IABM Report - SMPTE 05 Sydney

IABM Report - SMPTE 2015 Sydney 20 July 2015

IABM Report - SMPTE 2015 Sydney

Ray Sanders

Overview

This years' SMPTE seemed to be a little smaller than in previous years, but it is a difficult call because the show had previously been held at the Exhibition halls at Darling Harbour, which have now been demolished.

Some of the booths seemed smaller than in the past and I felt that there was less presence by representatives from many of the larger companies on their booths, and in some cases no representatives from manufacturers who have previously sent people.

I think this is a reflection of the state of the Australian market as well as the tougher situation faced by some manufacturers.

Australian Market

Current Status

Most Distributors and technology people I spoke to hold the view that the Australian market had been in a holding pattern for some time and was very tight.

The reasons are as follows:

Broadcasters feel threatened by the online offerings and are unsure how to react. This has resulted in procrastination with technology changes and upgrades.

For some time there was to have been a change to the Australian media ownership laws which would have meant in some cases Metro broadcasters purchasing regional broadcasters as well as other changes. As a result the broadcasters had held off any technology changes and upgrades.

Several broadcasters have been in a fairly precarious financial position due to over-capitalisation and falling revenues. This has led to tight control over Capex going forward.

Future

Going forward there are several influences which bring some comfort to the broadcast technology supply industry:

The decision by government to change the media ownership laws has just been deferred indefinitely, and as a result there is a feeling by broadcasters that they should just get on with some technology upgrades which have been put off for some time.

Australia's broadband rollout is taking longer than anticipated and as a result FTA Linear broadcast in Australia is still very important, and will be for some time to come. (Australia is ranked 40th in the world for broadband penetration)

Australia's pay TV uptake is only 30% and OTT services are not growing as fast as in some countries further reinforcing the importance of FTA TV in the future.

Government funded broadcasters such as ABC and SBS still have considerable funding for new Capex projects in the next few years, including the complete rebuild and expansion of the ABC's Melbourne premises.

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