IBC Show 2019: Key Takeaways

The annual International Broadcasting Convention (IBC show) serves as a launchpad for companies in the media and entertainment space to unveil their latest and greatest solutions.

In September 2018, just days prior to IBC, Lumine Group announced they closed a transaction with Nokia. Velocix, Nokia’s former IP Video Business Unit became the 10th company to join Lumine Group’s growing Comms & Media portfolio.

Fast-forward to 2019 and Velocix is proudly displaying their new branding and latest innovations at this year’s IBC conference. After spending many years familiarizing ourselves within the media space, it was exciting for us to attend this year’s IBC with an acquired company exhibiting on the show floor.

Below are a few key observations from the 2019 show.

Moving to the Cloud Brings More Data

Data is becoming an important asset for media companies as we move to a digitally immersed world of streaming media. As companies move to direct platforms, the importance of consumer data is powering decision-making. The move to the cloud is giving media companies access to a wealth of data regarding their consumers’ behaviours. These companies want to leverage consumer data in different areas of their content chains to drive automation. Content providers can use real-time viewing habits and preferences data to engage customers with the right content at the right time.

Meaningful personalization can only be achieved through smarter and more effective data processing and analysis, hence the implementation of AI-based video and metadata processing in the TV industry, which has been crowned as the “game-changer” at this year’s show.

Innovative New Methods of Consumption

Netflix changed the media universe with their robust content package which they have made available 24/7 in a commercial-free, on-demand format. We are seeing a substantial shift in the way content is being consumed; The smartphone now is the primary screen viewed by hundreds of millions of people around the world. It has become a one-stop gateway for personal entertainment, payment, and social connectivity needs. It is expected that in the future Innovative content bundling by telcos and TV networks will ensure that this digital ecosystem takes off. Partnership will be key to the evolution of an open, vibrant digital ecosystem. This is not about owning or controlling the value chain, it is about collaboration between telcos and content creators to build fundamental models where the ecosystem wins.

The media universe has never evolved this quickly. Ten years ago, none of us would have thought that people would watch media as much as they do on their phones. Content consumption is going mobile, on-demand and nonlinear. It is a very exciting time in the business and media companies need to be adaptive and adopt content bundling to keep their customers tuned in.