Broadcasting in Europe - 50 years of innovation. Peter Owen Chairman, IBC Council

Broadcasting in Europe - 50 years of innovation Peter Owen Chairman, IBC Council

. a 15 minute sprint! 50 years growth of European broadcasting Technology and progress HDTV The influence of telcos and the internet The future Conclusions

How many Languages spoken in Europe? 23 officially recognized languages 60 regional and minority languages

Broadcasting definition - EBU / Eurovision EBU today - 73 active members in 56 countries - more countries than EU! Originally IBU ( 1925 ) then became EBU (1950) located in Brussels. Members were from Western Europe and nearby regions Eastern Europe had an equivalent organisation, OIRT based in Prague 1993 - two organisations merged, and transition to PAL began EBU provided Technical expertise Legal expertise Eurovision is provides a news exchange service and collective right access to sports events

The 60s Television services upgrade to Colour Television events and technology milestones Growing global market for broadcast equipment New Exhibitions and conferences 6

Television services expand and upgrade to Colour BBC television centre opens BBC 2nd channel opens Colour service begins ( 625 / 50) Experimental stereo radio BBC pop radio station opens It was the Swinging 60 s! 7

Television services expand and upgrade to Colour 1961 RAI ( Italy ) introduces a send channel 1963 -Germany second channel (ZDF), Colour 1967 1967 France introduces SECAM colour 1967 Denmark tests PAL colour system, and only one channel until 80s 1967 - Germany introduces PAL colour 1967 Russia introduces satellite television ( 3 satellites to local ground stations) 1968 Switzerland introduces PAL colour Poland introduces SECAM colour in 1971

Television events and technology milestones 1960 Rome Olympics Eurovison 1964 Innsbruck Winter Olympics Satellites - Telstar, Syncom and Relay 1964 Tokyo Olympics ( 1st using satellite ) 1968 Grenoble Winter Olympics ( 1st in Colour) 1968 Mexico Olympics(1st using electronic standards conversion ) 1969 Moon landing

Growing global market for broadcast equipment Pye / Philips EMI Ferrograph Marconi

New Exhibitions and conferences 1961 Montreux International Television Symposium 1965 International Broadcast Equipment Exhibition 1967 International Broadcasting Convention

The early years of digital in Europe Research at the BBC and the IBA Standards convertors, 525 625 and 625 405 Digital VTR Commercial Products Timebase correctors Framestore synchronizers Standards Convertors Video effects Graphics DVTRs

Standards convertors, 525 625 and 625 405 BBC analogue field store convertor for Mexico Olympics 1968 DICE - IBA digital 525-625 field store convertor

Timebase correctors / synchronizers / standards convertors IBA teams commercialize digital technology TBC One tv line of store! 32 tv lines store! Synchroniser

First product - timebase corrector!

Commercial developments DVTRs Former IBA R&D engineers join new company Sony Broadcast in UK Joint UK / Atsugi engineers develop D1 vtr

The need for digital standards Standardization via EBU / CCIR ( ITU ) / SMPTE RGB or colour difference, 4:2:2 or 4:1:1, 12 Mb/sec or 13.5 Mb/sec VTR suppliers provide a major input ( Magnum ) Parallel and serial interfaces defined... hardware needed ( Sony or European consortium ) Timing... for Barcelona Olympics ( first digital Olympics ) and Lillehammer where digital Beta-cam was first used.

The need for widescreen and the route to HD NHK shows HD at Los Angeles Olympics ( 1984 ) Europe needed to develop a competitive standard for the 625/50 world USA also developing HD proposals HD MAC proposed in Europe Studio standard 2048 x 1152 x 50 Standards meetings ( many!) look for commonality between intentional proposals Should the studio standard be

The need for widescreen and the route to HD Europe invests 280M in HD Action plan ( UK objects to the plan! ) EU supports HDMAC and D2MAC Sky UK uses PAL on non DBS satellite. USA also developing HD proposals Studio standard 2048 x 1152 x 50 Political input to the standards process almost exceeded technical inputs!

Vision 1250 Europe invests 280M in HD Action plan Thomson and BTS were the main suppliers Facilities included 9 mobile trucks DVTRs Digital slo mo

Lillehammer Winter Olympics

Competitive standards collaborate at Lillehammer!

Some firsts which took place in Europe! 1984 First 1125 production in Italy 1992 First HD Olympics - Lillehammer 1992 First European / Japan co operation 1992 First handheld CCD canera 1992 First HD caption Generator 1992 First HD Paintbox 1992 First HD Hard Disc recorder / Slo Mo 1994 First use of 1125/1250 cross converters ( Thomson & NHK ) 1994 First upconverter 1995 First variable bitrate HD satellite

Transmission standards HD needed digital transmission SD broadcast needed digital transmission Compression technology reduced bit rates suitable for transmission over existing channels USA / Europe / Japan proposed different transmission technologies DVB project launched in 1993 in two major parts Commercial module - to understand market requirements Technical module - to develop digital standards DVB S, DVTC and DVBT standards are adopted in Europe and widely used around the globe

DVB today

Analogue switch off and HD in Europe Initial digital business model for HD was not proven, multi channel was 1st choice Most European countries are now 100% digital ( Greece and Iceland remain ) UK switched off analogue satellite in 2001 ( first country to be digital satellite only ) Near 100% coverage is achieved with a mix of terrestrial and satellite HD began via satellite, in UK via Sky and Freesat Today in the UK, more than 80 HD channels available via satellite, terrestrial and cable

Other European broadcast technologies Nicam audio for analogue television 1970s digital audio technology for point to point links, later used for home TVs Change to DVB obsoleted Nicam Teletext started in 1974 in the UK branded by the BBC as Cefax and commercial TV as Oracle. It became a global standard and was very popular with UK viewers. RDS Radio Data System Developed by IRT, supported by EBU developed by BBC and IRT Installed in all car radios, very popular, very useful! DAB Digital Audio Broadacsting 1980s Digital Audio compression/modulation/data technology from IRT MPEG Audio Layer 1 emerged from EU Eureka project BBC first to transmit in 1999 Norway has closed FM service, 100% DAB coverage DAB+ is not backwards compatible but migration path is possible

Today s challenges for European broadcasters Multiple delivery options A changing audience Loss of spectrum Future broadcast technologies upgrades File based production IP technology replacing SDI 4K and 8k

The influence of the internet I want choice, I want it anywhere Entertainment and information is now available via mobile and wired networks Non traditional content is occupying traditional viewing time Less time is available for broadcast programming I want it now, or later PVR VOD Downloads It s a global issue Advertising revenue is moving to internet services, public broadcaster funding is being challenged

The rise and rise of Netflix... and...

... and... Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Google, TV player,roku etc etc

You View - a hybrid solution, digital terrestrial + broadband Broadcast channels via terrestrial DTT service On demand, catchup and extra channels via broadband BT branded YouView box for BT Broadband customers

BT - British Telecom BT TV - subscription multichannel iptv service for BT broadband customers... and buying sports rights!

Broadcasters are responding by using broadband for catchup services and live viewing UK BBC iplayer ITV Player 4OD Other European examples M6 Mediaset

The influence of mobile - reallocation of spectrum There many differing opinions on spectrum needed by mobile operators Mobile operators want more to carry all services including video 800 MHz spectrum already allocated to LTE mobile services 700 Mhz is under threat WBU and EBU are opposing changes WBU and EBU will oppose changes at the 2015 WRC meetings A recent study prove the value of spectrum for terrestrial broadcasting

All UK broadcasters now receive their programmes by files Digital Production Partnership

IP technology replacing SDI Why? TV Standards agnostic (e.g. HD, 2k, 4k, 8k ) Low cost Telco / IP technology hardware and services Fibre promises very high data rates 10Gb/s is only the beginning Using the cloud Can be used for file transfer systems today? Will it work? Can it be used in synchronous systems? Will it provide no black frame broadcast reliability?

Impact on the industry users and suppliers The BBC, SMPTE and many other organizations are studying IP networks Will we have IP networks in an SDI world or SDI Islands in IP world If successful Inter BEE, IBC, NAB will have new exhibitors and some will be out of business

Today s challenges for European broadcasters

Conclusions Technology attracts the consumer, content attracts the viewers Continuous investment is needed in production technology, but which one is not clear Global broadcast broadcast standards must quickly unite otherwise broadband and mobile telcos and services will dominate the market Broadcasting is not dead, its very much ALIVE! 48

49 Thank you!