Vice chief to deliver MacTaggart

The Edinburgh International Television Festival (EITF) has revealed Vice CEO Shane Smith will deliver its annual James MacTaggart Memorial Lecture at this year’s event.

Vice’s Shane Smith

The co-founder of the youth-skewing media outfit will take to the stage ahead of the launch of the company’s first TV channel, Viceland, in the UK and Ireland with Sky in September.

Smith, who follows the likes of 21st Century Fox chief James Murdoch and actor Kevin Spacey in delivering the speech, will discuss the changing dynamic between old and new media, as well as creating content for a young global audience across different screens.

“This year will be a bloodbath. New media will consolidate or get bought up by old media who will continue to flail about in the froth of de-stratification of the status quo. In the midst of all this chaos new media monoliths will be born,” said Smith.

C21 will again be producing the official festival daily paper during the event, which runs from August 24-26 in the Scottish capital and is sponsored by YouTube and BT.

Other speakers during the festival include: Peter Rice, chairman and CEO for the Fox Networks Group; Patrick Moran, executive VP, ABC Studios; and Keli Lee, MD of international content and talent for ABC’s Entertainment Group.

Meanwhile, following a year of dramatic changes at the top of the BBC, ITV and Sky 1, the Meet the Controllers strand will feature a host of new faces.

Kevin Lygo will take to the stage for his first ITV controller interview, with the strand also featuring BBC1’s Charlotte Moore, Channel 5’s Ben Frow, Sky 1’s Adam MacDonald, Channel 4’s Jay Hunt, as well as channel heads from UKTV, Discovery, and the BBC.

Former BBC drama boss Ben Stephenson will speak about his role at Bad Robot in the US, while Leftbank’s Andy Harries, Sky drama head Anne Mensah, Endemol Shine’s Cathy Payne and The Bridge and Marcella writer Hans Rosenfeldt will also feature.

Other sessions will cover topics such as the future of public service broadcasting, the Islamic State’s use of the media and the likely impact of virtual reality on TV.