The explosion of content across social platforms has made producing and distributing entertainment easier than ever. Finding the right audience for it is another matter.
Chronicle Media is betting artificial intelligence can help solve that problem. The San Francisco-based startup helps studios, brands and creators determine who is most likely to engage with their content — and how best to reach those consumers across platforms including YouTube, TikTok and Instagram.
Chronicle co-founders Aaron Sisto and Scott Greenberg joined the latest episode of Variety’s “Strictly Business” podcast to explain how the company is applying agentic AI to a challenge that has grown more daunting as audiences fragment and the sheer volume of content competing for their attention skyrockets.
That proposition is becoming more urgent as AI makes content increasingly plentiful while attention remains scarce. For Sisto, that changes the basic calculus for anyone developing IP.
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“You have to understand who your audience is before you even start making the content,” said Sisto, whose background includes AI research at Stanford as well as investing in and founding technology companies. “Now you can predict that before you’ve even spent $1 on ads or marketing.”
Rather than focus primarily on using generative AI to make content faster or cheaper, Chronicle is concentrating on the marketing and distribution side of the equation. Its technology models how different audience segments are likely to respond to everything from a new show or movie to a podcast or product, helping clients identify potential fans and determine how content should be packaged for them.
That can include testing trailers and thumbnails, identifying audience segments across social platforms and helping clients optimize campaigns toward outcomes beyond clicks, including viewing, retention and transactions. Chronicle’s forthcoming Ubiquity platform is designed to bring those capabilities together, spanning audience research, creative development and marketing execution.
Greenberg, who previously co-founded animation studio Bento Box Entertainment, sees the technology as potentially lowering one of the biggest barriers confronting independent creators and established media companies alike.
“People are investing a ton of money to build an asset, which is your IP,” Greenberg said. “But you should also be investing in your audience.”
(Pictured: Chronicle Media chiefs Aaron Sisto and Scott Greenberg)
“Strictly Business” is Variety’s podcast featuring conversations with industry leaders about the business of media and entertainment. (Please click here to subscribe to our free newsletter.) New episodes can be downloaded at Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Spotify, SoundCloud and more.