| Albert Cheng | |
| Birth Place: | Honolulu, HI |
| Occupation: | Executive Vice President and Chief Product Officer, Digital Media of Walt Disney Television |
Albert Cheng is Chief Operating Officer of Amazon Studios. He was the executive vice president and chief product officer of digital media for Walt Disney Television.[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] Albert Cheng is an alumnus from Punahou School, in Honolulu, HI.[6] Cheng graduated with a Bachelor of Science from MIT and a M.B.A from Harvard Business School.[1] [2] He serves on the Board of Directors of BMI.[7]
Cheng started his career as an engineer at Boeing after graduating from MIT.[1] Following his stint at Boeing, Cheng obtained his MBA from Harvard Business School.[1] [2] [8] During his time at graduate school, he interned at Disney and BMG.[1] [8] He spent four years as an associate and business strategy consultant for the Boston Consulting Group before he landed a job with Fox Cable Networks Group.[1] [2] He served at Fox as director of distribution strategy and later as director of business development at Fox/Liberty Networks before moving to Disney in 2000.[1] [2] [8]
Cheng became intrigued by the potential of digital media and video over the Internet as he gained experience in distribution business strategies at Disney.[1] He has served as the EVP and chief product officer of digital media since 2005.[1] [2] [3] Cheng and his digital media team oversee the development and operations of digital media content platforms and interactive television technologies.[9] [10] In addition, Cheng is responsible for new business ventures in digital planning to improve the company's digital distribution strategy.[1] [10] [11]
In 2006, Cheng and his team made ABC the first network with its own online branded player to provide full ad-supported episodes online for free.[1] [5] Their work also led ABC to become the first network to stream full episodes on demand on a mobile platform with Sprint in 2007.[1] [2] [5] [12] In April 2010, Cheng's team made the ABC Player app the first iOS app to offer full episodes on the Apple iPad.[1] In 2013, Cheng led his team to make the Watch ABC app the first broadcast network to offer live streaming of local TV stations.[3]
Another contribution he and his team produced was the multiplatform application Oscar Digital Experience in February 2011, which used two dozen HD cameras to show live and behind-the-scenes Oscar footage.[8] [13]
In 2012, Cheng announced the launch of the WATCH Disney Channel, WATCH Disney XD and WATCH Disney Junior apps.[14] These applications targeted toward younger audiences providing content through a live linear digital network and on demand episodes.[14] He was elected to the Board of Directors of BMI in October 2013.[7]
Cheng received the 2006 Visionary Marketer Award at the Variety/iMedia Summit in April 2006.[9] Cheng and his team's contributions have also won numerous awards and patents.[1] In 2006, he and his team won the Outstanding Achievement in Advanced Interactive Television (New Delivery Platforms) at the 58th Annual Creative Arts Emmy Awards for their ABC.com Full Episode Player.[15] In 2011, Cheng and his team received a Primetime Emmy for their ABC.com Oscar Digital Experience.[16] In 2013, Cheng received a Digital Leadership Award from Broadcasting & Cable.[17]
Cheng was born in Honolulu, HI.[8] His parents are immigrants from Taiwan[18] Cheng is married to Dori Chang.[1] [6]