MUMBAI: The upcoming television trade event Mipcom 2006 which takes place in Cannes from 9-13 October has announced four keynote speakers.
This year’s conference programme is called Reshaping Media. The speakers include ESPN US president George Bodenheimer, Disney-ABC Television Group president Anne Sweeney, NBC Universal president, digital media and market development Beth Comstock and MGM chairman and CEO Harry Sloan.
This year’s programme will focus on the changing landscape for traditional TV programming and the advertising business, film financing and distribution, as well as exploring the new opportunities offered by internet TV and mobile TV.
Named the Most Powerful Woman in Entertainment by The Hollywood Reporter, one of the 50 Most Powerful Women in Business by Fortune and one of The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women by Forbes, Sweeney is responsible for Disney’s entertainment and news television properties globally. Under her guidance ABC went from strength to strength with shows like Desperate Housewives and Lost.
At Mipcom Sweeney will share her vision of the future and the impact of digital on all forms of media. She will offer an insight on the changing landscape of television and evolving consumer demands.
As part of a new conference focus at Mipcom 2006 highlighting new financing and distribution opportunities for film Sloan, will present the new invigorated MGM business strategy to hundreds of Mipcom delegates. A core business for MGM, Sloan will be addressing the new opportunities for cinema in television distribution, channel operations, home entertainment and new media. Sloan headed three media companies before joining MGM in October 2005. They were SBS Broadcasting, Lions Gate Entertainment and New World Entertainment.
Comstock drives NBC Universal’s digital strategy and leads the company’s content and distribution efforts across new and emerging digital platforms. In her keynote speech, she will discuss NBC Universal’s 360 degree content approach to capitalise on opportunities in the digital age and strategy for success in this era of the pull consumer.
Bodenheimer will be looking into the reasons and strategy behind the growth of the ESPN brand as part of the day’s spotlight on cross-platform and mobile content. Bodenheimer was named president of ESPN in 1998 and his focus on creativity and cutting-edge innovation has led the company to expand its brand to over 50 business entities.
