Explore TV, Now and Beyond at ATF 2008

The 9th edition of the annual Asia Television Forum will see executives of the television business across the region congregate in Singapore at a time when the face of television is rapidly changing, with digital services opening up vast new content opportunities. To meet the demands of the industry, the theme of the conferences at this year's event will focus on the development of TV, providing industry professionals with valuable insights beyond the traditional media landscape. Aside from exploring new media trends, technologies, opportunities and challenges, leading industry experts will also be able to share ideas and discuss the most pertinent issues in today's media landscape.

This year's Media Financing Forum will commence on 9 December with the theme of "Understand,

Adapt and Evolve - Towards a Market for Asian Content". The Media Financing Forum 2008 will present the views and insights of industry leaders with the focus of presenting viable business models employed in the US, Europe and Asia in the areas of content development, financing its production and the subsequent sales and distribution of content. Through the Keynote presentations and the subsequent discussion sessions, the Forum hopes that participants will be able to take away important ideas that will help provide an added impetus to transform the industry

"This is an exciting time for the content business, particularly in Asia where new content formats are being introduced and adopted. It is an honour to be invited to speak at ATF's Media Financing Forum and to discuss Shine's rapid growth in becoming one of UK 's super-independents. What participants can expect from Shine are insights into UK and US innovations in content production and in-depth discussions on how viable business models could be adapted in Asia," says Mr. Stephen Kirk, Non executive director at Shine TV Group, United Kingdom.

The Digital Future Symposium (DFS) on 10 December will focus on Digital Watermarking and Fingerprinting for Content Recognition. Topics under discussion will include the technologies, applications (current and future), implementations and challenges relating to watermarking and fingerprinting technologies.

Back for the 8th consecutive year, this year's Superpitch goes high-definition and will allow creative content producers around the Asia Pacific the opportunity to transform their ideas into reality and get discovered by commissioning editors and executives from channels, networks and content creation companies in the region. Superpitch HD contestants are expected to send in their entries in any genre that are suited for production in HD. Shortlisted entrants will then present their pitch "live" on 11 December to the judges.

With TV viewing going mobile, the MobileTV Session on 11 December presents discussions on mobile as the 7th mass media, bringing together telecommunication operators, content owners and broadcasters.

The New Media Conference, to take place on 12 December will center on the theme of "Widgets and the Future of TV". It aims to introduce the shift in consumer behavior for content providers and advertisers through the use of Widgets on TV programmes and advertising.

The Asia Television Forum is the single, most comprehensive television programming content sourcing platform in Asia and is scheduled to take place from 10-12 December 2008 at SUNTEC Singapore. It also serves as the anchor event for the annual Asia Media Festival (AMF), organized by the Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA), which showcases a wide tableau of Asia 's richest and most exciting media content and creative talents.