Robert
Kyncl

As the person overseeing content, sales, marketing and operations for YouTube, Kyncl is a major architect of change in the entertainment industry.

After a seven-year stint as VP of content acquisition at Netflix, Kyncl joined YouTube in 2010. The following year, he helped roll out the YouTube Original Channel Initiative, a $100 million program to bring premium content to the platform from traditional celebs (Shaquille O’Neal, Madonna, etc.) and media platforms (e.g., The Wall Street Journal).

Kyncl has also done his part to empower the platform’s native stars. In 2012, he opened YouTube Space LA, a studio facility where creators are given the tools and guidance to up the quality of their content. Additional Spaces followed in Berlin, London, New York, São Paulo, Tokyo, Toronto and Mumbai.

At same time, he’s reached into the traditional showbiz world to keep YouTube’s competitive edge sharp. In 2015, he brought in veteran TV programmer Susanne Daniels from MTV to head original content for its new subscription platform YouTube Red, and the following year he hired legendary music industry exec Lyor Cohen to run its music operations.

But his biggest challenge came in 2017, with the introduction of YouTube TV, a “skinny bundle” of linear channels that was introduced amid many other similar products from DirecTV Now to Sling TV.

A native of the Czech Republic, Kyncl earned an MBA from Pepperdine University in Malibu, Ca., then launched his show business career as an agent assistant at J. Michael Bloom & Assoc. in 1995. He published a book in 2017 about the history of YouTube and media trends, “Streampunks: YouTube and the Rebels Remaking Media.”