Asia-Pacific Broadcasting (APB) November 2016 Volume 33, Issue 10

7 NEWS & VIEWS November 2016 // RELIABILITY MADE BY ZEISS Mastering the balance between weight, size and optical performance. Turn to Page 16 for more information >> www.apb-news.com NEWS & VIEWS WORLD IN BRIEF RRS-16-Asia & Pacific focuses on bridging divide GENEVA – Jointly organised by ITU and PITA, the Regional Radio­ communication Seminar and Forum 2016 for the Asia-Pacific (RRS-16-Asia & Pacific) concluded with a renewed commitment to colla­boration and capacity-building programmes for APAC. The forum examined the bridging of the digital divide through the use of radiocommunication technologies, with a focus on the challenges and opportunities for spectrum harmonisation in the region. CSA securing IoT products SAN JOSE – The Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) IoT working group has released a report titled Future-proofing the Connected World: 13 Steps to Developing Secure IoT Products. It highlights the basic security measures that must be incorporated into the development process of IoT products, and the security items required in a product development life cycle. ATSC adds 3 new standards to 3.0 WASHINGTON – Three new ATSC 3.0 standards have been added to enable broadcasters to deliver mobile, interactivity and higher quality content. These include the link layer protocol to transport bits, as well as audio and video watermark emission standards that manage content watermarks. 6 CREATION 14 MANAGEMENT 18 | NOVEMBER 2016 | VOLUME 33 | ISSUE 10 DISTRIBUTION 22 Will VR broadcasting be a reality? by shawn liew LONDON – For a UK commercial broadcaster, the sky would appear to be the limit when it comes to virtual reality (VR). Having inaugurated the Sky VR Studio — a dedicated in-house VR production unit — in March this year, Sky UK has now launched Sky VR, a free app that offers, at launch, 20 different pieces of 360° video content from Sky and Sky-partners such as Disney, Fox Innovation Lab and Warner Brothers. Available as a free download from Google Play or the App Store, the app allows viewers to watch VR content on a smartphone, either in conjunction with a Google Cardboard headset — a VR platform developed by Google for use with a head mount for selected smartphone models — or in 2D (360°) without a headset. Gary Davey, managing director, content, Sky, claimed: “Interest in VR content is building, generating more excitement every day. “We are just at the beginning of our VR journey, launching Sky VR Studio earlier this year … Now comes the creative challenge of deploying this immersive experience with engaging storytelling.” The VR ship is currently anchored at the harbour, ready to sail off. In equal measure, it may never leave the habour, or may turn out to be just an occasional pleasure boat, analogised David Wood, consultant (Technology and Innovation) to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). Wood has also chaired the DVB CM-UHDTV group that prepared the Commercial Requirements for the DVB UHD-1 Phase 2 systems, X-PLATFORM 24 Celestial Movies, CTE’s flagship Chinese movie channel, is now available on the linear and non-linear platforms of South Korean pay-TV operator SK Broadband. CTE now greeting S Korean viewers While there appears to be a ready market for VR applications in the gaming industry, are TV viewers ready to embrace VR content? 88 SEOUL – Celestial Tiger Entertainment (CTE) has launched its flagship Chinese movie channel, Celestial Movies, on SK Broadband, a pay-TV platform in South Korea. Celestial Movies is now available on SK Broadband’s linear service B tv, as well as B tv plus and oksusu, SK Broadband’s over-thetop (OTT) services. Besides offering a wide range of Chinese blockbusters and iconic films starring the likes of Jet Li, Chow Yun Fatt and Stephen Chow, these titles will also be fully localised with South Korean subtitles. SDI still has key role even as IP makes its way into broadcasting Media Prima’s Dr Ahmad Zaki Mohd Salleh: The adoption of IP is under way. KUALA LUMPUR – The adoption of IP into the broadcast environment is under way; however, SDI will remain a core connectivity platform as IP slowly makes its way into broadcast facilities, said Dr Ahmad Zaki Mohd Salleh, group GM, engineering, Media Prima. Dr Zaki was one of the participants who attended the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union ’s (ABU) fourth Integrated Broadcast Broadband (IBB) and over-the- top (OTT) workshop held from Sep 27-29 in Malaysia. He told APB: “Although IP was never designed to carry real-time data, the tremendous developments in CPU power, memory and advancement in softwaredefined networks (SDNs) has made this adoption possible.” Many ABU members, and broadcasters in Asia-Pacific, are already using IP to deliver content to their audiences, and have already integrated IP into their contribution circuits. And while no broadcast organisation in Asia-Pacific has yet to formulate any clear plans to use IP for live production, IP was one of the key topics discussed at the workshop, reported Dr Amal Punchihewa, director, technology and innovation, ABU. Key issues raised relating to IP remain 88 CORPORATE EVENTS LI VE EVENTS BREAKI NG NE WS LI VE SPORTS i de a l s y s . c om Da i l yRent a l nowa v a i l a bl ei nS i ng a por e, Ma l a y s i a , I ndones i a , HongKong , T ha i l a nd, J a pa n, T a i wa n, I ndi a , Chi naa ndDuba i www.