2:15 PM - 3:30 PM
Session B:
Everything-on-Demand – Movies, TV Programs, Games and More - Enhanced Content Opportunity Now in 50 Million Homes
In this session, we will take a look at the VOD and SVOD Subscription Video on Demand marketplace primarily as it is being transformed by the cable and satellite industries. The era of three or four films-a-night being offered to the consumer is finally being retired, system by system and in its place, the new digital set-tops are offering up a host of new packages - a host of subscription style services, ranging from an entire month’s package of thirty or so films available on demand to whole new libraries available on an on-demand basis. In this session we will take a look at the packages and the technology behind them that makes these new offerings possible. The transition to an SVOD and On-Demand world is now underway.
Reggie Bradford, president & CEO, N2 Broadband
Gunjan Bhow, Senior Product Manager, Microsoft TV Division, Microsoft Corporation
Richard D. Titus, Managing Partner, Schematic
Ed Huguez, CEO, MidStream Technologies
Joseph Ambeault, Director of Broadband Systems, SeaChange International
Mark Schaszberger, Chairman and CEO, IMAKE Software & Services, Inc.
Allison Dollar, founder & co-President, Interactive Television Alliance, Moderator
Reggie Bradford, president & CEO, N2 Broadband: His consistent, resul
ts-driven leadership has N2 Broadband positioned to lead the transformation of the cable TV industry with innovative solutions that are enabling cable operators to accelerate the delivery of their new on-demand services to consumers nationwide. As president and CEO of N2 Broadband, Reggie Bradford oversees a growing and talented team laser focused on exceeding the needs of leaders in cable and entertainment, including Adelphia Communications, Comcast Cable, Cox Communications, Time Warner Cable, iN DEMAND, HBO, Warner Bros. and Starz! Encore. As a result, N2 Broadband is a rising star in the cable industry. With Reggie at the helm, N2 Broadband has been named to CED Magazine’s "Broadband 50 Companies to Watch" three consecutive years. In Atlanta, where N2 Broadband is headquartered, the three-year old innovator is ranked by the Atlanta Business Chronicle as the fifth fastest growing privately held company in 2002. During that one year alone, N2 Broadband experienced approximately 400% growth under Reggie’s strategic leadership. Prior to joining N2 Broadband, Reggie served as chief marketing officer at WebMD Corp, where he played an integral role in building a fledgling start-up with 40 employees into one of the fastest growing, most recognized Internet brands in the world backed by 5,000 employees and more than $2 billion in funding. His signature style of strategic direction has forged a solid and stellar 13-year career that includes a broad range of operations, management, and marketing experience in traditional and emerging sectors, including various stints with Miller Brewing and Philip Morris. Like the companies he has led and contributed to in the past, Reggie has built his professional capabilities with a steady, consistent commitment to quality. Reggie earned a BBA in Finance from the University of Georgia and an MBA from Emory University.Richard D. Titus, Managing Partner, Schematic: Richard is the managin
g partner of Schematic, a leading design firm based in Hollywood, which is the market leader in interface design for television. Schematic’s clients include Cablevision, Microsoft, several divisions of Sony, and Turner Entertainment. Schematic’s interface designs have been created for and deployed on a wide range of platforms, including Playstation and Xbox, most set-top box platforms, and wireless devices and services. Richard's attention has consistently been focused on the crossroads of entertainment and technology. As co-founder, CEO, and President of < tag > media (acquired by Razorfish in August 1998), Richard served as the Managing Director of the Los Angeles office, where grew the office into a division employing 200 professionals, both organically and through the acquisition of broadcast design firm FUEL in mid 1999. Richard helped establish Razorfish’s new platforms practices (including wireless and ITV) and served on the corporate management team until his departure in 2001. Richard’s pioneering work in entertainment on the Internet includes, TheVisitor.Com, created and produced with Dean Devlin (ID4, The Patriot) in 1997, in conjunction with the Fox Network TV series and began during his stint as a sound engineer for the Beach Boys, beta-testing Digidesign's Pro Tools software on Summer In Paradise, the first all-digital, "tapeless" major record album. Richard serves on the board of Governors and as vice-chair of the Producer’s Guild New Media Council, on the advisory boards of the AFI Enhanced TV Workshop and the ITA and serves on the Interactive Media Peer group of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. For the last three years, the Digital Coast Reporter Magazine has named Richard one of the 50 most influential people in the Digital Coast.Mark Schaszberger is the Chairman and CEO of IMAKE Software & Servic
es, Inc., a leading software and systems integration firm with a premier product, e.merge, within the interactive television, internet, telecommunications and cable marketplace. Prior to forming IMAKE, Mark was employed by IBM Corporation where he received patents in the Data Server, Control Server and Gateway Architecture System and Method to Broadcasting Digital Video on Demand. Thus, totaling 19 years of experience within the information technologies, telecommunications networks, digital video and audio data and interactive video initiatives industries. Mark holds a Master's Degree in Computer Science from the University of Maryland and a Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science and Engineering from the University of Virginia.Edward Huguez, President & CEO, MidStream Technologies: With over 15
years of senior management experience in media and media services sector, President and CEO Ed Huguez epitomizes MidStream’s approach towards improving the digital video experience. Previously, Ed served as senior vice president of Akamai Technologies, followed by its acquisition of INTERVU, Inc., as Chief Operation Officer at INTERVU, Ed helped drive the evolution of the company from a start-up into the leading provider of content delivery services. Prior to joining Intervu, Ed held executive positions at DIRECTV, and ESPN. He was instrumental in the launch of DIRECTV, and was responsible for developing key strategic alliances with content developers, content rights holders, technology partners and satellite and Internet Service Providers, as well as overseeing all aspects of DIRECTV Interactive services. At ESPN, Ed’s responsibilities included network distribution and local and regional marketing of the service for the western division. This combined programming, marketing, business development and content distribution expertise has provided him with an intuitive understanding of the issues and opportunities facing service providers of new digital video services. Ed received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and Economics at Arizona State University, and a Masters of Business Administration from the Andersen School of Business at UCLA.Gunjan Bhow is Senior Product Manager for the Microsoft TV Division at Microsoft Corporation. As Senior Product Manager, Bhow leads strategic planning aspects of the digital TV platform at Microsoft TV – with particular focus on the emergence of on-demand technologies including VOD and DVR. A veteran of the digital media space, Bhow enjoys a unique and global perspective on digital media, spanning technology, business and long-term trends in digital video. As a technologist, Bhow did pioneering work in digital video and 3D animation beginning at Corel Corporation in 1992 – developing and launching products covering graphical illustration, video editing and playback on the PC., such as Micrografx Designer, PhotoMagic, CrystalGraphics Flying Fonts, and 3D Vortex. He was responsible for launching some of the world’s first consumer digital video applications in partnership with companies including Sony and Microsoft, including 3D Impact for Windows 95. Leveraging his technology passion on the business side, Bhow led strategic venture capital investments at Telesystem, a global broadband company with carrier holdings in 40 countries. His focus was on telecom carriers around the world investing in emerging digital media technologies, including Deutsche Telekom, British Telecom, France Telecom, and Singapore Telecom. Most recently, Bhow led the product management team in charge of developing the next generation of visual authoring tools division at Oracle Corporation – covering web animation and digital media. Bhow has spoken at conferences worldwide – including CES, Comdex, SIGGRAPH, TieCon India, Videomaker Expo, and Arts Alliance Summit in London - covering digital media topics ranging from distribution technologies, consumer user-interface, and enhanced content. Bhow holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from University of California at Berkeley. He has founded a computer literacy non-profit institute in India, and is also a visiting scholar at Nirma Institute of Management, a leading graduate business school India.
Joseph Ambeault, Director of Broadband Systems, SeaChange International: With deep experience in the field with television companies, networks and advertisers, product line strategist and business manager Joseph Ambeault contributes to the development of SeaChange’s personal television platforms and software. He is focused on the company’s most recent advancements for on-demand and digital cable advertising delivery, ad targeting, and real-time availability of broadcast television programs for on-demand viewing. The emergence of on-demand services and new advertising capabilities require the participation of a broad range of key participants including television and film studios, ad agencies, broadcasters and cable operators. Ambeault shares the experience of SeaChange’s research & development and deployment work with these audiences through his efforts for Cable and Telecommunications Association for Marketing, the Cabletelevision Advertising Bureau, the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, and the Society of Cable and Telecommunications Engineers. Ambeault most recently addressed NATAS, SCTE, EGTA and Korean Cable Television Association conferences on topics including time-shifted television, video-on-demand deployment and digital cable program insertion. His operations- and business-oriented bylined articles and commentaries have published in television and advertising trade publications in the U.S. and throughout Europe and Asia Pacific. Previously, Ambeault was product manager for SeaChange’s advertising insertion system, the platform entrusted with $4 billion in local cable ad business annually. He made his start with SeaChange in its worldwide customer service organization. Prior to joining SeaChange, he was an IT network manager for the Bank of Tokyo, one of the world’s largest financial institutions. Ambeault earned his BA in philosophy and computer science at Brandeis University near Boston.
Allison Dollar is a founder and co-president of the Interactive Television
Alliance, a non-profit trade association whose broad constituency is committed to accelerating iTV in the U.S. She is also a principal in 2degree Partners, a management consultancy focused on iTV, specializing in alliance packaging, cross-platform marketing and digital services integration. A longtime champion of ubiquitous interactivity, she co-founded eTV World, Hollyweb Live!, iNNOVATORS™ venture pitch series, and chaired NAB’s Executive Committee to launch Multimedia World. Clients have included IBM’s eBusiness (American Express, Bell Atlantic, Mail Boxes Etc.), AOL, SimplyTV, Web TV, WB, Creative Planet, Stan Lee Media, Vi[z]Rt (virtual sets), and Envivio (MPEG-4). For Webcasts.com she was CSO and a founding board member (IPO as iBEAM Internet Broadcasting Corp). Previously, for Phillips Business Information she led business/content development with over 30 trade publications. Titles included Interactive Video News, Interactive Marketing News, Internet Week, CableFAX, Multimedia Week, E-Commerce News, Film & Video Magazine, A/V Video magazine, Via Satellite. While Editorial Director of In Motion she created sponsor packages with Sony, SGI, PacBell, Autodesk, AOL, HBO, Kodak and Sprint. These anticipated the impact of 3D visual effects, advertainment, DBS, broadband, VOD and wireless devices. She worked with Oscar-nominee documentarian Ross Spears, CBS News, the Maryland Film Commission. A founding board member of Maryland’s WIFV, she received ASAE’s Golden Circle award, held advisory board positions for CINE and the US Film&Video Festival. She holds a M.A. from the University of Virginia and Phi Beta Kappa B.A. from Goucher College in Baltimore, and has been interviewed by National Public Radio, LA Times, Wall Street Journal, Hot Wired, Hollywood Reporter, Variety, BizTalk1, Millimeter, Digitrends, Broadcasting & Cable and other outlets. Her book on iTV, Interactive Television: Tracking and Preparing for an Emerging Market, was released in April 2003.