In a show wrap up session chaired by John Ive, the director of business development for IABM, a number of key executives took turns at pinpointing the main trends in broadcasting technology at this year’s IBC as well as outlining the outlook for the industry in the years ahead.
Among the topics discussed, the adoption of cloud technology by an increasing number of broadcasters was singled out: “The cloud is happening. The pace of change is rapid, so we have to strap in and embrace it,” said Margaret Craig, CEO of Signiant. Richard Friedel, executive vice president and general manager of Fox Networks, agreed: “We are using cloud technology and experimenting with different techniques — not in live conditions yet, but that will come.”
IP-based networks remain a hot topic, although there still are a number of concerns on whether they can handle the bandwidth required for UHD or for 4K. Craig admitted as much: “At the moment the data is winning even though the networks have more and more bandwidth.”
All the panelists agreed that IBC remained a crucial event to meet up with peers, compare notes and get a feel for where the industry was heading. But they also saw it is evolving into a media show, rather than a broadcast one. And for Lieven Vermaele, CEO and co-founder of SDN2, IBC would be very different five years or six years from now: “I am trying to be controversial but IBC could become a software only show, a sort of huge App Store in 2020.”
This session is available to view on demand at www.ibc.org/vod.
