Theme: Reaping Riches in the Media and Entertainment Revolution

A tidal wave of new digital technology is set to overwhelm the Media & Entertainment business like never before. Consider:

-- Hundreds of millions in potential film revenue, downloaded and traded free over the Internet
-- 60-year-old broadcast television networks supplanted by Internet television
-- The nation’s $100 billion investment in cable systems wiped out by free broadband wireless service
-- The music industry’s multi-billion empire of what has consolidated into four major labels suddenly rendered obsolete by release-your-own virtual CDs.

And yet . . . for every time the Media and Entertainment establishment has dreaded new technology, ultimately it has caught on to the new wave to build entirely new sales and profit streams. At its peak in 1990, more than 200 million VCRs were sold each year, worldwide. Today the DVD business brings in $9 billion a year in the U.S., equal to the box-office revenue the films bring in at the nation’s movie theaters. Digital downloads and other new technology hold the same vast promise—but only if you can find the magic combination of technology, talent, and distribution models.

The Forbes MEET Forum will bridge the gap between the present and the future – between the establishment and the disruptors. “In that gap, you can make or lose a ton of money,” says Forbes managing editor Dennis Kneale. The major segments of media and entertainment will be examined to anticipate what is coming next: Technology, markets, legal issues, financial models and other challenges on the path to the future.

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