DPP Podcast

As Las Vegas fills with 150,000 visitors for CES 2026, DPP Founder Mark Harrison walks the halls as part of his research for the DPP Tech Trends 2026 report. And on his 17th visit to CES he asks if anything taking place in early January in Las Vegas really matters for the media and entertainment industry?

From industrial robot demos and buzzing health-tech halls to the notable no-shows of some major global tech players on the exhibition floor, Mark's audio diary from CES 2026 tracks how "physical AI", specialist tech and the maker economy are quietly reshaping what really matters for media and entertainment.

Mark also speaks with Akamai CTO Bobby Blumofe. Together they explore how AI-powered search is rewriting the web, why "agentic" interfaces could replace 30 years of pages and menus, and how physical AI and robotics are stealing the spotlight while consumer and creative AI quietly become table stakes.

Show Notes

DPP Founder and Chief Content Officer, Mark Harrison's audio diary from CES 2026, and conversation with:

Bobby Blumofe, Akamai — CTO [6min 01sec]

Budgets are tight, OpEx is rising, and everyone is talking about AI — but what will Media CTOs actually be prioritising in 2026? In this episode of the DPP podcast, Edward Qualtrough is joined by Cognizant's Peter Elvidge, Channel 4 Technology & Distribution Director Grace Boswood, and Anshul Kapoor from Google Cloud to unpack the insights from the DPP Media CTO Survey 2025 including the real impact of the shift from CapEx to OpEx; why data architecture and automation now dominate tech roadmaps; where AI is being welcomed and where it's being resisted by creative teams; and why change management and cross‑business engagement remain the biggest CTO leadership headaches.

Show Notes

DPP Editorial Director Edward Qualtrough speaks with:

Peter Elvidge, Cognizant — Director for Media & Entertainment
Grace Boswood, Channel 4 — Director of Technology & Distribution
Anshul Kapoor, Google Cloud — Head of Media Solutions

The DPP Media CTO Survey 2025 is available to download here.

What is the Media Tech CEO Agenda for 2026? You can find out in the new DPP Media Tech CEO Survey 2025 report, which explores the perspectives of Chief Executives at major technology providers serving the media and broadcast industry.

And on stage in London at the DPP Leaders' Briefing 2025, Mediagenix CEO Fabrice Maquignon and Dalet VP of Product Management, Mathieu Zarouk, discussed the financial state of the industry, CEO priorities, production innovation, industry partnerships, media supply chain maturity, and AI strategy with DPP Editorial Director Edward Qualtrough in a session which focused on some of the research findings. CEOs from Ross Video, nxtedition and Emotion Systems — each of whom are participating CEOs in the initiative — also share some of their reflections.

Show Notes

DPP Editorial Director Edward Qualtrough speaks with:

Fabrice Maquignon, CEO — Mediagenix
Mathieu Zarouk, VP, Product Management — Dalet
David Ross, CEO — Ross Video [8min 31sec]
Robert Nagy, CEO — nxtedition [23min 07sec]
MC Patel, CEO — Emotion Systems [28min 41sec]

DPP members can download the DPP Media Tech CEO Survey 2025 here.

DPP CEO Rowan de Pomerai visits Los Angeles and New York, speaking with Fox CTO Melody Hildebrandt and CEO of Media Cluster Norway, Helge Svela, along the way.

Discover how Fox is leveraging AI in its Fox One streaming service, and find out how Norwegian tech companies are providing solutions to US news providers.

Show Notes

DPP CEO Rowan de Pomerai speaks with:

Melody Hildebrandt, Fox — CTO [1min 36sec]
Helge Svela, Media Cluster Norway — CEO [6min 43ec]

A major theme on the booths at IBC 2025 was a focus on developing partnerships with other media tech suppliers. In this episode of the DPP podcast we spoke to industry leaders about what these vendor ecosystems can ultimately provide for customer media organisations — while we also hear from a player which is successfully taking a different approach and consolidating where they see others decentralising.

We also had candid conversations about the shift from linear to multi-platform content strategies, emerging approaches to cloud and data technologies, the role of AI in media innovation, and the challenges and opportunities in digital transformation.

Show Notes

DPP Editorial Director Edward Qualtrough speaks with:

Dara Urquhart, Red Bee — COO [1min 54sec]
Toni Coonce, WideOrbit — CEO [8min 27sec]
Tanya Rai, Base — Head of Partnerships & Marketing [13min 17sec]
Mike Cronk, TVU Networks — VP of Strategy [20min 34sec]
Nxtedition, Adam Leah — Creative Director [26min 01sec]
Chris Moore, Thoughtworks — Media, Publishing & Entertainment Domain Lead [31min 43sec]

In this episode of the DPP Podcast, Jan-Hendrik Hein from Hearst Networks EMEA and Harsha Nayak from Prime Focus Technologies join the DPP's Edward Qualtrough to explore the real-world impact of Agentic AI in media operations. Discover how Agentic AI-driven automation is streamlining image creation and selection at Hearst Networks EMEA, freeing up teams and delivering faster, more scalable results. Hear practical insights on collaboration, change management, and future opportunities for AI across the media supply chain.

Show Notes

DPP Editorial Director Edward Qualtrough speaks with:

Harshabardhan Nayak, Prime Focus Technologies – VP and Head of Solutions
Jan-Hendrik Hein, Hearst Networks EMEA – VP of Media Operations

What exactly is the Creator Economy, and what does it all mean for 'traditional' media businesses? This was one of the topics discussed at the Media Supply Festival in New York in June 2025, where the DPP's Mark Harrison spoke with Creator Economy experts Kaya Yurieff from The Information, and Creator Economy NYC's Brett Dashevsky for a comprehensive exploration of how content creators are becoming serious entrepreneurs, transforming media, and creating new economic opportunities in the digital age.

Show Notes

DPP Founder and Chief Content Officer Mark Harrison speaks with:

Kaya Yurieff — The Information, Creator Economy Reporter
Brett Dashevsky — Creator Economy NYC, Founder

DPP members can explore more from the Media Supply Festival 2025 in the summary report here.
More information about The Information's Creator Economy Newsletter is here.
More information about Creator Economy NYC can be found here.

Join Mark Harrison and industry leaders as they explore the rapidly evolving media landscape, reflecting on conversations from the DPP Media Supply Festival 2025 in New York. Discover insights into emerging content creation trends, competing with the challenge from YouTube and creator platforms, AI's transformative potential, and how media companies are adapting to unprecedented technological and audience shifts.

Show Notes

DPP Founder and Chief Content Officer, Mark Harrison, speaks with:

Jay Jaxon — BBC Studios, VP of Media Operations [4min 54sec]
Allison Martin-Fong — BBC Studios, Content Planning Director, Global Operations [4min 54sec]
Caroline Brown — BBC Studios, VP Global Content Operations [4min 54sec]
Tiffany Cruz — A+E Global Media, Vice President of Content Services Operations [8min 16sec]
Kristyn DiPane — A+E Global Media, Director of Localization [8min 16sec]
Bevan Gibson — EVS, EVP North America [11min 46sec]
James Stellpflug — EVS, SVP Community Engagement [11min 46sec]
Benjamin Desbois — Telestream, Chief Growth and Strategy Officer [24min 10sec]
Dan Castles — Telestream, CEO [24min 10sec]
Tom Hoffman — Gemba, Founder [32min 13sec]
Ankur Jain — Prime Focus Technologies, Sales Head - Americas [32min 13sec]
Dave Ericson — BYU, Director Digital Media and Technology [32min 13sec]
Yvonne Bennett — United States Senate, Director of the Senate Recording Studio [37min 13sec]

Download Supply Chain Today: The Key Insights, DPP CEO Rowan de Pomerai’s summary report of the Media Supply Festival 2025.

The DPP released its Cloud Native Distribution report in March 2025, the first part of a follow-up to the popular Cloud for Media series we published in 2021.

In this episode of the DPP Podcast, report author and DPP CEO Rowan de Pomerai speaks with contributors to the outputs, all of them media industry experts, to explore the transformative landscape of media distribution, delving into cloud technologies, personalised content delivery, advertising strategies, and the critical challenges of adapting to rapidly changing viewer demands and technological innovations.

Show Notes

DPP CEO Rowan de Pomerai speaks with:

Keir Shepherd, Encompass — Chief Solutions Officer [2min 16sec]
Eunice Park, Encompass — Chief Revenue Officer [2min 16sec]
John Bradshaw, Akamai — Field CTO Cloud, EMEA [22min 31sec]
Santiago Miralles, Knox Media Hub — CEO [28min 41sec]
Andrea Wood, Comcast Advertising — Director, Research & Insights [34min 26sec]
Dan Diton, Hearst Networks EMEA — Director of Insights & Analytics [42min 20sec]

DPP members can download Cloud Native Distribution here.

Cloud Native Distribution is enabled by Lead sponsor Encompass Digital Media, and Expert sponsors Akamai and Knox Media Hub.

At the end of last year we released the DPP Media CTO Survey 2024 — the inaugural research report in what will become an annual trends and analysis initiative exploring the business objectives, technology investment priorities and leadership challenges of Chief Technology Officers and equivalent tech leaders at major media organisations.

In this episode of the DPP Podcast we hear from three media industry experts representing Cognizant, Signiant and SDVI about what some of the key findings and themes from the CTO discussions mean for the industry? And as we start thinking about the next iteration of the work, we find out what they want us to be asking industry chief technology officers in the DPP Media CTO Survey 2025?

Show Notes

DPP Editorial Director Edward Qualtrough speaks with:

Peter Elvidge, Cognizant — Director, Media and Entertainment [2min 24sec]
Ian Hamilton, Signiant — CTO [14min 48sec]
Geoff Stedman, SDVI — Chief Marketing Officer [19min 08sec]

The DPP Media CTO Survey 2024 research is available here.