NEM Dubrovnik 2024, the TV market with a view, started off yesterday in Hotel Dubrovnik Palace, focusing on the synergy of content, telcos and technology, especially AI. Representatives from more than 260 companies gathered from all over the world, including more than 150 buyers, a record number of exhibitors, sponsors, and other attendees. During the four-day event, they will connect, learn, and make business focused on CEE and the rest of Europe, the organizers announced.



The audience eagerly welcomed the first keynote Q&A session with Nataša Rapaić, Member of the Management Board and COO Residential, Croatian Telecom, who is taking over as the company's CEO from July 1. Sanja Božić-Ljubičić, CEO, Pickbox, Mediatranslations, Mediavision and NEM moderated the 1-on-1 interview with Nataša and explored her vision for the future of the telco industry. Rapaić shared her experiences, insights and her journey to a new pivotal role in her career: “I came to Croatia and to Croatian Telecom 20 years ago. I never thought that I would stay so long, but I really like it here. It has been a nice journey - I was privileged to work with excellent people and do things that really improved the company.”

She also emphasized the role of emotion in an industry which is, as she said, not quite emotional: “Today, television is our core business. TV is obviously based on content, and content is crucial for differentiation. But it's not only about content; it's also crucial to build an emotional connection. TV, IPTV, and OTT bring this emotional engagement to our customers.”

The program continued with a content showcase of IDTV (an All3Media Company) where examples like the global smash hit The Traitors, long-running formats like Lingo, and their latest format The Unknown were shown.

When it comes to education, the 11th edition started off with insightful presentations from Omdia, PlumResearch and Maria Valenzuela about the hot topic of AI and its role in the media, as well as its use for content creation, audience engagement and international content distribution.

“We will no longer remember how we work without it”, said Maria Valenzuela.

“We expect that the spend that media companies will do in AI will be more than 13 billion by 2028”, said Maria Rua Aguete, Omdia, and added: “When we ask companies what your priority is going forward, what do you think will transform the world going forward? It's not 5G, it's not cloud… it's in fact AI. She also explained that many things can be done with AI in sports: “Prediction of the games, dynamic highlights… Also, some presenters from some countries don't need to be there in person, they can get the highlights translated in any language in the world without the need of even being in the field.”

The first panel of this year’s event was all about Strategies for Worldwide Success of CEE Content sponsored by NEM Zagreb. Panelists from RTL Hungary and Warner Bros. Discovery together Danna Stern, Global Content Executive and Natalija Gorščak, Acting President, Board RTV Slovenia shared insights into partnerships, government support, funding mechanisms and strategic alliances.

During the panel The Art of Content Acquisition sponsored by PRVA TV, the discussion was directed towards innovative approaches and practical advice tailored to specific countries. Panelists were from Ampere Analysis, Czech Television, Mediawan Rights and Latvian Television.

While the TV market filled up with more than 260 companies, OIV digital signals and networks provided coffee and networking at the NEM Terrace, famous for its comfortable setting and inspiring sea view.

A trending topic of the industry across CEE and throughout Europe was the recent launch of Max streaming service. Warner Bros. Discovery organized a welcome party celebrating the service being now available across 25 countries in Europe and 65 countries and territories globally.

NEM’s Rooftop Terrace was full of attendees warming up to Jamie Cooke’s, Group SVP and GM CEE, Middle East and Turkey, Warner Bros. Discovery, Q&A session which will follow today.