Natpe launches streaming summit

An inaugural streaming summit has been announced as part of Natpe Miami 2018, with the leading players in the OTT market set to descend on the conference, the head of the US organisation has confirmed.

JP Bommel

Natpe president and CEO JP Bommel told C21 that the emergence and growth of OTT content was the “evolution of the industry” and that the summit would address “how it impacts linear TV and complements distribution opportunities.”

“In a changing world, it’s so hard to navigate that OTT content, so the summit will bring the top players in the industry to help us understand what deals are being done, how you make deals and how you distribute your content via OTT in the global marketplace,” Bommel added.

“There’s an explosion of SVoD in Latin America, and in the US alone you have 200 OTT platforms. So it’s very important we go into all those details so the constituents and participants understand that business very clearly.”

Bommel said digital and streaming giants such as Netflix, Facebook, Amazon and YouTube would be in attendance at the conference. Ricky Van Veen, head of global and creative strategy at Facebook, will head a session about OTT, with a particular focus on the company’s fledgling video content platform, Watch.

The digital thread that will run through the conference will be supplemented by the release of a white paper on the impact of OTT on linear TV.

The conference themes will mirror the objectives laid out by the new Natpe NXTGN advisory board, which recently added Cindy Holland, VP of original content at Netflix; Mina Lefevre, head of development at Facebook; Pearlena Igbokwe, president of Universal Television; and Sharon Vuong, senior VP of alternative programming at CBS, to reflect the “future of the industry.”

There will also be an increased focus on international attendees, with Natpe tracking 10% ahead of last year in terms of numbers. Bommel also confirmed that Natpe was “committed to stay in Miami,” calling it the “epicentre” of the content world.

Other highlights of the three-day conference will include Tony Vinciquerra, chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment, in a keynote conversation with journalist and presenter Soledad O’Brien, and a session with new Revolt TV CEO Roma Khanna.