IP

Finance and TV heavyweights talk indie consolidation and how to value the industry

Richard Sharp, Harry Hampson, Kamal Ahmed and Jane Featherstone talk onstage at the RTS London Convention, each in solo photos

Financial and cultural value were discussed in an illuminating session that offered insights from what panel chair, The Telegraph’s audio director Kamal Ahmed, called “three titans in the area”.

Jane Featherstone, co-founder and CCO of Sister, commented on the current climate affecting the valuation of companies. “We’re in a state of change,” she said. “Budgets have risen, largely driven by getting movie talent in above the line,” she said. The feeling was that what was wanted wasn’t really TV any more, but long movies. This, she said, “pushed all the costs up”.

Cybersecurity

We have two very well connected speakers, one from a Corporate IT outsource company (Ramsac) and the other from one of the UK’s major broadcasters (Arqiva).

Robert May will discuss the subject from the Corporate Network aspect, covering all essential good practice and encouraging us to prepare for GDPR, which will be law on May 25, 2018. (feel free to edit)

IBC Review, joint Southern/Thames Valley event

Despite the prevalence of artificial intelligence and machine learning at the Amsterdam broadcasting technology show – which some fear could see people replaced by machines in the industry – the panellists were optimistic about what they saw.

Peter Owen, a part-time consultant for IBC, offered a brief history of the trade fair, from humble beginnings at London’s Royal Lancaster Hotel in 1967 with just 32 exhibitors and 500 delegates, to today’s behemoth of 1,600 exhibitors with 55,000 delegates from 170 countries.