Globecomm's Tech Forum 2013 Focuses on "Profiting on Disruptive Change"

The one-day Techforum conference explored the latest market changes, regulatory hurdles, growth opportunities and technology options in two main tracks:  Mobile and Wireless and Digital Video, and in the expanding zone in which they overlap.  

In the Keynote panel on “The Evolution of Media and Entertainment: Global, Mobile, Interactive and Social,” Chris Wagner, EVP-Marketplace Strategy of  Nevion outlined the evolution of broadcasting from a one way medium to an interactive medium. 

Jesper Knutsson, VP-Sales, North America of NDS said that  over the top technology (OTT)  is moving from a niche product to a mainstream product . It leads to new monetization schemes, some good some bad.  Splits are occurring in various areas of the market, including in the revenue streams and in audience segments.    Broadcasters, large and small have to cope with these changes, said Knuttson.

In the panel discussion on "Greater Flexibility, Lower Cost from Satellite, Terrestrial and IP Convergence,” Tong Yu,  Director Marketing Solutions of Harmonic presented the results of a survey  they did with  6,000 broadcasters and 500 service providers.  The main concerns of those surveyed include: multiscreen delivery; the transition to HD; IP delivery and workflow optimization.  Among the technology trends that those survey identified include: the new High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) standard; OTT; High Throughput Satellites (HTS) and Ultra HD, among others.

From the many sessions during the conference was one the recurring themes was that the market is being driven by consumers and they demand a more individualized experience--a unique experience.  Content is being taking into different directions as consumers demand what content, when they want to see it, where they want to see it in what format and even what they want to pay for the cost.   This revolution is viewed as “disruptive change” by some and a unique opportunity by others.

The consensus among the speakers was that tipping point towards the new disruptive media has already reached by the so-called “millenials”  the 18-35 demographic and is definitely the wave of the future.  But as Lou Zacharilla, Executive Director of the Society of Satellite Professionals International, who chaired the closing session summarizing the conference said “if you ride a wave, you always take the risk of banging your head doing it.”   So, it’s important to have a strategy on how to approach and successfully implement new technologies.  The conference certainly provided strategies not only to cope with disruptive change but to thrive in it.

To view videos of the proceedings and acces the presentations of the conference click here: http://www.globecommsystems.com/techforum.shtml

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