The Festival is developed by senior industry figures, providing an arena for the international TV and media industry to share ideas, debate the issues of the day, and build relationships.
This evening the BBC Director General, Mark Thompson, delivers the annual James MacTaggart Memorial Lecture. Then on Saturday morning Mark will be answering questions in a post-MacTaggart Q&A.
Other highlights from the weekend include various Channel Controllers including Jay Hunt (BBC One), Janice Hadlow (BBC Two), Danny Cohen (BBC Three) and Richard Klein (BBC Four) discussing their strategies, programming, risk taking and what's ahead for their channels. Peter Finchman (ITV), Julian Bellamy (Channel 4) and others from across the industry will also reveal their plans for the future of their networks.
Culture Secretary, Jeremy Hunt will have a face-to-face conversation with writer, broadcaster and media consultant, Steve Hewlett on Sunday.
A TV Question Time session will feature panelists Jana Bennett, Diane Abbott MP, David Elstein, Mariella Frostrup and Steven Moffat. Jeremy Vine chairs Build Your Own BBC, with speakers George Dixon, BBC Controller of Knowledge George Entwistle and Evening Standard Executive Editor Anne McElvoy. The session invites advocates to put the case for and against how the BBC is run.
There will also be a Doctor Who masterclass from Steven Moffat featuring actress Karen Gillan (Amy Pond), a Coronation street masterclass and Danny Cohen will chair an EastEnders masterclass marking 25 years of the soap.
For the full schedule, visit the Media Guardian Edinburgh International Television Festival website.
It promises to be a very exciting event and we will be updating the About the BBC blog and the Press Office website over the weekend with details and coverage, so check back for updates and a round-up of the festival highlights.
You can follow the @bbcpress and @AboutTheBBCTwitter feeds for updates from the event.
Laura Murray is Editor of About the BBC Blog
