Media & Technology Digest - May 2023

Rob Gallagher

Research VP, Media & Entertainment

Rob leads the team behind Omdia’s global research on media and entertainment, digital consumer platforms, addressable consumer devices, and consumer artificial intelligence. He is also responsible for Omdia’s cross-sector Connecting the Dots thought-leadership program.

Rob specializes in providing advice about convergence and disruption to the world’s leading consumer TMT companies. Recent highlights include running a workshop series on the US tech giants’ outlook, building a ""one version of the truth"" market-sizing model for a major digital platform, and quantifying the revenue upside of 5G for media and entertainment up to 2030 for a leading chip maker. Rob began his career in 2000 as a journalist covering internet access, e-commerce, and digital media. Since joining Informa (now Omdia) in 2003, he has led the expansion of the company’s coverage of innovative consumer services and technologies.  

David Hancock

Chief Analyst, Media and Entertainment

David is a leading expert on the global film and cinema market and played a fundamental role in the conversion of cinemas to digital projection and distribution technology over the past decade. Leading Omdia’s cinema team, he has set up the cinema intelligence service and the premium cinema service, most recently. 

David has authored reports on the cinema market and participated in consultancy projects. He specializes in new business models, market sizing and valuation, competitor analysis and benchmarking, strategic roadmaps, due diligence, and market analyses. 

Since 2015, David is the President of the European Digital Cinema Forum and often contributes to media regarding the film industry. Prior to joining Omdia (formerly IHS Markit), David was as a research consultant at IDATE DigiWorld and a senior executive with Eurimages. 

He holds a Bachelor of Arts (Hons.) in business studies and French from Leeds Beckett University in the UK and studied at the Brest Business School in France. 

Georgina Howes

Principal Consultant

Georgina is a principal consultant at Omdia where she is responsible for the end-to-end delivery of global and regional consulting projects across the media and entertainment sector.

In addition to working on these projects and contributing to key deliverables, Georgina produces reports and forecasts on the podcast industry as part of Omdia’s games, music, consumer platforms, and AI team. Prior to joining Omdia in 2017 as a media research analyst, Georgina worked as a data researcher at Bloomberg. She holds a degree in philosophy and English from the University of Sussex.  

Adam Thomas

Senior Principal Analyst, TV, Video and Advertising

As part of the media and entertainment research practice, Adam is responsible for overseeing the World Television Information Service (WTVIS) spotlight product and its Media & Entertainment Viewpoint service. 

Adam joined Omdia in 2000 after serving as a senior media analyst at Market Tracking International. His primary area of focus for the past 20 years has been the traditional TV sector. He has written analyses and produced data and forecasts for all sectors of the traditional TV business, including the pay TV platforms of cable, satellite, IPTV, and DTT. Adam holds a degree in communications from London Guildhall University. 

Tim Westcott

Senior Principal Analyst, Digital Content & Channels

Tim leads Omdia’s research on TV and video programming and channel distribution. The core datasets in the Digital Content and Channels Intelligence service track investments in programming by channels and online video platforms, availability of linear channels and on-demand services, and sports and movie rights. The service also tracks the offerings of on-demand providers in the US and six key international markets.

Tim joined Omdia’s predecessor company Screen Digest in 2004, where his areas of focus included TV production, animation, sports rights, and public broadcasting. He has also edited more than 100 editions of the monthly Media and Technology Digest (formerly Screen Digest). Before that, Tim worked at the European Audiovisual Observatory in Strasbourg, France, and in a variety of journalism roles, including the Financial Times Group, EMAP (now Ascential), and Television Business International. Tim holds a Master of Arts (Hons.) degree in English literature from Trinity College, Cambridge. He holds dual UK and French nationality and is based in London.

Taimur Zafar

Research Analyst, Home Networks

Taimur specializes in service provider technologies and contributes to the analysis of the broadband infrastructure and customer premises equipment markets.

Prior to joining Omdia, he interned at the German Aerospace Center and worked on a research project at the Barts Cancer Institute. Taimur holds a Bachelor of Science in biology from the University of Portsmouth, and a Master of Science in bioinformatics from Queen Mary University of London, both in the UK.