Themed "Digital: The Journey Forward", the event offered the latest in digital
and interactive media, addressing the value chain of content creation,
management, and distribution.

BroadcastAsia 2008, held in Singapore from June 17-20 is one of Asia's established broadcast tradeshows. Themed "Digital: The Journey Forward", the event offered the latest in digital and interactive media, addressing the value chain of content creation, management, and distribution.

As many as 717 exhibiting companies from 46 countries showcasing innovative solutions in broadcasting-to-handheld, digital media asset management, HD (high definition), IPTV and professional audio technology, attracted 12,000 visitors from 71 countries over 4 days, proving that the event was an important sourcing ground in Asia and beyond. Buyer delegations came from Maldives, Vietnam, China, Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia. The event remained as a relevant platform for the broadcast and digital content industries. The Singapore pavilion with the theme of Interactive Digital Media (IDM) had a total of 50 exhibitors displaying the latest IDM and technology projects.

Key Highlights

New products launched. One of the highlights at BroadcastAsia2008 was the Super Hi-Vision, first seen in Asia (outside Japan). NHK wowed thousands of visitors with this ultra HDTV. The HD/MAM Xperience studio returned this year with support from partners and exhibitors, including ADC, AKG, Belden, BES, CommsDay, Dalet, Desisti, eCast, Football Channel, Fujinon, JBL, Lawo, MediaCorp, Medios Associate, Omneon, Orad, Panasonic, Ross Video, Starhub, TelecomTV, Telikou, The Media Village, Validus and Vsolutions. Panasonic unveiled the world's first 6X Write-Once Blu-ray discs (BD-R) which have a maximum data transfer speed of 2165 Mbps and are said to be 20 percent faster than 16X DVD-R discs.

CGOverdrive. CGOverdrive2008, featuring a star-studded line-up of internationally renowned computer graphic (CG) artists, all of whom are directly involved in creating box-office hits, award-winning feature animated and VFX films or games, was held for the second time alongside BroadcastAsia this year. Over the four days, visitors attended the conference and hands-on master classes, gained insights from the business forum, attended workshops, and got a chance to view a display of digital art and animated short films from students and professionals around the world at the CG Excellence competition.

BroadcastAsia2008 International Conference. The BroadcastAsia2008 International Conference covered the latest hot topics on technologies for coverage of news and sports, mobile broadcasting, HD, IPTV, QoS and measurement, and several issues pertinent to the development of the industry. Over 390 key industry representatives gathered at this knowledge sharing platform to network and to be updated on the latest developments. Delegates had a good overview of the latest business issues and technical developments surrounding the industry.

New Media Conference. The New Media Conference, which demonstrated how media companies re-visit their operations strategies, and how individuals can prepare themselves to brace up for greater challenges by fragmented competitors attracted a total of over 100 attendees. Through the conference, the media industry was shown a need to recognize the potential of this new media mega trend, and how to capitalize on it, so as to embrace the heightened challenges in the media landscape.

Technology Trails. Live demonstrations were performed by the exhibitors of their latest products and developments. Technology Trails featured broadcasting-to-handheld, digital media asset management, HD technology, IPTV, and professional audio technology.

RadioAsia Conference & Workshops. Jointly organized by Asian Media Information and Communication Centre (AMIC) and Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU), the 4th RadioAsia2008 workshops and conference was a success with 150 participants from more than 20 countries. The 3-day conference presented in-depth perspectives from industry leaders as well as public service and community broadcasters to address "Radio on the Move" with a series of panels that highlighted radio's journey from analog to the digital domain.

BroadcastAsia will be back at Singapore Expo from 16 - 19 June 2009.