Skandha Appoints New VP Of Business & Growth In US Expansion

Skandha Media Services, a leader in scalable playout services that leverage cloud technology, automation, AI, and machine learning, has appointed Jim Oakes as its new VP of Business & Growth - Americas, to spearhead the company’s expansion into the US broadcast and streaming market.

Media industry veteran, Oakes has served the sector for over 35 years and accumulated a vast portfolio of projects and skills across engineering, operational and commercial disciplines, holding senior positions at organisations such as Time Warner Cable, SeaChange and XOR Media. In this newly created role, Oakes will be responsible for supporting the company’s growth strategy and introducing Skandha to organisations that are looking for scalable playout solutions, increased revenue and expert support for their live sports and events streaming.

"The sports streaming market is experiencing explosive growth in the US, driven by a fundamental shift in consumer behaviour," said Neelesh Dalvi, co-founder and head of digital operations at Skandha Media Services. "Fans are demanding more control over their viewing experience, wanting both live and on-demand access to their favourite sports. We're seeing major partnerships forming between sports leagues and streaming services to capitalise on this opportunity, and we’re poised to help with their operations and monetisation."

"The US market will seriously benefit from Skandha's 10+ years' experience in collaborating on a range of big-ticket events and productions including the Olympics, Oscars, FIFA World Cup, Game of Thrones, Asia Cup, IPL, and many more - with high profile customers, such as Disney+ HotStar, Tata/Sky and Jio Cinema," explained Oakes. "The company's innovative spirit, strong leadership team and its unique handle on cloud technology, automation, AI, and machine learning combine to make their solutions an attractive proposition for the US market right now - in particular the streaming of live sport."

Oakes's experience spans transmission, master control, remote production, commercial insertion, systems integration, technical support and customer service. Having overseen major projects in his early career at WGRC-TV’s Newsroom, its corporate master control, editing and remote production facilities, as well as being responsible for video maintenance and commercial insertion signal distribution at Time Warner Cable, Manhattan, his insider knowledge is invaluable.

Oakes also held various senior positions at SeaChange International, becoming Director of Technical Support Services in APAC for its video on demand, advertising, Hospitality Service Network (HSN), iTV systems and broadcast/server storage products. He played key roles in the delivery of VOD/NVOD, digital Ad insertion and ‘media cluster’ projects for brands such as British Telecom (UK), Colorado Satellite (USA), Comcast (USA), HOT Communications (Israel), News Corporation (Japan), On Media (South Korea), StarHub (Singapore), Telenet (Belgium), Telewest (UK), UPC (Netherlands) and Times Warner NYC (USA).

Most recently, Oakes served as a board member and president of XOR Media in APAC, where he successfully set up and incorporated the company’s local domestic corporation in Manilla and also headed up the field service and support teams locally, as well as in South Korea and India, whilst also being responsible for the marketing team and technical pre-sales in the region.

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