|
|
 |
VIEW LECTURE SCHEDULE »
John Roberts
Senior Vice President, Interactive and Online Entertainment, GSN
The visionary behind the launch of GSN's groundbreaking 84 hours of weekly interactive television services, John P. Roberts, GSN's Senior Vice President, Interactive and Online Entertainment, is recognized throughout the industry as an iTV pioneer. Roberts is credited with positioning GSN as the leader in the new era of high-speed, broadband entertainment, and has been instrumental in fostering industry-wide acceptance of new interactive technology applications. Working closely with the interactive units at MSOs across the country, Roberts and his team have devised iTV models which cable and satellite distributors can execute to expand innovative interactive services for their customers, driving consumer demand through a full complement of GSN interactive play applications. In addition, Roberts has also overseen the development of five stand-alone 24/7 multi-player Shockwave games, including GSN originals Lingo Plus and Whammy Plus as well as Pokerface, Phrase Frenzy and Opinionation. It is this combined approach to iTV that has attracted more than 1.5 million unique users to the GSN website (www.gsn.com), further establishing GSN as the network of choice for tech-savvy young adults. In fact, Roberts' innovations are credited with providing the stickiness for GSN's interactive programming, as research reveals that sync-to-broadcast players view, on average, 29 minutes out of every half-hour program. Prior to joining GSN in June 2001, Roberts held the post of Senior Vice President of Internet and iTV Development at Vulcan Programming II, a division of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen's Vulcan Ventures. In this position, Roberts was responsible for the development, supervision and implementation of interactive and convergent strategies for Vulcan's digital cable networks and other internet-based programming concepts. Roberts has also served as Vice President of New Media for Fox Family Worldwide, where he oversaw all aspects of internet development for the network's websites; worked in business development at Universal Studios New Media Group; created the corporate online department at Fox Broadcasting Company; and was part of the marketing team that launched the cable channel FX. A frequently quoted expert on new media, Roberts has been a guest speaker at American Television Academy, NATPE and Digital Hollywood conferences. He has also served as a judge for the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS) first-ever interactive Emmy Award. A native New Yorker, Roberts earned a BA degree in TV and Film Production from State University of New York, Fredonia. |
|
