Speakers at the ‘Content Forum' held in Dublin last week have declared interactive TV and 3G phone handsets are providing new market opportunities for content producers. The seminar which was organised by Enterprise Ireland and IBEC's Audiovisual Federation discussed how entertainment in the home will be revolutionised 'by home media networks' (HMN).
Speaking at the seminar, Peter Hamilton, a US TV expert formally of CBS, stated that TVs, game platforms, phones and other communication devices will be networked and controlled through a single 'zapper'. Mark Deering, Director of Sky, questioned whether traditional TV advertising revenue streams can be maintained given that new technologies eg digital video recorder (DVR) allow advertising to be bypassed.
John Allen of Digisoft.tv spoke on the new software on mobile phones which enable the geographical location of the user to be determined. For example, he said parents can in future locate their children at any time through their mobile phones.
Maggie Daleo, from the LA office of Enterprise Ireland stated that in the US the major film studios have expanded their operations to include new departments for interactive TV and wireless content. She referred to the new content language of 'ring tones, blink tones (based on hip hop music) and advergaming (advertising through games)'
Carolan Lennon of Vodafone spoke of the huge current opportunities offered by 3G handsets which will include streaming of news, sport and music. The production of soap series for mobile phones is also a new market opportunity. Larry Bass of Screen Producers Ireland called for the retention of rights from broadcasters for independently produced programmes. Muirne Laffan of RTE Publishing described RTE as 'early followers' in the interactive TV space. Gerry Butler of XtraVision spoke of the changing nature of video rental which in future will be downloaded into homes over a multiplicity of devices eg TV, PCs or phones.
John Cummins of Agtel and chairman of IBEC's Audiovisual Federation spoke of the enduring need for Enterprise Ireland and the AV sector to continue working closely together to further develop the export potential of the sector.
