Edinburgh TV Festival panels show TV creatives are keen to learn from other sectors

From social media to audio, there were several (very well-attended) panels at this year’s Edinburgh TV Festival that explored how TV creatives can learn from and collaborate with creators on other content platforms.

In Digital Media Killed the TV Guide, the panel explicitly discussed what TV could learn from online content, with ITV’s Chief Marketing Officer Jane Stiller pointing out that digital content creators get feedback in real time, meaning they can ask “has this thing I’ve created connected with the viewer, and which part has connected?” 

The importance of community to online content consumers was also flagged, with TikTok’s General Manager Rich Waterworth telling the audience: “As long as your show is adding something that is interesting to that community then they will embrace it.”  

And away from screens and devices altogether, at When Vogue Meets Elle UK: What Can Television Learn From Fashion Publishing Titans?, Vogue’s Vanessa Kingori talked about the importance of creating moments with positive impact – whether that’s through a television show or an image in a fashion title. As Chief Business Officer for Condé Nast Britain, Vanessa has to balance commercial decisions with purpose, but was clear that ‘flipping the script on all of that impact stuff is not separate to your other KPIs, it will power it.’  

‘You can be mindful of the impact that your shows or magazines have without it diminishing your profits – but actually increasing them,’ she said.