The annual IBC exhibition closed a week ago, the stands have been packed up and the Christy Media team have all returned to the office, busy following up on the meetings we had at the show.

Here’s our report on our trip to IBC…

Our team at the show this year included new trainees as well as IBC veterans, with everyone spending at least a couple of days at the 5 day exhibition.  There were almost 56,000 visitors to IBC this year, from over 160 countries, exploring the stands of 1,700 exhibitors, across fifteen halls.  New for this year were a number of Feature Areas that tied into the IBC Conference that runs alongside the exhibition.

The Future Zone was popular with our team when they explored the show – it’s home to exhibitors displaying cutting edge prototypes and projects, usually hidden away from public view. The 8KTV, augmented reality graphics solutions, fun VR headsets, stunning holographic display and the visually impressive Pufferfish globes were all mentioned as “wow” moments.  Our newer team members also really enjoyed finding out more about the green screen displays, watching how the presenter “interacts” with the graphics and seeing the technology they have read about in action for the first time.

Key themes at this year’s show included:

IP based production – with the new IP Interoperability Zone, IBC brought to life the reality of IP technology.  The new zone showcased the work of the Joint Task Force on Networked Media (a combined initiative of EBU, AMWA, SMPTE and VSF).  Verified technical interoperability over IP from more than 30 diverse companies was demonstrated, and during the show visitors were able to watch live IP production courtesy of the VRT-EBU Live IP Sandbox project, which featured a real studio, control room and data centre.

VR – there were many impressive VR products and solutions on display, although it has been said that after the poor consumer uptake of 3D technology, the broadcast sector appears more cautious about embracing VR until there is a clearer consumer demand for it.

Personalisation – In response to the continuing move to IP delivery systems and increasing personalisation of the end-user experience, the industry is focussing again on the issues of monetization of content and the predicted death of traditional TV advertising models. With the popularity of ad-blockers, and increasing on-demand viewing habits, advertisers and broadcasters are looking for new ways to personalise and deliver content to the end consumer and exhibitors like ContentWise and Singular.Live in Hall 14 and Kaltura in Hall 3 displayed products to serve these needs.

Conference & Awards:

The theme of the IBC Conference was “Transformation in the Digital Era: Leadership, Strategy and Creativity in Media and Entertainment” and more than 300 speakers were featured during the 6 day conference, sharing insights on key issues.

This year the IBC’s Awards Ceremony honoured the movie director Mr Ang Lee with the IBC2016 International Honour for Excellence.  As part of the IBC Big Screen Experience the audience were treated to a brief retrospective of his films and Mr Lee’s keynote speech was delivered to a packed auditorium.  He commented during his speech that “In the past few years, I have come strongly to believe that new technology will upgrade film-making in terms of story-telling… IBC has done so much to bring together new technology and old-fashioned creativity…  I am delighted to be part of this exciting dialogue.”

IBC presented the Judges’ Prize to NASA this year, for its work collaborating with film makers, making content available and advancing the science and craft of imaging.  The Society of Motion Picture & Television Engineers (SMPTE) was also presented with an IBC Special Award to recognise its centenary year and its important continuing role within the industry.  The IBC Innovation Award for Content Creation was awarded to The LIVEIP Studio project, with trophies presented to EBU and the Flemish broadcaster VRT for hosting the project.  BT Sport won the award for Content Delivery for its launch of an Ultra HD channel last year, and the Content Management award went to Endemol Shine Germany.

For more news from the exhibition and conference, you can view the IBC Daily here.

As well as touring the exhibition halls and meeting with a huge variety of visitors at our stand, IBC also enables the team to socialise with our clients, away from our stand.  This year our favourite post-show parties included our IBC neighbour Object Matrix’s annual Welsh Evening (this year featuring the Welsh bagpipes – a lesser known instrument than its Scottish cousin!), FileCatalyst’s Hard Rock Café party and the Imagine Live! Party in Hall 4.

The show is massive and as usual, sore feet were the biggest complaint we had from our team, as they did their best to see as much as possible during their time at IBC.

We’d like to thank everyone who stopped by the stand to say hello, have a beer or take a pen or two; we’ve had a great show again this year and it is largely thanks to you all.  We’re looking forward to next year’s event already!

IBC 2017 – Dates for your diary:    
Conference: 14-18 September 2017             Exhibition:   15-19 September 2017