Xumo Wins Big at 2025 StreamTV Awards!

The StreamTV Awards honor excellence in the streaming television industry, recognizing executives, channels, and platforms that are pioneering new frontiers across 14 categories.

We’re grateful to be recognized this year in three different categories as the industry’s best at this week’s annual Stream TV Show in Denver, CO!

Xumo’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’s advertising technology, Xumo Advertising Management System (X-AMS), secured the Best Innovation in Advertising Award.

Here’s more on our winners:

Marketing Executive of the Year – 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’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’s presence at industry events and launching its first-ever brand campaign with the slogan “Life is hard. Xumo is easy.” 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’s blend of creativity and strategic execution has not only elevated Xumo’s brand but also set a new standard for excellence in the streaming industry’s marketing landscape.

Emerging Leader of the Year – Erik Bortz

Award Description: StreamTV’s Emerging Leaders Program honors the industry’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—and Erik Bortz plays a pivotal role in maintaining that connection. As a key leader on Xumo’s Affiliate Development team, Erik has earned a reputation as a trusted advisor to both parent companies – Comcast and Charter Communications. His efforts are instrumental in expanding the reach of Xumo’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’s leading performance management initiatives across Xumo, guiding teams toward operational excellence and long-term value creation for affiliates.

 

Innovation in Monetization Award – 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 “slate” — the empty space where ads should be. That’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 15–20% lift in ad-fill rates and a 10–15% increase in demand, while slot carry-over alone has boosted fill by another 10–15%. By solving a critical monetization gap, X-AMS is helping partners reduce waste, improve efficiency, and deliver a better viewer experience — all while driving more revenue.