Asia-Pacific Broadcasting (APB) BroadcastAsia2016 Show Daily - Day 1

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31 May 2016

BROADCASTASIA2016 SHOWDAILY 11

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TUESDAY, 31 MAY 2016

Viewers are Listening.™

Shows organised by

Official Show Daily published by

Buyers checking out
emerging technologies
Media Prima’s Dr
Ahmad Zaki Mohd
Salleh: “In order to
remain sustainable
through cost-cutting,
technologies such as
baseband-over-IP and
cloud storage have
an increasing role to
play.”

BY SHAWN LIEW

As the broadcast and media industries move
towards more converged infrastructures,
more content players are emerging, increasing already intense competition.
This, says Dr Ahmad Zaki Mohd Salleh,
group GM, Engineering, Media Prima, compels broadcasters and service providers alike
to consider operating costs and efficiency
issues. He adds: “In order to remain sustainable through cost-cutting, technologies such
as baseband-over-IP and cloud storage have
an increasing role to play.”
As the discussion on the transition to IP
in Asia looks set to take centrestage this year,
Dr Ahmad Zaki calls for the support of open
standards and non-proprietary interfaces, as
well as software implementations. This, he
says, will have a direct impact on the cost
of equipment and interoperability, and in
Media Prima’s case, allow current workflows
to be improved.
“What I mean by this, is moving from
Capex to Opex-type operations,” he explains. “For instance, we can move our data
to a cloud provider, rather than owning our

Vietnam Digital
Television's Phan
Tien Dung: “To meet
viewers’ want for ondemand, interactive
content should be a
key priority and we are
focusing on building
a multi-screen digital
ecosystem.”

in-house server infrastructure as ownership
costs continue to escalate.”
While technologies may be key enablers
in an age of rapidly evolving consumption
habits, broadcasters cannot afford to neglect
viewer engagement, cautions Dr Ahmad
Zaki. “Changing viewing behaviour and consumer lifestyles also need to be understood.
This is where data analytics becomes an es-

sential science and needs to be incorporated
into our business plans.”
Fox Network, ESPN, Al Jazeera Media
Network, and closer to home, Vietnam’s Ho
Chi Minh City Television, are among networks
who have already deployed some form of
IP-based facilities, Phan Tien Dung, CTO of
Vietnam Digital Television, points out.
He sees video-over-IP (VoIP) as the key
buzzword this year, as broadcast stations, film
distributors and telcos alike explore ways to
create more revenue on over-the-top (OTT)
platforms.
Like Dr Ahmad Zaki, Phan observes
constantly changing viewing habits as consumers hungrily lap up all forms of multimedia, so much so that video aggregators
and file-sharing sites such as Facebook and
YouTube have become “broadcasters” in
their own right.
“To meet viewers’ want for on-demand,
interactive content should be a key priority
and we are focusing on building a multiscreen digital ecosystem,” he adds.
Another BroadcastAsia2016 buyer is
• Continued on page 2

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BroadcastAsia2016 line-up highlights show’s relevance to Asia
Over 600 exhibitors are ready to welcome visitors to BroadcastAsia2016
this morning with a dazzling line-up
of products and solutions highlighting emerging technologies such as
broadcast IP, 4K/Ultra HD (UHD) and
high dynamic range (HDR).
While broadcasters will be keen to
find out how these technologies can
potentially impact their businesses, it
is perhaps prudent not to lose sight of

a key necessity as consumption habits
continue to evolve — engagement
with audiences.
Lindy Wee, chief executive of
Singapore Exhibition Services, the
organiser of BroadcastAsia2016, says:
“It has become increasingly important
for Asian companies to find new ways
to engage with viewers, especially
with the entry of disruptive players
such as Netflix.

“Broadcasters, pay-TV operators
and content providers must now produce and deliver content via different
platforms to keep up with viewer
expectations.”
To address this, the BroadcastAsia2016 International Conference
is featuring speakers from Netflix, as
well as HOOQ and iflix — an emerging
band of subscription-video-on-demand (SVoD) services primarily

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servicing the Asian market — who are
providing insights into how operators
can best optimise their over-the-top
(OTT) platforms and digital assets to
achieve commercial and operational
optimisation, as well as deliver immersive experiences to their audiences.
On the show floor, the TV Everywhere! Zone, which made a success• Continued on page 2

Singapore Exhibition
Services Chief Executive
Lindy Wee.

The best
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17/05/2016 17:28