Monthly archives for January, 2018

Isle of Media Networking

Our first Isle of Man after work networking event of 2018 was held at the the bath&bottle. Kindly and generously sponsored by Duke Video.

Thank you to everyone who was able to attend, we hope you enjoyed the event and made some new connections, as well as seeing people already in your network. Not only did we have representatives from lots of Isle of Man businesses and organisations, but also those who traveled from further afield – UK, Italy and our new CEO Michael Wilson from Switzerland.

Thanks to the bath&bottle for letting us take over the place and hearty thanks of course our event sponsor, Duke Video, without which the event would not be able to take place.

There are some wonderful pictures on the link below, please have a look and see if you can spot yourself. If you would like to use any of the pictures, feel free to do so, but please give www.isleofmedia.org a little mention if you will!

Isle of Media Announces Michael Wilson as New CEO

Michael Wilson - Isle of Media - New CEOWe’re pleased to announce today that former Sky and ITV senior executive Michael Wilson has joined Isle of Man as the new Chief Executive Officer. Wilson, 48, was until recently the Managing Director of Northern Ireland based ITV division, UTV.

Isle of Media, which markets the Isle of Man Digital Media Cluster as a private public partnership, acts as the national development agency for the thriving Isle of Man video, television and film sector.

Dr Richard K. Arning, Chairman of Isle of Media said:

“Michael, who is a very senior figurehead in industry, will further strengthen our offering, benefiting media entrepreneurs and investors. With his experience of more than two decades in commercial broadcasting in the UK, US and Ireland, ranging from programming, news gathering, government and regulatory relations, to launching various channels and digital platforms like apps and players, we are excited to take Isle of Media to the next level with him as the driving force behind our digital and creative strategy for the Island. We also would like to thank our former CEO Stuart Semark for his efforts supporting the launch of Isle of Media.”

Wilson, who joined UTV in 2005 after 10 year at Sky News, oversaw UTV’s expansion, the launch in Ireland and the final transition of its television arm to ITV. The high quality programming – he was responsible for more than 1000 hours of content a year – consistently earned multiple awards punching well above the weight of UTV.

Michael Wilson stated:

“Isle of Media is at a hugely exciting time in its development with global ambitions. I look forward to developing industry links and encouraging those with entrepreneurial ideas and businesses across the whole supply change of content creation, distribution and commissioning to news, channel operation and digital platforms to look at the Isle of Man as an ideal location to grow. For me it is the right time to move with Isle of Media into new ventures, I look forward to leveraging my experience in content creation and digital industries for the Isle of Man.

The Island is uniquely positioned as Europe’s only offshore Digital Media cluster as it is blessed not only as a picturesque filming location and its own culture but with substantial advantages of a wide creative and techy talent base in film, video and IT, an extraordinary telecommunication infrastructure, financial incentive schemes and a Digital Media sector inclined government.”

TV Trends for 2018

As the new year has arrived, it’s time to have a look at the global TV trends in 2018. With the rise of streaming media like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, (as well as others we’ll see popping up this year) and as celebrities rush over to OTT TV to be our next binge watching addiction; it’s been a while since TV has seen so much disruption. We’ve compiled a top ten of TV trends we think will impact the television industry in 2018:

Bifurcation of the TV Industry

With more ways to view content than ever, what does that mean for content makers? We’re already seeing the shift to TV splitting into two: live, event based content  and high end dramas and documentaries on the other. Amol Rajan discusses in his media trends article for the BBC.

Monetisation beyond Netflix and Amazon

Wendy Bernfield, founder of Rights Stuff, advised content makers to focus on new digital and hybrid players. The prized Netflix deal is becoming more and more of a mythical beast, reports Screendaily.

The Future of Television 2018 - Top TV Trends

Scale, Scale, Scale

2018 sees further ramp up of original content and bigger than ever budgets, a super-merger of giants and Disney’s movie streaming platform nearing launch. Andreas Wiseman shares his own top nine storylines thought to dominate the year ahead.

Targeted Advertising

With the digital nature of OTT TV a large amount of customisation comes with ad products, going some way to solving the problem of having an age where consumers have only a small amount of patience for what is seen as interruptive advertising. Alan Wolk, contributor for Forbes, discusses the crossroads the TV world currently finds itself in.

Niche goes Mainstream

Not only is advertising becoming more tailored to the user, long and short form content itself is looking to be going the same way, sitting above the production value of YouTube, but not at the GOT level.

“Facebook is looking to find niche content communities with sizable user bases and create shows that are attractive to those audiences, using the Facebook platform to drive tune-in and create awareness.” Alan Wolk, Co-Founder/Lead Analyst at TV[R]EV

Longevity in eSports

It looks like eSports is here to stay. 2018 sees large and long-term investments being made in the eSports sector and the investment bug seems to be catching with some big players committing some serious money. Is this the next big shift in the (lucrative) entertainment industry? Brian Chang discusses for Dot Esports.

Skinny TV and Social Media on Steroids

Where does social media fit in to the TV picture? The race is on for social giants to be the first to get it right. And will Google’s Youtube TV be one to watch in 2018? Jennifer Van Grove reports.

License to Broadcast – Brexit Skyfall

Brexit has many far and wide implications for many industries, the TV, film and media industries also have to brace themselves for what may come in 2018. “Over 1,000 exported TV channels will find themselves exposed”, explains Robert Briel for Broadband TV News.

The Future of Television 2018 - Top TV Trends - Smart TV

What happened to UK local TV?

And, what is the future of it? Why does Birmingham, Alabhama have eight local television stations and Birmingham, West Midlands a grand total of zero? Mike Manning from a516digital looks at the 34 available licenses in the UK and what the future holds for UK local TV.

Viking proposal for the future of Public Broadcasting

Looking globally, Denmark’s governing Liberal party is planning a new platform for Danish- produced content, Danflix. Paid for by television licensing and promising a shake-up in the way Danish viewers access public service content.

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