Peter Bazalgette (Special Guest)
Media Consultant & Adviser
Endemol UK

Peter Bazalgette is a media consultant.

From 2004 – 2007 he was Chief Creative Officer of Endemol, to whom he remains an adviser. He has personally devised several internationally successful television formats such as Ready Steady Cook and Changing Rooms. He also brought Big Brother to the UK. Peter’s book about the international business of TV formats, Billion Dollar Game, was published in 2005.

Peter is a Non-Executive Director of YouGov and a former Board member of Channel 4. He is building a portfolio of investments in digital growth companies. Peter also serves as Deputy Chairman of the National Film and Television School and on the Board of the English National Opera.

 

Jon Snow  (Guest Interviewer)
TV News Main Presenter
Channel 4 News

Jon Snow has been the main presenter of Channel 4's award-winning evening news programme since 1989.

As the main presenter of Channel 4 News, Jon continues to anchor the flagship programme from wherever major world events occur, and his journalism has received high praise over the years. In February 2007 Jon was awarded the Royal Television Society award for news Presenter of the Year for his contributions to the Channel 4 News during 2005/06. The preceding year, he won the RTS award for Journalist of the Year (for the period of time 2004/2005) - an award he had last won in 1980 - and an award rarely won by a studio presenter. In April 2005 Jon was awarded the prestigious Richard Dimbleby BAFTA award for contributions to factual programming and news.
 

Jon's skills as a first-rate interviewer and broadcaster take him beyond the Channel 4 News studio. In late January 2003, he was the first mainstream television newscaster to travel to Baghdad in Iraq at this time, where he presented Channel 4 News every night for a week. During that visit, he was the first UK broadcaster to interview Iraqi Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz, and the only broadcaster to quiz UN Chief Weapons Inspector Hans Blix - Jon live from Baghdad - with Blix in New York.

In March 2006 Jon hosted Channel 4 News for a week from Iran. He also delivered a series of in-depth reports from the country. He has also anchored similar news programmes from Africa and India.

Jon Snow joined ITN in 1976 and has reported from Afghanistan to Zanzibar. Among his assignments, he reported the overthrow of Idi Amin in Uganda; the Iran hostage crisis; The Russian invasion of Afghanistan; the Iran Iraq war; the fall of the Berlin wall and the release of Nelson Mandela.

Jon also reported from South Africa during the country's first democratic elections; from Washington at the Israeli-Palestinian peace signing; from Hong Kong at the time of the handover to China. He was also presenting the day and night of 9/11.

For further information please contact the Channel 4 News Press Office on 0207 430 4220.
 

Sebastian Moeritz (Summit Chair)
CEO, Dicas Digital Image Coding GmbH
President, MPEG Industry Forum

Sebastian Moeritz is an internationally recognised figure in the field of digital television, video compression and its various applications.

With an extensive network of contacts across the technology, media and telecommunications sectors, he combines business acumen and corporate experience with technical knowledge providing a practical perspective and strategic commercial approach.

A serial entrepreneur, Sebastian is chief executive of dicas, a company which specialises in developing MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 real-time video coding software and hardware systems. As President of MPEGIF, the MPEG Industry Forum, he leads the world’s largest not-for-profit organisation promoting the adoption of open MPEG standards, including MPEG-4, MPEG_7 and MPEG_21, representing around 40 international institutions and member companies. MPEGIF also produces full day conferences at NAB and IBC.

Under Sebastian’s leadership, MPEGIF plays a significant role in facilitating the widespread adoption and deployment of MPEG_4 AVC/H.264 as the industry standard video compression technology, powering next generation television, such as HDTV, and most mainstream video content delivery services as well as multimedia consumption applications including packaged media.

Sebastian is a regular chairman, speaker and panellist at industry events and conferences across Europe, North America and Asia, and a frequent contributor to industry publications. He is co-author, with Professor Klaus Diepold, of “Understanding MPEG-4—Technology and Business Insights”, published by Focal Press.

Sebastian has many years of corporate experience with both large and small companies in various sectors and he is actively involved in facilitating the switchover from analogue to digital television and the deployment of high-definition services in Russia. He previously worked in property and investment, with a specific focus on Russia, after studying social sciences and economics. He speaks English, German and Russian.

Rory Sutherland
Vice Chairman
Ogilvy UK

“We are now reaching a point in human development in the West where many of the fundamental economic problems have been solved.
Unless you are unusually acquisitive, the answer to many problems may not be more stuff or even better stuff but a greater appreciation and enjoyment of the stuff we already have.

There's already a way to do that. It's called a brand and the good news is, there are now more ways of building them than ever....."

Rory Sutherland was born in Usk, Monmouthshire, in 1965 and educated at the local Haberdashers’ school and at Christ’s College, Cambridge.

At this point, promising early parallels with the life of Sir Martin Sorrell begin to break down.

He joined OgilvyOne as a graduate trainee in September of that year. After six months cross training, and thirteen months spent as the world’s worst account man (in a last remedial effort he was booked on a time management course, but got the date wrong) he was moved to the Planning Department. Soon afterwards he confessed an interest in copywriting to his line manager, who was (glad to see the back of him) thought this was a very good idea.
 

At this point things improved. Working for the legendary Steve Harrison, Rory was promoted to Head of Copy in 1995 and Creative Director in 1997. He won some awards. It didn’t hurt that his brother was an academic, which meant Rory had first used the internet in 1986 – and so was an early advocate of new media. Most people would have used this combined knowledge of new media and marketing to make a fortune - instead Rory managed to lose £29.50 by being the first person in the UK to have their credit card details stolen online. All the same, he has been rewarded by watching OgilvyInteractive grow into by far the most formidable digital arm of any traditional agency group – and by OgilvyOne’s capture of Campaign’s Agency of the Year title in 2007.

He is married with twin daughters, Hetty and Millie, and lives in Brasted in Kent. He remains an advocate of advertising which does different things, rather than just saying things differently.

In 2005 Rory was made vice-Chairman of the Ogilvy Group in the UK in recognition of his improved timekeeping.
 

Alessandro Petazzi
Head of Media & IPTV
FASTWEB

Alessandro is the Head of the Media & IPTV business unit at FASTWEB.

As such, he was full responsibility over the P&L and cash flow of the unit, overseeing both product lifecycle (consumer proposition, content acquisition and programming, marketing and product development) and customer experience (sales and trade marketing, provisioning, customer care and retention).
 

He joined FASTWEB at the startup (2000) in the Strategic Planning Dept. and has subsequently (2001-02) been in charge of the Company’s relations with investors and financial/industry analysts.

In 2004-05 he has been responsible for the creation, pricing and marketing of IPTV services.

Since 2006 Alessandro has also been granted full responsibility over the Company’s content and rights acquisition efforts and in 2007 he was appointed to his current role.

Prior to joining FASTWEB, Alessandro was a strategy consultant with Bain & Co, where he started his career after graduating in BA from the Bocconi University of Milan.
 

Ross Biggam
Director General
Association of Commercial Television Europe (ACT)

"The next generation television experience, regardless of format, requires that we learn from the success of the internet and the continuing progress and evolution of technology. By ensuring the availability of more personal, intuitively selectable content, running of relevant and transactional targeted advertising, amongst other things, the industry is set to adopt a much more sophisticated perspective.

Content will always be king and in this context only a consumer-driven business model with all paramount interests of consumers taken care of can ensure recurring and transactional revenues paired with maximum retention of customers"

Ross Biggam has been Director General of the ACT since 2000. After studying law at Exeter and Saarbrücken, Ross worked as Legal Adviser to the House of Lords EU Select Committee. He then joined ITV, the leading television channel in the UK, where he held the position as Head of European Affairs. Ross speaks English, German and French.

Dr. Myles MacBean
VP, Disney Online,
Walt Disney Internet Group Europe

Myles is the general manager of Online products and services for Disney in Europe, a product leader for Disney's consumer web sites globally, and is also head of technology for Disney’s “connected media” services outside of the US.

Before Disney Myles worked in various roles in the telecoms and internet market, starting in semiconductor device research and culminating in the leadership of BT’s eCommerce product division.

Mission statement: The Walt Disney Internet Group is the “Connected Media” arm of The Walt Disney Company. It is both the publisher of unique new media experiences specifically designed for convergent internet/mobile/DTV media, and also a developer of new platforms for distributing the existing content of Disney, ESPN and ABC.

 

It’s all about the story!

TV, IPTV, WebTV - the consumer doesn’t care. What has always been important has been the story and it always will. This is even more the case for the “Web 2.0 generation” who are the true kings of future media and want “my content” to be consumed “my time, my place, my way” and all at once! In fact the real opportunity for emerging “connected media” is not just distributing linear media in new ways, but creatively exploiting what is a new medium in its own right - changing the way we tell stories not just how we distribute them.

An example of one way forward is the relaunched disney.co.uk with Disney Xtreme Digital - a branded, cross platform, cross media, cross business model, entertainment destination.

We need to give the Web2.0 kings what they want, and to do so we need a flexible new open media ecosystem that learns from the web and recognises where true value is added.

 

Alain-Gabriel Courtines
Investment Director
Intel Capital

Alain-Gabriel Courtines is a 15 year veteran of Venture Capital and Investment Banking, focusing on technology, consumer electronics and emerging growth companies. A native New Yorker with both European and US experience, he has been based in London for the past six years, where he has led investments for Intel Capital across Europe in support of Intel Corporation’s Strategies. In addition, he leads Intel’s Digital Home & Digital Enterprise investment initiative throughout EMEA.

Courtines joined Intel Capital in 2000. Prior to Intel Capital, he was a Vice President in the Corporate Finance Group of Ladenburg, Thalmann & Co. Inc., a New York based investment bank focused on emerging growth and middle market companies. There he completed numerous equity and debt financings and also provided advisory services on several public and private M&A transactions. Prior to that he was an Associate in the Corporate Banking group of NatWest Markets, the investment banking arm of National Westminster Bank, plc.

Courtines holds an MBA from Columbia University with High Distinction and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Georgetown University. He is a dual citizen of France and the US.
 

Richard Broughton
Analyst,
Screen Digest (Moderator)

“It is always important to keep perspective when looking at the uptake of new technologies – availability of a service is one thing, but making money from it is a completely different matter.”

As a TV analyst, Richard specialises in examining the business practices and trends in the IPTV industry and the video-on-demand space.

Richard’s experience lies in constructing economic and financial models assessing and forecasting VoD, IPTV and PVR trends across Europe and North America.

He has written a variety of articles and has been engaged on numerous consultancy projects on the subjects, looking at adoption of new technologies, content trends and business opportunities within the sectors. Richard is a practiced public speaker and holds a 1st class degree from Cambridge.

 

Yaki Sfadya
AVP of New Market Opportunities,
ECI Telecom

Yaki Sfadya, AVP of New Market Opportunities, at ECI’s Chief Strategy Office, has over 24 years of experience in the telecommunication industry, focusing on broadband access networks, applications and solutions. Before assuming his current role, Mr. Sfadya was responsible for developing BB solutions including video and IPTV ecosystem.

Prior to joining ECI, he served as marketing executive for a company developing VDSL system-on-chip products. Previously, held the position of VP & GM of Mobile-Flash, an M-Systems business unit, providing solutions for mobile operators. Before that, he was a director at 3Com Corporation, responsible for the LAN telephony and VoIP business unit.

Mr. Sfadya has held several executive R&D positions, among them one of the founders of Nbase Communication, Ltd., a telecom and LAN networking company. During his career, Mr. Sfadya submitted and holds several patent applications for photonic, high-speed switching and BB access advanced technologies.
 

Sharifah Amirah
Senior Solutions Development Manager
Frost & Sullivan

Sharifah Amirah joined Frost & Sullivan in 2005 and is currently based in London. She manages Frost & Sullivan's EMEA ICT research team. While the team's research coverage spans across the ICT industry — from Smart Cards and Digital Media to Convergence and Network Security, her personal research interest lies in the areas of Convergence and Wireless Broadband services. Within this portfolio, Sharifah focuses on the macro-environment — evaluating industry developments and changing business models in Western Europe and it's implications for the EMEA regions as well as parallel markets such Australia and parts of Asia.
 

Sharifah has over the past few months chaired and presented at various industry conferences within the Fixed-Mobile Convergence space covering topics such as Wireless Broadband, Wi-FI, WIMAX, 3G LTE as well as VOIP. Sharifah holds a Bachelors degree in Accounting and Finance (Hons) and a Masters degree in Social Policy from the London School of Economics. She is also qualified as a Certified Internal Auditor (Institute of Internal Auditors, IIA).


Geir Björndal
COO Sales & Marketing
Conax

“The best insurance for the future success of digital media industry is helping to ensure the profitability of the content providers.

Film studios procure revenue based on the distribution of the content they produce and will always look for the best ways to protect their revenue streams.

In turn, content security providers will constantly develop new levels of security to protect content - thereby securing the studios’ revenue streams. The film industry has had the opportunity to learn from history and will not make the same mistake as the music industry!”

Mr. Bjørndal joined Telenor's TV division in 1992 and then Conax in 1994. He has during that period acquired experience with most fields in Pay-TV operations. Bjørndal was for several years Conax's Product Manager for Pay-TV Systems and has since 2003 led the company's sales and marketing activities in a period where Conax has established itself as an international player in the Conditional Access business. In January 2006, he also took over the role as Chief Operating Officer, responsible for managing the day-to-day activities of Conax.
 

Richard Gale
Director of Marketing & Sales
Playboy TV

Richard Gale is Director of Marketing & Sales for PlayboyTV Europe, with control of 13 linear channels, 16 VOD partnerships and 5 websites that span 27 countries.

He has been with Playboy for 8 years and previously held marketing positions in a number of online companies.

He also holds a Masters degree in Marketing Strategy, gained with distinction, where he focussed on the future of integrated communications.

Joe Trainor
Senior Director
Broadcast & Content Offer, European Markets
Level 3 Communications

Joe Trainor is Senior Director, Broadcast and Content Offer for Level 3’s European Markets. He has responsibility for delivering IP Video solutions for Broadcasters and content owners within the European Region.

Prior to his current role, Mr. Trainor served as Vice President of Sales at Narrowstep. He has worked extensively with many of the largest Broadcasters, content owners and telecoms companies across Europe, delivering some of the most innovative video solutions online. Mr. Trainor has been involved in the delivery of video on the internet for more than nine years and also held a position at streaming media company, Virtue Broadcasting. He is based in London, UK.

Stuart Collingwood
Vice President EMEA
Sling Media

Mr. Collingwood joined Sling Media in June, 2006 and has responsibility for all of the company’s EMEA operations including partnerships, country and territory expansion and strategic planning.

For the three years prior to joining Sling Media, Mr. Collingwood advised pay TV providers, digital media companies and technology start-ups on the launch of new digital platforms and technology. He also served as Vice President EMEA for Liberate and spent eight years at Fujitsu-ICL. Mr. Collingwood is based in London.

Errol Baran
Head of New Media Advertising
Errol Baran, Head of New Media Advertising, Channel 4

Errol joined Channel 4 in May 2000 and was made Head of New Media Advertising in 2005, having recently been promoted to a full Head of Department role in June 2008. Errol is now responsible for all commercial revenues across Channel4 and 4oD.

As one of the first broadcasters to introduce bespoke, ad funded content on its website, Errol has worked closely with leading UK brands including BMW, Egg, Ford and the COI to produce a series of compelling and award winning advertiser funded programmes.

In addition to managing online ad sales across C4 New Media, Errol has also been pivotal in the development and commercialisation of 4oD, Channel 4’s bespoke broadband on-demand service, implementing a commercial strategy for free, ad funded content service – an industry first.

Errol now plans to use that experience and knowledge to head up Channel 4’s commercial position in Kangaroo another market defining platform.

Ashley MacKenzie
Chief Executive Officer
myvideorights.com

Ashley began his career in advertising at Carat (UK) Ltd. He left Carat to be a founding Director of Entertainment Marketing Ltd.

In 1998, he joined an MBI team as Sales Controller for Talk Radio.

The company grew into The Wireless Group Plc and Ashley took responsibility as Group Managing Director (ILR) running the company's largest business unit.

In 2002, Ashley was handed commercial responsibility for the group as Managing Director of Impact, TWG's wholly owned national sales house. Before founding myvideorights.com, Ashley was leading the commercial operations of a multiplatform TV company as M.D. (Sales).