My top 3 highlights from this year’s IBC

IBC 2019 comes to a close today. It’s the biggest show of its kind in Europe and a key date in the diary for our industry.

Two decades on from my first visit to IBC, and I’m still amazed by all the innovations on display each year – and this year is no different!

From camera-equipped drones to stunning 6K x 3K Crystal LED screens or stands that you can explore in virtual reality. IBC really has got it all.

I think it’s fascinating to see how technologies that only entered the market a few years ago are now everywhere and are completely transforming our industry. At this year’s show it’s clear to see that IP, content and microservices will be key drivers of this transformation.

1. IP Live production is the way forward

The pressure on media organisations to capture events as they happen is huge.

Audiences expect to access the latest content in real time, which puts an enormous strain on resources. IP Live technologies are set to change this. We’ve seen live production enter a new stage of maturity and an increase in the number of new platforms, solutions and opportunities coming to the market.

There is a clear trend towards creating flexible and agile production environments, powered by IP-enabled solutions. This is something we’ve observed with our own customers as well. To date, Sony have delivered more than 60 IP Live studios and OB vans to media organisations across the world – and that number is only set to grow in the coming months.

2. Content continues to be king

Media organisations are pumping billions into new content each year to meet the increasing demands of modern audiences. This means that the technology required to create this content needs to keep up with the expectations of media organisations.

Capturing content in 4K and UHD as well as being able to record in HDR and with HRF has become the base line for most high-end camcorders and cameras that want to meet the needs of modern content creators.

At Sony, we have taken this to heart and launched two new flagship camcorders at IBC this year, the PXW-FX9 and PXW-Z750. Both products offer content creators greater flexibility, operability and true creative freedom to go make tomorrow.

The demand for high-end camcorders like these is clearly there. In fact, we sold hundreds of them during the first few days of the show, months before they will become available.

3. (Micro) Services are here to stay

The gradual evolution from products to services in our industry has been huge. The conversations we have with customers no longer just focus on an organisation’s technological needs. Instead, we look at what’s best for each business and the transformation that our customers want to achieve.

Services and micro services are instrumental in doing this. They allow media companies to evolve traditional supply chains, unlock greater value from content for deeper audience engagement and help them become more agile.

This is reflected in the response our Intelligent Media Services (IMS) offering has received from the industry since its launch at last year’s IBC. Feedback has been so positive, that we decided to create a dedicated IMS division earlier this year to meet the growing demand from our customers for such services.

The challenges our industry is currently facing are enormous. From growing audience demand for content, to reduced budgets and an expectation to quickly achieve a high ROI from any new technologies that media organisations deploy.

Walking around IBC has made it clear to me that, collectively as an industry, we are addressing these challenges head on. I am looking forward to seeing how trends like IP Live production, high-end content creation and micro services are going to positively impact our industry over the coming months and years.