Shifting viewing habits, developments in technology and the rapidly evolving competitive landscape are having a fundamental impact on our industry,” argued RTS Convention Chair Carolyn McCall as she opened Cambridge 2019.
But amid the change and uncertainty, which included Britain’s future relationship with Europe and the rest of the world, McCall maintained that television had a bright future.
Carolyn McCall, CEO at ITV, sets the scene for the RTS Cambridge Convention 2019 with a wide ranging look at the challenges and opportunities for the television industry in a fast-changing world.
Host Susanna Reid talks to Neil Mortensen, Kevin Lygo and the consumer panel in Leeds with Ranvir Singh, about the the changing TV landscape.
McCall is joined by Susanna Reid, Neil Mortensen, Kevin Lygo and the consumer panel in Leeds with Ranvir Singh, as they discuss a wide ranging look at the challenges and opportunities for the television industry in a fast-changing world.
Chairs
Susanna Reid, Journalist and Broadcaster
Ranvir Singh, Journalist and Broadcaster
Speakers
It may be Carolyn McCall’s first RTS Cambridge but she knows what she wants from the convention’s speakers. They should be positive and provocative. She also wants to hear from the voices of the people who consume the content.
“There is no point going into the Cambridge Convention with an attitude of ‘It’s all doom and gloom’. Yes, there are challenges but the opportunities for content creators have never been greater,” she emphasises.
Speaking to the Broadcasting Press Guild this week, McCall covered a wide range of topics, including the uncertain advertising climate sparked by Brexit, comedy and digital news.
On BritBox she said, “The thing that’s going for BritBox is that it’s not American content, it’s not Starz, it’s not Showtime, it’s not HBO, it’s not all that [stuff] you are getting on Sky, you are going to get on Apple,” she said.
“It’s about the British consumer and about British content.
“This is distinctively British-originated content. It’s highly differentiated.”
As a programme supplier to ITV, Expectation co-founder Tim Hincks felt he had to deny that he might pull some punches when interviewing ITV CEO Carolyn McCall. He announced to laughter that he would be asking her all the difficult questions, such as “where she went on holiday and what her favourite colour is.… I will absolutely go for it.”
McCall looked relieved at the distraction of Hincks’s humour as she was appearing at her first RTS London conference just two days after reports that the broadcaster might be bidding for Endemol Shine Group (ESG).
As leader of one of the world’s largest media and entertainment companies, Bakish will share his views on global media trends, how Viacom is capitalising on shifts in consumer, technological and market dynamics, and his expectations for the future.
For many people working in TV, the only opportunity they have had to observe Carolyn McCall has been at The Guardian’s annual post-MacTaggart lecture dinners, held at the Edinburgh TV festival.
As the newspaper’s Chief Executive, she co-hosted the events alongside then-editor, Alan Rusbridger. This lack of visibility in TV circles is about to change as she prepares to take over as the first female head of ITV.
