The AIB Global Media Business Conference opened in central London on 29th April with more than 150 people from Europe, North America, Africa, the Middle East and Australasia taking part.
Following a keynote speech from Mark Byford, Director BBC World Service and Global News division, the discussion moved into the business of the first day.
The first topic Defining the audience is of vital concern to international broadcasters, who have difficulty in obtaining accurate research. Expert researchers, including Intermedia, showed how research can be done effectively in international audiences.
Moving on to Global branding in local markets, the question was can global brands work across international frontiers, or should there be local modifications? Speakers included John Begert, Vice President, Content, of Discovery Networks.
A discussion on Partnerships concluded the morning session.
The afternoon was given over to Technology, chaired by Wolfgang Klein of Dalet, with observations from Phil Laven, Director of the Technical Department of the EBU. Subjects covered were Managing Content, Platforms, and Production Systems. Speakers included Christophe Duplay, Vice President Services Development, SES Astra; Ted Taylor, Panasonic Broadcast; Reinhard Penzel, Sony BPE; Anne-Marie Swift, AP ENPS; and Ian Fletcher, Omnibus.