MIPTV conference to discuss future of TV industry

Cannes: Television and entertainment chiefs have flown to France to seek signposts on the future of their industry.

They are assembling this weekend at Cannes for the MIPTV media market, billed as the world's entertainment content market.

MIPTV started out as a buyers and sellers market for the TV trade but now takes on the digital world. The market now also has a conference arm which, each year, looks squarely at the challenges of the digital age.

Participants will discuss issues such as the advent of digital video recorders, the threat these pose to the traditional 30-second ad spot, internet piracy, internet-delivered television, also known as IPTV (internet protocol TV), and mobile TV.

Much of this will be tackled in the next few days at the Palais Des Festivals, home of the Cannes Film Festival, via keynote speeches, onstage interviews and panel discussions.

The keynote speech by Jonathan Miller, chairman and chief executive of News Corporation's Digital Media Group, will be titled, ‘Charting The Next Digital Decade'.

Transformation

Miller, a former AOL head, will look at the opportunities for all media companies "to transform their offerings and flourish in a digital universe".

He will discuss hot button issues such as pay models for online news, the future of mobile and trends in the online advertising market.

There are early signs of rising levels of optimism in the market after the shock accompanying the global financial crisis last year.