What’s next for blockchain in media? In 2018, I participated in the Blockchain Prototyping Fellowship: Content Monetization, hosted by NYC Media Lab and NBCUniversal, to help find out.

Project Details

In the Spring of 2018, I joined a team of researchers from Columbia Business School, and New York University to investigate how micropayment systems on the blockchain can open up new areas of engagement for customer segments in comparison to more costly subscription services. 

As part of my role in the project, I performed extensive market research that detailed the challenges and opportunities of blockchain for media.

In addition, I was responsible for creating a user-experience prototype for an end-to-end blockchain micropayments solution, NBC Quickpay, leveraging the unique properties of the blockchain to reimagine how we might purchase, share, and sell media from networks like NBC in the future.

Both the prototype and research were compiled into detailed internal presentation for senior NBC technology and innovation staff, focusing on the possibilities and challenges of implementing blockchains in a larger media environment, what opportunities could be sought in the short, medium, and long-term, and what considerations NBC and other media companies should take into account as the technology matured.

While the internal presentation and prototype are confidential, I also presented a high-level public version of the research findings and prototype at NYC Media Lab’s 2018 Summit (as featured in the video above). You can download a copy of that presentation here and I’m happy to follow-up and answer questions to the best of my ability.

PARTICIPATING TEAM MEMBERS  

• Dana Martens, The New School, Design & Technology (Research Presentation & UX Prototype)
• Etienne Dejoie, NYU Center for Data Science (Technical Prototype)
• Thibault Févry, NYU Center for Data Science (Technical Prototype)
• Chao Qin, Columbia Business School (Business & Economics Research)