ImagineLIVE Power Sessions to focus on how Imagine Communications is delivering Future of TV, Today

Imagine Communications, empowering the media and entertainment industry through transformative innovation, will once again host a series of knowledge-sharing and interactive discussions at NAB featuring prominent executives and subject matter experts from across the media and entertainment and IT industries. The 2017 NAB Show edition of the ImagineLIVE Power Sessions will be conducted at Imagine’s newly relocated and redesigned booth (SL1516) in the Lower South Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center, and is free to all attendees.

ImagineLIVE NAB 2017 will feature lunchtime and mid-afternoon sessions throughout the exhibition that are designed to shine a light on the latest technologies, innovations and business models that broadcasters and other media companies around the world are actively adopting to accelerate the modernization of their businesses. Several of the sessions will focus on how Imagine Communications is leveraging its early embrace of next-generation architectures and technologies, including microservices, cloud-native applications and unified distribution, to help media companies fully exploit the benefits of IT-based virtualized environments using commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) platforms. Other topics include monetizing OTT services, cloud playout and how the company is working with leading broadcasters to explore the potential of the new ATSC 3.0 specification to support advanced services and unique business models, including the delivery of hyperlocalized programming and advertising.

Companies and organizations joining Imagine Communications executives and subject matter experts in the ImagineLIVE Power Sessions include Arista Networks, Disney/ABC Television Group, Fox Networks, EVS, Hewlett-Packard Enterprise, Microsoft, ONE Media, Sinclair Broadcast Group, Siemens Convergence Creators, SKY MEDIA, tpc, Telstra, TV Globo and Viacom.

“After spending the past couple of years investigating and debating the feasibility of shifting operations to a more agile and versatile technology foundation, media companies understand that it is now time to take action — to put in place the building blocks of state-of-the-art facilities that will serve the needs of their businesses for the foreseeable future,” said Imagine Communications CEO Charlie Vogt, who will be hosting a special Power Session panel Tuesday afternoon on the Future of Television featuring Disney/ABC Television Group, Fox Networks, Microsoft, ONE Media and Viacom. “This year’s ImagineLIVE Power Sessions have been carefully selected to showcase how our customers are already well engaged in their efforts to introduce advanced business models and monetization practices that are capable of keeping pace with an industry that is changing more quickly and profoundly than at any other time in its history.”

ImagineLIVE Power Session schedule and speakers:

Monday, April 24, 12:30-1:15 PM
Broadcasters and ATSC 3.0 – New Revenue from New Localism (JW Linkenauger, Director Advertising Support Operations, Sinclair Broadcast Group; Delbert Parks, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Sinclair Broadcast Group; Sarah Foss, Chief Product Officer, AMS, Imagine Communications; and Steve Reynolds, Chief Technology Officer, Imagine Communications)

Monday, April 24, 3:30-4:15 PM
IP Cloud Playout – Come on in, the Water is Fine (Andrew Bender, Account Chief Technologist, Global Accounts, HPE; Dario Scacciati, Senior Director Global Business Development, Media & Entertainment, Microsoft; Mark A. Sanders, General Manager – Enterprise Video (Engineering), Telstra; Mauricio Felix, Senior Project Manager, TV Globo; and Steve Smith, Cloud Chief Technology Officer, Imagine Communications)

Tuesday, April 25, 12:30-1:15 PM
The Future of Television: Hosted by Imagine’s CEO  (Brad Wall, Senior Vice President, Network Operations, Disney/ABC Television Group; Richard Friedel, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Fox Networks Engineering & Operations and President of Video Services Forum; Bob DeHaven, General Manager, Worldwide Communications & Media, Microsoft; Kevin Gage, Executive Vice President of Strategic Development and Chief Technology Officer, ONE Media; and David Kline, Executive Vice President and Chief Information & Technology Officer, Viacom; and Charlie Vogt, Chief Executive Officer, Imagine Communications)

Tuesday, April 25, 3:30-4:15 PM
IP for Live – Notes from the Field (Christopher J. Mascatello, Executive Vice President, Technology Solutions, ANC; Ed Chapman, Vice President Business Development & Alliances, Arista Networks; James Stellpflug, Vice President of Product Marketing — Global, EVS; Andreas Lattmann, Chief Technology Officer, tpc Switzerland AG; and Steve Reynolds, Chief Technology Officer, Imagine Communications)

Wednesday, April 26, 12:30-1:15 PM
Omniplatform Optimization & Audience: The New Currency of Campaign Management (Jeff Eales, Director of Systems & Development, SKY MEDIA; and Sarah Foss, Chief Product Officer, AMS, Imagine Communications)

Wednesday, April 26, 3:30-4:15 PM
OTT Distribution – How to Scope, Scale and Succeed (Frank Deo, Chief Technology Officer, American Theater Channel; Rashmi Misra, Head of Worldwide Media and Entertainment, HPE; Markus Placho, Head of Media Business Unit, Siemens Convergence Creators; Yuval Fisher, Chief Technology Officer, MVPD, Imagine Communications; and Glodina Lostanlen, Chief Marketing Officer, Imagine Communications)

Detailed presentation descriptions can be found here.

Additional knowledge-sharing activities at Imagine’s booth include a daily master class session on Zenium™, the company’s powerful and pure microservices technology for building smarter applications and services for virtualized environments, hosted by Darren Gallipeau, Technical Director — Playout, Networking, and Distribution, Imagine Communications. The 30-minute classes, which begin at 10:30 AM and run from Monday through Wednesday, are designed to provide hands-on instruction in how media companies can unleash the power of Zenium to reduce costs, improve efficiency and speed to market, as well as condition their operations to quickly and seamlessly integrate the latest technologies and capabilities.

The 2017 NAB Show will also mark the debut of several product innovations from Imagine Communications that bring generational advances to today’s media operations and practices. Visitors to the Imagine Communications booth (SL1516) will have access to dozens of demonstrations that highlight the capabilities of the company’s latest solutions from its market-leading live production, playout, multiscreen delivery and ad management portfolios. Imagine Communications will also be showcasing many of its solutions as cloud services available through Microsoft Azure.

Imagine Communications is a participant in the 2017 NAB IP Showcase, a cooperation of multiple standards organizations and the Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS) that is dedicated to demonstrating the interoperability of the SMPTE 2110 specification (currently being finalized) and highlighting the creative and business-building benefits of IP technology.

Press and analysts are invited to the Imagine Communications NAB press conference at the TAO Restaurant on Sunday, April 23, beginning at 6:30 PM.

For more information about Imagine Communications’ products and solutions, please visit www.imaginecommunications.com.

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About Imagine Communications
Imagine Communications empowers the media and entertainment industry through transformative innovation. Broadcasters, networks, video service providers and enterprises around the world rely on our optimized, future-proof, multiscreen video and revenue enablement solutions every day to support their mission-critical operations. Today, nearly half of the world’s video channels traverse our products, and our software solutions drive close to a third of global ad revenue. Through continuous innovation we are delivering the most advanced IP, cloud-enabled, software-defined network and workflow solutions in the industry. Visit www.imaginecommunications.com for more information, and follow us on Twitter @imagine_comms.