Edition: 2008-Q1
Introducing ... Lieven Vermaele
Lieven Vermaele joined the EBU in September 2007 as Director of the Technical Department. Here he gives us some background on his career and explains his thinking on the way ahead for the Technical Department.
“ My educational background is in engineering, a good starting point in principle. Furthermore, I have also done some things in finance, innovation and management. After a period as a university researcher, I joined VRT (Belgium) and started in the transmission department. There I was involved in a lot of technical and new media projects. After 3-4 years I moved from technical to more strategic roles such as drawing up the strategic plan for VRT, managing rights activities, new incomes, and building the future of VRT. My last responsibility was management of the negotiations on the new public charter. I then wanted to gain experience from the “real” word, so I joined Alcatel-Lucent and learnt a lot before joining the EBU. ”
“ Back at VRT, our team was one of the first to combine DVB-T and ADSL in one set-top box, innovative at that time in 2001. We created a datacasting project, sending video files over the air (DVB-T) and over a DSL line – a form of video podcasting. But also on the production side, we needed a multichannel environment to publish to – including DVB-T, the web, mobile devices etc. The real impact of these projects in VRT was that it changed the thinking and set the trend of believing new things are possible. ”
“ We also created the internet radio player (with visual and on-demand elements), a 3D virtual world for children, and started on-demand catch-up TV on DVB-C/MHP and IPTV. We also had a very nice real mobile media – and not just TV – application centred around the Tour de France. ”
Arriving at the EBU
“ On arriving at the EBU, I found that Phil Laven, the previous Technical Director, had left behind a fantastic team of highly qualified and professional engineers who made and still make incredible contributions to the history of media. The services these people create are well appreciated by EBU Members. What Phil did was to create opportunities for people to work on new domains and move them forward, such as on high-definition television, peer-to-peer technology, and so on. ”
“ From the Members I hear that Phil’s personal-contact approach was much appreciated and I hope to maintain that tradition ... it will be a tough act to follow but I look forward to it very much. ”
“ Phil has left the department in good working order so, in the short term, I’m concentrating on preparing a strategic plan for our work. We will deliver it at our EBU Technical Assembly in May 2008. I believe every organisation should constantly re-evaluate its priorities. For this, we created late last year a sequence of “have your say” sessions. In a planned way, we had a dialogue with every EBU Member in the form of a one-to-one discussion, in order to understand their needs and to define the right portfolio of services. ”
“ You will have to wait until May for the full story! But the goal was to identify and reconfirm the domains and goals that we, the EBU Technical Department, have to be active in. Already we can recognise some clear common concerns such as IT for media, HDTV production, spectrum allocation and new services for digital broadcasting. Also the move to a world which, in part, is “best effort” (such as in the telecom and mobile environments), rather than always providing a guaranteed quality of service is significant. Additionally IT-based programme production will I’m sure continue to be an important trend for our Members. ”
Public-service broadcasting
“ Concerning public-service broadcasting, our role in the distribution chain is changing. Broadcasters are less and less in control of the delivery networks, but we still need a guaranteed path to the end consumer. Broadcast organisations are becoming media enterprises, active in many forms of media publishing. New players are gaining control of delivery to the customer and, sometimes, control of how the broadcasters’ content is presented. It could also be that the delivery company holds the consumer’s service account and valuable data on them. This is an area for us all to consider. ”
“ Public-service broadcasters need to be active on as many platforms as practical. Why? Because it’s a part of our mission. Consumers expect your brand is always there. If consumers cannot find you on their mobile – only your competitor – then you are failing in your mission. ”
“ Although broadcasters will have to be present on mobiles it will not necessarily be just mobile “linear television”. We will eventually have a new content format on mobiles. We can provide the technology tools, and the creative people can create new optimised applications, but it will not be the same format as we know today. ”
“ In addition to that, we have several high profile projects including High Definition options, the SMPTE/EBU Task Force identifying new ways for system synchronization, digital compression options, peer to peer technology and spectrum management. ”
“ The SMPTE/EBU Task Force came about because legacy synchronization and timecode systems don’t cope well in IT environments with higher frame rates and progressive scanning. It’s a common problem that the EBU and SMPTE share. ”
“New Media”
“ I don’t like the word “New Media” – they are just different kinds of media. Radio and television are media and we are adding more options all the time, such as mobile and broadband. ”
“ The first broadband internet pages were created by technical people many years ago. They were not attractive, not user friendly and were overloaded with content. Today, broadband media is in the hands of creative people, media people. They use the technology for delivering new or better media experiences. It is a new medium. The same will happen with mobile delivery in the coming years. Good content for mobiles still has to be invented. ”
“ But it is not only the network itself that can create a medium. It is also the functionalities of the device that can create a huge shift in future media, such as the impact of the Apple iPod and podcasting. We should also watch out for what may be coming from the games industry. ”
Official standards
“ Standards are relevant only if the market decides them to be so. Imposing standards does not necessarily mean that you have the best economical solution. Therefore I am not in favour of just imposing standards, but if it happens through collaboration and market acceptance follows, then it works. ”
“ Most important for us is the openness or accessibility of the standards and systems; components can then be integrated and combined. Closed systems are favoured by some but, in practice, they do not evolve. Adaptability to new user requirements is limited and, in the long term, it doesn’t work well. ”
“ Flexible organisations and open standards have to be the way forward. For a supplier, it’s all about being competitive and exploiting your strengths. If your strength is in storage or editing; then open it up ... and you can be there in every broadcast environment. ”
Areas to watch
“ Of course IT for media is one, but it’s not just about implementing IT, networks and software. It’s about understanding IT and applying IT in the media environment in an intelligent way. That’s where we fail to some extent in this business today, because while we know it’s a file, storage system or a network, we don’t really understand architecturally what happens when we combine them in the media environment. Many companies offering products don’t have the top experts in IT architecture and that’s a problem. On the other side, the IT people have the problem of understanding the details of A/V technology. And both worlds have worked until now in fundamentally different ways when it comes to service quality (guaranteed service versus best effort). ”
“ Other areas to watch are connected networks, large flat screens, mobile devices, low-cost very capable software, 3D and also the gaming industry. These will all lead to further change. ”
“ Television and radio will not disappear. Delivery mechanisms and viewing habits may change but television and radio will still exist, supplemented by other possibilities. ”
“ Many people talk of consolidation between networks and media organisation, but I don’t see it that way. I think the barriers between the media and programme creators and the network distributors will grow. They are two distinct roles with different business models. The retail sector is a good metaphor. The business of Unilever and Procter and Gamble is different to Wal-Mart or Tesco. ”
“ Finally I believe the way in which consumers select their media will change. A general EPG and even search engines will become less effective as the content volumes grow. So we will need yet another way; recommendations and trusted brands will become more significant. ”
Lieven Vermaele
Director
EBU Technical Department
14 March 2008
This text is based on an interview carried out by John Ive for publication in the IABM Journal. The website of IABM (International Association of Broadcasting Manufacturers) can be found here: http://www.theiabm.org/.
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