Full programme and new speakers announced for the RTS Cambridge Convention 2019

Full programme and new speakers announced for the RTS Cambridge Convention 2019

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The full programme and further high-profile speakers have been announced for the RTS Cambridge Convention 2019, to be held at King’s College in Cambridge from the 18-20th of September. 

The complete schedule can be found here.

The line-up includes new confirmed speakers Sir Peter Bazalgette, Chair, ITV; Julian Bellamy, Managing Director, ITV Studios; Paul Bojarski, CEO, Sceenic; Philippa Brown, Chief Executive, PHD; Jordan Casey, CEO, Casey Games; Vikki Cook, Director, Content Media Policy, Ofcom; Stephen Lambert, CEO, Studio Lambert; Nils Leonard, Founder, Uncommon; Martin Lewis, Founder, MoneySavingExpert.com; Kevin Lygo, Director of Television, ITV; David Lynn, President and CEO, Viacom International Media Networks; Ben McOwen Wilson, Managing Director, YouTube UK; Tom Mockridge, RTS Chair; Piers Morgan, Journalist and Broadcaster; The Rt Hon Nicky Morgan MP, Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport; Neil Mortensen, Director of Audiences, ITV; Dan McGolpin, Controller, Programming and Daytime, BBC; Tara Reddy, CEO and Co-Founder, Loveshark; Reemah Sakaan, Group Director ITV SVOD & SVP Creative Head, Britbox; Deborah Turness, President, NBC News International and Ed Williams, CEO UK & Ireland Vice Chairman EMEA, Edelman.

Titled “Content, Consumers, And Everything In Between”, the RTS Cambridge Convention 2019 is sponsored by ITV, and chaired this year by Carolyn McCall, CEO, ITV.

McCall will set the scene for the Convention, taking a wide-ranging look at the challenges and opportunities for the television industry in a fast-changing world. Journalists and Broadcasters Susanna Reid, and Ranvir Singh, will chair this session with contributions from Neil Mortensen, Director of Audiences, ITV and Kevin Lygo, Director of Television, ITV.

In session two – A Far Off Place, Of Which We Know Nothing - Rob Chapman, CEO & Partner, Founders Intelligence will mediate a discussion between Paul Bojarski, CEO, Sceenic, Jordan Casey, CEO, Casey Games and Tara Reddy, CEO and Co-Founder, Loveshark, about targeting and creating must-see content for the Gen Z audience.

Leading on from this, Tim Hincks, Co-CEO, Expectation, Stephen Lambert, CEO, Studio Lambert and Alex Mahon, CEO, Channel 4 will explore the current landscape of unscripted content. In a session titled Running on Empty? Tim Davie, Chief Executive, BBC Studios, will guide a conversation looking at where the new big breakout formats are and whether new unscripted ideas are drying up.

Then, at her final Cambridge as CEO of Ofcom, Sharon White will be joined by Journalist and Broadcaster Julie Etchingham to discuss the challenges facing the industry.

White will be followed by a Keynote from The Rt Hon Nicky Morgan MP, Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, chaired by Susanna Reid.

Day two kicks off with an International Keynote from President and CEO of Discovery David Zaslav. Kate Silverton, Journalist and Broadcaster will discuss Discovery’s move to direct to consumer with Zaslav, and its ambitions to serve global audiences.

Next up Journalist and Writer Kirsty Wark will explore the revolution in consumer behavior and the implications for producers in a session titled The Rights Stuff. A panel of industry heavyweights will join her including Julian Bellamy, Managing Director, ITV Studios, Howard Davine, former Executive Vice President, Business Operations, ABC Studios, Dan McGolpin, Controller, Programming and Daytime, BBC and Jane Turton, CEO, All3Media to debate what the rise of SVODs will mean for UK broadcasters and producers, and who will control rights in the new world order.

Sky’s Group Chief Executive Jeremy Darroch will deliver a Keynote, chaired by Graham Ruddick, Deputy Business Editor of The Times highlighting the need to disrupt in order to succeed in an increasingly competitive world.  

Rounding off the morning, will be a session exploring exactly when did trust shift from being a fundamental duty to a valuable USP titled Who You Gonna Trust? This will include presentations from Martin Lewis, Founder, MoneySavingExpert.com and Ed Williams, CEO UK and EMEA Vice Chairman, Edelman, providing bespoke research for the Convention.

They will be joined by a high-profile panel of speakers including Vikki Cook, Director, Content Media Policy, Ofcom, Ben McOwen Wilson, Managing Director, YouTube UK, Deborah Turness, President, NBC News International. Radio and Television Broadcaster Aasmah Mir will chair the session.

Journalist and Broadcaster Piers Morgan will open the afternoon sessions, followed by a Keynote from Alex Mahon, CEO, Channel 4 who will discuss the important role and relevance of Channel 4 in the broadcasting landscape with former ITN CEO and Editor-In-Chief John Hardie. 

Whether data will kill advertising is the timely topic to be explored in a session, Mad Men v Math Men, bringing together panellists, Philippa Brown, Chief Executive, PHD, Nils Leonard, Founder, Uncommon and Linda Yaccarino, Chairman, Advertising and Partnerships, NBCUniversal.

The panel will discuss who are the winners and losers in the traditional versus digital ecosystem with Chair John Gapper, Chief Business Columnist and Associate Editor, Financial Times.

Tony Hall, Director-General, BBC will then deliver a Keynote moderated by Political Editor at Sky News, Beth Rigby.

The final day will start with an International Keynote from CEO of Netflix, Reed Hastings. Hastings will be joined in conversation with Kirsty Wark to outline the investment in storytelling, production and talent which helps Netflix keep its crown as Queen of the SVoDs.

Wayne Garvie, President, International Production, Sony Pictures Television, will guide a session, You Gotta Have A Stream, joined by David Lynn, President and CEO, Viacom International Media Networks and Reemah Sakaan, Group Director ITV SVOD & SVP Creative Head, Britbox, to discuss the future of streaming.

Karen Blackett OBE, UK Country Manager, WPP UK and Chairwoman, MediaCom, UK & Ireland and Sir Lenny Henry, Actor, Comedian and Diversity Campaigner will then together explore what needs to be done to drive diversity in the industry, a year on from Henry’s impassioned call to arms in the session Diversity Is Dead, Long Live Diversity.

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The full programme and further high-profile speakers have been announced for the RTS Cambridge Convention 2019, to be held at King’s College in Cambridge from the 18-20th of September.