Asia-Pacific Broadcasting (APB) April 2016 Volume 33, Issue 3

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NEWS & VIEWS
April 2016
www.apb-news.com
NEWS & VIEWS
W O R L D I N B R I E F
4K broadcast passes test
in South Korea
SEOUL – A broadcast technol-
ogy consortium led by Seoul
Broadcasting System (SBS) and
Munhwa Broadcasting Corpora-
tion (MBC) has successfully tested
and demon­strated the world’s
first end-to-end 4K/Ultra HD
(UHD) broadcast using the ATSC
3.0 standard. The test broadcast
also featured a live camera feed
with real-time IP transmission.
India’s DSO on track
NEW DELHI – More than 90% of
homes in India have completed
the Phase III cable TV analogue-
to-digital conversion process, said
India’s Ministry of Information
& Broadcasting. The ministry
added that cable MSOs and local
distributors have already supplied
more than 20 million addressable
set-top boxes to the population.
Australians prefer to
view video on TV
CANBERRA – About 84% of view-
ing of video content in Australia is
on TV sets, says report by Region-
al TAM, OzTAM and Nielsen. The
report states 87.4% of Australians
watch broadcast TV on in-home
TV sets weekly, while 91.4% of
broadcast TV watched on TV sets
was live-to-air. Computers, tablets
and smartphones comprise 15.5%
of the time Australians spend
watching video of any kind.
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CREATION
26
MANAGEMENT
30
DISTRIBUTION
| APRIL 2016
34
‘Go digital first’ to benefit
from new technologies
|
ISSUE 3
X-PLATFORM
40
Lifestyle Network offers high-quality
shows in English.
ABS-CBN strikes
content deal for
int’l audience
by shawn liew
KUALA LUMPUR – Before Asian
broadcasters can fully derive the
benefits offered by today’s emerg-
ing technologies, their foremost
priority must be to complete the
full transition to digital terrestrial
TV (DTT), said Dr Amal Punchihewa,
director, technology and innova-
tion, Asia-Pacific Broadcasting
Union (ABU).
Speaking with APB after the
successful conclusion of the ABU
Digital Broadcasting Symposi-
um (DBS) 2016, he related: “For
instance, Integrated Broadcast
Broadband (IBB) technologies and
services have a prerequisite — if
countries have not gone digital,
they cannot fully derive the ben-
efits of IBB.”
Perhaps, appropriately, ABU
DBS 2016 featured the theme of
Innovating Digital Connections,
with delegates discussing and
debating on IBB technologies, 4K/
| VOLUME 33
❝ Broadcasters need to capitalise on
emerging technologies but, first, they
need to go digital. ❞
— Dr Amal Punchihewa, Director, Technology and Innovation,
Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union
at ABU DBS 2016 (above)
Ultra HD (UHD), 8K, high dynamic
range (HDR) and high frame rate
(HFR), among others, even as Asia
continues to shut down analogue
TV transmission.
“A lot of stakeholders may not
understand that analogue to digital
is but one technology transition …
Broadcasters need to capitalise on
emerging technologies but, first,
they need to go digital,” said Dr
Amal.
The ABU, however, is heartened
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MANILA – Philippines TV network
ABS-CBN has sealed a major pack-
age deal with Prime Entertainment
Group for shows for its Worldwide
on Lifestyle Network.
Lifestyle Network offers high-
quality shows in English, airing
round-the-clock across the world
through satellite, cable and video-
on-demand (VoD) platforms. It is
owned by ABS-CBN, one of the
Philippines’ largest entertainment
and broadcasting company, which
controls 71 TV stations and is today
available to more than three million
paying households worldwide.
One of the new shows to be
offered on Lifestyle Network is The
Secret Album of Clint Eastwood, a
documentary on the Hollywood
star.
Collaboration: The key driver for full IP broadcasting
BRUSSELS – With its promise of increased
flexibility, more agile networks and workflow
possibilities, as well as potential cost savings, IP
can be an appealing proposition for broadcast-
ers. Key hurdles, however, remain to be crossed,
attendees to a presentation of the Sandbox Live
IP Production studio project were told.
Facilitated by a collaboration between the
European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and the
IABM, more than 50 members of the combined
broadcaster and supplier community came to-
gether to learn about and experience the “first
fully IP studio” built in Europe by Belgian public
broadcaster VRT.
Hosting the event, John Ive, director of
technology and strategic insight, IABM, asked:
“Most broadcasters are facing a dilemma when
it comes to re-equipping new buildings to take
their businesses forward for the next five to 10
years … how much do you commit to future,
unproven IT/IP technology-based technology,
compared to known legacy systems based on
SDI?”
At the two-day event, VRT showcased the
Sandbox Live IP Production studio project,
a multi-camera studio system based entirely
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