TV Transformer Showcase – Part Two

About the speaker

Yvonne Thomas graduated in Television Technologies and Electronic Media Engineering from University of Applied Science Wiesbaden (HSRM), Germany, in Oct. 2010. She received a prominent award of the ARD/ZDF Academy for her thesis in September 2011 at the IFA in Berlin.

Following these studies, she started beginning of 2011 to work at the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) in the Technology & Innovation Department as Project Manager. She was responsible for projects and strategic programs on 3D and Future Television technologies, such as UHDTV or LED studio lighting and highly involved in its standardization.

In September 2015 Yvonne joined Arvato Systems’ Broadcast Solution division. As a Product Manager, she was responsible for the journalistic frontend “MediaPortal” of the Video Production Management Suite and included trends like AI and machine learning.

At NAB 2017 Yvonne was presented with the annual Technology Women to Watch Award from TVNews Check.

Since September 2019, Yvonne has been the DTG’s Strategic Technologist overlooking the IPTV and UHDTV workstreams. She is active in various industry bodies (e.g. as former SMPTE  Education Director and current Governor EMEA & Latin America) and works together with DTG members to explore the best viewing experience and strategies to move to an All-IP world.

About the speaker

Charles Dawes leads Xperi’s international marketing team across APAC, EMEA and Latin America. With over 20 years’ experience in the digital entertainment sector, he is responsible for evangelising how Xperi’s brands: DTS, HD
Radio, IMAX Enhanced, Invensas and TiVo invent, develop, and deliver technologies to enable extraordinary experiences, driving increased value for partners, customers and consumers around the globe. Charles began his career at Cable and Wireless, where he was responsible for electronic programme guide development.

Charles also held the position of product management director at UPC/Chellomedia, where he spent a decade overseeing UPC’s digital television product development across their European footprint. Prior to Xperi, Charles was at Rovi and TiVo where he held positions in product management across Europe and Latin America, Global Account Management and International Marketing. Charles holds a bachelor’s degree in South-East Asian Studies and Languages from the University of Hull.

About the speaker

Catriona Tate is the Business Development Director, Simplestream Ltd, a leading provider of next-Gen TV software services for broadcast, sport and media brands.

She has worked in Broadcast Marketing, Strategy and Tech for over 15 years and loves being at the forefront of TV innovation and changing consumption and viewing habits.

She is proud to have worked with some of the world’s best Media Brands as clients of Simplestream and Red Bee Media.

About the speaker

Xavier is Fastly’s AVP Sales, UK & Central Europe. He has expertise in building and transforming sales organisations to deliver success, from start-ups to global companies.

About the speaker

Alex Buchan is the Strategic Technologist for Spectrum and Security at Digital TV Group (DTG), the industry collaboration centre for broadcast and digital media. His main responsibilities involve working with industry groups and international collaborations to explore spectrum compatibility and coexistence and developing technical standards for a range of broadcast technologies. He coordinates and manages activities for several DTG working groups and provides technical direction and strategy for the business with regards to future delivery of TV services.

He also runs DTG’s wireless testing facilities and Notified Body services (achieving UKAS accreditation for all the services it offers) and provides certification for products being sold in the EU market.

Alex has worked in the telecommunications and RF industry since leaving university where he joined the Ericsson graduate scheme spending 4 years as a 3G Systems Engineer on a variety of projects throughout the UK and Europe.

He then moved into the public sector and worked for the Metropolitan Police until 2012 managing their communication systems.

About the speaker

A TV / OTT innovator, Aki’s foundations in the content business were built at Viacom together with the executive teams who launched MTV in Japan and other Asian markets. He subsequently joined the Skype founders to build Joost in 2006 – pioneering online TV products, strategies, and business operations now widely adopted by the industry. As CEO of Streamhub, Aki oversees the evolution of the SaaS product and business operations.

About the speaker

Guy Gadney runs Charisma.ai, the ground-breaking storytelling platform powered by artificial intelligence.

Guy started working in digital media in the ‘90s as the first Head of Digital for Penguin Books UK. He led digital teams across multiple media organisations including the BBC and Guardian in the UK, and FOXTEL, Telstra and PBL Media in Australia before founding the interactive storytelling company The Project Factory which pioneered new forms of interactive storytelling for television drama series.

With Charisma.ai, Guy is leading the vision for a new form of storytelling that breaks down the fourth wall and allows audiences to be inside a story, talking to characters, influencing their mood, and changing the story.

Charisma.ai is being used by Sky, BBC, StoryFutures and Oxford University.

Guy is Chair of Arts at the Old Fire Station Theatre in Oxford, is on the UK5G Creative Industries Working Group, and gives lectures on AI and the future of media around the world.

About the speaker

I am a leading creative visionary and technical innovator. I led the development of the BBC’s first interactive TV services, including the BAFTA-winning Wimbledon Red Button service. I also have a strong track record in building successful companies from scratch, creating and developing innovative technical solutions and achieving successful exits. I founded Connect TV to build the first hybrid TV service enabling content providers to gain access to the Freeview audience in a cost-effective way. Connect TV was acquired by Arqiva plc in 2012.

About the speaker

Tim Edwards co-founded Codices in June 2018 through an incubator in Falmouth, Cornwall. He built their product Quiz Kit to over 1m monthly users and has recently pencilled deals with Amazon, The Premier League and global game developers to create the next wave of live interactive shows.

About the speaker

Graham is a media consultant, writer and producer of in-person and virtual events. He started his career as a journalist and editor in newspapers and TV news. He was the founding Editorial Director at Teletext Limited and also a founding director of Associated New Media, the business that went on to create MailOnline, the world’s leading online newspaper.

Before Teletext, and its parent, the Daily Mail Group, Graham worked as a senior editor and journalist at the BBC, Visnews (now Reuters TV), BSB News, ITN, Channel Four, The Press Association and Pearson regional newspapers.

Graham now works with a range of media and technology companies including Sky (he produces the Sky Technology Summit and Sky Media Client Gathering), Freeview (he produces the annual Outside the Box event) and the Digital TV Group (he produces the annual DTG Summit). He is a former Content Editor at IBC, producing the IBC Leaders’ Summit plus the main IBC conference, as well as IBC’s inaugural event in Dubai in 2015.

Graham is a graduate of Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program. He is a member of the Royal Television Society and the Harvard Business School Club of London. He’s a regular commentator on media developments in newspaper columns, and television & radio interviews.