RTS Unveils Full Lineup for Cambridge Convention 2015

LONDON: The Royal Television Society (RTS) has finalized the lineup for this year's RTS Cambridge Convention, which includes a number of new additions to the previously announced speaker roster that included Viacom's Philippe Dauman and AMC Networks' Josh Sapan.

The biennial event is taking place from September 16 to 18 under the title RTS Cambridge Convention 2015: Happy Valley or House of Cards? Television in 2020—the challenges for content, creativity and business models. BBC Director-General Tony Hall is serving as chair. He commented: “The 2015 Cambridge Convention will see producers, content creators and industry leaders explore how content creation and business models will need to adapt to the ever changing TV landscape. Using research, discussion and lively debate, we have designed a program which will address the challenges being faced and look at how we can protect and grow the British TV industry.”

The opening session, Happy Valley or House of Cards? Television in 2020, will feature James Purnell, the director of strategy and digital at the BBC. He will lead the debate on the future of the television industry, with a panel of experts including Emily Bell, the professor of professional practice and director of Tow Center of Digital Journalism at Columbia University Journalism School; Susanna Dinnage, the general manager of Discovery Networks UK/Ireland; Stephen Lambert, the chief executive of Studio Lambert; and Stephen Nuttall, the senior director of YouTube EMEA.

Dauman, the president and CEO of Viacom, will then offer a global perspective in his international keynote, chaired by Kamal Ahmed, the business editor of BBC News.

Following the BBC Worldwide Reception, which will feature remarks from Rona Fairhead, the chairman of BBC Trust, The Rt Hon John Whittingdale OBE MP, who is the secretary of state for culture, media and sport, will set out the government’s view in the secretary of state keynote, chaired by Hall.

Day two will open with a debate led by Lorraine Heggessey, the chair of the Grierson Trust and advisor for the Channel 4 Growth Fund. Entitled Working for the Yankee Dollar? Consolidation and Creativity, this session will hear from David Abraham, the CEO of Channel 4; Wayne Garvie, the CCO of Sony Pictures Television; Tim Hincks, the president of Endemol Shine Group; and Nick Southgate.

On Thursday, attendees will get a chance to hear from the execs in charge at three international channel behemoths. Michael Lombardo, HBO’s president of programming, will talk to Jay Hunt, Channel 4’s chief creative officer; AMC Networks' president and CEO, Josh Sapan, will then chat with Tim Davie, the chief executive of BBC Worldwide; and David Zaslav, the president and CEO of Discovery Communications, will be in conversation with Sir Howard Stringer.

Also on Thursday, Jane Tranter will speak with two of the industry's leading writers (Hugo Blick, writer, director and executive producer at Eight Rooks, and Bryan Elsley, writer and executive producer at Balloon Entertainment) and two rising stars (Regina Moriarty, writer of the award-winning BBC Three drama Murdered By My Boyfriend, and Tahsin Guner, co-developer and writer for BBC One’s Father Brown). The session will focus on their views on "The Single Voice" and the role of the showrunner.

Later in the afternoon, Patrick Younge, partner and co-founder of Sugar Films, will be joined by Michael Edelstein, the president of NBCUniversal International Studios; Kevin Lygo, ITV Studios' managing director; Peter Salmon, the new director of BBC Studios; and Jane Turton, All3Media's managing director. They will put the spotlight on different studio models of production and debate the pros and cons of each.

Sharon White, Ofcom's chief executive, will then deliver her keynote. The day closes with Hall, who will deliver the BBC Keynote.

Day three will open with Martha Kearney, the presenter of BBC Radio 4’s The World At One, in conversation with the Rt Hon Nick Clegg MP and Sky News' political editor Faisal Islam.
 
The session The Rise of the Smartphone: Creating Compelling Content for the Mobile Generation includes BBC Click’s Spencer Kelly, as well as Philip Harper, the creative director at Atlantic Productions, who will present and discuss the latest smartphone technology soon to change the TV industry. TV Without Borders: Is the Digital Single Market Boom or Bust for the U.K.? is chaired by Katya Adler, Europe editor at BBC News; Jorgen Gren, European Commission cabinet member; and John McVay, the chief executive of Pact. Stuart Murphy, the director of Sky entertainment channels; Danielle Lux, the managing director of CPL Productions; and Jonathan Shalit OBE, the chairman of ROAR Global, will explore issues raised by current controversies surrounding talent in another session.
 
The final session, Looking Towards 2020, will see senior industry leaders, including David Abraham, Adam Crozier, Tony Hall and Tom Mockridge, take to the stage to consider what has been learned about the directions in which television is heading.