broadcast technology trends and insights 2015
SAM out to own space between content creation and distribution
When the creation of SAM was announced at IBC 2015 , Tim Thorsteinson commented that the company ’ s vision is to own the space between content creation and distribution . Can you elaborate on this and give us more insights into the company ’ s strategy moving forward , particularly in Asia- Pacific ? STEPHEN WONG : The whole market is in a rapid state of change at the moment and the Asia-Pacific region is a great example of how technology is disrupting the broadcast and production markets . We have customers who still have analogue as part of their workflow , while we also have customers implementing 8K workflows in production and 4K for broadcast . Each of our customers have different priorities depending on their own specific business model and the important message for them is that regardless of where they are on their technology migration path , we are able to offer solutions to their problems .
One of our strengths is that we always take a long-term view with our products because we understand the investment cycles our customers have to work with . By doing that , we give our customers options on how they can migrate to new technologies as well as the option of when they can migrate , allowing them to work within the financial realities of their business .
This translates to a range of market leading products such as the Quantel Rio for finishing , through sQ Servers and editing platform for production and news , all the way through to our market-leading ICE linear playout system . Our IQ Modular platform , the Kahuna production switcher series , and our routers are all best in class , and are being tied together with workflow and operational efficiency technology such as Roll Call and Momentum workflow control .
One of the first steps towards SAM ’ s roadmap is to provide
SAM recently took the industry by storm with a new name , a new brand and a new vision . Stephen Wong , SVP of sales for Asia-Pacific at Snell Advanced Media ( SAM ), shares with APB the company ’ s strategy , as well as his foresight on technological prospects and its impact within the region . a risk-free transition path to IP routing and cloud-based playout . Together with 4K , how do you see these technology trends developing in Asia- Pacific , and what would be some of the main challenges facing broadcasters in the region ? WONG : We envisage a significant period of opportunity for our customers to introduce increasingly efficient and flexible systems in all areas of their facility , from live production to playout , including technologies such as IP , cloud and 4K . The risk for our customers is that they may be persuaded to invest inappropriately in systems and technologies that have the opposite effect .
At SAM , we are acting as a guide to our Asia-Pacific customers and seek to offer products ideal for use today which , at the same time , avoid potential technology dead-ends or lead to wasted short-term investments . Examples of these include our Kahuna switchers and Sirius 800 router systems , both already deployed in IP-based remote production
( cloud ) at customers ’ facilities . Reducing the risk of investment in customer choices such as IP , 4K and cloud is precisely how SAM is helping our Asia-Pacific customers today . Our products are built to be open , adaptable , future-oriented and suitable for use by our customers from now over a suitable return on investment ( ROI ) period .
Can you also share with us in more details some of the key findings in SAM ’ s recent global survey into the broadcast industry ’ s views on IP and 4K — which of these will potentially have the most impact on broadcasters in Asia-Pacific ? WONG : The Asia-Pacific region will be subject to most of the same pressures as other regions of the world . However , there will be significant impetus in 4K and 8K due to efforts underway in Korea and Japan and this may lead to an expectation that IP is the only way forward in the short term . SAM ’ s equipment is in many cases already deployed in 4K live production environments , and in 8K environments for our Quantel Rio colour and finishing
SAM offers products ideal for today ’ s 4K and IP-based workflows such as the Kahuna 9600 production switcher with Maverik control panel .
Stephen Wong
SVP Sales , Asia-Pacific SAM
system . Our live production products already have IP stream-based interfaces in both uncompressed and compressed signals that go up to and include 4K ( please see our supported standards ). However , our global survey revealed some difficulties ahead .
It has become clear through our research this year that the future does not hold one single standard and that agile , mixed standard interface and support is the way forward . At SAM , we are building products and systems that respond to this need and enable customers to invest today without fear of the future . Our Kahuna production switcher is the market-leading multi-format product worldwide and is an ideal example of our philosophy going forward .
Lastly , what is the key message that SAM would want to convey to customers of both Snell and Quantel ? WONG : SAM is a new company built on the foundations of two great world-beating , Emmy Award-winning companies . We offer products that hold market-leading positions and have development roadmaps to further strengthen our offering to the Asia-Pacific region . We are aggressively pursuing a policy of service expansion and pushing forward in our desire to act as a reasoned intelligent guide to our customers for the tough choices ahead .
If you are not already in contact with us , please reach out to our partners and staff to learn how our efforts can help you make your own business more productive , more efficient and more profitable .
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