IP&TV World Forum Rebrands to TV Connect

Informa Telecoms & Media, the organiser of IP&TV World Forum, the world’s leading connected entertainment event, today announces that the event will be rebranded as TV Connect, to echo the evolving industry and rapidly converging TV market.

The event, which is now in its eighth year, has been a global platform leading the debate, the development and the deployment of IP delivered TV, and embodies a vibrant and dynamic marketplace. With cablecos, satellite, terrestrial broadcasters, content providers and telcos all providing enhancements to their services through Internet connectivity, the rebrand represents the growing and diverse nature of IP & Connected TV, and recognises the shift in industry players that now offer TV and personalised media services.

Gavin Whitechurch, Executive Director of Informa Telecoms & Media, said,“While managed end-to-end telco IPTV will always be at the core of our coverage, our industry now encapsulates so much more. Our market is rich with alternative service terminologies; from multiplatform and multiscreen, to TV Everywhere, mobile TV, Smart TV and Connected TV, and OTT TV to Personal TV. We believe our future – and that of the industry – is to bring together those different strands, and more, as we develop a world of connected entertainment.”

TV Connect is an inclusive brand that recognises the business and technical challenges that the community faces, and those within it, including telcos, cable providers, broadcasters and ISPs, consumer electronics and Smart TV companies, content providers, application developers, and other connected entertainment providers, such as gaming and music.

“The industry is coming of age and is moving away from a focus purely on technology, and shifting more towards services and experience. The discussion is now on service innovation, and building more compelling connected entertainment experiences - blending platforms and media streams to enrich, to personalize, to differentiate, and ultimately to monetize. This is already reflected in this year’s program which includes global players in the broadcast arena, including Twitter, MTV, Sony, NBC, Shazam and the BBC.

“The business and technical challenges that our community is now wrestling with involve using the flexibility and addressability of IP to deliver a wide array of services. These range from Smart TVs and TV Apps, to OTT and multiplatform TV services, advanced content discovery and UI, new generations of advertising, to the connected home, and to the content delivery networks that underpin all of these.

“We are moving forward with a brand that fully reflects the diversity of this dynamic market and we look forward to welcoming you to TV Connect, here at the Olympia on 19-21 March 2013,” concluded Whitechurch.

To view the full event programme and register for IP&TV World Forum, please visit www.iptv-forum.com.