Click on the Video Below and Sample a Session from Digital Hollywood Spring, 2006 For Additional Video Sessions, Click Here Thursday, August 17 11:05 AM - 12:20 PM Track I: The PVR, DVR and VOD as a Disruptive Market Force: How Consumer Adaptation of Technology Determines the Future of Advertising and Programming Perhaps only coming in second to the impact of P2P technology is the double-barreled disruptive power of the DVR together with VOD. Since the introduction of TiVO six years ago, the DVR or PVR, has come to be known as the advertiser and TV network executive’s worst nightmare. While the industry seems to have dodged a bullet in the past few years, with the consumer proving to be more interested in surfing to additional programming than they were in zapping ads and recording programs as a viewing lifestyle, with the introduction of the combined assault of the server and set-top based on-demand programming and PVR combination, it would seem that the advertiser and programmer is facing a new Waterloo. How will the industry react to this new assault? The TiVO will seem like a minor distraction if the consumer chooses to fully embrace OnDemand TV viewing with completely personalized viewing options. We will not fully understand this phenomena for many years and we may not have good answers either, but in this session we will begin to probe the question. Tom Morgan, Chief Development Officer, BlackArrow Don Bogue, Chairman and CEO, Command Audio Jeff Shultz, CEO, CONCERT Louisa Shipnuck, Global Media and Entertainment Industry Leader, IBM Institute for Business Value (IBV) Sangita Verma, CEO & founder, TVHead Beverly Zaslow, Vice President, Acquisitions & Business Development, ReelTime Seth Shapiro, New Amsterdam Media Inc., (Two-time Emmy® Award winner), Moderator Louisa Shipnuck, Global Media and Entertainment Industry Leader for the Institute for Business Value (IBV) and Managing Consultant within IBM’s Business Consulting Services Media and Entertainment practice. For the IBV, Louisa oversees the thought leadership program on Media and Entertainment and has recently co-authored thought pieces, including "The end of television as we know it," which focuses on mid-term success strategies within the TV industry, and "Beyond Access: Raising the Value of Information in a Cluttered Marketplace" which focuses on competitive positioning in the B2B information marketplace. As a strategy consultant with PwC and IBM, Louisa has led and contributed to numerous engagements, helping clients write market feasibility studies, as well as, craft new operational plans, product strategies and consumer services. Clients have included an interactive TV content company, the broadband entertainment group of a large hardware manufacturer, a digital music software developer, and the home entertainment group of a major studio, among many others. Before IBM, Louisa worked as a political media consultant in Washington, DC. She holds an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School and a B.A. from the University of California, Los Angeles. Don Bogue, Chairman and CEO, Command Audio Corporation: Don Bogue has spent more than 25 years leading technology based businesses, from established companies to start-ups. He co-founded Command Audio in late 1995 to commercialize its proprietary on-demand media technology. Don and the team he recruited created and launched an entirely new wireless information and entertainment service for mobile consumers, then refocused Command Audio on licensing the underlying intellectual property for "broadcast and store" applications in a range of emerging consumer audio, video, computer and cell phone markets. Prior to Command Audio, Don served as CEO and Director at Giga-tronics, a publicly held manufacturer of wireless communications test equipment, and ran the largest divisions of Ampex Corporation, a pioneer in magnetic recording technology and a manufacturer of professional video products and systems. Don holds a degree in Economics from Harvard. Jeff Shultz, CEO, CONCERT: Jeff is CEO and co-founder of CONCERT, one of the nation’s first VOD television properties and the first television channel dedicated to music performance and documentary. Together with his business partner, Michael Shimbo, Jeff was among the first executives to begin forging relationships in the nascent VOD programming industry in early 2002. Currently he oversees the executive function for CONCERT, managing programming and distribution business development, advertising sales, and affiliate relations. Jeff was previously director of business development for NBC Internet, the online arm of NBC television network. There he focused on new media entertainment and e-commerce deals for one of the nation’s leading broadband Internet portals. Jeff began his career as an attorney for the international firm of Linklaters where he specialized in cross-border mergers and acquisitions and hedge fund management. Jeff graduated with a degree in Economics from the University of Arizona and with a J.D. from Georgetown University Law School. Sangita Verma, CEO and founder, TVHead: As Chief Executive Officer of TVHead, Sangita Verma leveraged 16 years of executive experience in the videogame industry to found the world’s preeminent interactive games-on-demand network in May 2003. A comprehensive turn-key content offering, today TVHead delivers important new revenue streams as well as builds customer loyalty for its network operator customers. In her role as CEO, Verma has secured primary investment funding from private equity investors Apax Partners, Bay Partners and Mitsui Incubase, established exclusive content agreements with leading game suppliers and global brands, and has filed seven patents covering key proprietary technologies for delivering interactive content under the TVHead brand. Leading a management team of seasoned game, licensing, video-on-demand, interactive television, technology and consumer entertainment product specialists, Verma's strategic planning, business development and marketing skills have been gleaned through a varied yet focused career. Prior to founding TVHead, Verma worked with Midway Games, starting with the company in 2000 as director of worldwide syndication. In this post, she developed her strategic vision for emerging businesses as a result of being charged with the financial analysis and due diligence reviews of new business opportunities. Structuring, negotiating and securing distribution agreements for Midway Games on wireless, iTV, handheld and Internet platforms, including with such providers as Sprint, Verizon, Qualcomm, AT&T, and Motorola, she was promoted to general manager of Midway Games' handheld business unit in 2002. This promotion added the responsibility of managing the GameBoy division for the company while continuing to grow its businesses on the Internet, wireless, iTV and handheld platforms. Just prior to leaving Midway Games, Verma negotiated a million dollar OEM deal with Motorola to supply two games for Motorola wireless handsets. Verma came to Midway Games from Craig New Media, her own online marketing company, where, for two years, she developed online marketing, promotion and merchandising campaigns, as well as provide web statistics and trend analysis to such game industry clients as Psygnosis and Panasonic Interactive Media. In fact, Verma first began working with Panasonic in 1996 as a consultant, handling marketing for its PC games and children’s educational titles software. Charged with organizing the online infrastructure, Verma is credited with creating the first online store for Matsushita Electric Corp. (Panasonic). She also developed a public relations campaign for the Baldies PC game, securing millions of dollars worth of television time through media coverage that included over 50 local stations' news programs as well as national broadcast coverage on NBC’s Today morning news program and a six-minute segment on CNN. In recognition of her accomplishments, Verma was named group marketing director for Panasonic Interactive Media Co. in 1997, with responsibility for all entertainment marketing activities. She helped established the Ripcord Games brand for the company, and launched its flagship product – Postal, a highly controversial game which won the 1998 SPA Award in Excellence for Software Packaging. She also devised Postal Online Beta Test Contest, the first contest of its kind, which yielded over half a million downloads, forty thousand registered participants within the first four weeks and tremendous media coverage - including CNN. Before working with Panasonic, Verma provided marketing support to I-Motion Inc (now Atari Corp.)., creating and managing an online contest for the Knight's Chase PC game that increased its website traffic by 1600%, overseeing two product launches and providing management stability during the company's merger with Ocean of America; and the creative execution of various marketing challenges for Velocity Inc. From 1992 through 1994, Verma lived and worked in London as general manager for Data East Europe Ltd., responsible for establishing the company's European office as well as all of the marketing, media relations, sales and licensing of Data East's Nintendo and Sega product lines in Europe. She joined Data East USA in 1990 as a marketing manager, launching over 15 Nintendo and Sega titles as well as five PC titles over a two year period. A graduate of UC Davis with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics, Verma began her career in investor relations with Stoorza, Ziegus & Metzger before making her move into the game industry. Seth Shapiro – Principal, New Amsterdam Media Inc.: New Amsterdam Media consults with venture, technology and creative leaders in the design and deployment of digital media including DVR, VOD, IPTV, iTV, download, mobile and social media services. Two-time Emmy® Award winner Seth Shapiro is a pioneer in the application of technology to global entertainment franchises and a leading expert in the application of digital media technologies to emerging business models. He has directed digital media initiatives for The Walt Disney Company, DIRECTV, Warner Bros, Cendant, Jones Intercable, ACTV and others, with partners including TiVo, Microsoft, Sony, HBO, Showtime, STARZ, CBS, NBC, FOX, ESPN, Major League Baseball and the NFL. As Director of Production, Advanced Services at DIRECTV, Seth led or supported over 30 interactive product launches across four platforms, designed the NFL DVR Highlights On Demand Service, and was a key contributor to the 2002 DIRECTV/TiVo agreement. Prior to this, he produced and designed gaming content for the Walt Disney Company and others, beginning in 1994, as Senior Software Engineer for the award-winning Charlton Heston’s Voyage Through The Bible. He has fifteen years senior management experience in software, TV and music production and additional consulting experience in the design, development and deployment of emergent media for national distribution networks. Seth began his career as a startup employee of interactive television pioneer ACTV, and went on to found KOE Recordings, an internationally distributed record label, where he produced and directed the MTV-selected video Realife I. Originally a composer, he was Adelbert Alumni Scholar at Case Western Reserve University and the Cleveland Institute of Music and is a magna cum laude graduate of New York University. An active participant in the advanced services community, Seth is a member of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (Interactive Media Peer Group), the Producers Guild of America’s New Media Council, an Advisor to the ITV Alliance and a mentor for the American Film Institute’s Digital Content Lab.