Tuesday, September 28 2:15 PM - 3:30 PM Track II: Subscription and Download Models in Broadband: Music, Film, TV. Games and Information Content Distribution The conversation is about subscriptions and download purchase. Whether it’s the cable, satellite and Internet SVOD/VOD industry, the music streaming and MP3 industry, the radio industry or the information content industry, everyone is experimenting with forms of pay access to content. In the cable industry, the original subscription model is being gussied up with new packages, genre choices and greater access to content. In the music industry, the goal is to strike some a necessary answer to the upside down world of illegal P2P, and in the news and content industry, subscription models are being tested out every day to determine customer appetites. The question of which subscription or download model will serve which type of product is yet to be determined. In this session however, we bring together companies who are investing their futures on the answer. Bernard Gershon, Senior Vice President/General Manager, ABC News Digital Media Group Ty Ahmad-Taylor, Director Strategic Planning, Comcast Online Ellie Hirschhorn, General Manager and Executive Vice President, MusicNet Kevin Bachus, President, Infinium Labs Jeff Cavins, President & CEO, Loudeye Scott Moore, General Manager, MSN News & Information, Microsoft Corp. Paul Zullo, CEO, Muze, Moderator Bernard Gershon is senior vice president/general manager of the ABC News Digital Media Group. Mr. Gershon is responsible for developing revenue opportunities and distribution of ABC News content to all digital media platforms. He oversees business initiatives in the narrowband, broadband, video on demand, pay-per-view, and wireless markets and international syndication. ABCNEWS.com, ABC News Productions, and ABC News Video Source report to Mr. Gershon. Mr. Gershon joined ABCNEWS.com in 1999 as the vice president and general manager. In the last 5 years the site has experienced tremendous growth in unique users, has been recognized with numerous prestigious awards for excellence in online journalism, and has vaulted to the forefront of broadband video initiatives. Mr. Gershon is acknowledged within the industry as a pioneer in streaming media. As early as 1995, Mr. Gershon started the first streaming media Internet site at ABC, ABCRadioNet.com. More recently, on March 12, 2003, ABCNEWS.com launched ABC News Live, the Web’s first 24/7 streaming news network. "Politics LIVE," a political newscast and the first regularly scheduled programming on ABC News Live, premiered in August 2003. Since launch eight of the ten 2004 Democratic presidential candidates have appeared on the program in addition to ABC News correspondents in the field, political journalists, and other newsmakers. Also under Mr. Gershon’s direction, ABCNEWS.com introduced a standalone subscription service, "ABC News On Demand," which offers the latest video news content from ABC News, including World News Tonight and Nightline, and exclusive interviews from Good Morning America, This Week, and news magazines 20/20 and Primetime Thursday. ABC News is the largest content provider for RealOne Mobile, a streaming data service for mobile devices. ABC News Live is also available live to MobiTV subscribers with Sprint PCS Vision phones. ABC News expects to roll out audio and video content for additional carriers in 2004. Mr. Gershon started the first regularly scheduled Webcast for the Internet (SAMDONALDSON@ABCNEWS.com), and expanded that offering with the Internet-only Webcast, co-produced with the New York Times, "Political Points." Mr. Gershon also oversaw the creation and development of the Internet-exclusive investigative series, "Internet Exposé" hosted by ABC News' Chris Wallace. Previously, Mr. Gershon was vice president of ABC News Radio, responsible for all information programming produced for the ABC Radio Networks' 140-million weekly listeners. Under his direction, the ABC News Radio staff received the RTNDA's Edward R. Murrow award for Overall Excellence for four consecutive years. Before joining ABC News in 1993, Mr. Gershon was associate director, news and programming for WCBS NewsRadio 88. He also served as news director of WOR Radio, New York. Ellie Hirschhorn, General Manager and Executive Vice President: As General Manager and EVP of MusicNet, Ellie Hirschhorn is responsible for overseeing all business operations, programming and software development activities of the company. Her responsibilities include business development, distributor relations, program management & development, product management, programming & label relations, public relations, marketing and strategic planning. Prior to joining MusicNet, Ms. Hirschhorn held various posts during an 8-year tenure at Viacom. Most recently she was General Manager & SVP of MTV.com where she was responsible for the day-to-day leadership, strategy and management of the leading Internet music destination. Prior to MTV.com, she headed up Business Development for MTV Networks and was responsible for identifying, evaluating and executing new business development opportunities including cable network acquisitions, new lines of business and ancillary revenue opportunities. During her tenure, she led the business development efforts for the launch of the Suite, five new music channels from MTV and VH1 for multichannel distribution. Ms. Hirschhorn also served as Vice President of Corporate Development at Viacom, Inc. and worked at Showtime Networks. Before Viacom, she worked at Time, Inc. and various media companies. Ms. Hirschhorn began her career on Wall Street as an investment banker and private equity investor. She holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA in History from Yale University. She currently serves as a member of the board of Directors and Trust Committee of Fiduciary Trust Company International. Ty Ahmad-Taylor, Director Strategic Planning, Comcast Online: Ty 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. This was done under the guidance of Tom Bodkin, the chief Art Director at the paper. 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 and the designer Roger Black. 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 cable operators. He is currently the Director of Strategic Planning for Comcast Cable Corporation, working with their broadband group, their new media development group, and their cable set-top box group to develop interactive convergent products for Comcast customers. His mandate includes devising and executing Comcast's wireless (GPRS, UMTS and WiFi) strategy, gaming products, and interactive content and applications. Ty has over seven years of experience in designing for broadband, six years in interactive television, and 13 years in information design. He has lectured at 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. Kevin Bachus, President, Infinium Labs: One of the best-known and most highly respected executives in the video game industry, Kevin Bachus involvement in Infinium Labs marks his second game console launch. He was one of the original group of four individuals at Microsoft Corporation who came up with the idea for the Xbox videogame console, an initiative that grew in part out of his role as group product manager for DirectX. As Microsoft's first director of third-party relations for Xbox, Kevin secured support for Xbox from all major game publishers worldwide and created and managed the programs and processes that would ultimately lead to the strongest software line-up ever for the launch of a game console. Prior to joining Infinium, Kevin co-founded and served as vice president of publishing at Capital Entertainment Group (CEG), the computer and video game industry's first independent production company. CEG sought to maximize the potential of top-tier developers by managing the development of innovative, premium quality games in partnership with the worldwide publishing community. Kevin was responsible for all commercial aspects of product development. Kevin also worked for the consumer software publisher Mindscape, Inc. in a variety of business and production roles. Although he developed a number of games on his own during the early '80s, Kevin originally spurned a life dedicated to technology and opted to attend the University of Southern California School of Cinema-Television where he majored in screenwriting and directing before combining his two passions – technology and entertainment – in the interactive entertainment industry. Paul Zullo, the CEO of Muze, is an entertainment industry expert who started at the King Biscuit Flower Hour radio show. Later, recognizing that CDs were going to be the next big thing, Zullo launched the CD Hotline in the 80s -- a resource for people wanting to know when the latest albums would be published on CD. Since then, Muze has been on the cutting edge of providing entertainment information to consumers: first via consumer-friendly kiosks installed in record stores such as Tower Records, then via the Internet by providing the information about literally hundreds of thousands of albums, artists and songs to online stores such as Amazon.com and iTunes. Zullo has been "paddling in front of the wave" of the entertainment business for more than 30 years, and is a sought-after speaker about both the traditional and the online music and entertainment industry. He enjoys discussing constantly changing music formats, the challenges retailers face today because of the Internet and megastores and where he sees the industry moving over the next decade, among other industry topics.