I just got back from IBC2023, where Ateme focused on three things: how we help the industry transform, monetize, and go green.
We were definitely onto something. Our booth attracted a whopping 58% more people than last year (while attendance to the event itself increased by only 16%). This was also 36% more than our 2019 pre-covid edition, when attendance was 24% higher than this year.
Let’s investigate some of the trends we saw at IBC and how they aligned with our three themes.
Transformation at IBC2023
As the media & entertainment industry feels the crunch of the economic situation, buyers are focusing on streamlining their operations to do more with less. They are also reducing risks by becoming more agile and pragmatic. This means they’re adopting new buying behaviors, modular solutions, and hybrid deployments that leverage the cloud.
That explains why our cloud-based solutions, which transform video workflows by injecting flexibility at every step, attracted so much attention. These include software-based raw content processing, a next-generation Cloud DVR solution, and our end-to-end OTT streaming SaaS offering giving complete workflow control from a single pane of glass. The other side of the equation is the need to attract and retain eyeballs by transforming the viewing experience. Artificial Intelligence (AI) was all the buzz, as was the need to make it easier to find relevant content. Ticking all the right boxes, AI for content discovery was a hot topic, although vendors and buyers are still struggling to figure it out. At the Ateme booth, our fast zapping for OTT, as well as our solutions for enhanced stadium experiences and fan engagement – based on AI for detecting the highlights we want to see – were big hits.
Monetization at IBC2023
Those highlights can be monetized with targeted ad insertion, including overlays creating a shoppable TV experience. But perhaps the biggest monetization attraction was the other hot topic at IBC2023: FAST channels. It promises to captivate audiences while monetizing old content. Attendees flocked to our booth following an announcement of a FAST solution partnership just days before the event. Based on feature-rich manifest manipulation scaling up channel creation, the solution reduces power consumption. This results not only in decreased operational expenses, but also in a lower environmental footprint.
Going Green at IBC2023
This takes us to the last point: green streaming. The industry is waking up to the need to be greener. Some concrete, industry-wide actions are starting to be seen. These include, most notably, the Greening of Streaming project of which Ateme is a founding member.
At the company level, Ateme’s contribution showcased at IBC2023 was our Audience-Aware Streaming. This feeds back data from the CDN to the encoders in order to optimize resources depending on how the content is being consumed.
This is just a sprinkling of what happened at IBC2023. To learn more about what we showed at IBC2023, check out the IABM interview with our Chief Strategy Officer, Remi Beaudouin.
Did you make it to Amsterdam this year? And if so, what trends did you notice there? I’d love to read your views in the comments below.