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Film und Medien Stiftung NRW➝News➝Press➝NRW Prime Minister Hannelore Kraft opens NRW Media Forum and ANGA COM in Cologne

NRW Prime Minister Hannelore Kraft opens NRW Media Forum and ANGA COM in Cologne

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  • Anke Schäferkordt, RTL Deutschland Media Group, Dr. Hannes Ametsreiter, Vodafone Germany, discuss the consequences arising from changing media usage
  • Leading representatives of the broadband and media industry discuss the consequences of new media usage for content and network expansion – with Susanne Aigner-Drews, Discovery Networks Germany, Conrad Albert, ProSiebenSat.1 Media, Tom Buhrow, WDR, Dr. Manuel Cubero, Vodafone Germany, Michael Hagsphil, Telekom Deutschland and Lutz Schüler, Unitymedia
  • Summaries and photos of the first day of the conference to be provided online

Cologne, 7 June 2016 –  As part of a joint kick-off event, the Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, Hannelore Kraft, today opened the 28th NRW Media Forum (7 to 9 June) and the 16th ANGA COM (7 to 9 June) at the Cologne Exhibition Centre.

Dr. Peter Charissé, CEO ANGA COM, Tom Buhrow, Intendant WDR, Thomas Braun, President of the Association of German Cable Operators (ANGA), Anke Schäferkordt, Managing Director, RTL Deutschland Media Group, Hannelore Kraft, Prime Minister of NRW, Petra Müller, CEO Film- und Medienstiftung NRW. ©Medienforum NRW

In her opening speech, the Prime Minister called for more online civil courage to oppose coarseness in the internet. Since the centrifugal forces affecting our society were increasing, it was up to everyone to actively counter this trend. She therefore spoke out in favour of an "NRW Internet Code of Practice": "To this end, I suggest that the publishing companies here in NRW, along with the committees and responsible broadcasters at WDR, DLF, Deutsche Welle, RTL and also the State Media Authorities, get together with producers, as well as other civil society players, the churches, journalists associations, unions and politicians to collectively draw up such a code of practice. This Internet Code of Practice should bind NRW and hold it together," said the Prime Minister.

"No democracy can exist without reasoned reporting. There is no such thing as the media, which is why media diversity and diversity of opinion are so important," she explained. Today, media diversity was not just the responsibility of regional politics, but a national and European task. Only with a level playing field could there be a fair balance for all those concerned. Referring to the conference slogan, she said that the next level must not only be reached in the case of journalism, but also in terms of infrastructure. She underscored the goal of supplying the whole of North Rhine-Westphalia with broadband by 2018.

The Prime Minister highlighted the strength of North Rhine-Westphalia as a media location, also acknowledging the contribution made by the Film and Media Foundation, which was celebrating twenty-five years of existence this year. It ranked among the most well-financed sponsoring institutions in Europe. "Following reorientation as a Film and Media Foundation in 2011, we have created a 360-degree perspective that is meanwhile having a positive effect."

Prior to this, Thomas Braun, President of the Association of German Cable Operators (ANGA), had welcomed visitors to the Congress Centre East at the Cologne Exhibition Centre. In his speech, Braun addressed those broadcasters´ representatives present and their new non-linear offerings: "From the customers´ point of view, the optional extra in the new world of television remains a unified platform with search and recommender systems across all stations. As things stand, only the network operators are able to successfully present themselves for this bundling assignment. No matter whether linear or time-shifted – I kindly invite the broadcasters to join us in taking further steps in this direction, even during the next few days!"

This year, Anke Schäferkordt, Managing Director, RTL Deutschland Media Group, and Vodafone Germany´s CEO Dr. Hannes Ametsreiter took part in the opening event for the first time. Together with Dr. Christian Stöcker, Head of Netzwelt at Spiegel Online, they discussed how the digital transformation has changed media usage among the young target group. Players would have to prepare themselves for the fact that in future, the younger the target group, the more content would be used on a non-linear basis. Regarding this trend, they were in full agreement. "For us, TV has long since been total video," said Schäferkordt. Furthermore, she called for uniform media regulations for linear and non-linear offerings. Viewers did not understand why there were differing regulations for content that could be seen on the same device. Ametsreiter pointed out how media consumption in the young target group was also reflected in the data volumes. He warned, "We have to prepare ourselves for the future." 8K was already a topic under discussion in Japan. "A high-performance infrastructure is important. We have to maintain its quality to be able to make use of content anywhere, anytime."

As part of the joint conference programme, a high-calibre opening discussion with leading representatives of the broadband and media industry also took place in Cologne with Susanne Aigner-Drews, Managing Director of Discovery Networks Germany, Conrad Albert, Director of Legal, Distribution & Regulatory Affairs at ProSiebenSat.1 Media, WDR Director General Tom Buhrow, Dr. Manuel Cubero, CCO, Vodafone Germany, Michael Hagsphil Managing Director Private Customer Division, Telekom Deutschland and Unitymedia CEO Lutz Schüler. They discussed media usage of the future, the development of linear and non-linear usage of media content and the demands on network expansion and user experience of media offerings arising from this.

Summaries of this and further events, as well as the Prime Minister´s full speech, will be published at www.medienforum.de/news in the course of the afternoon.

Platform for digital dialogue of the future
The 28th NRW Media Forum is taking place in Cologne from Tuesday, 7 June to Thursday, 9 June 2016 and offering a compact conference programme for the media and digital industries as a platform for the digital dialogue of the future – a next level forum for debates, exchanges and networking. Venues are the Cologne Exhibition Centre (Congress Centre East) and the Cologne Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IHK). Overall responsibility for the 28th NRW Media Forum lies with the NRW Film and Media Foundation, while Mediencluster NRW is responsible for compiling the programme and realising the event.

Partners and co-operations
Apart from its partnership with ANGA COM, this year the NRW Media Forum is co-operating with the Cologne Chamber of Commerce, Deutsche Welle, Deutschlandradio, Euronews, Ford, Media Broadcast, Ooyala, Phoenix, QVC, the RTL Deutschland Media Group, the NRW Association of German Journalists (DJV-NRW), Cologne Forum for Media Law, the North Rhine-Westphalian State Media Authorities (LfM), Rushlake and the Association of Commercial Broadcasters and Audiovisual Services in Germany (VPRT), among others. Media partners represented at the event include Auerbach Publishing Company, Blickpunkt Film, DWDL.de, Brand Eins, epd Medien, InfoSat, K-West, Marketing Börse, Medien Bulletin and Vice Media.

Registration and programme
Information on the three-day programmes for the conferences staged by the NRW Media Forum and ANGA COM is available at www.medienforum.de and http://www.angacom.de. Registration is possible at www.medienforum.de/de/tickets and www.angacom.de/besucher/tickets.html and at each venue. Evening events are not included.

Press Accreditation
Press accreditation for the NRW Media Forum and ANGA COM can be obtained on-site at each event. Accreditation authorises the holder to visit both conference events.

Press Contact NRW Media Forum:
Hartmut Schultz
Tel.: +49 (211) 930 50 308
E-mail:

Press Contact: Hartmut Schultz, Tel.: +49 (211) 930 50 308, E-mail: