Asia-Pacific Broadcasting (APB) July 2017 Volume 34, Issue 5

FIND OUT ON PAGE 22 NEWS 5 NEWS & VIEWS July 2017 BUNDLE UP. GV STRATUS Newsroom Bundles make the impossible simple. 20170607_GV-Stratus_90x65.indd 1 www.apb-news.com NEWS & VIEWS W O R L D I N B R I E F FTA satellite distribution key for Asia BANGKOK – Free-to-air (FTA), direct-to-home distribution re- mains a key platform in Asia, with Thailand recording a 64% penetration rate, followed by Japan (37%), China (25%) and India (12%). Globally, 314 million TV households are receiving TV signals via FTA satellite, according to analyst house Dataxis. HDR driving 4K/UHD momentum NEW YORK – High dynamic range (HDR) TV shipments will grow at a 41% CAGR and reach 245 million units in 2022, pre- dicted ABI Research. Citing Sony’s recent announcement to include HDR in all its new TV sets, the research firm believes HDR will soon be a prominent feature in many 4K/Ultra HD (UHD) TV sets. Media Prima acquires Rev Asia KUALA LUMPUR – Media Prima has acquired 100% equity inter- est in Rev Asia Holdings, one of South-east Asia’s leading digital media groups, at a cost of RM105 million (US$24.6 million). The acquisition will increase the in- tegrated media group’s digital platform audience reach to 10.4 million. 6 CREATION 16 MANAGEMENT 20 DISTRIBUTION | JULY 2017 24 | VOLUME 34 | X-PLATFORM 2017-06-12 ISSUE 5 11:07 AM 28 Inter-Op Lab affirms IP’s future role in broadcasting DVB Project’s Dr Peter Siebert: “Because of the efficiency gains of multicast, more content will be delivered over IP broadband connections eventually — but for the interim, hybrid technologies will remain prevalent.” by shawn liew SINGAPORE – “ The future of broadcast is IP but the future is not here yet,” said Dr Peter Siebert, exe­ cutive director, DVB Project, quot- ing his chairman Peter MacAvock. He explained: “In the future, IP delivery will become more and more relevant, but for now, many countries in Asia-Pacific are yet to enjoy ubiquitous broadband con- nectivity.” IP-based delivery of broadcast content, he revealed, is a key prior- ity for DVB, which has started the technical work on ABR Multicast, which will bring multicast scal- ability to the over-the-top (OTT) delivery of live content. Dr Siebert added: “Because of The Broadcast IP Inter-Op Lab at BroadcastAsia2017 demonstrated that IP has a key role to play in the future of broadcasting. the efficiency gains of multicast, more content will be delivered over IP broadband connections eventu- ally — but for the interim, hybrid technologies will remain prevalent.” BroadcastAsia2017 had proven that moving to IP today does not involve high risk, said Fintan Mc Kiernan, CEO of Ideal Systems South-east Asia. Drawing on the key takeaways from the Broadcast IP Inter-Op Lab, set up by Ideal Systems work- ing in conjunction with APB and 8 8 Broadcasters urged to take a deep dive into IP by josephine tan SINGAPORE – Broadcasters need to start embracing IP today by starting to plan for the transition to IP-based systems after a careful analysis of how IP can best address their current and future needs. In a panel discussion at Broad- castAsia2017, entitled Taking a deep dive into the practicalities of imple- menting IP workflows, four invited panellists addressed some of the key issues and concerns surrounding the transition to IP, particularly for broad- casters in Asia-Pacific. Calling the transition to IP an “in- evitable” one, Dr Amal Punchihewa, director, technology and innovation, Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU), explained that the move from SDI to IP would be largely driven by cost, and this would in turn lead to new business alignments. He continued: “IP delivery is now slowly maturing even as we’ve been talking about over-the-top (OTT) viewing. However, IP can now also be used for production, and what is important is how we can implement IP on the production side.” Dr Ahmad Zaki Mohd Salleh, group general manager, engineer- ing, Media Prima, agreed with Dr Amal’s point on cost, and elaborated: Media Prima’s Dr Ahmad Zaki Mohd Salleh: “It is actually an economic drive for broadcasters to move to IP.” 8 8 Ge ng i nt o I P i s ea s y wi t h L ea di ng t he mov e t o I P . Mor e i nf o a t www. embr i oni x . c om www. i dea l s y s . c om