Future’s Spring TV 2021 returns April 26-30 as a virtual event featuring a trio of summits that takes on the latest developments in three crucial industry segments: the Advanced Advertising Summit, the over-the-top-focused Next TV Summit and a new entry tackling the emerging Free, Ad-Supported Streaming Television category, the FAST TV Summit. The event is sponsored and programmed by Broadcasting + Cable/Multichannel News, Next TV and TV Tech.
Spring TV will bring together innovators and thought leaders to share insights on the latest trends and developments. This virtual series is designed to help industry professionals gain new perspectives, delivering clear and actionable insights intended to advance careers and companies.
Here’s a listing of what’s on tap for Spring TV 2021 as of deadline. Not all speakers are listed and panelists are subject to change. For a more up-to-the-minute agenda or to register for free, go to springtvevents.com.
FAST Summit: Attracting Audiences for Free Streaming Content
The growth in the Free, Ad-Supported Streaming TV (FAST) space has been phenomenal and is showing no signs of slowing down, as more services enter the ring and audiences accumulate. The FAST Summit provides a timely opportunity to assess the intensifying competition and current landscape, explore where platforms are achieving success in attracting audiences and look to the trends on the immediate horizon.
Monday, April 26
Morning Sessions: Marketing FAST
10:30 a.m - 10:35 a.m. (ET)
Welcoming Remarks
10:35 a.m.-11 a.m. (ET)
Opening Keynote:
The State of FAST in 2021
This leading executive from a streaming service provider shares an insider’s perspective on the current state of this fast-growing, free, ad-supported segment of the connected tv industry, and identifies some of the special characteristics and advantages of FAST. The executive also offers suggestions for programmers and media buyers to leverage relationships with FAST providers.
11 a.m.-11:30 a.m. (ET)
What Advertisers Want
FAST offers advertisers and media buyers affordable opportunities to hyper-target consumers. Hear from a panel of media buyers and ad-sales executives as they discuss the unique advantages that advertising on FAST can offer now.
11:30 a.m.-11:45 a.m. (ET)
What FAST Audiences Want
This data presentation offers recent findings on audience segments and how they consume free streamed content, and makes comparisons to current viewership of SVOD and traditional television programming.
11:45 a.m.-Noon (ET)
Attracting FAST Audience Segments
A panel of promotions and marketing executives from networks, programmers and FAST providers discusses the special challenges of attracting diverse audience segments to FAST services, driving awareness of programming and content viewership among these segments.
Noon-12:30 p.m. (ET)
Partnering with Manufacturers
FAST brings along a set of special challenges. For example, some services work with some smart devices while others require a different smart device to function. Explore the unique relationship between manufacturers and services providers in this fascinating fireside chat with a leading smart-device manufacturer and a top FAST provider.
12:30 p.m.-1 p.m. (ET)
Securing Carriage on FAST
This panel of programming distributors and content executives at FAST service providers discuss the distinct facets of their mutual relationship in delivering free, ad-supported streaming content directly to the consumer. Discover how FAST viewer consumption is redefining the content distribution business model.
1 p.m.-1:05 p.m. (ET)
Acknowledgements & Lunch Break
Afternoon Sessions: Marketing FAST to Hispanics
1:30 p.m.-1:35 p.m. (ET)
Welcoming Remarks
1:35 p.m.- 2 p.m. (ET)
FAST for Hispanics
2 p.m.-2:30 p.m. (ET)
How Advertisers Are Targeting Hispanics with DAR
FAST offers advertisers and media buyers seeking to target Hispanic consumers with affordable and highly effective media alternatives. This panel of media buyers and ad-sales executives will discuss the advantages that media placed on FAST can offer for reaching Hispanics in today’s competitive market.
Moderator: Court Stroud, founder/managing director,
The Cledor Group
Panelists: Karina Dobarro, EVP/managing partner,
Horizon Media; Chris Pizzuro, SVP, Global Sales & Marketing, Canoe Ventures
2:30 p.m.-2:45 p.m. (ET)
What Hispanic Audiences Want from FAST
Be among the first to get these recent findings about Hispanic audience segments and their consumption of free streamed content. This presentation will share data for FAST and compare current Hispanic viewer consumption to subscription and traditional linear television programming.
2:45 p.m.-3:15 p.m. (ET)
Attracting Hispanic Audience Segments to FAST
Increasingly, Hispanics are attracted to watching free ad-supported streamed video content. This panel of promotions and marketing executives from networks, programmers and FAST providers explores how they are each attracting various audience segments among Hispanic viewers and driving awareness for select streaming brands and programming.
Panelist: Adriana Waterston, SVP, Insights & Strategy, Horowitz Research
3:15 p.m.- 3:30 p.m. (ET)
Hispanics as Smart Tech Consumers
Hispanics are tech-savvy especially, when it comes to smart devices. This is where the manufacturer of smart devices plays a significant role in the growth of the FAST business in this market. Explore the unique relationship between manufacturers and streaming services who are targeting Hispanic consumers.
3:30 p.m. - 4 p.m. (ET)
Securing Carriage for FAST Hispanic Content
This panel of Hispanic programmers, distributors and FAST content service providers share differing perspectives on how the dynamics of their mutual business relationship is changing as the demand for FAST delivered content grows among Hispanic consumers.
4 p.m.-4:05 p.m. (ET)
Closing Remarks
Advanced Advertising Summit: Create the Next Generation of Advertising Experiences
The combination of COVID-19 and the recession it caused accelerated the shift to a more digital economy and pushed marketers to be more effective, efficient, targeted and accountable — all attributes promised by advanced advertising. If you are a marketer, in media, work with technology or invest in ad tech, you can’t miss this event.
Tuesday, April 27
12:30 p.m.-12:35 p.m. (ET)
Welcoming Remarks
12:40 p.m.-1:05 p.m. (ET)
Keynote Speaker: John Nitti, Chief Media Officer, Verizon
A top marketer in the competitive telecom category talks about how he uses technology from his own company and from media partners to engage customers and boost sales. As a former top media buyer, Nitti has unique and valuable insights to share.
1:15 p.m.-1:50 p.m. (ET)
Making A Better Supply Chain
With more money and data being managed on automated systems, how can the industry maintain brand safety and avoid fraud while getting a better return on ad spending?
2:40 p.m.-3:05 p.m. (EDT)
Keynote Speaker: Matt Sweeney, Chief Investment Officer, GroupM
A top ad buyer at one of the world’s largest agencies talks about ensuring that clients get the impressions they’re guaranteed in a changing media environment. Sweeney will address what needs to happen to speed the shift of budgets from linear to more targetable video formats, the growth of CTV and the spread of automation.
3:05 p.m.-3:10 p.m. (EDT)
Closing Remarks
Wednesday, April 28
12:30 p.m-12:35 p.m. (ET)
Welcoming Remarks
12:40 p.m.-1:05 p.m. (ET)
Keynote: Marianne Gambelli, President, Fox Advertising Sales
Gambelli is integrating Fox’s broadcast, digital and streaming inventory into a single platform. She will talk about how that move will enable Fox to offer clients more relevant inventory, next-generation advertising products and the ability to reach bigger target audiences as the upfront market approaches.
1:15 p.m.-1:50 p.m. (ET)
How Local Media Profits from Advanced Advertising
Station groups and MVPDs are finding new ways to target their linear advertising and offer complimentary digital inventory in order to drive sales for both national and local clients. Top executives will share best practices for attracting incremental revenues and more effective campaigns.
Speaker: Daniel Church, Head of Advanced TV Product, Beachfront Media
2 p.m.-2:30 p.m. (ET)
Addressing Addressable Advertising
With expanding scale across providers and platforms, additional data sources and emerging identity solutions for a post-cookie environment, addressable advertising is in the spotlight. This panel will look at the technology that’s available, what clients are seeking and what targeted campaigns can deliver.
2:40 p.m.-3:05 p.m. (ET)
Keynote: TBA
A top platform ad sales exec talks about how they are using data to help advertising reach target audiences at scale.
3:05 p.m.- 3:10 p.m. (ET)
Closing Remarks
Next TV Summit: The Business of Streaming Video
The Next TV Summit is the professional video industry’s authoritative benchmark for assessing the progress and debating the future of television’s digitally driven streaming transformation. Hear current thinking from some of the industry’s leading executives as they discuss the most pressing economic, operational and technological issues facing the “business” of video.
Thursday, April 29
1 p.m.-1:05 p.m, (ET)
Welcoming Remarks
1:05 p.m.-1:25 p.m. (ET)
Opening Keynote Presentation: Jill Rosengard Hill, EVP, Global Media & Entertainment, Magid
1:30 p.m.-1:55 p.m. (ET)
Opening Keynote Conversation
TBA
2 p.m.-2:35 p.m. (ET)
OTT vs. CTV: The Battle for TV’s New Operating System
As traditional broadcast and MVPD television delivery mechanisms give way to an avalanche of direct-to-consumer streaming options, the competition to control the gateway between content, advertising and the viewer is becoming intense. We discuss what’s ahead in the world of devices like pucks, sticks and especially smart TVs themselves.
2:40 p.m.-3:05 p..m (ET)
Keynote Conversation
Interviewer: Tim Hanlon, Founder/CEO, The Vertere Group Panelist: Josh Reader, President, Distribution, AMC Networks
3:10 p.m.-3:45 p.m, (ET)
57 (Thousand) Channels & Nothing On?
With a blizzard of streaming content choices available to even the most basic of U.S. media households, consumers risk being overwhelmed by even the simplest of viewing decisions; we discuss how programmers and consumers can each benefit by coming improvements in content guidance, navigation, recommendation, and search.
Panelists: Ben Maughan, SVP/GM, Consumer & Stream Platform, Xperi; Rose Adkins Hulse, CEO, ScreenHits TV; Eli Chamberlin, Head of Product & Design, Reelgood; Trent Wheeler SVP, Product, Video, Gracenote/Nielsen
3:50 p.m.- 4:25 p.m. (ET)
Skinny Bundles & the Legacy of ‘Linear’
Despite repeated proclamations to the contrary, the “death” of the linear television channel appears premature in the streaming age. The surprising durability of classic channel grids, familiar programmer brands and even a new breed of linear FAST/streaming TV-like channels pose a bevy of opportunities and challenges, which we’ll discuss.
Panelists: Karl Meyer Head of Sales, Media and Entertainment, Samsung Ads; Kristina Shepard, National Brand Team Lead, Roku; Raghu Kodige, Chief Product Officer & Co-Founder, LG Ads
4:25 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. (ET)
Closing Remarks
Friday, April 30
1 p.m.- 1:05 p.m. (ET)
Welcoming Remarks
1:05 p.m.- 1:25 p.m. (ET)
Opening Keynote Presentation: Brian Fiori, SVP, Audience Insights, Nielsen
1:30 p.m. - 1:55 p.m. (ET)
Opening Keynote Conversation: TBA
2 p.m.-2:35 p.m. (ET)
SVOD’s ‘Mid-Majors’
While industry pundits obsess over a supposed zero-sum game of streaming TV dominance between leviathans like Netflix, Disney Plus and HBO Max, we explore a myriad of other premium and specialty content services angling for consumer attention and subscription share-of-wallet.
Panelists: Alden Mitchell Budill, Head of Global Partnerships & Content Strategy, Crunchyroll; Devin Emery, Chief Product Officer & EVP of Content Strategy, CuriosityStream; Erick Opeka, President, Cinedigm Networks; Tara Maitra, Chief Commercial Officer, BBC Studios, Americas
2:40 p.m.- 3:05 p.m. (ET)
Keynote Conversation
Interviewer: Tim Hanlon, Founder/CEO, The Vertere Group
Panelist: Michael Bishara, SVP & GM, OTT & Digital Syndication,
Discovery Networks
3:10 p.m.- 3:45 p.m. (ET)
Broadcast TV in the Age of Streaming
Traditional broadcast television sits precariously between heritage linear OTA and MVPD distribution models and a burgeoning streaming TV ecosystem; we discuss how networks, affiliated stations and groups, and consumer-driven tech intermediaries are helping modernize “broadcast” for the realities of modern-day streaming.
Panelists: Jim Long, Founder & CEO, Local BTV/Didja; Jonathan Barzilay, Chief Operating Officer, PBS; Kevin Dunaway, VP, Affiliate Relations, VUit/Syncbak; Adam Wiener, EVP & GM, CBS Local Digital Media
3:50 p.m.-4:25 p.m. (ET)
Who, What, When & How: Streaming TV Audience Measurement & Analytics
The “mainstreaming” of on-demand TV threatens to upend a fragile ecosystem of audience measurement, already challenged by traditional paradigm changes like cord-cutting, DVR recording and device-based viewing. How can programmers, advertisers and streaming TV operating systems accurately judge “success” in the years ahead?
Panelists: Marty Roberts, CEO, Wicket Labs; Alejandro Rojas, Director of Applied Analytics, Parrot Analytics; Traci Will, VP of Analytics, Gamut; Michael Bologna, President & CRO, HyphaMetrics
4:25 p.m.- 4:30 p.m. (ET)
Closing Remarks
