One of the cornerstone interviews of our programme, The Worldview Address, has seen global changemakers discuss the most pressing issues facing the television world and beyond. This year, David Nevins, Chairman and CEO Paramount Premium Group and Chief Creative Officer Paramount+ Scripted Series, returns to the Festival after seven years. He takes to the stage in his new role to discuss, with former Sky Studios boss, Jane Millichip, the current landscape of scripted content, his experiences in maximising creative ingenuity, talent relationships and IP, and whether the industry can sustain the influx of streamers both from a PSB and talent drain perspective.
The current cost of living crisis and funding models for both broadcasters and Indies will come under the spotlight in two significant debates that will bring into sharp focus the future of significant sectors of the industry- THE FUTURE OF PSBs and HOW TO AVOID A WORLD WITHOUT INDIES.
In the Festival’s opening debate, THE FUTURE OF PSBs, hosted by Mobeen Azhar, a panel of British content production heavyweights including Patrick Holland, Jane Turton, Fatima Salaria, Jon Thoday, David Abraham and Pat Younge discuss what broadcasters can do to make themselves more relevant and punch through, and are the streamers too strong to compete with, or are they starting to wobble?
In HOW TO AVOID A WORLD WITHOUT INDIES, Gold Wala’s Faraz Osman hosts a panel including Pact’s John McVay, Channel 4’s Rebecca Thorpe, Kathryn Jein MP, and Chalkboard’s Mike Benson. As broadcasters seek to protect themselves financially and so are asking the Indies to support them in the process, should we all be doing more to give real financial support to the Independent sector? And how can all industry stakeholders work together to ensure we don’t end up in a world without Indies.
A far cry from the days of management, punditry or pub landlord for the retired footballer, modern-day ex-players are becoming the go-to presenters of the unscripted genre. From daytime staples to hard-hitting documentaries or Saturday night shiny floor shows, audiences flock to shows featuring talent more used to making tackles than reading autocues. Hosted by Charlie Webster, UNBELIEVABLE JEFF: HOW FOOTBALLERS CONQUERED UNSCRIPTED TV, will attempt to find out why this is, by speaking to Troy Deeney, Anton Ferdinand and Dion Dublin about their own experiences of making the transition from the pitch to the small screen.
SOCIAL MEDIA KILLED THE TV GUIDES: HOW DO YOUNGER AUDIENCES DISCOVER CONTENT – The appetite for TV content is stronger than ever before across all age groups and devices. But how do viewers navigate a multitude of platforms to discover what they love when the traditional means of content discovery from EPG to TV Guides, are becoming outdated. As streamers and broadcasters inhabit an increasingly crowded marketplace – and the metaverse beckons – where do younger viewers look for their TV recommendations, and who do they trust? Rich Waterworth (TikTok), Dan Biddle (Meta) and Anna-Lee Bridgstock (LadBible) and Jane Stiller (CMO, ITV) find out.
THE TRUE CRIMEWAVE is a session dedicated to the phenomenon that is the True Crime genre. TV is surfing the true crime wave like never before. Every channel and streamer has crime as a core offering, and there appears to be an insatiable appetite among audiences for compelling real-life drama: from scammers and swindlers to serial killers. This session, featuring a panel of commissioners, producers and other top TV professionals from across the industry, will take a forensic look at the biggest issues around the true crime genre, from questions around sensationalism and sensitivity, to what the future looks like for true crime on TV.
At the heart of every true crime story are the victims and their families. In a companion session to the true crime panel, Sara Payne, mother of Sarah Payne who was involved in a seminal British crime case, will give an exclusive interview, talking about her experience of choosing to use TV as a platform to tell her story.
The Festival will go Haute Couture with an exclusive session that delves into the world behind the scenes of high-fashion publishing in WHEN VOGUE MEETS ELLE: WHAT CAN TELEVISION LEARN FROM FASHION PUBLISHING TITANS. Chaired by Afua Hirsch, Condé Nast’s chief business officer and the Editor-in-Chief of ELLE discuss careers and personal perspectives of a business in the flux of change and what TV can learn from these two black female pioneers in an adjacent industry.
In an addition to the already announced raft of commissioning heads featuring in their own Spotlight On… sessions, SNAP’s Amanda Krentzman, Head of International Original Series and Lucy Luke, Head of Partnerships, will be discussing their new direction into content commissioning, discussing strategy, and revealing what’s on their shopping list for the forthcoming 12 months. The Spotlight On… line-up also includes Anne Mensah, Charlotte Moore, Dan Grabiner, Fiona Campbell, Georgia Brown, Ian Katz, Kate Townsend, Kevin Lygo, Marcus Arthur and many more.
Another leading commissioner, Ben Frow – Chief Content Officer, UK, Paramount – will take part in a unique interactive event, in which he will lift the lid on how Channel 5 really works and lay bare the dark arts of scheduling. In an attempt to encourage producers to think ‘less like commissioners, and more like schedulers’, he’ll ask the audience to help him fill a week of the Channel 5 schedule with a selection of real programme titles, in a dry-run of the channel’s regular ‘Week To Press’ meeting.