p18-22,24-26,28-31 Euro50 NovDec09v3 9/11/09 14:40 Page 26
Euro 50 > Leaders in broadband and pay-TV Digital TV Europe
November/December 2009
Phil Lawrie Commercial director, Al Jazeera
Under Phil Lawrie’s leadership, Al Jazeera’s United States and the launch of four new Al
distribution has exceeded expectations for Jazeera Sport channels to coincide with the
2009. Al Jazeera English is now available to kick-off of our exclusive UEFA Champions
over 180 million homes across a 100 countries. League coverage.
Important carriage deals this year include the
launch on US broadcaster MHz in June, recent Lessons learned from the downturn That
launch on Austar in Australia and extensive creativity, and a healthy dose of pragmatism,
carriage deals across sub Saharan Africa. Al can overcome the impact of budgetary con-
Jazeera is also one of the first few internation- straints.
al news channels to be available via live
streaming on iPhone and continues to remain Last year’s most surprising development
a popular news channel on YouTube. I’m not sure it was surprising but it may yet
prove significant – the stated intention of sev-
Age 39 eral newspaper websites to shift to subscrip-
tion-based business models should create a
Education Trinity School of John Whitgift. fascinating dynamic in the provision of news
content over the web this coming year.
Career path American Express; Turner predicts retail sales in excess of US$600m
Broadcasting System; Al Jazeera Network. Goals for the next year Further monetising (€402m) in 2010 – nearly twice that of 2009.
Al Jazeera’s amazing brand and channel line-
Job description Director of global distribu- up, particularly our suite of sports channels. Favourite TV character It’s gotta be Dubya.
tion, responsible for Al Jazeera’s worldwide “They misunderestimated me!” Beautiful…
distribution and licensing activities Likely breakthrough service or technology
Keep an eye on e-books – sales have reached Life outside work Travelling with the family
Highlights from the last year The break- something of a tipping point and the to visit new places within easy reach of our
through launch of Al Jazeera English in the Consumer Electronics Association in the US home in the Middle East.
Bertrand Le Guern
President of the management board and CEO, Canal Plus Cyfrowy
Career path In January 2009, appointed environment compared to free-to-air TV that is
president of the management board and CEO so dependent on advertising revenues.
of Canal Plus Cyfrowy. Formerly, chief operat-
ing officer at Netia. Last year’s most surprising development
The late entrance of one more DTH provider in
Job description Responsible for managing all Poland.
of Canal Plus operations: Canal Plus digital
DTH platform and production and broadcast- Goals for the next year Getting back to the
ing of various channels as Canal Plus, Canal number one position on the Polish DTH mar-
Under Bertrand Le Guern, Cyfra Plus has led Plus Film/ Canal Plus Film HD, Canal Plus ket.
the way in delivering premium pay-TV content Sport/ Canal Plus Sport HD, Canal Plus Sport2,
in Poland, inlcuding launching 10 HD channels. ale kino!, ZigZap/Hyper, MiniMini, Planete, Likely breakthrough service or technology
Kuchnia.tv and Domo. VOD.
Age 42
Highlights from the last year Despite the Favourite film personality I’m fascinated by
Education I graduated from the Engineering crisis, increasing the prices of sports TV rights. the whole output of Stanley Kubrick.
School ESTACA in France, where I obtained
the title of engineer of aviation, aeronautics Lessons learned from the downturn The Life outside work My main hobby is horse-
major. amazing resistance of pay-TV in such a difficult riding.
Visit us at at www.digitaltveurope.net
26
Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52