TV Conference Looks To Redefine The Medium For The Digital Age

Details of this year’s European Television Symposium have just been released and promises one of the strongest line-ups yet. David Brook, strategy and development director at Channel 4, will join president of CanalSatellite, Bruno Delecour and Andrew Wallace from Pace as the opening speakers of the two-day conference which is entitled “Redefining the Medium.”

From 9-10 November this year delegates from the broadcasting and advertising industries will gather to address and discuss the most pertinent issues in television today. The importance of changes within the industry have only recently come to light, according to its organiser Mike Sainsbury. “Until this year a lot of the issues surrounding digital technology have been theoretical,” he said. “Now for the first time we can see what’s happening. The industry can come off the fence and make decisions.”

Audience measurement in the digital age will be high on the agenda. Caroline McDevitt, managing director of BARB, will talk about managing an industry research contract in the new millennium and will be joined by her equals from European and US research companies to debate the ongoing challenges for audience research.

Bringing together leading practitioners from across the continent is crucial at this stage in the game, according to Mike Sainsbury, who believes that however developed or undeveloped a particular country may be, a pooling of resources and ideas is beneficial to all. “Although Sweden, for example, has faced deregulation of commercial television only recently and is way behind Britain in that sense, it is ahead of us in terms of internet penetration. The UK television market is a relatively mature one compared to the rest of Europe but we still have a lot to learn from our European neighbours,” he said.

ASI c/o Mike Sainsbury: 01822 618 628