In another sign that traditional TV and digital production are merging, the annual nextMEDIA digital conference will be folded into the Banff World Television Festival time frame, starting next year. The announcement is expected today, during the Toronto version of the new media conference.

For the past four years, nextMEDIA has run in the Rockies just ahead of the venerable TV fest but, now, all the various sessions, workshops and keynotes will be part of the same event, slated for June 13-16.

‘We thought, instead of having these two groups pass each other in the night, why don’t we give them the chance to network and do business together?’ Banff exec director Peter Vamos tells Playback Daily.

‘You look at the Canada Media Fund and the writing’s on the wall,’ continues Vamos. ‘The federal government sees it, the funders see it.’

It has been a challenge for Achilles Media, which runs the events, to keep both TV and digital attendees around for both conferences. This way, both groups get what they want with added exposure to a side of the business they need to know more about.

In other news at the Toronto event, Ontario Media Development Corporation chief Karen Thorne-Stone on Monday previewed a soon-to-be-announced intellectual property development fund. Although details were scarce, Thorne-Stone did say that winning applicants to the fund would not be decided by a jury.

‘We’re relying on [the industry] as the experts to know what kind of creative will work in the marketplace and to build your own business plan,’ she said.

______________________________ This story has been corrected. The original indicated that the festivals would merge into one, rather than running concurrently.