The RTS centre hosted an event on the future of television with Go See TV at Bristol’s Watershed in December.
Go See TV has recently opened offices in Bristol, and has ambitions to develop a portfolio of internet content businesses, matching content creators with brands to offer viewers “personalised” TV.
A panel Q&A was chaired by Mobilium Global boss Ralph Simon and panellists included: FreeWheel UK commercial director Emmanuel Ogidan; Netgem TV MD Sylvain Thevenot; and Jonathan Collins, VP of digital distribution at Imagicomm Entertainment.
Chris Hall, a telecom executive, revealed “there are close to 200 million fibre-connected homes in Europe, which is a big game changer”. Fibre’s cost-effectiveness, he said, meant it would win out over satellite.
Ogidan addressed the challenge facing advertisers, arguing that contextual advertising was key. Simon asked: “Does product placement have a future?” Ogidan replied: “Definitely – but we have to be careful with the user, and brands and agencies need to target the right individuals with the right messages.”
Professor David Bull from the MyWorld Strength in Places Programme, a £46m initiative led by the University of Bristol to boost screen-based media, predicted a huge future for artificial intelligence: “[AI] is informing how we produce content. It will increasingly be used to understand how consumers engage with content…. We can discover what an audience wants.”
Report by Suzy Lambert.
