Bob Iger, second in command to embattled Disney boss Michael Eisner, is to deliver the keynote speech at this year's Royal Television Society international conference.
Mr Iger, the president and chief operating officer at Disney, will be speaking at the RTS conference, Global End Game: UK Meets the Real World, which is to be held in London on September 29.
Other speakers at the conference will include BSkyB's chief executive, James Murdoch, who will be making his first appearance at a UK TV industry conference since taking up his job last autumn.
The ITV chief executive Charles Allen, BT chairman Sir Christopher Bland and Tony Cohen, the chief executive of FremantleMedia, will also be appearing.
"Even though the UK is technically advanced in many areas and has been successful in exporting programmes and formats around the world, UK companies are generally not major global operators when compared to the major US players," said the RTS conference planning chair, president of Disney TV International David Hulbert.
"This conference is designed to explore what the future of global television holds and what the UK's role is within it. Will UK players have to become part of larger groups to prosper?" Mr Hulbert added.
Mr Iger is a former president and chief operating officer of US network ABC, who has been with Disney since the two companies merged in 1996.
Along with Mr Eisner, Disney's chairman and chief executive, Mr Iger oversees the company's global operations and assets, which in the UK include the Disney Channel and a stake in GMTV.
· To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediatheguardian.com or phone 020 7239 9857
· If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication".
