10:30 AM - 11:30 AM
Session A - DH9:
Enhanced TV Networks and Critical Mass Audience: Entertainment, Sports, News & Finance
The definitions are confusing, but whether it’s Interactive TV programming or Internet/TV companion programming, it is all part of the evolution of what is being called Enhanced TV, and its day is near. Within the next year, every TV show will have a significant Internet presence and it may even come in the form of real-time companion programming. In this session we bring together the brand name programming executives and creators who are dealing with what it means to leverage and extend their on-air television programming to the Internet or into the Interactive TV space. What is this process really all about? Can you effectively mix entertainment with marketing? What about building a community with programming that keeps an audience coming back? What does it mean to be a TV/Internet hybrid programmer? We are pleased to welcome a distinguished panel of experts.
Frederic Bien, Senior VP, New Media Technology, Turner Broadcasting
Todd Tarpley, Media Consultant
Marcia Zellers, Director, Enhanced Television, American Film Institute
John Gilles, Director Interactive Television, TechTV
Paul Mitchell, Senior Director, Content, Standards and Tools, Microsoft TV Group
David Wilkins, CEO, VertigoXmedia, Moderator
Paul Mitchell, Senior Director, Content, Standards and Tools, Microsoft TV Group: Paul Mi
tchell is responsible for content and services for the Microsoft TV Platforms. He and his team manage a collection of evangelism and training programs for interactive content developers seeking to deploy their content and services on the new interactive television platforms, as well as for television programmers and executives looking for ways to expand their traditional businesses. He is also responsible for the development of developer tools for the TV Platforms. Mitchell was instrumental in the creation of the Advanced Television Enhancement Forum (ATVEF), an organization now involving over 70 companies worldwide, representing all aspects of television production, distribution, consumer electronics, and software, and is Microsoft’s Founder representative to the ATVEF. A veteran of Interactive TV, Mitchell formerly worked in Microsoft’s Advanced Consumer Technology group during the early experimentation with interactive technologies in the early 90s. Prior to that he worked in Microsoft’s developer division, where he launched several successful tools products, including Visual C++, and Visual C++ for Windows NT, the company’s first professional toolset for the Windows NT operating system. Recent speaking experience includes, Digital Hollywood and Convergence 2000.Frederic V. Bien, Senior Vice President New Media Technology, Turner Broadcast
ing, Time-Warner: Frederic Bien oversees new media technology for the entertainment division of Turner: TBS, TNT, TCM, Cartoon Network, sports team, Nascar.com. In 1999-2000, Bien was Vice President Communities and Marketing Technology, then CTO of BigStar Entertainment http://www.BigStar.com. Bien is the CEO and founder of Belamo Corp., that produces and markets http://FLIRT.com, the Online Romance Channel, a commercial web site about romance and relationships. FLIRT.com was accessed by over 2 million people in 1999, mostly women. Partnerships with Elle and RoadRunner. In the first half of 1999, Bien was VP Business Development for Playboy.com and managed Playboy Online' Los Angeles office, helping the company in integration of new content partnerships. From 1993 to 1997, Bien founded and was CEO of Bien Logic Inc. an Internet software company that signed and fulfilled multimedia software contracts with Paramount Publishing, Franklin Electronic Publishers, and Apple Computer. Bien Logic developed and marketed web traffic analysis software: SurfReport and ProxyReport. Major customers included Netscape, Oracle, WalMart, ANS, Xerox, Hewlett-Packard, Smithsonian Institute. Bien Logic was sold to Netrics, Inc. in October 1997. Bien Logic was also the largest web design agency in San Diego and Orange County with over 30 major accounts. This agency division was sold to SiteLab International, LLC, in July 1997. Bien received a Ph.D. in Mathematics from MIT in 1986, was Assistant Professor at Princeton University, 1986-92 and was a tenured Associate Professor of Mathematics at University of California San Diego, 1992-96. Bien recorded rock albums in Belgium in 1979-81, as a drummer, composer and band manager. Bien's jazz fusion band, Spring, was the feature of an Amnesty International Concert in Europe in 1981. Bien toured in New England, Québec Canada and New York (Blue Note) in 1983-88.Todd Tarpley is a media consultant with fifteen years of experience in television and inte
ractive media at companies including The History Channel, A&E Network, Viacom, ABC, NBC, HBO, and Lifetime. Mr. Tarpley most recently served as Vice President, Interactive, for A&E Television Networks, where he established the division in 1995 and launched award-winning Web sites HistoryChannel.com, AandE.com, and Biography.com, as well as successful ecommerce, ad sales, and enhanced television initiatives. Equitrends named all three sites among the top ten Web sites in overall quality in 2001, and HistoryChannel.com was nominated for a 2001 Webby Award. Mr. Tarpley previously served on the core project team that developed and launched The History Channel. He established the network’s Research department, oversaw implementation of Nielsen service, and contributed to the network’s start-up business plan. As a media researcher at Yale University’s Family Television Research Center, Mr. Tarpley contributed to a report to Congress on the feasibility of launching a national Ready-to-Learn public television initiative. Mr. Tarpley has written chapters of two textbooks on children’s media. Mr. Tarpley served in production capacities for programs on ABC, NBC, HBO, and Lifetime, and began his television career an intern for "Late Night With David Letterman" on NBC. He holds an MBA from Yale University, an MA in History from the University of Iowa, and a BFA in Film from New York University.John Gilles is the director of interactive television at TechTV, where he manages interactiv
e television product development. Previously, Gilles was the director of strategic development, as well as senior broadband producer and supervising Web producer. Prior to joining TechTV, Gilles was an online producer for The Site, a television show on MSNBC. Gilles also was a technology columnist and news reporter for Gannett Newspapers. He has published articles in Wired News, Web Review, Whole Earth Review, and many other magazines, websites and newspapers. He is the former managing editor of Technology Access Report, and has been quoted as a broadband and convergence expert in many trade and consumer publications, including The Wall Street Journal and the San Francisco Chronicle. About TechTV: TechTV is the only cable television channel covering technology information, news and entertainment from a consumer, industry, and market perspective 24 hours a day. Offering everything from industry news to product reviews, updates on tech stocks to tech support, TechTV’s programming keeps the wired world informed and entertained. TechTV is one of the fastest growing cable networks, currently available in more than 26 million households and distributing content to 70 countries. With more than 1.3 million unique visitors per month, techtv.com is a community destination that encourages viewer interaction through e-mail, live chat, and video mail. TechTV, formerly ZDTV, is owned by Vulcan Inc.Marcia Zellers is the Director of Enhanced Television for the American Film Institute (AFI). Going into it’s fourth year, AFI’s Enhanced TV Workshop has produced 24 enhanced TV prototypes. AFI’s eTV Workshop has become the gathering place for the American eTV creative and technology communities, and is renowned as the premier environment for eTV exploration and development. Zellers has pursued the challenge of a cutting edge, consumer-friendly marriage of television and interactivity since she joined MTV Interactive’s New York headquarters as a founding member in 1994. As a Senior Producer and Director heading up all MTV’s music-related Web strategy, programming and development, creative direction, talent relations, and convergence programming with MTV’s on-air operations, Zellers created and produced some of the earliest enhanced TV programming. Early pioneering examples, which aired on TV, include a split screen production incorporating simultaneous live Web chat with Michael Jackson, Jackson videos, and highlights of Jackson’s career; the Red Hot Chili Peppers live at Madison Square Garden, with simultaneous roaming backstage cameras broadcasting live to the Web; and Janet Jackson on MTV’s Total Request Live interacting on air with viewers on the Web. In 1999 Zellers moved to Los Angeles, where she spearheaded Warner Bros. Online’s Entertaindom project, one of the Web’s then-highest profile entertainment destinations and the first planned broadcast-style distribution model. (Entertaindom was intended to showcase both Time-Warner and non-Time-Warner programming.) As Supervising Producer, she oversaw all aspects of the department and helped develop original programming intended for eventual cross-platform and enhanced development. Zellers has been a new media consultant for entities like New Line Cinema and composer Giorgio Moroder, and was most recently the Vice President of Web Development and Creative Director for Greater Relations Worldwide, a nascent dotcom. Zellers is also a published writer and editor, and has an eclectic background that includes publishing, marketing, advertising, fundraising, and stock brokerage.
David Wilkins, President and Chief Executive Officer, is a founding partner of Vertigo
Xmedia, and has led the company's strategic vision since assuming the role of CEO in early 1996. Mr. Wilkins' career spans more than 12 years in the high-tech field, including progressive senior management positions at CAE Electronics, where he was responsible for several large-scale flight simulator development programs and managed the company's engineering group. David also brings expertise from Discreet Logic, where he managed multimedia system integration projects and was involved in the development of the first real-time 3-D broadcast graphics system. Mr. Wilkins has a Bachelors degree in Engineering and a Masters degree in Business Administration.