10:45 AM - Noon
Track IV:
The Telco-Entertainment Partnership – How Networks, Studios and Telcos Establish a New Broadband Path to the Consumer
It was only a matter of time before the Telcos made their presence known to the world of entertainment, content and information. What was a cable and satellite world, may soon have a new full-featured competitor in the area of content delivery to the consumer. First came the dial tone. Then long distance and that was followed by an international wireless network. Now that DSL has made its move as a leading technology into the digital home, moving the customer into a broadband video, broadcast services, movies on demand and other video service world is the natural next away. Telcos have the customers and the infrastructure, soon it will have entertainment content as well.
Sean Riley, SVP, Affiliate Sales, Fox Cable Networks
Amy Friedlander, SVP, Programming, SBC Communications
Suzanne Rainey, Principal, Accord Media Group LLC
Eric Aledort, Senior Vice President, Business Development, Walt Disney Internet Group
Greg Demetriades, CEO, Continental Vista Broadcasting Group
Derek Kuhn, P.Eng., Sr. Director Marketing and Business Development Media and Entertainment, Alcatel Strategic Solutions & Chairman - Broadband Service Forum, Moderator
Derek Kuhn P.Eng., Sr. Director Marketing and Business Development
Media and Entertainment, Alcatel Strategic Solutions & Chairman - Broadband Service Forum: Derek Kuhn is Director of Marketing and Business Development for Alcatel’s Information, Communication and Entertainment Group and is based at Alcatel’s Ottawa, Ontario Campus. As a business and marketing lead, Mr. Kuhn is the primary liaison with Alcatel’s network and content partners that contribute to both technology and business models which will support end-to-end broadband entertainment services. Mr. Kuhn is also the Chairman of the Broadband Content Delivery Forum, an independent, non-profit trade association that addresses the business of broadband and works with the service provider and content community to deliver content-rich consumer and business services. Prior to Alcatel’s acquisition of Newbridge Networks in May 2000, Mr. Kuhn was Senior Product Manager, ATM Access Products in 1999, and Product Manager, Narrowband Packet in1998. Mr. Kuhn joined Newbridge Networks when they acquired Castleton Network Systems of Burnaby, British Columbia where he was a Systems Engineering Manager. Mr. Kuhn began his career as a consulting engineer with Totten Sims & Hubicki from 1988 to 1996. Mr. Kuhn holds a Bachelor of Engineering from Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario.ASean Riley, Senior Vice President, Affiliate Sales, Fox Cable Networks:
Based in the Los Angeles headquarters, Sean Riley serves as Senior Vice President, Affiliate Sales, Fox Cable Networks (FCN). Riley is responsible for overall strategic direction and management of Fox Cable Network’s U.S. sales force consisting of more than 50 sales and marketing professionals, who in turn distribute the diverse portfolio of services to cable operators, DBS, and other video providers. Riley’s duties include oversight of distribution of all of FCN’s linear networks and other non-linear products from FCN’s portfolio which includes: 11 Fox Sports Net Regional Sports Networks plus Sunshine Network, FX, National Geographic Channel, Fox Movie Channel, Speed Channel, Fox Sports World, Fox Sports en Español, extreme sports net Fuel, Fox HD, Fox VOD and Fox College Sports. Riley joined Fox in 1998 and was part of the original sales and marketing team of Fox/Liberty Networks. He was formerly Vice President, Sales Operations and was involved in several new network launches including National Geographic Channel, Fuel, Fox HD and Fox VOD. He also worked on the team responsible for the integration of Fox Sports North, Sunshine Network and Speed Channel (formerly Speedvision) into Fox’s portfolio of networks. Riley was the lead negotiator on Fox’s 2003 Regional Sports Network agreement with Cox Communications. From 1995 to 1998, Riley was Director, Affiliate Sales and Marketing at The Golf Channel where he handled distribution of TGC in the Western Region. Riley started his cable television career at SportsChannel New York, (now Fox Sports New York) in 1991 as a associate producer and later was named affiliate marketing manager. Currently in his 14th year in the cable industry, he holds a Bachelor of Science in Communications Management and English from the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. He resides in Marina del Rey, CA with his wife Tracy.Amy Friedlander, SVP, Programming, SBC Communications: Amy Fri
edlander is a specialist in new media with years of experience in IP, video-on-demand, broadband content and technology ventures. Today, Ms. Friedlander is SVP, Programming for SBC Communications. As SBC enters the video market to compete with cable and satellite, Amy will oversee interactive programming, convergence with other SBC platforms, games and music on the new IPTV service. Most recently, Amy headed a strategic consulting practice, Xanthum Partners, to help clients bridge the gap between content and technology. Working with telecoms, technology and entertainment companies, Xanthum Partners helped clients from around the globe with content strategy, negotiation and acquisition, and programming and packaging development. Amy was previously General Counsel and SVP of Business Development for Intertainer, the first VOD service delivered over both broadband and cable. She was responsible for negotiating content agreements with the major studios and programmers, distribution agreements with cable companies and telcos, and general technology ventures. In the Business Development role, Amy was responsible for international development and led her team to implement Intertainer’s strategy related to content distribution and software services. In addition, she counseled the Company on new media issues and helped the company raise over $100 Million from companies such as Microsoft, Comcast, Intel, Qwest, Sony, NBC and Thomson Consumer Electronics. Prior to her tenure with Intertainer, Amy practiced corporate law at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in Los Angeles. She holds a JD from the University of Chicago and a BA with honors from the University of Michigan.Suzanne Rainey is a Principal of Accord Media Group LLC (AMG.) AM
G is the premier digital entertainment consulting firm focused on assisting telephone companies deploy video services. She has 20 years of experience working for television media companies including NBC, MGM, Universal and PolyGram. Suzanne worked with the first VOD trials while she was MGM’s Director of Worldwide Pay Television. Her extensive involvement in television distribution includes managing the licensing and marketing for MGM’s film and television programs worldwide where she introduced innovative marketing and promotion campaigns for films such as Goldeneye, The Birdcage and Get Shorty. In 1998, she was appointed Vice President, Pay Television and Cable Television for PolyGram Television. In addition to overseeing all of PolyGram’s PPV and VOD activities, Suzanne was responsible for sales from PolyGram’s library to domestic cable networks. Suzanne has consulted for a wide variety of companies on business plan, licensing and marketing projects including General Dynamics Interactive (GDI), Best Buy, Reel.com, Replay Television and Solaris Entertainment. At GDI, Suzanne negotiated long-term output deals with all of the Major Studios and acquired other content from a wide variety of suppliers. Suzanne began her career at NBC. Over the course of 11 years, she rose through the ranks of finance and business affairs. Suzanne holds a B.S. in Business Management from Brigham Young University and an M.B.A. from the University of Southern California. The AMG website is www.accordmediagroup.com. Suzanne can be reached at suzanne@accordmediagroup.com or (310) 455-6726.Greg Demetriades, the CEO of Continental Vista Broadcasting Grou
p and its interactive digital broadcast networks, provides CVBG with his extensive business experience in IPTV, broadband video live and on-demand, broadband content services and broadband interactive media. For the past 11 years he has focused on Internet multimedia and delivery from point-to-point and for the past three years he has developed interactive broadband content, digital networks, digital network automation, interactive advertising using standard CPM models and interactive eCommerce all within one player during live and on-demand events. Greg is a recognized expert in interactive streaming media and a frequent speaker and participant in radio talk shows, television broadcasts and streaming-media events. He has been interviewed for articles in Newsweek, Athletic Business magazine (Jan. 2005), USA Today (Sept. 2004), the Houston Business Journal (Sept. 2004), the Daytona Beach News-Journal (Aug. 2004), Multichannel News (Aug. 2004) and other respected publications. He has lectured at Rice University and was recognized in MIT-Houston’s publication (Nov. 2002). He is also the author of "Streaming Media: Building and Implementing a Complete Streaming System" (ISBN: 0471209503), a book in the Professional Developers Guide Series. Published by John Wiley & Sons Inc. (March 2003). Greg is the driving force behind the success of Continental Vista which started by establishing its first market in Internet sports broadcasting with MSBN, a 24-hour sports network with over 2,000 live video broadcasts within 18 months including the University of Florida Gators, Rice University, Georgetown University, United States Olympic Committee, the Amateur Athletic Union and many others. CVBG supports many types of digital interactive networks including entertainment, video radio, and online seminars.