IBC2024 comes to a close

The 2024 IBC Show, which wrapped up on September 16 at the RAI Amsterdam, saw a nearly 5 percent increase over the 2023 event.

With more than a 57-year history of evolving with every new trend, IBC continues to bring together global leaders for a compelling live experience. IBC2024 showcased the best of the media, entertainment, and technology industries, from the bustling exhibition halls to the thought-provoking keynotes.

IBC announced that 45,085 visitors from 170 countries converged on the RAI Amsterdam during the show, which ran from Sept. 13-16, approximately 4.69 percent more than the 43,065 that attended the 2023 event. That show saw a 16 percent rise in attendance from the 2022 show, the first IBC since 2019, after being cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid.

The number of exhibitors was also up to 1,350, 100 more than in 2023, and the amount of exhibition space reached 46,000 square meters, exceeding the previous year’s total of 44,500 square meters.

Across a bustling show floor and packed theatres, IBC2024 addressed critical trends and issues driving change across the media landscape, such as combatting false information and fake news, while offering new show features, such as the AI Tech Zone, and IBC Talent Programme.

Other themes that took centre stage at IBC2024 included sustainability, 5G, cloud, esports, immersive experiences, over-the-top (OTT) and streaming, ad tech, metaverse, edge computing, and connected technologies. Many of these were addressed in the three-day IBC Conference, which was relocated to the Auditorium Complex at the RAI, in the various show floor theatres, and by many exhibitors themselves on their stands.

Several IBC2024’s defining themes were also focuses of the IBC Accelerator Media Innovation Programme, which this year included another IBC first: the AI Media Production Lab, exploring a series of projects in which some of the industry’s most inventive innovators collaborated on specific AI concepts. One of the hottest Accelerator projects – also addressed in the IBC Conference – was ‘Design Your Weapons in the Fight Against Disinformation,’ which aimed to develop an industry-wide understanding of the challenges and abuses being faced today by all media outlets in helping audiences identify trustworthy news and information.

The new AI Tech Zone, powered by EBU, was packed with visitors engaging with leading innovators on practical applications ranging from automated video editing and music-audio separation to content provenance tracking and fast and secure cloud storage. The Zone stage featured AI pioneers sharing insights into how the technology will impact the future and how it is already transforming media in areas such as discoverability, news verification, and creating immersive experiences.  AI was a common theme across the show floor: IBC2024 evidenced how AI has leaped from theory to real-world applications, probably not by chance.

IBC2024 showed that AI is no longer an outlier, although we may discover what changes it will bring to audio broadcasting. Mostly, the new technology on offer promised what we’ve come to expect: Greater flexibility, improved efficiencies and better value for money.

Leading global media technology brands exhibiting at IBC2024 included Arabsat, Arri, Avid, AWS, Blackmagic, BT Media, Canon, Comcast, Eutelsat, Evertz, EVS, Google, Grass Valley, Harmonic, Huawei, Imagine Communications, LG, Lawo, LTN, Mediakind, Microsoft, Nagra, Panasonic, Riedel, Ross Video, Samsung, SES, Sony, Tata Comms Media, Telestream, Zero Density, Zixi, and ZTE.

There were also 150+ new exhibitors at the shows, including 5G Broadcast Collective, CDN Alliance, Datacamp, Eosos, Frequency Networks, Medianet Berlin, Strada, SwXch IO, and Vubiquity, while Benro, Insta360, Robe, The Weather Company, Vecima – plus Yamaha returned to the show for the first time since 2019.

Indian presence. Indian companies that took up booths included Tata Elxsi, Tata Communications, PlanetCast, Magnifi, Amagi, Canara Lighting, Ali Corp, Tabsons, UTO Solutions, Prime Focus Technologies, Workflow Labs, and Magnaquest.

The aisles were bustling with Indians as systems integrators, distributors, resellers, technology executives, and engineers scoured the booths to learn about the latest solutions. Techies from Disney Star India, Whistling Woods, Sun TV, Zee5, GTPL Hatway, Hathway, Prasar Bharti, Hoichoi, Jio Platforms, and NDTV, among many others, kept busy over the duration of the exhibition.

Radio and audio gear featured a sound presence—the show hosted many new products and further enhanced existing ones. Rather than being a big new thing in hardware, the prevailing trends raised the bar regarding ease of use, flexibility, operational efficiency, and value for money. The bedrock of almost any new product at the show was the ability to fit multiple applications and workflows while simultaneously sharply squeezing users’ learning curve.

Another new feature at IBC2024 was the Audio Visual (AV) buyers’ event on the eve of the show. Working with the AV User Group, media technology companies at the show were able to actively engage with major AV purchasers such as Arup, AstraZeneca, Bank of America, Barclays, Deliveroo, Direct Line Group, KPMG, Schroders, Sopra Steria, UBS, and WPP.

Various sessions examined how the audio broadcasting industry fights disinformation in the news, including the recently standardized Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA), which groups many key players from the media and technology industries. C2PA fosters an open technical standard, providing publishers, creators, and consumers with the ability to trace the origin of different types of media, including still pictures and audio files.

IBC director Steve Connolly concluded, “In the last few years, IBC has gone from strength to strength, with exhibitors continuing to find more ways to make the most of the show as we add new features and grow its scope and reach. The feedback we get is incredibly positive, with many seeing IBC evolving as an increasingly important incubator of media tech innovation and maintaining our status as an essential networking destination and source of intelligence on new industry trends and developments.”

IBC2025 will take place from 12-15 September at RAI Amsterdam.

Day One. https://www.broadcastandcablesat.co.in/ibc-2024-day-one/

Day Two. https://www.broadcastandcablesat.co.in/ibc2024-day-two-september-14/

Day Three. https://www.broadcastandcablesat.co.in/ibc2024-day-three-september-15-another-busy-day/