
TVBEurope interviewed Alex Micallef, Vizrts General Manager, UK and Ireland, about the state of the media industry and Vizrts NAB 2018 plans.
Originally published by TVBEurope.
What are the greatest technological challenges in your area of the market?For Vizrt, as well as for our customers, the need to publish content to a steadily growing list of new platforms is a real challenge for allocating personnel and technology to accommodate these platforms. There is a real need in the market for fast, efficient, and automated tools to make multi-platform publishing a reality.
What changes/trends/developments in the industry are having the most dramatic impact on your business? The conversion from traditional SDI workflows to IP-based workflows is on the radar of broadcasters everywhere. It's not a question of if they will make the conversion, it's when. When the change happens it affects their entire infrastructure, from video ingest, to live production and distribution. It forces broadcasters to make a choice on what will be their new standard . Do they choose SMPTE 2110, NDI, or a new format that might pop up next week? Vizrt has built its systems to be agile in this respect, so that we can work with any standard that arises, this ensures that the broadcaster's investment in our software is well protected.
How much of your business is non-broadcast? Are you seeing a growing demand for your expertise from different industries? Non-broadcast customers make up close to 10% of our business. We've seen that grow in a relatively short time, with the number of media companies that are now producing video content for online and digital. Media companies such as newspapers and digital publishers face, in many ways, the same video production needs as a traditional broadcaster, but without having the legacy of traditional production tools. This means we are able to adapt for them the very latest IP tools for live video production and publishing without being held back by legacy workflows. What's been really interesting is to see new workflows and ways of working that we're learning from outside of broadcast and being able to implement these ideas and ways of working into the changing broadcast landscape.
What do you believe will be the main talking points emanating from NAB? NAB is going to be all about publishing or broadcasting your content anywhere and adapting for every channel (i.e. broadcast, online, OTT, social media, etc.) where viewers consume content. From a tools perspective we expect to see a continuation of the themes from recent years - cloud computing, higher resolutions and HDR as well as the increased use of Augmented and Virtual Reality in storytelling.
What are you showcasing at NAB? We will be demonstrating the latest tools for media companies to create and share their stories on-air, online, and OTT with local and cloud-based production systems. We are also going to highlight the latest capabilities of augmented reality tools in the studio as well as how media companies can use videowalls for powerful storytelling. 2018 is also a major sports year with the Olympics and the World Cup, so we are highlighting how to captivate and engage audiences with high-quality sports analysis while generating new revenue streams from sports rights.
What is your business focus for the remainder of the year?As the market leader for broadcast graphics and enhancements, we will continue on our path to bring more powerful, automated tools that deliver visually compelling stories to TV audiences. We will also provide broadcasters with automated tools for branding their content on digital video platforms. Since it is a big sports year, we are also debuting a new tool for advanced sports analysis in the studio, showing efficient tools to drive content in stadium screens, and giving sports rights holders new ways to monetize their live games.
Tead the full interview from TVBEurope.
Related articles
NAB 2018
Vizrt brings immersive football analysis to the studio with the new Viz Libero AR
Vizrt's Viz One MAM now available on AWS at NAB 2018
Related articles
NAB 2018
Vizrt brings immersive football analysis to the studio with the new Viz Libero AR
Vizrt's Viz One MAM now available on AWS at NAB 2018
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
29/05/2026
With InfoComm 2026 just weeks away, NDI is giving attendees plenty of reasons to...
29/05/2026
Reaffirming a partnership that has defined Canadian sports broadcasting since 19...
29/05/2026
Mobile/tablet is No. 2 device for watching TV, suggesting that the sports-production industry needs to take another look at the format
Ring Digital's Sprin...
29/05/2026
Berliner Ensemble, one of Berlin's five major theater companies, has expande...
29/05/2026
Solid State Logic will showcase its new compact, fly-away TCA Tour audio product...
29/05/2026
Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, passed away last month on April 12 ...
29/05/2026
Paramount+ will be the English-language U.S. home for Barclays Women's Super...
29/05/2026
Further strengthening its virtualisation strategy to fully support broadcasters ...
29/05/2026
Swiss broadcaster Canal Alpha has deployed Harmonic's award-winning, software-based XOS Advanced Media Processor to modernize playout operations across cant...
29/05/2026
PTZOptics will showcase a new generation of intelligent video workflows at InfoComm 2026, June 17-19, Las Vegas. Visitors to booth N8227 will see how PTZOptics ...
29/05/2026
Arizona's Family has launched the Arizona's Family Sports (AZFS) streaming app, a new direct-to-consumer destination for live, local sports. The app is ...
29/05/2026
Starting in 2027, DAZN will be the exclusive home of The Canadian Football Leagu...
29/05/2026
Comcast Business has detailed the advanced network infrastructure it has deploye...
29/05/2026
In two-day event, leaders from academia and industry explored solutions to chall...
29/05/2026
The Basketball Tournament (TBT), now entering their 13th year of competition, ha...
29/05/2026
Roku has launched FOX One as a Premium Subscription on The Roku Channel in the U.S. Roku customers can now subscribe to FOX One using their Roku account for liv...
29/05/2026
In its sixth year, the broadcaster's coverage has become a global brand and ...
29/05/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent ratings news and is derived from press re...
29/05/2026
The days are getting longer, the temperatures are rising, and playlists are filling up for the season. With summer around the corner, Spotify's global edito...
29/05/2026
New retro-inspired MPC announced
There are few devices that have gained the status held by Akai Pro's MPC range, and in recent years, the company have s...
29/05/2026
Save up to 30 on acclaimed titles
Following a successful launch at Superbooth 2026, Bjooks have revealed that they will be continuing the Kickstarter campa...
29/05/2026
Binaural monitoring application improved
Genelec have just released an update that brings some powerful new features to their HRTF-based binaural headphone ...
29/05/2026
6 June 2026 at SAE Institute, London, UK
IMSTA FESTA 2026 is almost upon us, with some of the biggest names in pro-audio set to descend upon SAE Institute i...
29/05/2026
Gerald (Jerry) Pierce, a pioneering technologist who helped shape the digital transformation of the motion picture industry, died April 12, 2026, at his home in...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Comparing 5 AI Video Enhancers for Restoring Old Video Quality
Kate Luvis May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Digitizing VHS, MiniDV, and other legacy formats doe...
29/05/2026
Studio Hamburg Builds New Post Pipeline with DaVinci Resolve Studio
Brie Clayton May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Workflow replaces a patchwork of legacy tools...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/05/2026
At the Intersection of Music and Dance, an Epic Collaboration Boston Conservatory musicians and dancers found creative parallels in their recent performance o...
29/05/2026
Something fundamental has shifted in how people consume media. Audiences aren't abandoning television or radio content; they're just expanding how, wher...
29/05/2026
Youtube exclusive special drops today
Watch now
UKTV today announces another e...
29/05/2026
Back to All News
The Official Trailer of Physical 100 Italy, on Netflix From Se...
29/05/2026
At just 20 years old, Sean Melia from Summerhill Co. Meath has been revealed as the winner of Super Garden 2026. Sean is the youngest ever contestant and winner...
29/05/2026
Experimental HIV vaccine achieves a long-sought goal In a first for the field, all non-human primates given a new series of vaccines generated antibodies capabl...
28/05/2026
Thomsons Climate Crisis Toolkit is already being put to work, helping journalist...
28/05/2026
FOX Sports' MLB coverage dominated the night at the 47th Annual Sports Emmy ...
28/05/2026
One of the most memorable postseasons in baseball history would have had no memo...
28/05/2026
NBC's Sunday Night Football is among the most-decorated and most-watched pro...
28/05/2026
The 2026 Sports Emmys marked a watershed moment for Prime Video Sports. After bu...