This year's focus is multiscreen platforms.
BroadcastAsia provides a major showcase for the broadcast manufacturing industry in the Asia-Pacific region. Although many countries in the region hold national shows, BroadcastAsia is a truly international event that complements NAB and IBC. It attracts well-known industry speakers from across the globe for the conference program that runs alongside the exhibition. This year, it will be held at the Suntec Convention Center, Singapore, and runs June 19-22.
After the desert of Nevada, the tropical humidity of Singapore can seem like being in a sauna. The event is held annually in the cosmopolitan city-state, providing a cultural contrast to Amsterdam and Las Vegas. Locals will tell you that outside of work they devote their time to eating and shopping, and there certainly is a huge choice on offer.
However, it's not all shops, offices and restaurants. Singapore is a popular location for global media companies to site teleports and playout centers, and now forms a key part of the fiber and satellite networks that span the world to deliver television across all continents. Regional programming mixes with output from the content factories of Los Angeles.
The city also hosts global news bureaus, as well as a thriving post-production sector to create local programming and commercials. They also serve the needs of the multinational media conglomerates to reversion programs for the local languages of the region, dubbing and subtitling.
The Asia-Pacific region has a diverse broadcast sector reflecting the different natures of its many countries. Some, like Singapore itself, are rolling out 4G cellular services. High-speed broadband, with rates up to 100Mb/s, can be found across the region, which puts European networks to shame. On the other hand, some countries are still in the process of upgrading from analog to digital terrestrial television services.
This year, BroadcastAsia is highlighting multiscreen platforms, including OTT and cloud broadcasting. The conference that runs alongside the exhibition opens with a keynote panel discussion on future business models titled “What direction is the broadcasting industry taking?” The panelists are to explore next-generation broadcasting models and consider the impact of Google TV, Apple TV, Netflix and Hulu on traditional broadcasting.
For those interested in conventional over-the-air broadcasting, DVB-T2 will be a hot topic. The DVB-T2 conference track will be looking at DVB-T2 trials and implementation in several countries, as well as DVB-T2 Lite for mobile applications.
File-based operations and DAM will also be a feature. The new challenge for broadcasters is how to manage storage for HD, as well as 4K in the future. Storing videotape was once a simple warehousing operation; all that has changed. The archive session will cover the critical issues around migrating files between tiers of storage and how to match the content access needs to the appropriate storage tier.
The exhibit floor is more relaxed than the bustle of NAB, with more time for networking. It is just the time to get the in-depth demo that wasn't possible at NAB.
Social media is a strong component of the conference sessions, and discussion will include how to exploit interactivity to further the broadcast business.
Content creation will have its own exhibit area: the Cinematography/Film/Production Zone, which covers acquisition and post.
The show runs at the same time as the much larger CommunicAsia, hosted at the nearby Marina Sands. Most visitors will want to take in both shows, as many exhibitors of interest to broadcasters are showing at CommunicAsia. Expect to see exhibitors in the downstream areas of broadcast: CDNs, encoding, networks, mobile, broadband and satellite communications.
This year, we are running an online newsletter, “Broadcast Asia Update,” with the latest show news and product announcements. Visit our website to view the latest issue (broadcastengineering.com/newsletters).