Mansha Daswani

Arthur Smith, the chairman and CEO of A. Smith & Co. Productions, offered up a big-picture view of the state of reality television in the U.S. as the TV Real Festival came to a close today.

GRB Media Ranch’s Sophie Ferron, TVF International’s Poppy McAlister and Woodcut Media’s Kate Beal, who also chairs the Association of True Crime Producers, told TV Real Festival delegates about the trends shaping the business of crime docs.

A classicist who specializes in ancient Rome, Mary Beard offered up insights on presenting history fare at the TV Real Festival.

Fred Black, principal analyst at Ampere Analysis, showcased how unscripted content has fared over the last two years and looked at the challenges for the sector on the final day of the TV Real Festival.

ORF-Enterprise’s Armin Luttenberger, Terra Mater Studios’ Berend Dreier and PBS Distribution’s Joe Barrett discussed trends in wildlife distribution at the TV Real Festival.

Autentic’s Patrick Hörl, Cineflix Rights’ Mike Gould and Blue Ant Media’s Jamie Schouela shared their insights on launching and programming factual FAST channels as the TV Real Festival continued today.

Day one of the TV Real Festival wrapped with NBCUniversal Entertainment’s Corie Henson and Rachel Smith discussing the group’s strategy for game shows, lifestyle and docs.

Dawn Porter, the founder of Trilogy Films, discussed her body of work and navigating the evolving documentary landscape in her TV Real Festival keynote today.

Kathleen Finch, the chairman and CEO for U.S. networks at Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD), discussed what’s driving viewership at the channel brands she oversees at the TV Real Festival.

The inaugural TV Real Festival kicked off today with a panel on factual distribution trends featuring BossaNova’s Paul Heaney, Off the Fence’s Bo Stehmeier, Albatross World Sales’ Anne Olzmann and ZDF Studios’ Nikolas Hülbusch.