Sam Pemberton, CEO of Softel, describes how they enable operators to own the second screen using EBIF watermarking."
Bio
Sam Pemberton
Sam Pemberton is CEO of Softel a well established and successful technology company providing ancillary data solutions (such as those for subtitling and interactive TV) to the global broadcast and pro-video sectors.
Born in the UK in 1975, Pemberton holds a Joint Honours Bachelors degree in Computer Science and Economics from Manchester (UK).
After graduating from Manchester, Pemberton joined Softel as part of the Technical Solutions Sales team where he played a leading role in defining, negotiating and securing successful installations of the company’s newly launched Swift non-linear subtitle creation system. Pemberton was also instrumental in providing some of the worlds largest interactive Teletext systems, many of which demonstrated very early adoption of “banner style†advertising to create a profitable service for the broadcaster. He was a key player in the company’s roll-out of ad-insertion and cuing technologies – a market in which the company is now the prestigious European-market leader.
Pemberton went on receive an MBA from Reading (UK) and quickly progressed through the company. In 2001 he span off Softel-USA, LLC in California to more directly serve the needs of the Americas. During his time as President & CEO of Softel-USA, Pemberton played a key role in evangelising the burgeoning interactive TV industry, and became a regular speaker at industry events such as the ATSC Annual Summit (Advanced Television Systems Committee), CES (Consumer Electronic Show), Digital Hollywood, NAB (National Association of Broadcasters), NCTA/Cable Show, and at various SMPTE (Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers) sessions.
Under Pemberton’s stewardship, Softel-USA expanded quickly and in 2004 added a metro New York office. The company established itself as the leading supplier of “ancillary data†systems to the North American broadcast market, including solutions for Broadcast Flag digital rights management, closed caption creation and playout, vChip parental controls and wide screen signalling.
In 2007 Pemberton returned to Softel in Reading (UK) to take over as CEO of a Group of companies, making him one of the youngest CEOs in the broadcast industry. In this role, Pemberton sets the vision and provides the strategic direction for the Group and is currently finalising a comprehensive re-structure of the company to support a fundamental strategic shift, including a refreshed focus on the commercial side of the business. The company’s change programme is being implemented through a new senior management team.
In line with one of the company’s principle strategies of focussing on ancillary data-based core competencies, Pemberton has overseen the recent divestment of the video graphics arm of the business (Aston Broadcast). Meanwhile, Softel has launched a range of new and overhauled products to cater to major trends in the industry such as the moves toward automated and tapeless environments.
Will Richmond
Will Richmond is president and founder of Broadband Directions LLC, a market intelligence, publishing and consulting firm specializing in broadband-delivered video, which he established in 2003. Will edits and publishes VideoNuze, a daily online publication widely read by broadband video decision-makers.
Will is a 20-year veteran of the broadband, cable TV, content and technology industries. He is a well-known and acknowledged industry expert whose insights and advice are sought by C-level industry executives, venture capitalists, journalists and others.
Will worked at Continental Cablevision (then the 3rd largest cable operator) from 1990–1998, initially managing large operations in the Boston area, and subsequently as VP Business Development and part of the founding team of Continental's pioneering broadband Internet access service "Highway1". Subsequently he served as VP Business Development for CMGI's iCast and for Narad Networks. He was also the founder of PoliticalWag.com, a popular political discussion/community site.
Will has also created the industry's popular "VideoSchmooze" conferences and has spoken or moderated at numerous industry conferences (e.g. National Cable Show, NATPE, Digital Hollywood, NABShow and others). Will currently serves on the American Public Television's board of trustees and WGBH's board of advisors. Will has a BS from Cornell University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Telecommunications devices, lines, or technologies that allow communication over a wide band of frequencies, and especially over a range of frequencies divided into multiple independent channels for the simultaneous transmission of different signals. Broadband systems allow voice, data, and video to be broadcast over the same medium at the same time. They may also allow multiple data channels to be broadcast simultaneously.
Live Now
