RTS National Event

Produced by Kudos for Channel 4 and AMC, innovative drama Humans imagines an alternative present where 'synths' have been developed to mimic their human counterparts. 

Key industry players provide an insight into the evolution of sitcoms and discuss whether the genre has become more risk averse because of the pressure to land a hit, or simply evolved to meet the changing taste of viewers. We also examine if money is being redirected into genres that are cheaper and easier to make, how BBC Three moving online might affect the development and growth of new comedies, and who is putting their head above the parapet and trying to put scripted comedy back at the heart of TV viewing.

Panel:

In conversation with Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport Chris Bryant MP on the challenges and opportunities facing television in the future.

Chris was the Parliamentary Private Secretary to Rt Hon Harriet Harman MP Leader of the House of Commons and Lord Privy Seal; Secretary of State for Equality and Minister for Women and Deputy Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2008 when he was then appointed to the Government in the post of Deputy Leader of the House of Commons.

Channel 4, Sky and the BFI have all set new diversity targets and the Creative Diversity Network launched a new Commissioner Development Programme across all the broadcasters. Does all this mean that it’s Diversity: Job Done?

A panel comprising representatives of the broadcasters and key industry figures join Chair, Afua Hirsch to discuss if what has been achieved so far is enough or if the real work has only just started?

The exclusive results of an industry survey by The TV Collective will also be revealed on the night.

Panel:

Just four months after starting work as chair of the BBC Trust, Rona Fairhead is coming to the Royal Television Society to give her first public speech in the role. With charter renewal looming heavy on the horizon, Fairhead has vowed to "defend vigorously" the independence of the BBC while holding it to accountable to its license fee payers. She has also made it clear that the BBC's management team, led by director general Tony Hall, understands it needs to rectify "some of the high profile issues of the past" going forward.  

Fixed-rig productions have come a long way since the first Big Brother in 2000. As the technology and editorial has become more ambitious, we have been inside hospitals, schools, police stations, chicken shops and even underground observing burrowing animals. Fixed rig technology allows us to observe worlds with most minimal disruption and capture human emotions and reactions in their truest form.

Channel 4's David Abraham lit the touch paper in his MacTaggart lecture earlier this year, warning that the foundations of the PSB system need to be reset in the light of international consolidation. Does UK TV Plc need new rules to make sure it prospers?

Both ITV and Channel 5 have since joined Abraham's call for pay TV operations to pay PSBs retransmission fees for their principal TV channels. Both Sky and Virgin Media disagree, strongly.

In this broadband-ubiquitous world, Connected TV services are dramatically changing the way we consume TV. From established TV platforms to telcos, TV manufacturers to tech giants like Google and Amazon, there have never been more ways to watch TV. And with new forms of distribution allowing over-the-top services to compete toe-to-toe with traditional broadcasters, there's never been more choice for viewers.

Tim Davie, Chief Executive of BBC Worldwide, in conversation with Cathy Newman of Channel 4 News

As part of Creative Week, this joint event features two sessions produced by the RTS and Broadcast.

The first session, produced by the RTS, will ask the question “To Quota or Not To Quota” and the second session, produced by Broadcast will aim to offer producers and executives practical advice on how they can go about making their teams more diverse.