New industry dynamics and technological innovations such as virtualisation, smart cities, IoT, and machine learning are shaking up the business you are in.

Hands Across the Water: Our Shared Interest in Cable’s Success.  Michael K. Powell, President & CEO, NCTA – The Internet and Television Association.

• Cable has a critical role in the Information Revolution
• Broadband is our new bread-and-butter but requires a light regulatory touch
  to grow and evolve
• Major challenges lie ahead: piracy, cybersecurity, and the dominance of the Silicon Valley giants

Join the exploration of the trials and traps of AI in media that is seeking an answer to the question, “Why do real consumer insights remain elusive and where do we find return on analytics investment?”

Laurence Miall D’aout – presentation copy

Can A.I. and Advanced Analytics Really Help us Understand Consumers Better?

For years, quantitative and qualitative research helped us understand consumers. Now we have A.I. and advanced analytics to guide us – but do they really help us understand customers better?

• Nathalie Lethbridge, Founder, Atonik Digital
• Michiel Sanson, VP at Sand Cherry Associates
• John Gee, Chief Business Development Officer at Alphonso TV
• Jeff Weber, CEO at zone·tv
• Kim Smets, Director Market & Consumer Insights at Telenet
• Laurence Miall-D’aout, VP Data & Advanced Advertising at Liberty Global

If You Always Do What You Always Did, You’ll Always Get What You Always Got.  

It’s been said that “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Let’s discuss.

• Doron Hacmon, MD, Chief Product Officer at Liberty Global

Is Sport the Only Real Pay TV Driver? The future of Pay TV is regularly talked about but rarely actually debated

Well, publicly at least. In this unique session, teams of operators and content providers will actually debate this subject with one team taking the “affirmative” stance and the other the “negative” stance, with the audience determining who best defended their (unofficial) position.

• Jeroen Bergman, Managing Director Programming at Liberty Global
• Levente B. Malnay, SVP at AMC Networks International Central and Northern Europe
• Laima Zivatkauskaite, Vice President at Init
• Mireille Muscat, Head of Marketing at Melita
• Michiel Bakker, Founding CEO at GINX Esports TV

Looking Over Our Shoulder: Who is the Competition? Is it Us?

We’re always worrying about the competition – competitive platforms, OTT, other incursions. Who is our true competition today? What are the risks and opportunities for operators and content producers?

• Brett Sappington, Senior Director of Research at Parks Associates

Brett Sappington – presentation copy

Beyond the Power of the Bundle: How to Win in the Packaging & Marketing of Services.

The triple-play was yesterday’s competitive silver bullet. With the explosion of mobile devices that give us access to all of our content anywhere we want it, what is the “secret sauce” for operators to attract – and retain – customers today?

• Duane Dick, Senior Partner at Sand Cherry Associates
• John Vonk, VP Pricing & Planning at Comcast Cable
• Guy Bisson, Research Director at Ampere
• Bernd Riefler, Co-Founder & CMO at veed analytics
• Greg Gentschev, Vice President, Video at Gracenote
• Arran Tindall, SVP, Commercial & Content Distribution at Viacom
• Paul Farrell, Vice President Commercial at Virgin Media Ireland

Powered by PechaKucha: Future of Leadership Masterclass

• Dennis Hodges, Founder and Creative Catalyst at Creatalyst (Dennis Hodges – presentation copy)
• Roel De Vries, Collaborative Innovation Management Consultant at Roel (Roel de Vries – presentation copy)
• Christophe Vanden Eede, Chief Talent Officer at Telenet (Christophe Van Eede – presentation copy)

Where Content and Innovation Meet: Insights from the Frontline

Innovation is ubiquitous, touching every aspect of our lives and businesses. For content creators, changes in the larger arena mean that while some things necessarily have to change, other areas remain as true as they’ve always been. While every viewer is unique and consumes content in many ways, great content is timeless and innovation and storytelling thrive together in this amazing time we live in.

• Wim Ponnet, Chief Strategy & Commercial Officer at Endemol Shine Group (Wim Ponnet – presentation copy)

For a long time, B2B was an unspecified income stream on many P&Ls. Not anymore. B2B is a key part of any operator’s product portfolio and has very different metrics from the ‘bread and butter’ B2C business. What are the key considerations that operators should be aware of when it comes to B2B and who is leading the way?

• John Maguire, Managing Director at Accenture Digital Video
• Frans-Willem De Kloet, MD & CEO at UPC Polska
• Matthias Hamel, Equity Partner and Managing Director at Solon Management Consulting
• Aidan D’Arcy, Head of Business Division at Virgin Media Ireland

Presentation/Keynote Panel: Surfing the Content Tsunami: the Evolving Dynamics of Operators and Channels

Does it make sense for pay TV operators to invest in original content?
What role will channel brands have in an increasingly on-demand world?
How will direct-to-consumer OTT services from channels impact the
economics of pay TV?

• Ben Keen,  Analyst & Advisory, Technology, Media & Telecoms at Independent
• Harold Gronenthal, EVP & GM at AMC Networks International
• Bruce Mann, Chief Programming Officer at Liberty Global
• Jeremy Fox, CEO, Atrium TV and Chairman at DRG
• Carter Pilcher, Chief Executive at Shorts International
• Rolf Wierig, VP Entertainment Products Consumer at Vodafone Germany