Wednesday, May 17 2:15 PM - 3:30 PM Session B: Interactive TV/DTV Software & Programming Solutions There are two sides to the set-top box, Internet, Interactive TV and DTV introduction, one is to have the hardware in place, the other is to have ready the programming solutions that make it useful and dynamic for the TV viewer. Whether it is going to be called ETV Enhanced Television, TVs with Interactive Programming, multi-plexed TV viewing or Customized or Personalized TV, there are a group of companies who have set the stage for this next TV generation and we are pleased to have them represented at this session. Charlie Tritschler, Vice President, Marketing, Liberate Technologies Allan C. Thygesen, Executive VP Sales & Business Development, Wink Communications Richard N. Yelen, Senior Vice President, Marketing, ACTV Gerard Kunkel, Senior Vice President, Worldgate Alan Yates, Director, TV Platform Marketing, Microsoft Corporation Beth Loughney, Director of Product Marketing, OpenTV Sun Microsystems, speaker to be announced Gary Arlen, President, Arlen Communications, Moderator Allan C. Thygesen, Executive Vice President, Sales and Business Development, Wink Communications, Inc.: Allan has served as the Wink’s executive vice president, sales and business development since July 1999. He has been with Wink in various executive sales and business development positions since July 1996. In his current capacity, Allan leads the company’s relationships with broadcast and cable networks, advertisers and advertising agencies, consumer electronics manufacturers and with the company’s largest cable and satellite operator customers. Allan is also responsible for general business development and corporate communications. Before joining Wink, Allan served as vice president and general manager, consumer products, of Gold Disk, Inc., a producer and publisher of personal productivity software. From May 1993 to November 1994, Allan was employed by Media Vision Technologies, Inc., a multimedia hardware manufacturer and publisher of CD-ROM entertainment software. Here he served as vice president and general manager, multimedia publishing. Allan served as director, marketing and finance at Pellucid, a venture-backed start-up acquired by Media Vision in May of 1993. Allan received an MS degree in Economics from the University of Copenhagen and an M.B.A. degree from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Allan lives in Menlo Park, California with his wife Terry and his four children, Elise, Christoffer, Emma and James. Richard N. Yelen, Senior Vice President of Marketing for ACTV, is responsible for the corporation’s strategic branding and positioning in addition to ACTV’s promotional efforts. ACTV develops software that enriches television viewing including Individualized Television and HyperTV. Prior to joining the New York based publicly traded company, Richard was responsible for cable TV marketing at Cox Communications. Based in Atlanta, he developed Cox’ consumer video acquisition and promotional strategies and consulted with business operating units on developing tactics to achieve their system’s goals. Richard developed a revenue management and preview strategy that resulted in turning around Cox’ 200 million dollar a year premium product revenue stream. The same strategy also increased the company’s installation revenue by 57%. Before joining Cox in 1996, Richard was Director of Marketing in Southern California for Western Communications. He had been with the California based MSO since 1988, in various marketing capacities. At Western, Richard oversaw marketing, sales, advertising, pay per view, research, public relations and the US’ enhanced interactive TV, ACTV. He was the father of the $2.95 pay per view price point. Before entering cable TV, Richard held management positions in marketing, operations and finance in the broadcasting industry including with NBC’s Today Show in New York. Between 1972 and 1982, he had several on-air TV and radio assignments in New York, Louisiana and Pennsylvania. Richard has won two CTAM Mark Awards for excellence in advertising. He has also been the winning author of two CTAM Case Studies, an NCTA Management Paper and a CTAM Quarterly Journal article entitled "Post Merger Branding." The Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania native earned an MBA degree from Tulane University and a BA in Management from Ithaca College. In 1978, he was a recipient of the US Congress’ Lyndon B. Johnson Internship in Washington, D.C. Gary Arlen is President of Arlen Communications Inc., a Washington-area research and consulting firm specializing in interactive information, transactions, telecommunications and entertainment. Mr. Arlen's primary focus on new applications for online/Internet, advanced telephony and digital television systems. Gary has conducted extensive research on business development and audience acceptance of new media. He was a principal organizer of the Electronic Access study, which analyzed consumer usage and identified opportunities for interactive systems. This study was a follow-up to the landmark Electronic Shopping Consortium project. The Washington Business Journal recently said, "If you want to find out what is happening and what is soon to come in the interactive world, Arlen is the man to call." Advertising Age called him "one of the most visible and most quoted new media gurus." Arlen Communications Inc. has provided research and analytical services to organizations such as AT&T, Bell Atlantic, Grupo Clarin, Citicorp, Discovery Communications, Sony, NBC, the National Football League, Magnet Interactive, Microsoft, Intel, Quantum TV, WaveTop, U S West, U.S. Postal Service, Hearst New Media, Markle Foundation, Gtech and Telecom New Zealand. Gary was a founder and director of the group now known as the Interactive Services Association. He is on the advisory committees of SeniorNet and the Advertising Council. Since the 1970s, Gary has founded and published several trade publications, including Interactivity Report, TeleServices Report and Electronic Shopping News, which he sold to Telecommunications Report. He writes analysis columns for several media and telecommunications periodicals, including Multichannel News, Wideband and Interactive Services Report.