CASBAA 2016 Sets Speaker Lineup

HONG KONG: Among the speakers in place for this year’s CASBAA Convention are GroupM’s Irwin Gotlieb, VICE Media’s James Schwab and Machinima’s Chad Gutstein.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of both cable TV in the region and the inauguration of CASBAA. The convention is being held at a new venue at Studio City, Macau.

Gotlieb, the global chairman of media agency GroupM, is set for the opening keynote. Other speakers include Bennett Pozil from California-based East West Bank; Gutstein, CEO of Machinima; and Schwab, co-president of VICE Media.

Additional speakers on the CASBAA roster include Thom Beers, who was responsible for creating such hit series as Monster Garage, Deadliest Catch, Ice Road Truckers and Ax Men, and Neil Smythe, who runs the successful online social-media fan site Football Republic.

The CASBAA Convention will also touch on the issues of piracy and the rise of the pirate black box, or the “Illicit Streaming Device,” along with covering topics related to the digital transformation of the broadcast industry, with global and regional overviews from PricewaterhouseCoopers and Media Partners Asia, respectively, and sessions from research companies S&P Global Market Intelligence, Kantar and Nielsen. The convention will also feature panels on advertising, streaming media, technology, content strategy and satellite services, as well as Japanese, Korean and Chinese content.

Christopher Slaughter, CEO of CASBAA, said, “The simple truth is that companies that fail to evolve will be left behind. By taking a look at some of the best practices in the industry, both in our neck of the woods and further afield, it is our belief that the CASBAA Convention will help our members find ways to navigate—and even conquer—the unchartered territory ahead.”