It’s this time of the year and our annual TV Leaders summit is just a month away! This year's summit will take place in Cannes on May 28th-30th and will host market leaders to present and discuss the most buzzing, thought provoking and engaging issues that matter in today’s TV world.
This year’s tagline is Jean-Luc Godard’s quote: "It's not where you take things from — it's where you take them to". Godard, one of the leaders of the Nouvelle Vague movement, challenged the conventions of traditional cinema, while referring to different aspects of film history. And this approach accurately describes the revolution which the TV world is going through. We challenge the conventions of “old” TV viewing, while embracing the traditions of storytelling and content excellence.
But before I present this year's agenda here's a quick video recapping last year's highlights:
Actually in last year’s summit, we discussed issues such as the new content security challenges and strategies in the OTT world. Orange Spain CEO, Jean Marc Vignolles explained how, amid intense competition, the company had built a strong and very successful TV offering. One of the discussions focused on user experience – which has become a key differentiator and a point of focus for any company offering a content-related service. The panel sessions explored success factors for a “good” user experience, innovations that impact the user experience, and how changes in user experience can affect the business of video services.
This year, Brett Sappington, Director of Research at Parks Associates and the event moderator, will start with a keynote presentation on Multiscreen Today: The Threat and Promise of OTT. Brett will discuss the new wave of OTT video services where broadcasters, cable networks, pay-TV providers, CE makers and pure-play OTT services are all introducing new services, competing to play a role in the future of video.
Among the keynote presentations the Telekom Romania Project will be introduced by Thomas Staneker, Head of TV Technical Service Center at Deutsche Telekom, and by Yonit Lamed, Architecture & Solutions Senior Director at VO. Thomas and Yonit will tell the story of the successful launch of Telekom Romania’s multiscreen TV Everywhere service in only 6 month.
Here’s a glimpse at a few of our interactive sessions:
Television for the Next Generation
Young consumers have grown up in a world with mobile devices and ubiquitous connectivity within and outside of the home. Their usage habits and expectations regarding video entertainment are notably different than those of their predecessors and continue to evolve. How will the pay-TV industry evolve to address the needs of young consumers?
How the Game is Played: The Future of Sports and TV
Sport is one of the primary drivers of video consumption and pay-TV subscriptions across global markets. Consumer demand for live and on-demand sports content has pushed licensing fees to amazing heights and encouraged leagues and rights holders to offer access on a variety of devices. Distributors must monetize this popular content effectively and meet the viewing and engagement needs of consumers. We'll discuss recent issues related to sports content distribution, including multiscreen delivery, monetization, engagement, piracy, and the evolution of sports in television and video services.
Web Smarts: What Pay-TV Can Learn from the Internet?
Successful Internet companies excel at innovation, utilization of data, advertising, and moving at Internet speed. Given the convergence of the Internet and entertainment services, the television industry can learn several lessons from successful leaders in the Internet space. How can the pay-TV industry benefit from applying the best practices of Internet companies to the pay-TV world?
In addition to the talks and panels mentioned, a number of top industry executives are scheduled to speak at this year’s conference. The speakers include Christian Kurz, Vice President Research, Insights and Reporting, Viacom International Media Networks; Thomas Staneker, Head of TV Technical Service Center at Deutsche Telekom; Henk van Meerkerk, Head of Production, Fox Sports; Steve Newkirk, Director of Engineering, Charter Communications; Tom Mohler, CEO, Olympusat Inc.; Marc Rapparlie, owner, Global MMK; Ido Biger, Business Intelligence Department Manager, yes.
I am very confident that our tradition of informative, engaging and entertaining gathering will continue this year in Cannes. I look forward to a successful summit where we will explore a fresh perspective on the era of multi-screen content consumption - and the way we all lead it.