IBC2017 wrap up – Fragmentation, VR, 5G, AI, Esports and so much more!

So many things happened at this year’s IBC 2017 for Globecast and in the industry. Now it’s time to digest everything and share our thoughts on this successful event.

IBC Trends before and after

Before IBC, we mentioned that we would focus on three topics: Fragmentation, IP and Customer Experience. These are trends that relate to the services we highlighted this year but it is larger than just what Globecast was proposing. If you walked around the show floor or followed any of the conferences remotely, you must have identified other trends.

But who better than IBC to make the wrap up?

No matter how good your IBC was, you want to watch this video where top guys and women discuss the trends of this IBC.

But of course, depending on the company you work for and the type of job you have, some topics were probably hotter than others. Here is a quick list of other trends we identified, followed:

Esports

A lot of recent news has proven how big the world of Esports is becoming.

Have a look at that IBC 2017 conference with Michiel Bakker, CEO of GINX Esports TV. Very interesting (and easy to understand if you’re not into Esports).

Here’s a graphic extracted from the conference (copyright IBC2017 and GINXEsportsTV) to prove how big Esports is. You are looking for growth? Look again as the participants are moving from 400 million people to nearly 600 million in 2020. Participants include players and watchers, just like in any other sport.

Fake news

Another subject that was big at this IBC this year was Fake news. This is not exactly a technological subject. We could argue, without going into detail, that you can produce fake news the same way you would produce real content. But then, if you are not producing fake news, the question that arises is: how do you produce news content in a post-truth world?

AI is everywhere

AI (Artificial Intelligence) including machine learning, deep learning and voice control was a hot topic this year. There is a lot to say about the world of AI and there’s no denying that AI is rising within broadcast and video. Have a look at this video including Dave Bevan from BBC labs.

AI is already impacting both broadcasters and consumers: piloting your TV with voice is the next big thing. OK, asking your TV to switch to Channel 4 is not exactly new, but treating metadata to improve the experience like: “Show me the best movies with Jack Nicholson” or “List  all comedy since 2005”. That means your metadata shall be neat and your workflow clean…

VR, AR and MR

Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality and Mixed Reality have been there for quite a while. The Future Zone at IBC was a bit less impressive this year, or maybe we are getting used to it. But virtual reality references weren’t only in the Future Zone, they were more widespread this year.

We’ll come back on VR later in the year. Meanwhile, Rikard Steiber, President of Viveport & SVP Virtual Reality – HTC Vive explains where we are. Fascinating.

And if you feel like you need a European VR industry landscape, have a look at this presentation from LucidWeb by Leen Seegers.

5G

Another subject of interest this year was 5G; 5G for the media more precisely. On both consumer and broadcasters side. It is not a 2018 move, and nobody -besides Japanese media group maybe- expects 5G to reach the end user before 2020. But if you don’t prepare the future today, what will you do tomorrow?

Though there is a consensus that

“Ultimately, 5G deployment depends on the willingness and propensity of mobile operators to invest”

Kester Mann

But more bandwidth means more consumption with better quality. That also means that the cloud will grow in strength and popularity.

Have a look at that conference for more on 5G.

50 years of IBC

The pace of change is increasing dramatically. This is what makes our industry so alive and thrilling, as well as what makes it so challenging. Around the year

1967, the industry looked something like this:

• PAL & SECAM video standard introduced.
• First colour television was introduced in France, UK, Belgium, Netherlands, West Germany and USSR.
• The inaugural Super Bowl is simulcast on CBS and NBC.
• The first wireless commercial television station in Hong Kong, TVB, commenced broadcasting

We could have included so many other key trends in this article, such as 4K becoming the new normal and 8K waiting for its turn. Not to mention social networks, workflow, metadata, cybersecurity and so on. We’ll come back to you on those topics later.

How good was IBC this year?

This is an important question! Attendance was up this year, with 57 669 person making it a record attendance year.

Plus, the IP Showcase, Startup Forum and C-Tech forum were launched this year and brought a new level of excitement to the show.

We hope it was a good one for you too!