SkyStream announced it will host a special forum for leading European IPTV companies to discuss emerging trends in IPTV content and business models. The forum, titled "IPTV: Turning Content into Cash for Service Providers," will be held May 10 from 1:00 to 4:30 p.m. at the TelecomVideo Europe 2005 conference at the Hotel Krasnapolsky in Amsterdam.

SkyStream CEO Jim Olson will kick off the May 10 workshop with an overview of the IPTV market's competitive landscape, the business case for IPTV and insights from recent success stories of IPTV operators around the globe. Mr. Olson will also discuss emerging developments in IPTV content licensing and acquisition, one of the most significant issues facing both IPTV operators and content license holders.

"IPTV could change the way people watch TV and use video in the home, but IPTV operators are having difficulty acquiring and managing content from content owners who have concerns about security, a la carte programming and other new business models proposed by operators," said Jim Olson, CEO of SkyStream. "Our forum is designed to create a candid discussion of the barriers and opportunities that the IPTV market faces and ideas for creating a win-win for operators and content owners. The forum assembles a fantastic lineup of speakers from both sides of this important issue, who are prepared to lend their insights."

Agenda:

-- Jonathan Crane, BBC Worldwide's director, corporate strategic plans, will deliver the keynote speech titled, "Successful Negotiations for IPTV Content: A Content Owner's Perspective."

-- Bob Larribeau, senior analyst from MRG, will moderate the panel, "Obtaining Content Through Aggregators: What it Takes for Success." The panel will explore how operators can work with content aggregators to obtain content and the new content technologies and solutions that must be considered for a successful service. Panel participants include: Dom Stasi, chief technology officer, TVN Entertainment Corp., Mark Cutten, president, Accord Media and Toby Russell, chief executive officer, 3 Vision.

-- Kirby Kish, SkyStream's director of product marketing, will moderate the panel, "Beyond the Living Room: Extending Content to Other Platforms and Other Places," which will cover the latest trends and developments in digital content consumption and their associated business models and enabling technologies. For these new consumption models to be viable, the benefits offered to consumers--such as convenience and accessibility--need to counterbalance the returns offered to service providers. Panelists will include Thomas Staneker, Alcatel's marketing director, consumer applications, Alex Grahame, business development manager for Playboy TV and Glen Morten, vice president of engineering and CTO for Widevine.

-- Josette Bonte, RHK Managing Director, Broadband and Video Services, will chair the final panel of the day--"IPTV Operators: Delivering Content that Subscribers Want"-- a discussion of experiences in negotiating for and acquiring content by European operators who have already deployed video. Panelists will include Rok Arzensek, project director, SiOL, Telecom Slovenia and Telefonica Internacional's Antonio Schuh, senior adviser to the SVP, Commercial Division.

SkyStream will host a cocktail and a hors d'oeuvres buffet event for participants and attendees following the workshop. Media is invited to attend the workshop and cocktail party and visit the company during the show. SkyStream will be showcasing its iPlex(TM) video headend, featuring live MPEG-4 AVC encoding, and zBand(TM) PUSH Video on Demand solution at stand #10.

Mr. Olson also will speak on a panel May 11 at 1400 hours during the Business track of the TelecomVideo Europe conference titled: "End to End Solutions for Your Triple Play," hosted by Alcatel.

For free registration to the workshop, go to www.skystream.com and follow the links for free admission at the bottom of the TelecomVideo Europe banner