DPP Podcast

The DPP Leaders' Briefing is the pre-eminent business intelligence event for the media industry. The DPP Leaders’ Briefing 2023 showcased technology and business experts from more than 30 media companies, each sharing their top three priorities for the coming year. And in this episode of the DPP podcast, Editorial Director Edward Qualtrough catches up with speakers, exhibitors and attendees from TikTok, Warner Bros. Discovery, RTÉ, ITV Studios, NPAW, nxtedition, Caretta Research and Wolftech to digest some of the major themes from the event. To what extent did artificial intelligence really dominate discussions, and what was the experience of speakers and attendees?

Show notes

In this episode, DPP Editorial Director Edward Qualtrough speaks with:

Deirdre Temple, Head of Solutions, Technology | RTÉ [2min 00sec]
Brian Wynne, Head of Technology, Infrastructure | RTÉ [2min 00sec]
Abigail Hughes, Director of Sales Operations for Global Partnership | ITV Studios [5min 32sec]
Natalina Manni, Head of Content Strategy & Operations, Europe, Russia & Israel | TikTok [8min 34sec]
Rebecca Jackson, Marketing and Business Development | Caretta Research [10min 38sec]
Renata Andriusyte, Northern and Central Europe Director | NPAW [14min 46sec]
Till Sudworth, CMO and Head of BU Video | NPAW [14min 46sec]
JJ Eynon, Director of Engineering, CNN | Warner Bros. Discovery [18min 40sec]
Adam Leah, Creative Director | nxtedition [21min 34sec]
Arne Berven, CEO | Wolftech [24min 16sec]

With special thanks to filmmaker, director and editor Mark Levermore for recording the video and audio from the DPP Leaders' Briefing 2023.

Sanjeevan Bala is ITV Chief Data & AI Officer. In Part 2 of the DPP's calm reflections about artificial intelligence in the media industry, Sanjeevan speaks with DPP Editorial Director Edward Qualtrough to offer the content provider perspective about AI in media. He discusses:

• The genus of his Chief Data & AI Officer role [1min 47sec]
• Identifying opportunities and developing guardrails [5min 01sec]
• Running immersive AI workshops with ITV leadership [8min 54sec]
• Commodisation and consumerisation of AI capabilities [12min 50sec]
• Balancing cost and value; and comparing 10x vs marginal opportunities [16min 10 sec]
• When to partner, build and buy with AI solutions? [20min 36sec]
• 'Taking the model to the data' and the roadmap to AI at the Edge [23min 55sec]
• Why you don’t need an AI strategy [27min 29sec]
• Macro trends and conjecture about the future impact of AI in media [29min 55sec]

In Part 1 we spoke with Johanna Björklund, Co-founder and CTO at media technology startups Adlede and Codemill, as well as Associate Professor in Theoretical Computer Science with a focus on semantic analysis of multimodal data at Umeå University. You can listen to that episode here.

Johanna Björklund is Co-founder and CTO at media technology startups Adlede and Codemill; she is also Associate Professor in Theoretical Computer Science with a focus on semantic analysis of multimodal data at Umeå University. In Part 1 of a look at Artificial Intelligence in the media industry, Johanna speaks with DPP CTO Rowan de Pomerai to discuss initiatives she is involved with, future opportunities, and share some calm reflections about AI from the perspective of an experienced academic and startup CTO after a year of hype.

In Part 2 in this focus on AI in media we are joined by Chief Data & AI Officer at ITV, Sanjeevan Bala, to hear about his role and how the broadcasters are looking to implement and utilise emerging technology innovations in AI.

[Listen to the DPP podcast with ITV Chief Data & AI Officer Sanjeevan Bala here]

What’s the point of trade shows? Are these exhibition events actually worth going to? DPP staff were among the 40-odd thousand people at the recent IBC 2023 conference in Amsterdam — where we also hosted our own gatherings. And to hear more about peoples’ best and worst trade show experiences, and the most exciting and dullest years for heading to media technology exhibition events, DPP CEO Mark Harrison caught up with industry professionals to find out.

Show Notes

In this episode of the DPP podcast, CEO Mark Harrison speaks with:

Eric Carson — Vubiquity, Executive VP, Sales & Strategic Growth [4min 07sec]

Larissa Görner — Proximus Media House, CTO [07min 58sec]

Pauline Depière — Proximus Media House, Head of editorial and digital content, and Proximus PO Editorial management [07min 58sec]

Andy Beale — Technology leaders, former BT Sport Chief Engineer & Head of Innovation [11min 05sec]

Tom Griffiths — ITV, Director Of Technology - Content Supply & Distribution [17min 20sec]

Lucy O’Brien — RIEDEL, Customer Success Director, EMEA [19min 59sec]

Craig Wilson — Avid, Product Evangelist - Video and Media [25min 56sec]

Anne Dargusch — TransPerfect, Director, Strategic Accounts [30min 42sec]

Jeny Nicholson — Deepdub.ai, Vice President of Sales [30min 42sec]

Chris Crichlow — Deliveroo, Global AV & Events Manager [36min 43sec]

Anton Dvorkovich — Dubformer, CEO [42min 14sec]

Olga Suvorova — Dubformer, Head of Crowd Localisation [42min 14sec]

Irina Divnogortseva — Dubformer, Head of Business Development, Media & Entertainment [42min 14sec]

Photos and highlights from the DPP's Amsterdam events are found here. To find out more about being part of the DPP's initiatives at IBC and NAB conferences in Amsterdam and Las Vegas, contact Rowan de Pomerai.

RÚV CTO Bragi Reynisson speaks with DPP Editorial Director Edward Qualtrough about his Chief Technology Officer role at the national broadcaster of Iceland in the August 2023 episode of the DPP podcast, as well as being deployed to emergency situations and disaster areas as part of his responsibilities for the Icelandic Association for Search and Rescue.

Show Notes

In this episode, DPP Editorial Director Edward Qualtrough speaks with RÚV CTO Bragi Reynisson who discusses his CTO role, responding to national and international emergencies with ICE-SAR and Nethope, hybrid production, hybrid cloud, hybrid working, and upcoming technology transformation initiatives at the Icelandic national broadcaster.

[* An original version of this podcast appeared to have Bragi saying "search and rescue is not deep in my soul", which sounded contrary to the tone of the statement. This was a recording error and the 'not' has since been edited out, although some cached versions on players like Spotify may not have updated.]

Ross Video CEO David Ross speaks with Mark Harrison in the July 2023 episode of the DPP podcast. David shares his leadership lessons, stories of succession planning (and TV show Succession), technology and business expertise, and insight from 50 years of growth and innovation at the company his father, John Ross, founded in Iroquois, Canada, in the 1970s.

Show Notes

In this episode, DPP CEO Mark Harrison interviews Ross Video CEO David Ross. David discusses:

The formation of Ross Video in 1973 [3min 22sec]
Getting interested in technology [6min 02sec]
Joining Ross Video [8min 05sec]
Lessons from his father and the Ross Code of Ethics [11min 37sec]
Maintaining and managing culture through growth and acquisition [22min 24sec]
How to make your company a great place to work [29min 40sec]
Facilitating innovation and ideas from inside Ross [39min 54sec]
How good workforce engagement makes happy customers [47min 27sec]
Succession planning and an upcoming IPO [50min 56sec]
His biggest mistakes [59min 54sec]

To find out more about being part of the DPP Podcast, contact Edward.

The DPP was in New York at the beginning of June 2023 for its annual Media Supply Festival. And on Madison Avenue, DPP CEO Mark Harrison caught up with technology and business executives from the media, broadcasting and tech sector to digest and debrief some of the major themes and trends in industry. How are media organisations and their partners working to common goals, and what do organisations like Disney, BBC, Sinclair Broadcast Group, SDVI, Signiant, Overcast and TMT Insights think about the innovations that are powering the content supply chain?

Show Notes

In this episode, DPP CEO Mark Harrison speaks with:

Mike Palmer — Sinclair Broadcast Group, AVP Media Management [3min 35sec]
Nicola Greaves — BBC Studios, EVP Global Operations [8min 01sec]
Melayne Cohen — Disney, VP Content Systems & Business Operations [13min 32sec]
Philippe Brodeur — Overcast, CEO [16min 25sec]
George Kilpatrick — Overcast COO [16min 25sec]
Andy Shenkler — TMT Insights Group, CEO [22min 41sec]
Hannah Barnhardt — TMT Insights Group, COO [22min 41sec]
Margaret Craig — Signiant, CEO [27 min 13sec]
Larry Kaplan — SDVI, CEO [29min 15sec]
Janet Gardner — Perspective Media, President [31min 13sec]

DPP members can explore Mark's Media Supply Festival: The Key Insights summary report here.

How mature is the media supply chain, and the content supply chain - and what can our industry learn about optimisation and excellence in other sectors? DPP CEO Mark Harrison dived into this topic with Mike Yorwerth, a technology and business executive who has been Chief Technology Officer at Marks & Spencer and Chief Architect and Technology Director at Tesco, two of the biggest retailers in Europe, to find out.

Show Notes

DPP Editorial Director Edward Qualtrough introduces DPP CEO Mark Harrison and Mike Yorwerth, an experienced retail CTO, as Mark and Mike discuss the challenges of retail supply chains, sustainability, managing multidisciplinary teams and what retail can teach other sectors.

Are we on the brink of an automated localisation revolution? The demand for localised and versioned content has never been greater, as consumers seek more content - in more languages - that reflects their locale. Yet specialist localisation companies, which are going through a boom, are struggling to keep up.

In The Future of Localisation, the DPP explored emerging technologies including machine learning, image analysis, speech to text, and synthetic media to see how tech innovations are helping bridge the gap.

Show Notes

To discuss innovations and trends in localisation in this episode enabled by SDVI, DPP Editorial Director Edward Qualtrough is joined by:

Geoff Stedman, CMO | SDVI
Scott McCarthy, Vice President Head of Dubbing | Dreamworks Animation
Elodie Powers, Service Line Director, Global Audio Development, Streaming & Broadcast | Keyword Studios
Ira Dworkin, Managing Director - Communications, Media & Entertainment | FPT Software
Rowan de Pomerai, CTO | DPP

More information about the DPP's The Future of Localisation report can be found here.

How do you make SVOD work? And how do you make FAST channels work? Paramount+ and Pluto TV EVP and International General Managers, Marco Nobili and Olivier Jollet, join the DPP podcast to talking about their roles leading Paramount's subscription and ad-funded services outside of the US.

Show Notes

DPP Editorial Director, Edward Qualtrough, is joined by:

Marco Nobili, Executive Vice President and International General Manager of Paramount+
Olivier Jollet, Executive Vice President and International General Manager Pluto TV

Marco and Olivier discuss technology innovations, leading international media operations, maintaining your startup culture in a large corporate, developments in AdTech, using artificial intelligence in media and entertainment, lessons from 111 years creating and delivering video to customers, and why ultimately content will always be king.