Backchannelmedia

The Stamford Advocate, Stamford, Conn.

Oct. 28--A recently launched Stamford-based television network, dedicated solely to trade shows and conventions, hopes to debut at one of the largest trade shows in the country this January.

The Convention and Trade Show Television Network, CTS-TV, will likely air its first round of programming at the National Shooting Sports Foundation convention, one of the world's largest shows for the shooting, hunting and outdoor industry.

The 2005 SHOT show in Las Vegas is expected to attract 30,000 industry professionals and 1,600 exhibitors.

The network will dedicate a broadband television channel, called Shotshow.tv, to cover the event, said CTS-TV's president and founder Peter Englehart. CTS-TV programming is television viewed on a computer screen, with content streamed over the Internet.

The programming lineup will feature a menu of vignettes highlighting new products exhibited at the show, as well as coverage of SHOT's educational workshops and seminars, said Englehart.

Both attendees and the general public can access the television channel through a broadband Internet connection, he said. If the deal comes together, Shotshow.tv will actually debut December 1 to preview some of the products and vendors that will be at the show, which will take place Jan. 28-31, Englehart said.

Englehart is a veteran of niche programming. He was part of the founding team at the Outdoor Life Network and Speedvision. Both networks were sold in 2001 - Speedvision to News Corp. and OLN to Comcast Cable. Englehart stayed on with OLN until this May, when he left to launch this newest venture.

"I had been thinking about this for a long time," Englehart said. "My thesis is that broadband is the next great frontier for storytellers as myself to present content."

"We could not have done this 18 months to a year ago because broadband didn't have the critical mass of distribution it does now," Englehart said. Today, broadband is used by 40 million households in the United States and 100 million worldwide, he said.

CTS-TV will target the top 200 trade shows in the country and pitch the service as a way for convention organizers to provide more value to exhibitors and attendees and broaden the reach of the event. At large conventions, attendees can't walk down every aisle and visit every booth, Englehart said, so the network will provide video reports from the booths of exhibitors. These will include an introduction to new products, interviews with the exhibitor's chief executive and primers on new technology applications.

Many large trade shows try to provide extra value to attendees through seminars and workshops, Englehart said. CTS-TV will send a correspondent to the seminars, who will present two-minute televised highlights of the seminar's most important points.

Bill Brassard, NSSF's managing director of communications, safety and education, said the organization is seriously exploring teaming up with CTS-TV and called the network an interesting idea that can add value to attendees and exhibitors.

Englehart, however, joins a growing group of vendors trying to tap into the trade show and convention market. There are other vendors who do the same thing using cable and closed-circuit television, Brassard said. Services like CTS-TV bring value to exhibitors whose products are on display, said Beth Blake, public relations director at Norwalk-based Reed Exhibitions, which organizes more than 450 exhibitions worldwide Reed Exhibitions is always seeking ways to add value for both the attendee and exhibitors, she said.

"Any kind of service that does provide a value to our exhibitors is of interest because we are looking to create opportunity for companies that participate in our shows and maximize their marketing exposure," Blake said. "Harnessing technology to do that is always a good thing," she said. "With all the different kinds of technology that is out there, it is always helpful to see how it is applied to the industry."

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