The 2018 International Broadcasting Convention (IBC), held in Amsterdam (13-18 September) attracted large numbers of visitors, exhibitors and speakers, like in previous years.
More than ever before, the broadcasting industry is in a state of flux. It went through major changes at all levels in recent years, on the business and technical sides in particular.
Technology
A trend observed in recent years is the growing reliance of the broadcasting industry on IT services.
These include a major transition to IP-based solutions for broadcast TV production and delivery. Another major development observed in many domains is the introduction of Artificial Intelligence (AI), which is itself closely tied to Machine Learning (ML).
AI and ML have made possible major improvements in Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR) and Mixed Reality (MR), important for games, but also essential now in visual broadcast production.
In addition, AI and ML are proving central to applications, such as speech to text for subtitling, archiving, data mining, improved protection of content against piracy and hacking, to name just a few.
Leveraging the power of cloud services for post-production, storage and security applications is set to magnify the potential of these technologies and of their applications in the media industry.
Business
From the business perspective, these new technologies and services represent challenges for established broadcasters, whilst opening up opportunities for new players, such as technology companies and platforms.
Many players aware of these challenges are looking at ways of cooperating on a wide range of projects to find business models that would benefit both sides.
The AIB will be reporting on some of these developments in the near future.