22/07/2026
With the next few years reshaping television as we know it - the Frontiers Strand cuts through the hype and gets you ready for what’s coming.
AI in all its forms. Creators building media empires of their own. Fandoms becoming as valuable as ratings, shaping what gets made and how it’s marketed. Streamers locked in a fight for both subscribers and ad money. YouTube no longer knocking at the door but sitting at the table. New formats and business models emerging fast - video podcasts, vertical dramas - and more ways than ever to make money, from membership clubs to branded content.
This is where you get ahead of it all.
It is easy to feel overwhelmed by the level of change and the amount of hype flying around. Never have there been more routes to build audiences, and simultaneously fewer clear models to follow that can give a level of reassurance around the chances of success. This session will pull back the curtain on some of the realities of making money and building audiences online, and why it is essential for everyone in TV to understand the economics and conflicting priorities of advertising, IP owners and tech companies to be able to grow a thriving content business
Speakers:
Dan Jones, CEO, Little Dot Studios
Ian Whittaker, MD, Liberty Sky Advisors
Manori Ravindran, International Correspondent, The Ankler
Moderator:
Jen Topping, Consultant & Writer, Business of TV Substack
Evan Shapiro has mapped the Entertainment Universe as Media’s Cartographer, creating and maintaining the Media Universe Map since 2020 - a map that visually charts the complex, shifting media ecosystem. From massive tech giants and traditional networks to smaller platforms, Shapiro treats media companies like bodies in a solar system, helping us navigate the darkness of the rapidly changing media landscape.
In this revealing session, with new, exclusive data and his bold, iconic visualisations, Evan harnesses the chaos of the current Media maelstrom, and charts a path to the future, built on a mission to serve “The Whole Consumer.”
Speaker:
Evan Shapiro, Media Cartographer, ESHAP
Moderator:
James Kirkham, Founder, ICONIC
What if AI isn’t the threat to creativity we fear,
