Last year, television was dominated by reality and game-show formats. Relatively cheap to produce, they ousted other productions. But now viewers are starting to get tired of these formats and program managers are trying to pinpoint new trends. At the same time, the consensus is that the medium is going downhill. Consolidation of the TV market continues. Furthermore, after years of boom in advertising, the first warnings are sounding that the profitable years are over. The watchwords among German critics are creation of value, downgrading, and off-the-peg, and these critics predict that a “monoculture of television” will emerge. What value does television have in the face of this development, both economically and journalistically? In the wake of current technological and economic developments, will TV be able to remain society’s leading medium? In the past, television was always able to renew itself by branching out (private TV, specialist channels). Where can the medium get new impetus? What’s next? In the wake of retro and reality, these questions are more pressing than ever before. Will traditional TV make a comeback, or will the future of the medium be characterized by a mixture of established genres? Representatives of internationally established production companies will explain how they recognize trends and promote program innovation. Trend researchers and avant-garde theoreticians, too, will address these issues. “Two is a couple, three is a trend,“ the industry says. But how do trends emerge? And what business designs enable companies to innovate? Or can trends from other related industries provide orientation? In light of these questions, the Cologne Conference will explore the quality of the present program offer and the opportunities for new impetus in successful format development and programming.Reality and game-show formats featured prominently in last year’s TV landscape. Now viewer interest is starting to wane, program managers are on the lookout for new trends, and the medium is being widely criticized. In light of this development, the Cologne Conference will explore the social value and task of television, the quality of the program offer, but also potential new impetus for successful formats and programming.
Presenter: Maybrit Illner
14.00 hrs - 14.30 hrs
The Value of Television
Bernd Gäbler, Director, Adolf Grimme Institute, Marl
14.30 hrs – 15.15 hrs
Panel
Sebastian Turner, CEO, Scholz Friends Berlin
Helmut Brandstätter, Program Manager, N-TV, Berlin
Hans Mahr, Editor in Chief / Director Information, RTL Television, Cologne
Patrick Bahners, Media Critic, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Frankfurt/M.
Bernd Gäbler, Director, Adolf Grimme Institute, Marl
15.15 hrs – 15.30 hrs Coffee Break
15.30 hrs – 16.15 hrs
Innovation, Avant-Garde, Trend. How the New Emerges
Short Talks and Podium Discussion
Dr. PD Niels Werber, Medien- und Avantgardeforscher, Ruhr-Universität Bochum
Gabriele Fischer, Editor in Chief, brand eins, Hamburg
Andreas Steinle, Managing Partner, Trendbüro Hamburg
16.15 hrs – 17.00 hrs
What’s Next? - And what to do about it?
Short Talks and Podium Discussion
Séan Kirkegaard, Team Leader of Entertainment Development, Pearson Worldwide Production, London
John Morayniss, Executive Vice President, Alliance Atlantis Television Production, Los Angeles
Günter Struve, Program Director, ARD, Munich
Jochen Kröhne, CEO, Get on Air GmbH, Munich