10:45 AM - 12:15 PM
Session B:
Digital TV Cable/Satellite Box - New Services - New Revenue
The emergence of fully featured digital television is not a single or simply understood idea like the arrival of color TV because it represents a number of technologies that will come together in the home, and they may arrive in stages. DTV is not only a TV set with enhanced television picture and audio quality, DTV will also arrive in the form of a new set-top box that will have new interactive capabilities, with the functionality of a computer that will bring, among other things, the Internet into play. Just as the VCR will be an antique as digital systems become the standard, the set-top box will bring digital convergence into the American home. In this session we bring together the companies and players who are at the heart of the set-top transformation. What will be the likely scenarios of implementation and change? This is the place to find out.
Terry Ulick, Executive Director, Business Development, Tribune Media Services Entertainment Products
Neil Gaydon, President, Pace Micro Technology, The Americas
Saul Shapiro, COO, Gist Communications
Haig Krakirian, V.P. Software Engineering. Pioneer Digital Technologies
Mark Snowden, Sr. Research Analyst, Media & Entertainment, GartnerGroup e-Business Intelligence Svcs.
Patrick A. Custer, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, uniView Technologies Corporation
Thomas J. Kerver, Business Editor, Cablevision Magazine, Moderator
Additional speakers to be announced
Terry Ulick, Executive Director, Business Development, Tribune Media Services Entertainment Products: Terry Ulick joined Tribune Media Services as TV Listings Project Manager
in April of 1997. As a special project manager, Mr. Ulick worked on the development and launch of TVQuest and MovieQuest, national direct-to-consumer Web sites offered through newspaper affiliates. He was promoted to Executive Director of Business Development in 1999 and is currently responsible for the development of new entertainment information products and business relationships including onscreen guide development for cable, satellite and broadband. Prior to joining TMS, Mr. Ulick had worked as a full-time consultant for Tribune Corporate Development in 1995. He left there to develop a joint venture with AOL, PicturePlace, an online picture delivery system for personal photographs (now part of AOL as the "You’ve Got Pictures!" feature from Eastman Kodak Company and AOL). Mr. Ulick owned a publishing company, Ulick Publishing, Inc., for eight years until it was acquired by Capital Cities/ABC, Inc. He held a position of Vice President, Publisher for ABC Publishing for three years after that. Mr. Ulick founded and published Professional Publishing Magazine, Personal Publishing Magazine and Publishing Trade Magazine. He authored several books on desktop publishing, including Personal Publishing with the Macintosh from Hayden Publishing.Saul Shapiro, COO, Gist Communications: Saul Shapiro, an expert in digital and in
teractive television, joined Gist (www.gist.com) in December 1999 as its first Chief Operating Officer. Mr. Shapiro previously served as vice president, broadcast technology for the ABC Television Network. He was also chief architect for the Federal Communications Commission's digital broadcast television standards, serving under former FCC Chairman Reed Hundt. At ABC, he helped define the network’s transition to digital broadcast, and identified opportunities using enhanced television technology and Internet-delivered video and data services. At the FCC, Mr. Shapiro led a team in developing standards for the introduction of digital television in the United States. Prior to joining the FCC, Mr. Shapiro was manager of new business development at Sony Electronics’ Television Business Group, where he developed ideas for the emerging digital and interactive environment.Haig Krakirian is VP Software Engineering at Pioneer Digital Technologies, Inc. He heads the development and production of interactive applications for digital settop boxes, including the company's flagship product line Passport, a comprehensive digital navigation suite of applications featuring an interactive program guide, impulse pay-per-view, and video on demand. Prior to joining Pioneer in Jan 1997, he was Director of Engineering at Time Warner Cable Broadband Applications, where he led the software development group in creating CDROM and ITV applications, including shopping and sports applications for the TWC's Full Service Network trial down in Orlando, FL. Haig holds a Master's degree in Computer Science from USC. He lives in Burbank, CA with his wife and three kids.
Patrick A. Custer, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, uniView Technologies Corporation: Patrick A. Custer is chairman and chief executive officer of uniView Technologies that led the acquisition of Curtis Mathes in November 1993. He directed the resurrection of the Curtis Mathes brand and led uniView Technologies to become the nation's only IT consultant with the expertise and products to provide true convergence integration. Through his leadership and the acquisition of three companies, he increased revenue by more than $20 million while enhancing the already strong consulting team. During the past four years of research and development, he recognized the need to change the company's name to uniView Technologies, while still utilizing the Curtis Mathes brand name as a source of revenue, allowing companies to take advantage of the popular consumer electronics name. Before joining the company, Patrick directed the development of a computer chip distribution company, during which time sales rose from $12 million to more than $60 million in less than two years. Patrick's extensive knowledge in finance and the stock market comes from his tenure with E.F. Hutton, where he specialized in international exchange and foreign monetary policies. In this capacity, he introduced public companies in the U.S. to Asian manufacturers, investors, and financial institutions. Patrick also served on the Chinese Economic Development Council, which was designed to assist government-controlled companies to privatize and enter foreign exchange public markets. More recently, he was appointed to the Computer and Telecommunications Panel for the People's Republic of China, which held its first session this past September. Patrick's technical experience includes engineering and management positions with Texas Instruments and Honeywell. He also served four years in the U.S. Army as a special weapons leader in Vietnam and received numerous citations and awards for his service. Patrick received a degree in engineering and management studies at Texas Tech University with additional studies in the Master's finance program.