FCC Commissioner Kevin Martin will be the featured closing keynote interview live onstage during the Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Association’s spring SkyFORUM, the satellite services industry’s top financial symposium, to be held on Tuesday, May 20 at Cipriani 42nd Street in New York City.

Martin was nominated to the FCC on April 30, 2001, confirmed a month later, and sworn in on July 3, 2001. Before joining the FCC, Martin was a Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy. He served on the Bush-Cheney Transition Team and was Deputy General Counsel for the Bush campaign. Prior to joining the campaign, Martin was an advisor to FCC Commissioner Harold Furchtgott-Roth. He has also served in the Office of the Independent Counsel and worked as an associate at the Washington, DC law firm of Wiley, Rein & Fielding. Before joining Wiley, Rein & Fielding, Martin was a judicial clerk for U.S. District Court Judge William M. Hoeveler in Miami, FL. Martin received a B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a Masters in Public Policy from Duke University, and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. He is a member of the Florida Bar, District of Columbia Bar and the Federal Communications Bar Association.

The bi-annual SkyFORUM, hosted by SBCA and its SkyTRENDS partners, brings together Wall Street’s analyst and investment community with top satellite and telecom industry executives to discuss topical issues and upcoming trends.

“We are fortunateto have this unique opportunity to hear directly from Commissioner Martin on the hotissues currently facing our industry at the FCC,” said Clay Mowry,president of Arianespace, Inc. and SkyTRENDS chair.

As recently announced, Chase Carey, a member of the board of directors and consultant to News Corporation, will be the luncheon keynote speaker at SkyFORUM, addressing the increasingly competitive landscape in the multichannel television industry and how consumers will benefit as a result of this heightened competition. CNN Anchor and Managing Editor Lou Dobbs will interview DIRECTV Chairman and CEO Eddy Hartenstein as the featured morning one-on-one CEO interview.

The SkyFORUM program will also include live demonstrations of emerging consumer product and services technologies, panel discussions, and the most current consumer research on DBS subscribers conducted by The Taylor Group. In addition, recent global research on the satellite industry and the competitive multichannel market will be featured.

Other panels scheduled for the spring SkyFORUM include:

  • Satellite Radio: Tuning In to a National Audience
  • Straight from the Street: Satellite’s Leading Analysts Speak Out
  • Super Session on High Definition Television and Digital Video Recorders
  • Satellite Broadband: A Look at Consumer and Commercial Applications

Additional information and registration for SkyFORUM can be found on the SBCA Web site http://www.sbca.com/ or by contactingJennifer SeetinorBrian Lynchat SBCA at (800) 541-5981.

SkyFORUM was developed to create a higher awareness of the satellite industry among the financial and investment communities, and the media. SkyTRENDS is the SBCA’s market research, data collection and reporting program for the satellite services industry. SkyTRENDS is a committee of the SBCA and is directed by SBCA’s SkyTRENDS partners with assistance from Media Business Corp. 

The Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Association (www.sbca.com) is the national trade organization representing all segments of the satellite industry.  It is committed to expanding the utilization of satellite technology for the broadcast delivery of video, audio, data, music, voice, interactive and broadband services.  The SBCA is composed of DBS, C-band, broadband, satellite radio, and other satellite service and launch vehicle providers, content providers, equipment manufacturers, distributors, retailers, encryption vendors, and national and regional distribution companies that make up the satellite services industry.