Edinburgh TV Festival unveils State of the TV Nation panel

YouTube’s EMEA chief Ben McOwen Wilson, Channel 4 CEO Alex Mahon (pictured) and Lionsgate TV Group president Sandra Stern are among senior executives set to appear on a ‘State of the TV Nation’ panel at the Edinburgh TV Festival in August.

They will be joined by All3Media CEO Jane Turton and president of NBCUniversal International Studios Jeff Wachtel for the session, which will explore the fast-changing TV landscape.

The session will be chaired by Krishnan Guru-Murthy, presenter and journalist at Channel 4 News.

CEO and Festival Director, Lisa Campbell said: “Viewing patterns are changing more rapidly than anyone anticipated and the repurcussions for the creative industry are enormous.

“We’ll be asking the fundamental questions about how broadcast businesses are evolving, how we measure success and the future of the terms of trade.

“Are we moving fast enough for audiences or are we the true agents of change? With more SVOD launches on the horizon and services like Netflix skewing commissions for a younger audience, how will broadcast TV fight back?”

Last month the festival unveiled the nominations for its annual Edinburgh TV Awards, which has expanded its categories to recognise online content as well as smaller production companies. The best international drama category sees six high-profile shows in competition including the BBC’s Killing Eve, CBS’s The Good Fight and the second season of MGM’s The Handmaid’s Tale.