The StreamTV Awards honor excellence in the streaming television industry, recognizing executives, channels, and platforms that are pioneering new frontiers across 14 categories.
We&rsquo;re grateful to be recognized this year in three different categories as the industry&rsquo;s best at this week&rsquo;s annual Stream TV Show in Denver, CO!
Xumo&rsquo;s VP of Marketing Fern Feistel took home the Marketer of the Year Award; Senior Director of Business Development Erik Bortz was named an Emerging Leader; and Xumo&rsquo;s advertising technology, Xumo Advertising Management System (X-AMS), secured the Best Innovation in Advertising Award.
Here&rsquo;s more on our winners:
Marketing Executive of the Year &ndash; Fern Feistel
Award Description: This award honors the executive who challenged the status quo to best elevate their brand, capture new viewers, drive tune-in, and combat churn.
Why Fern Won: Fern is a dynamic and innovative marketing executive who has played a pivotal role in Xumo&rsquo;s growth over the past decade, rising from a director-level marketer to vice president, overseeing all marketing efforts across Xumo Play, its devices, and enterprise business.
In 2024, she led a bold marketing push as the Xumo joint venture gained traction, significantly increasing Xumo&rsquo;s presence at industry events and launching its first-ever brand campaign with the slogan &ldquo;Life is hard. Xumo is easy.&rdquo; The campaign cleverly highlighted the frustration of choosing what to watch and successfully boosted brand awareness and consumer understanding, particularly among budget-conscious streamers.
Fern&rsquo;s blend of creativity and strategic execution has not only elevated Xumo&rsquo;s brand but also set a new standard for excellence in the streaming industry&rsquo;s marketing landscape.
Emerging Leader of the Year &ndash; Erik Bortz
Award Description: StreamTV&rsquo;s Emerging Leaders Program honors the industry&rsquo;s leaders of the future. Nominees need to work in or provide services to the streaming television industry and be 35 years of age or younger.
Why Erik Won: For Xumo to thrive, a strong, collaborative foundation is essential&mdash;and Erik Bortz plays a pivotal role in maintaining that connection. As a key leader on Xumo&rsquo;s Affiliate Development team, Erik has earned a reputation as a trusted advisor to both parent companies &ndash; Comcast and Charter Communications. His efforts are instrumental in expanding the reach of Xumo&rsquo;s products while ensuring the company remains aligned with the strategic goals of its owners.
Beyond his work with Comcast and Charter, Erik has been a driving force in building relationships with smaller cable operators, positioning Xumo as a compelling alternative to competitor solutions in-market. He introduced a streamlined go-to-market model that reduces operational burdens for smaller partners and collaborated with supply chain teams to manage inventory risk. Now, he&rsquo;s leading performance management initiatives across Xumo, guiding teams toward operational excellence and long-term value creation for affiliates.
&nbsp;
Innovation in Monetization Award &ndash; Xumo Advertising Management Solution
Award Description: The Innovation in Monetization Award honors pioneers who redefine how streaming platforms turn attention into income through inventive pricing, bundling, and ad integration.
Why X-AMS Won: A major challenge in streaming is maximizing revenue by efficiently filling ad slots and reducing &ldquo;slate&rdquo; &mdash; the empty space where ads should be. That&rsquo;s why we developed Xumo Advertising Management Solution (X-AMS), a powerful tool that helps our FAST channel partners boost ad-fill rates and revenue. X-AMS achieves this through two key innovations: Prefetching, which pulls from multiple demand sources using smart business logic to reduce duplication and optimize ad performance; and Slot Carry-Over, which repurposes unused ads for later breaks, improving fill rates across the program.
These features have delivered a 15&ndash;20% lift in ad-fill rates and a 10&ndash;15% increase in demand, while slot carry-over alone has boosted fill by another 10&ndash;15%. By solving a critical monetization gap, X-AMS is helping partners reduce waste, improve efficiency, and deliver a better viewer experience &mdash; all while driving more revenue.

Xumo&rsquo;s Fern Feistel, Erik Bortz, and ad technology, X-AMS, all win top awards at top streaming TV industry event.

Xumo Wins Big at 2025 StreamTV Awards!

A FAST channel centered around CBS&rsquo; &ldquo;<a id="auto-tag_lucky-dog" href="https://variety.com/t/lucky-dog/" data-tag="lucky-dog">Lucky Dog</a>&rdquo; is launching on&nbsp;<a id="auto-tag_xumo" href="https://variety.com/t/xumo/" data-tag="xumo">Xumo</a>&nbsp;Play as part of a partnership between&nbsp;<a id="auto-tag_hearst-media-production-group" href="https://variety.com/t/hearst-media-production-group/" data-tag="hearst-media-production-group">Hearst Media Production Group</a> (HMPG) and Comcast and Charter&rsquo;s join venture streamer Xumo.

Variety:  ‘Lucky Dog’ FAST Channel to Launch on Xumo Play

Hearst Media Production Group (HMPG) and Xumo, Comcast&rsquo;s and Charter&rsquo;s streaming platform joint venture, today announced the Lucky Dog Channel FAST channel has launched exclusively on Xumo Play.
Lucky Dog Channel will feature a new, original series, Lucky Dog: Best in Show. The series will spotlight some of the most extraordinary dogs featured on the original series, whether they&rsquo;re the fastest, funniest, or most fascinating. Additional programming on the new channel includes the 12-season library of the Emmy-winning Lucky Dog franchise hosted by renowned animal trainer Brandon McMillan.
Lucky Dog Channel will offer tailored, high-impact sponsorship opportunities for advertisers to connect with a passionate, pet-loving audience. Marketers will be able to select from engaging features like bold in-grid ads, branded tune-in promotion, and custom ad overlays &ndash; all providing heightened brand visibility.
&ldquo;As the FAST landscape evolves, our partnership with Xumo Play will offer brand partners and advertisers the opportunity to engage with audiences in more meaningful ways,&rdquo; said Andrew Tew, HMPG senior vice president, global licensing &amp; distribution.
&ldquo;Lucky Dog Channel offers more of the quality, award-winning programming our Xumo Play customers have come to expect while providing advertisers a more immersive brand experience,&rdquo; said Stefan Van Engen, Vice President, Content Programming and Partnerships, Xumo. &ldquo;Through the unique high-value sponsorship opportunities we&rsquo;re getting ready to deliver with Lucky Dog Channel, we&rsquo;re giving advertisers a new way to align with the trusted Lucky Dog brand in ways that resonate with our engaged audience.&rdquo;
Since its inception, Lucky Dog has helped to rescue, rehabilitate, train and re-home more than 200 dogs. The show has received three Daytime Emmy Awards, 55 Telly Awards, seven Parents&rsquo; Choice Awards and five Cynopsis Kids Imagination Awards since its debut on CBS in 2013. For his work on the series, McMillan earned two Daytime Emmys for Outstanding Host in a Lifestyle/Travel/Children's or Family Viewing Program.
HMPG&rsquo;s current program portfolio comprises more than 30 original series and hundreds of hours of original content annually on leading broadcast networks and station groups and on connected TV and streaming platforms. It has a library of more than 5,000 hours of programming and its content can be found in 100 countries.
About Xumo
<a href="http://xumo.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Xumo</a>, a joint venture between Comcast and Charter Communications, was formed to develop and offer a next-generation streaming platform for the entire entertainment industry. The company is defined by three primary lines of business: Xumo devices, Xumo Play, and Xumo Enterprise. Powered by Comcast&rsquo;s global technology platform, Xumo devices feature a world-class user interface that includes universal voice search capabilities, making it easy for consumers to find and enjoy their favorite streaming content. Xumo Play is a free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) service with hundreds of ad-supported linear channels and on demand options that anchors the free content offering on Xumo devices and is also available as an app on other major streaming platforms. Xumo Enterprise is the business-to-business arm of the joint venture, providing content makers, distributors and advertisers with tools and services to make FAST content more accessible.
About Hearst Media Production Group
<a href="https://hmpg.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hearst Media Production Group (HMPG)</a>, a business unit of Hearst Television, is an independent producer and distributor of original programming for TV stations, broadcast and cable networks and streaming services. HMPG produces hundreds of hours of programming annually across linear, streaming, digital and social media platforms for domestic and international distribution in 100 countries. Its popular shows include the Emmy&reg; Award-winning educational/informational (E/I) programming blocks airing weekends nationwide including &ldquo;Weekend Adventure,&rdquo; on ABC stations; &ldquo;CBS WKND,&rdquo; on the CBS Network; &ldquo;The More You Know,&rdquo; on the NBC Network; &ldquo;One Magnificent Morning,&rdquo; on the CW Network; &ldquo;Mi Telemundo&rdquo; on the Telemundo Network and &ldquo;Go Time&rdquo; on independent stations. HMPG also produces and/or distributes a diverse slate of other programming and content including Matter of Fact with Soledad O&rsquo;Brien, America&rsquo;s #1 nationally syndicated public affairs news magazine; Consumer Reports TV, and the company&rsquo;s dedicated FAST channels including Xplore, The Jack Hanna Channel, Rovr Pets, and Lucky Dog Channel, available on some of the most popular smart TVs and streaming platforms. HMPG has offices in New York, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C. and Charlotte. HMPG is represented by United Talent Agency.
 Contact:
Tom Campo Campo Communications, LLC <a href="mailto:Tom@CampoCommunications.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tom@CampoCommunications.com</a>
Jason Braff Xumo <a href="mailto:Jason_Braff@Comcast.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jason_Braff@Comcast.com</a>

Collaboration Highlighted by Original Episodes and Unique Sponsorship Opportunities

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Free entertainment
on any screen

A better way to stream

All the top apps

Get 6 months of Peacock Premium at no extra cost

Take your business
to the next level

What’s new with Xumo?

Xumo Wins Big at 2025 StreamTV Awards!

‘Lucky Dog’ FAST Channel to Launch on Xumo Play

Hearst Media Production Group and Xumo Exclusively Launch Lucky Dog Channel on Xumo Play

All you can stream

Free entertainmenton any screen

A better way to stream

All the top apps

Get 6 months of Peacock Premium at no extra cost

Take your businessto the next level

What’s new with Xumo?

Xumo Wins Big at 2025 StreamTV Awards!

‘Lucky Dog’ FAST Channel to Launch on Xumo Play

Hearst Media Production Group and Xumo Exclusively Launch Lucky Dog Channel on Xumo Play

Free entertainment
on any screen

Take your business
to the next level