2 EDITORIAL

For any broadcaster , moving to a new facility can present new opportunities and challenges in equal measure .

While new state-of-the-art broadcast facilities , integrated with the latest technologies , can offer broadcasters more flexibility in catering to the diverse needs of the increasingly fastidious viewer , they are also compelling broadcasters to re-think not only how they design their broadcast systems , but also how they ought to re-invent and execute their business models and strategies .

For Singapore terrestrial broadcaster Mediacorp , the move to Mediacorp Campus , a sparkling 12-storey production and digital broadcast facility in Singapore ’ s Mediapolis @ one-north , cannot come at a more opportune time .

Having overseen Singapore ’ s first colour TV broadcast in 1974 as Radio and Television Singapore ( RTS ), Mediacorp is ready to write the next chapter in Singapore ’ s TV history as it edges ever closer to a full migration to digital TV transmission .

As Singaporeans prepare to bid a nostalgic farewell to analogue TV , Mediacorp is gearing up for the digital era from a number of start points , including the embracing of new technologies . Goh Kim Soon , SVP , broadcast engineering , Mediacorp , revealed to APB that Mediacorp Campus will leverage IP extensively to interconnect different broadcast systems for the transmission of audio and video content .

However , like many of their peers , Mediacorp will continue to implement SDI in some of their workflows .

While Mediacorp ’ s move to embrace IP should be applauded , hybrid IP / SDI broadcast systems remain the best bet for many broadcasters in Asia-Pacific , new facilities or otherwise . The road to IP , for all intents and purposes , will be a long and , arguably , arduous one .

Indeed , hybrid systems do offer broadcasters a flexible yet robust platform from which to assess how IP can best address their current and future needs .

There may also be a debate arising on the horizon on what exactly defines a ‘ broadcaster ’ today . As video consumption over the Internet continues to

proliferate , bringing with it a wave of video streaming service providers scrambling to grab increasingly distracted eyeballs , traditional players like Mediacorp are realising that it is no longer feasible to depend only on traditional broadcast pipelines and business models to reach out to audiences today .

Having launched Toggle , an interactive OTT service in 2013 , Mediacorp established its Digital Group in 2015 , aiming to strengthen digital expertise across the entire organisation . These initiatives , however , should not be interpreted as indicators that Mediacorp is shifting away from its traditional linear channels . Instead , it is an expansion of Mediacorp ’ s content offerings across a full range of platforms , according to Parminder Singh , who was appointed Mediacorp ’ s chief commercial and digital officer in March this year .

And this , perhaps , best sums up the landscape in which traditional broadcasters are operating in today . How do they maintain the core elements that have defined the success of traditional broadcast TV for decades while incorporating new and innovative digital strategies that will allow them to compete with the new wave of ‘ broadcasters ’ exemplified by the likes of Netflix ?

The move to a new broadcast facility promises to usher in a new era of broadcasting for Mediacorp , but it needs to be viewed as a means to an end , and not an end in itself . The last thing broadcasters can afford to do , in the face of the biggest wave of change to impact the industry , is to rest on their laurels . Only those who dare to embrace the new , and continuously re-invent themselves , will stay around long enough to add their narrative to the still unfinished story of broadcast TV .

SHAWN LIEW MANAGING EDITOR

August 2017 ( volume 34 issue 6 )

EDITORIAL managing editor Shawn Liew , shawn @ editecintl . com online editor Millette Burgos , millette @ editecintl . com contributing editor ( technology ) Karl K Rossiter , karl @ editecintl . com contributing editor Shirish Nadkarni , shinads @ yahoo . co . uk senior reporter Josephine Tan , josephine @ editecintl . com

CORRESPONDENTS

■ India Shirish Nadkarni , shinads @ yahoo . co . uk

■ USA Mike Feazel , mfeazel @ gmail . com

PRODUCTION production editor Zuraini Ridzwan , zuraini @ editecintl . com sub-editor Genevieve Chan , genevieve @ editecintl . com senior multimedia designer Raymund Jaudian , raymund @ editecintl . com multimedia designer Waldomar Zuniga , waldomar @ editecintl . com ad / office administrator Irene Lok , irene @ editecintl . com accounts manager Tan Hui Min , huimin @ editecintl . com

MARKETING director - sales & marketing Jessie Tan , jessie @ editecintl . com manager - sales & marketing Lynn Chee , lynn @ editecintl . com

CIRCULATION & PROMOTIONS Lynn Chee , lynn @ editecintl . com

PUBLISHING publisher / editorial director Andrew Yeo , andrew @ editecintl . com

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