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THE FINAL BUZZER

WHAT’S ON YOUR NAB 2018 SHOPPING LIST? By Ken Kerschbaumer Co-Executive Director, Editorial, Sports Video Group NAB 2018 is only days away, and, once again, sports-content creators from around the globe will head to the desert to take a look at the freshest ideas from the world’s leaders in broadcast- and video-production technology. It’s always fun to try to guess what the hot trends will be at the show. Of course, this year’s hot trend may not necessarily be next year’s (consider 3D, drones, 4K, and VR), but this year’s show might be different because the trends are driven by the wants and desires of organizations looking to become more efficient and futureproof, instead of by the wants and desires of viewers. Up first is going to be the move to IP as a replacement for SDI workflows. This trend is nothing new and has long been in the works, but this will be the first NAB Show where the SMPTE ST 2110 suite of IP standards will play a role in a new generation of products. Although the standards still have some final and very important bits and pieces to be put into place, the reality of ST 2110 and its ability to bring reliable compatibility to equipment from disparate vendors mark a huge step forward. Another increasingly buzzy topic will be the role of virtual machines and cloud-based production workflows. Virtual machines, whereby a CPU is not dedicated to a specific task but rather can be reconfigured on the fly, promise facilities a tremendous amount of flexibility and cost savings as well. For example, instead of buying five dedicated CPUs running five dedicated graphics devices, a user can purchase three software licenses and share them among a group of users, sharing the computer horsepower. In addition, the virtual machine itself can be reconfigured from one task to the next, allowing greater hardware utilization. Adding in cloud functionality brings yet another level of production efficiency because computer processing power can be spun up and down on an as-needed basis. A world where a sports channel can be created without the risk of a large capital expenditure is closer at hand every day. The area of virtual machines and cloud-based production still has plenty of issues to overcome. Manufacturer sales teams and customers have to embrace a move from capital expenditures and hardware-based sales with depreciation schedules and a move to operating expenses and software-based sales with subscriptions. And then there are issues around security, connectivity, and more. Another area of growing interest will be automated production. Expect to see more and more exhibitors showing off ways to remove some of the more mundane and repetitive aspects of sports production. Camera work, audio mixing, graphics production, editing, and even automated camera switching will be on display on the show floor or in whisper suites. And, of course, there will be continued interest in HDR workflows. Increasingly, it appears that a combination of 1080p resolution coupled with HDR is of most interest to sportsbroadcast professionals looking to fit 4K into certain (and appropriate) areas of the production. So, what’s on the top of your trends list? Feel free to send us your thoughts, and we will do our best at the show to take a deeper look at it. The role of SVG, especially at trade shows like the NAB Show and IBC, is to allow our members to more easily stay on top of the hottest announcements and most important trends and to make the best use of their short time at the show. The last portion of this edition of the SportsTech Journal does just that, and you can also visit the SportsTech@NABShow blog on our website to check out the latest developments. <

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PUBLISHED BY SPORTS VIDEO GROUP 19 West 21st St., Ste. 301 • NY, NY 10001 Tel: 212.481.8140 • Fax: 212.696.1783 www.sportsvideo.org EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS PAUL GALLO, Executive Director

paul@sportsvideo.org | 212.696.1799

MARTIN PORTER, Executive Director

marty@sportsvideo.org | 516.767.6720 EDITORIAL KEN KERSCHBAUMER,

Executive Director, Editorial kenkersch@sportsvideo.org | 646.205.1810 JASON DACHMAN, Chief Editor jason@sportsvideo.org | 646.861.2373 BRANDON COSTA, Director of Digital brandon@sportsvideo.org | 646.861.2370 KAREN HOGAN KETCHUM, Senior Editor karen@sportsvideo.org | 646.559.0434 BRIAN HARRIS, Assistant Editor brian@sportsvideo.org | 646.880.4902 SUSAN QUALTROUGH, Copy Editor susan@sportsvideo.org RIVA DANZIG, Art Director riva@sportsvideo.org SPONSORSHIP ROB PAYNE, Managing Director,

Worldwide Sponsor Development rob@sportsvideo.org | 212.481.8131 ANDREW GABEL, Manager, Sponsor Development agabel@sportsvideo.org | 646.998.4554 DYLAN DAVIDSON, Sponsorship Coordinator dylan@sportsvideo.org | 646.559.0435 MARKETING, MEMBERSHIP, AND OPERATIONS ANDREW LIPPE,

Membership & Client Services Manager andrew@sportsvideo.org | 212.481.8133 CATHERINE WORLEY, Marketing Coordinator catherine@sportsvideo.org | 646.524.7497 CRISTINA ERNST, Operations Manager cris@sportsvideo.org | 917.309.5174 ALICIA MONTANARO,

Conference & Organizational Coordinator alicia.montanaro@sportsvideo.org | 646.880.4901 SVG EUROPE CONTACTS FERGAL RINGROSE, Executive Editor

fergal@sportsvideo.org Tel: +353 (1) 294 7783 JOE HOSKEN, General Manager joe@sportsvideo.org Tel: +44 74290 90134 ABOUT SVG

The Sports Video Group was formed in 2006 to support the professional community that relies on video, audio, and broadband technologies to produce and distribute sports content. Leagues, owners, teams, players, broadcasters, Webcasters, and consumer-technology providers have joined SVG to learn from each other, turn vision into reality, and implement innovations, while sharing experiences that will lead to advances in sports production/distribution and the overall consumer sports experience.