Los Angeles, CA -- NATPE President & CEO Rod Perth announced that prominent investor Mark Cuban, owner-chairman of AXS TV (formerly HDNet) and owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, will serve as the opening keynote speaker at the organization’s milestone 50th anniversary market and conference, to be held Jan. 28-30 at Miami Beach’s Fontainebleau Resort. Mr. Cuban’s session will kick off the three-day event built around the theme of moving “Beyond Disruption.”
Mr. Cuban’s keynote conversation with CNN’s Poppy Harlow will headline the Game Changers track at NATPE||Content First, which spotlights leaders from some of the world’s top companies that have continually challenged mainstream thinking.
“Mark is an innovative businessman whose work has helped to change the face of the media world,” Mr. Perth said. “With each step of his career, this entrepreneurial mogul has expanded his interests and influence, fully embodying NATPE'S theme of ‘Beyond Disruption.’ As we dedicate this year’s market to how new business models are being created, we are excited to have his voice set the stage for the game changing conversations among industry leaders at NATPE.”
Mr. Cuban’s HDNet, the world’s only all high-definition television network, launched in 2001 when HD was still an infant technology. The channel, now known as AXS TV, is a multiplatform hub for live events, concerts and breaking news in pop culture, music, fashion and entertainment, and reaches an estimated 35 million homes. Mr. Cuban, who got his start in the technology sector, co-founded MicroSolutions, a leading national systems integrator, with partner Martin Woodall in 1983 and later sold it to CompuServe. He then co-founded Broadcast.com, the leading provider of multimedia and streaming on the Internet, which Yahoo! Inc. purchased in 1999. Since then, Mr. Cuban has continued to support tech and product startups while investing in content, including various TV productions, Landmark Theatres and Magnolia Pictures. He also appears as a series regular on ABC’s popular series Shark Tank.
With Mr. Cuban as owner, the Dallas Mavericks have become perennial contenders in the NBA, winning at least 50 games in each of the past 10 seasons and capturing the 2010-11 championship. After purchasing the team in 2000, Cuban encouraged fans to interact with him via e-mail, a unique effort that led to him personally responding to hundreds of thousands of messages. In 2011, he published “How to Win at the Sport of Business: If I Can Do It, You Can Do It,” based on his blog posts chronicling his business career
Other speakers in the Game Changers track include Erin McPherson, vice president and head of video, Yahoo!; Rhonda Shantz, vice president, Global Brand Marketing and PR, Norton; Jamie Byrne, global head of content strategy, Google/YouTube; Chris M. Williams, chief development officer, Maker Studios; David Pakman, partner, Venrock; Richard Greenfield, analyst, BTIG; Betsy Morgan, CEO/president, TheBlaze; Bill O'Dowd, President, Dolphin Entertainment; and David Freeman, co-head of the Brand Coverage Group, Creative Artists Agency.
Stephen Lambert, chief executive of Studio Lambert, will serve as the international keynote speaker on day three of the conference to kick off the Global Navigators track. Other speakers focused on international content and programming—including channels, formats, global production solutions and cross‑cultural brand strategies—are Alberto Ciurana, president, programming and content, Univision Networks; Jacqueline Hernandez, chief operating officer, Telemundo Media; Philip Gurin, president, The Gurin Company; Philip Schuman, CEO and co-founder, HighView Media; and Brad Kania, head of content distribution, Samsung Electronics, among others.
Speakers on the Masters of Messaging track will feature top executives from brand and production companies, studios and ad solution providers, including Steve Hasker, president, Global Media Products and Advertiser Solutions at Nielsen; Mike Bloxham, executive director, marketing at the Media Behavior Institute; Dustin Garis, corporate innovator, P&G; Stuart McLean, founder & CEO, Content & Company; Tony Pace, senior vice president, global chief marketing officer, Subway Franchise Advertising Fund; and Jamie Widdoes, director of Two and a Half Men.
The Storytellers That Shape Pop Culture session will feature Howard Gordon, executive producer of Showtime’s Emmy Award-winning drama series Homeland; Dick Wolf, creator and executive producer of NBC’s Emmy Award-winning Law & Order franchise and head of Wolf Films; Anthony E. Zuiker, creator of the hit CBS drama series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation; and Tim Kring, creator of Touch and Heroes.
In the Technologies That Fuel Multi-Platform Content track, speakers will explore the explosion of video and broadcast capabilities across all screens. They include Hardie Tankersley, vice president of innovation and social media, FOX Broadcasting; Will Law, principal architect – media engineering, Akamai; Ann Glenn, director of social media marketing, Sony Pictures Interactive; and Sean Besser, executive vice president of business development, partnerships and strategy, GetGlue; Eric Thompson, business development manager, custom branded entertainment, XBOX Live Entertainment and Advertising, Microsoft Corp.; Ajay Shah, co-founder and CEO, TV Plus; and Ann Glenn, director of social media marketing, Sony Pictures Interactive.
Participating in the Visionaries series of talks will be Jason Silva, founding producer and host, Current TV; Lance Podell, director and global head, YouTube Next Lab; Marc Scarpa, Simplynew Studios; and Larry Tanz, CEO, Vuguru LLC.
More speakers will be announced in coming months.
Source: NATPE