2:30 PM - 3:30 PM
Session B:
Television 2.0: Cable, Telco, Satellite & Broadband Redefine the Future of Entertainment and Communications
The television experience has now officially graduated from its status as entertainment king of the living room, to the central component of the entire electronic consumer experience. Television 2.0 has now arrived and it includes Cable – with all of its integrated services of PVR, DRV, VOD, Broadband, Wireless and VoIP; Mobile as a communications as well as scalable video provider of clips and updates to movies and full programming, Telco as the next communications super-player and provider of Video to an always connected consumer; Satellite provider as most innovative and cost effective supplier of video, programming packages and services; finally to the Broadband IP video provider of content and services as the key to the consumer’s heart. The competition for the future of Television 2.0 has just begun. There will be no immediate winner and there will probably never be a winner. With 250 million consumers in this country to service and a global market to reach out to, the media, entertainment and technology companies are not competing in a zero sum marketing arena.
John Vonk, Vice President of Digital Video, Comcast Cable
Ric Brovedani, Director of Strategic Solutions, Office of the CTO, Alcatel Strategic Solutions
Sean Bratches, Executive Vice President, Sales and Marketing, ESPN
Dr. Imran Shah, Managing Partner, IBB Consulting Group
Joan Gillman, VP Interactive Television, Time Warner Cable
Ty Ahmad-Taylor, Senior Director, Interactive Products, Comcast Cable
Tom Lowry, Senior Writer, BusinessWeek, Moderator
Sean Bratches, Executive Vice President, Sales and Marketing, ESPN: S
ean Bratches was promoted to executive vice president, sales and marketing, ESPN on October 6, 2005. Formerly president, Disney and ESPN Networks affiliate sales and marketing, Bratches oversees all affiliate and advertising sales, research, marketing and special events. This brings into one division ESPN’s two primary revenue streams, affiliate and advertising sales, supported by marketing, research and client support services. In this role, Bratches will oversee all affiliate distribution, licensing, marketing and local advertising sales for the domestic cable and satellite networks of The Walt Disney Company: ABC Family, Disney Channel, SOAPnet, Toon Disney, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN Classic, ESPNEWS, ESPN Deportes and ESPN HD. He also is responsible for the domestic distribution of related HDTV, broadband, video-on-demand, subscription video-on-demand, interactive television, pay-per-view, Spanish-language, and sports syndication products. In addition, Bratches oversees ESPN’s research department, which serves as a vital link between the company’s strategic planning of new products and services and constantly shifting marketplace dynamics as well as the company’s special event marketing department. Bratches also serves on the ESPN Board of Directors. Based in ESPN offices in both New York and Bristol, Connecticut, he reports directly to George Bodenheimer, Co-Chairman, Media Networks, The Walt Disney Company, and President ESPN and ABC Sports, and Anne Sweeney, Co-Chairman, Media Networks, The Walt Disney Company, and President, Disney-ABC Television. Under Bratches’ leadership, ESPN has become the industry leader in creating affiliate value by strategically leveraging its core brand, while creatively integrating a number of high-profile brand extensions; among them, ESPN The Magazine, ESPN Radio, ESPN.com, ESPN Outdoors/B.A.S.S., ESPN owned events and the ESPN Zone, ESPN’s sports-themed dining and entertainment complexes. Bratches joined ESPN in October 1988 as an account executive and within a year was promoted to senior account executive. In December 1992, he was named director, northeast region, before being promoted to vice president, eastern division in January 1995. He was promoted to senior vice president, affiliate sales and marketing in December 1998. Bratches was then promoted to executive vice president, ESPN affiliate sales and marketing in 2001 and most recently served as president, Disney and ESPN Networks affiliate sales and marketing since 2004. Prior to joining ESPN, Bratches was a regional sales manager for Storer Television Sales, Inc., where he was responsible for selling national spot advertising for the company’s seven owned and operated television stations across the country. He is a member of the CTAM Board of Directors and sits on its Executive Committee. He served as co-chair for the 2001 CTAM Broadband Conference, and the organization’s pre-Western Show panel in 2000. Bratches also serves on the WICT Strategic Advisory Committee and the Board of Directors for the T. Howard Foundation. Bratches received a 2001 Vanguard Award for Young Leadership, the cable industry’s most prestigious award, presented by the National Cable & Telecommunications Association. Bratches was recognized in 2004 (#15) by CableFAX Magazine in its annual CableFAX 100, that profiles "cable’s 100 heavy hitters" and has been named each year since 1999. Bratches was graduated from the Rochester Institute of Technology in 1984 with a bachelor of arts degree in business administration.Dr. Imran Shah, Managing Partner, IBB Consulting Group: Imran is the co-founder of IBB Consulting Group--the premier boutique consulting company focused on Broadband related products and services in the consumer and commercial markets. He is responsible for IBB's strategy and vision, major client relationships and leading key engagements. An acclaimed specialist and thought leader in convergence strategies and technology, Imran has been involved in many of the most significant projects in the industry. He has led various industry bodies in the standardization of digital media compression, distribution and storage. Previously, Imran has held senior consulting and industry positions in leading companies including PA Consulting Group and Philips Electronics. As a Partner in the Telecommunications practice of PA Consulting Group, a management and technology consultancy, he launched the Cable and Interactive Media Group and led it to become the most profitable and largest revenue-producing group in the practice. He has worked with senior management teams in a variety of leading broadband and media companies, including Comcast, Time-Warner, Cox, AT&T, Microsoft, T-Mobile, Telenor, TeleDenmark, UPC and Cable & Wireless. Imran has a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Columbia University. He holds 15 patents and has been published numerous times.
Ty Ahmad-Taylor, Senior Director, Interactive Products, Comcast Cable: Ty Ahmad-Taylor began his career at the New York Times in their graphics department, working in National and International news. While there, he covered the Waco, TX standoff, the Los Angeles riots, the Gulf War, the Oklahoma City bombing and other large news events from a visual perspective, using schematics, databases and cartography. In 1995, his last year at the paper, he wrote articles on the emerging Internet, special effects in cinema, and the video game industry. From the Times he moved West to join the @Home Network. Ty became the Creative Director of @Home in 1997, and led their efforts to create next-generation portals for broadband and interactive television. After a year sabbatical in 2000, where he took cooking and French lessons, he returned to technology, working as the Chief Creative Architect for MetaTV, an iTV concern based in Mill Valley, CA, just north of San Francisco. While there, Ty generated user interface patents, and led the design of interactive television portals for Comcast, Cox, Echostar and other MSO and satellite operators. After working at Comcast Cable Corporation as the Director of Strategic Planning in their broadband group, where his mandate included devising and executing Comcast’s wireless (GPRS, UMTS and WiFi) strategy, and interactive content and applications. He is currently the Senior Director for Cross-platform applications at the company. His job duties encompass applications that straddle distribution channels, such as search, games and music. Ty has over nine years of experience in designing for broadband, eight years in interactive television, and 15 years in information design. He has lectured at Digital Hollywood, CES, Milia, AIGA conferences, HOW Design Conferences, Seybold Seminars, as well as the Poynter Institute for Journalism in St. Petersberg, Fla. Ty lives in New York City, though he is originally from the San Francisco Bay Area.