Las Vegas — About 500 top technology executives, senators, congressmen, federal and state officials attended the Consumer Electronics Association’s (CEA) annual Leaders In Technology Dinner Friday night at the Bellagio Hotel, where Peter Chernin, president/COO of News Corporation keynoted event.
The annual dinner, whose cocktail reception was hosted by TWICE and dinner was sponsored by Thomson, echoed the content and convergence themes that have echoed through CES this week.
Chernin said that this is the “golden age” of digital content for providers, manufacturers, retailers and consumers where the latter group is being “liberated from the restraints of the analog world.”
The News executive noted that the digital revolution will give content providers “universal access to everyone previously out of reach” where consumers can access content “anytime, anywhere, anyplace, in any corner of the world.” Chernin noted that the “old mass media is just a part of the new mass media landscape” and that “today’s consumers have thousands of media choices.”
Consumers need “provocative and informative entertainment that they can control.” Chernin said that HDTV, on demand options for consumers, broadband video providing a “one on one relationship with consumers,” music, movies, TV shows and games “anytime, anywhere” among other reasons are transforming the content and electronics industries.
In addition, dinner host and CEA president/CEO Gary Shapiro reported confirmed show attendance after the first two days of CES. During the first two days in 2005 attendance was 106,990. Attendance for the first two days this year is 123,470. Initial reports on attendance for all four days should be released a few days after the show.
