Rick’s Media Picks - A Conversation with Mike Schabel

By Rick Alessandri, Managing Director at TurnkeyZRG

This month, Rick talks to Mike Schabel, who is currently Chief Strategy Officer at Kiswe.

Mike joined the team at Kiswe Mobile in March 2016, to help viewing audiences enjoy a premium and social video experience made possible with cloud video and advanced device applications (kiswe.com). Previously, Schabel spent five years building Alcatel-Lucent’s Small Cell business which was regarded as leading the industry in vision, innovation, and execution. Known as a serial intrepreneur, Schabel is regarded for his proven ability to launch new businesses, transform the efficiency of existing businesses, and achieve leadership in customer-satisfaction, technology, quality, and financial performance.

Prior to that, Mike was the General Manager of the NGN Mobile Core Unit in the Wireless Division of Alcatel-Lucent and was one of the founders and leader of the Alcatel-Lucent 9900 Wireless Network Guardian, an industry- recognized and award-winning product/software/service-based business that was incubated and commercialized within Alcatel-Lucent Ventures.

Schabel began his career at Bell Labs in 2000, following his doctoral work at the University of Arizona, where he specialized in Chemical Engineering and plasma chemistry following undergraduate training in Aerospace Engineering and completing his masters in Materials Science and Engineering.

Mike Schabel was recognized as a “40 Under 40” executive by Global Telecom Business in 2010.

Mike Schabel, Chief Strategy Officer at Kiswe Mobile

Rick Alessandri: Mike, you’ve had a very interesting and successful career where you’ve always been at the forefront of technology, especially mobile. From Bell Labs to Alcatel/Lucent to Nokia and now Kiswe, you’ve seemed to recognize where technology is headed. Is something that has come naturally to you given you’re so curious or was it a function of right place at the right time?

Mike Schabel: I'm insanely curious by nature, and love trying to understand complex and uncertain problems. That fires my neurons. My approach is to understand the dependencies amongst the key driving trends - whether consumer, technology, society, economics, competitors, and noise - and try to put a big map together to project where we are headed. From there, it comes down to execution and I've been quite lucky to work with extraordinary people who know how to get big things done.

How has Kiswe evolved since its inception and how did the company now find itself as a solution for what’s happening in the regional sports network business with teams and their partners?

I remember when I first saw the video experience technology that the founding team developed - and I was awestruck. For the first time, it felt like I was engaged in the video that took full advantage of my digital device. That was almost 10 years ago, and it has only become better as it has been deployed in music, entertainment, and now sports. Why did it take so long for sports? The digital rights to the premier sports content were captured in long term agreements and for many years, the focus was on reinforcing the value of the linear experience. As those rights become available, there are new opportunities to engage fans and put Kiswe's arsenal of technology to work.

What you, Gray Television and the Suns/Mercury are doing is truly transformative and, in a way, goes back to old school of OTA (over the air). How did that strategy evolve?

Consumer viewing habits have shifted in how and where audiences are consuming content. The strategy behind our partnership with the Suns and Mercury, and Gray Television, was always centered ensuring fans had access to watch games on the platform of their choice.

Do you envision more rightsholders continuing to move towards direct control of their content being delivered to their fans?

I think that rights holders have always understood the value of developing a relationship with the fan of their content. In the past, there were many layers in a media model, which made creating those direct relationships challenging. Over time, technology is affording rights holders with the opportunity to connect with their fans - and I suspect that it will be embraced more and more. Directly managing a community of users with your own content is hard, though, and I suspect that the next few years will yield tremendous learnings as we transition to this becoming a common part of the media industry.

As someone born and raised in Phoenix and Glendale and who holds three degrees (B.S. Aerospace Engineering, M.S. Materials Science and Engineering and Ph.D., Chemical Engineering) from the University of Arizona, are you saddened by their departure from the PAC-12 to the Big 12?

I have so many fond memories of great sports competitions in the PAC-10 (I'm dating myself) which became the PAC-12. Nothing erases those memories. I am, if anything, an optimist - and I always focus on what the future holds. Focus on the journey ahead, not the past. I have no doubt that the academic and athletic powerhouse universities on the west coast, as they reassemble into different conferences, will drive and result in new levels of competition that will only reinforce their legacies as awesome institutions.

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