This year sees BroadcastAsia again sharing a site with CommunicAsia, now at the Marina Bay Sands, Singapore, 18-21 June. A few years ago, the two shows moved from the expo near the airport to downtown Singapore. This meant that they were no longer at the same venue, which led to a slow bus ride back and forth. Now, as if to reinforce that the shows are back at one venue, organizers are promoting cross-industry discussion in 2013, reflecting the convergence of communications and broadcast in a multi-platform age.
Marina Bay Sands is a large resort developed by Las Vegas Sands. The Sands Expo stands opposite the spectacular hotel — three 55-story towers topped by an infinity pool. For recent visitors to NAB, the style of the hotel will be familiar. The architecture of Moshe Safdie is something to behold.
CommunicAsia is the much larger show and covers IT as well as communications technology. Several areas overlap with the broadcast show, including satellite operations (in the SatComm2013 section), mobile broadband, LTE/4G and OTT. BroadcastAsia encompasses all aspects of the broadcasting business, from acquisition through distribution, including supporting Asia’s growing film industry.
The broadcast portion’s focus will be on newer technologies, including: DVB-T2, OTT and cloud, and TV everywhere. DVB-T2 is one solution to tackling broadcast infrastructure and transmission issues in the Southeast Asia region. IP-delivered content is another topic of great interest.
Content creation is covered through the Cinematography/Film/Production Zone. The audio sector also has its own zone, Professional Audio Technology 2013.
After NAB and IBC, BroadcastAsia is the third-largest international show, and draws visitors from all over Southeast Asia and beyond. In 2012, the show attracted 11,200 visitors and 740 exhibitors, with the majority of visitors from outside Singapore coming from Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and India, followed by smaller numbers from the Philippines and Indochina.
Parts of this region are seeing strong growth in infrastructure, with roll-outs of gigabit Ethernet to apartment blocks and ubiquitous use of mobile devices to consume content. Some governments are specifically promoting the digital media sectors, which is another boost to media and entertainment (M&E) businesses in the region.
Singapore is a media hub with many global M&E companies having bases there. It is a popular location for teleports and transmission service operators, being conveniently placed for satellite coverage of the Asia region. This position of Singapore in the global media infrastructure reflects in the quality of exhibitors attracted to the show. All of the leading brands from NAB will be exhibiting, along with distributors and resellers from across the region.
A strong line-up of conference speakers will support the conference, with two tracks covering business and technology. Speakers range from the consumer electronics sector to film production. OTT and pay TV dominate the business papers, with transmission (including DVB-T2) and cloud broadcasting being major topics. These topics reflect the region’s diverse nature, with terrestrial roll-out still proceeding in some countries, while mobile and OTT are of more interest in those with already advanced infrastructure.
—David Austerberry, editor
