BroadcastPro Summit attracts region’s top TV professionals

The ASBU BroadcastPro Selevision conference brought together more than 290 attendees to discuss some of the core issues impacting the region’s broadcast industry

The 2015 ASBU BroadcastPro Selevision Summit and Awards took place on November 10 at Habtoor Grand in Dubai. The full-day programme featured a summit with four panel discussions and a gala awards evening.

Like every year, BroadcastPro ME put together a very engaging agenda featuring some of the most pertinent topics that matter to the region’s TV industry. More than 290 guests attended the summit, while the gala awards brought together more than 350 people. Fox International Channels (FIC) welcomed each attendee with a fabulous diary designed especially for the event.

Mohamed Abuagla, Executive Director of Technology & Operations (CIO/CTO), Al Jazeera Media Network, opened the summit with his keynote speech. He spoke extensively about the Al Jazeera Workplace Transformation Project (AJWT) and the progress made by the network. Having joined Al Jazeera in 2012, Abuagla was gradually entrusted with the role of ringing in change at the broadcast facility from both a technology and operational point of view. He spoke about how the project had shaped up as the tech team embraced new technologies and changes along the way. He cited examples of where the broadcaster was successful and where the team hit roadblocks.

Abuagla spoke extensively about JIVE – Al Jazeera Integrated Virtual Environment – and the cost and time savings it brought with it. According to him, adopting the Al Jazeera Media Cloud has enabled the broadcaster to establish fast and reliable connectivity to all AJMN offices.

He addressed concerns regarding big data and how it could be handled and stored for future use. Can the broadcasters make meaningful extractions from the multitude of data available to us?

“90% of the world’s data today was produced in the last two years,” he said.

Around 300 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute and you’d need 15 years without sleep to watch all videos uploaded in one day. Targeted production and VOD are some of the areas that can benefit from data. Broadcasters are considering these as serious monetising avenues and exploring opportunities to exploit them.

Digital offerings are one such promising outlet, according to him.

Security risks in today’s connected world and the need to protect information are other key concerns for broadcasters. Al Jazeera, for instance, receives 2.4m legitimate emails monthly and around 9.1m threat emails.

Commenting on the convergence of broadcast and IP technologies, he added that “the intersection of broadcast, IT, telecoms and consumer technologies, is only possible when there is a convergence of the processes and ways of working also”.

He explained how cloud is the technology of the future and the ways in which cloud deployments were helping

the broadcaster.

“Accelerate your approach to develop strategy and plan for cloud readiness. Integrate big data srategy into broader strategic and transformation engagements,” Abuagla added.

Following the presentation were four panel discussions that focused on production, OTT, free-to-air and piracy. The launch of beIN Entertainment and its impact on the region’s pay TV market was discussed and so was Fox’s announcement to join the beIN bouquet. Exclusive statistics, a look at how piracy has evolved with OTT and how the MENA TV industry is fighting back were part of the discussions.

The panels have been discussed in detail over the next few pages.

Raffle draws were held, with prizes including four iPhone 6s devices, headphones and iPad Minis from Media Guru, Selevision, Sennheiser, Axon and BSA. The summit ended with a piracy quiz from Irdeto. Mukund Cairae, CEO of Zee Entertainment Middle East, received an Apple watch from Khaled Jamal, Irdeto’s Sales Director for MENA, for correctly identifying legitimate and pirate sites.