversees the biggest subscription streaming service in the U.S. along with a growing international business.

Bob Iger: As CEO of Disney, Iger runs a diverse company that includes hugely popular cable and broadcast networks, studios and franchises.

Brian Roberts: As CEO of Comcast, Roberts is at the head of the most powerful cable company in the U.S. and a massive media conglomerate.

John Donovan: As CEO of AT&T Communications, Donovan runs DirecTV, the biggest U.S. pay TV provider and home of one of the biggest virtual MVPDs.

John Stankey: As CEO of WarnerMedia, Stankey runs HBO, Turner and Warner Bros. along with the subscription streaming service coming in late 2019.

Jennifer Salke: As head of Amazon Studios, Salke runs the content arm of one of the biggest and most well-financed subscription streaming services in the U.S.

Tom Rutledge: As CEO of Charter, Rutledge leads one of the biggest cable operators in the U.S.

Charlie Ergen: As chairman at Dish Network, Ergen guides the second biggest satellite TV operator in the U.S. and the biggest virtual MVPD.

Joe Ianniello: As acting CEO of CBS, Ianniello has assumed the reins at a major broadcaster and a streaming empire including CBS All Access.

Steve Burke: As CEO of NBCUniversal, Burke runs a media conglomerate amassing networks, studios and streaming platforms.

Randy Freer: As CEO of Hulu, Freer runs the third largest streaming company in the U.S. and an up-and-coming virtual MVPD.

Susan Wojcicki: As CEO of YouTube, Wojcicki is in charge of the biggest ad-supported video platform, a fast-growing vMVPD, an original content lineup and more.

Rupert Murdoch: As executive chairman at 21st Century Fox, Murdoch is the key figure at a transitioning media empire with big transactions underway.

David Zaslav: As CEO of Discovery Inc., Zaslav runs a vast cable network empire encompassing Discovery and the recently acquired Scripps.

Jeff Binder: As executive vice president of home and entertainment at T-Mobile, Binder is at the forefront of T-Mobile’s much-anticipated move into pay TV.

Jamie Erlicht and Zack Van Amburg: As heads of worldwide video programming at Apple, Erlicht and Van Amburg are the brains behind Apple’s big push into original programming.

Shari Redstone: As president at National Amusements, Redstone runs a media empire with controlling interests in CBS and Showtime.

Bob Bakish: As CEO of Viacom, Bakish is leading the still-nascent resurgence of a once-mighty cable network group and studio system.

Makan Delrahim: As assistant attorney general of the Antitrust Division at the U.S. Justice Department, Delrahim is a top anticompetitiveness watchdog and a key figure in the DOJ’s challenge of the AT&T-Time Warner merger.

Ajit Pai: As chairman of the FCC, Pai is a deciding factor in many of the most impactful rules and regulations that touch the media and entertainment industry.

Mark Zuckerberg: As CEO of Facebook, Zuckerberg is helping to drive video platform innovations and fuel a growing original video content machine.

Dexter Goei: As CEO of Altice USA, Goei oversees one of the U.S.’ largest cable operators and a growing advanced advertising business.

Josh Sapan: As CEO of AMC Networks, Sapan runs some of the top cable networks in the U.S. and a handful of growing subscription streaming services.

Chris Ripley: As CEO of Sinclair Broadcast Group, Ripley runs a major U.S. broadcasting group with more than 200 television stations nationwide.

Tom Leighton: As CEO of Akamai, Leighton sits at the head of a key U.S. provider of CDN services and video technologies.

Marvin Edwards: As CEO of Commscope, Edwards runs a big network infrastructure provider in the process of buying major pay TV supplier ARRIS.