Paris – Leading international academics and researchers with speciality knowledge of the entertainment industry are heading to MIPTV to share their unique insight about multi-platform viewer behavioural patterns with content producers and the wider television community.

MIPTV 2017 will feature a brand-new programme to bring an academic viewpoint on current trends in TV and online viewing behaviours, which promises to provide a fresh understanding of today’s content industry and the challenges of tomorrow. This ambitious session is entitled “Innovation Talks: When Academics Decipher Entertainment,” and will feature three leading researchers who will share their insights in their respective fields of study.

Frank Bentley, Senior Principal Researcher at Yahoo Labs will kick off the first of the 15-minute talks, taking as his theme: “Understanding Video Rewatching Experiences”. He will be followed by Dimph de Feijter, R&D Activity Coordinator at NHTV University of Applied Sciences, who will present “Confessions of a Couch Potato: Understanding and Using Context to Optimise Binge-Watching Behaviour”. Teri Schwartz, Dean, UCLA School of Theatre, Film and Television, will round out the session with a talk on the theme, “A New Story to Tell: Creating dynamic pathways for the next generation of creators and leaders at the intersection of entertainment and performing arts education and the creative industries”.

TVX , the ACM International Academic Conference on Interactive Experiences for Television and Online Video, is a partner of this new MIPTV initiative. In parallel, MIPTV is also developing a mentoring programme for international students through numerous partnerships with film and TV schools and universities. MIPTV takes place in Cannes, France, from 3-6 April 2017.