Over the past two decades working in the broadcast industry, Bruce Tuchman has been intimately involved with many channels and broadcasters. Having first trained as a lawyer, he helped oversee international expansion for MTV Networks, Nickelodeon and MGM Worldwide Networks, before joining AMC Networks. He currently serves as Head of AMC - Asia Pacific, as well as president of Sundance Channel Global and MGM Channel Global, leading the strategic distribution, programming and marketing of both. An expert on international broadcast and regulation, he is speaking at this year's IBC Leaders' Summit and in the keynote session Assessing the Health of Broadcast on Thursday 11 September.
You have been involved in broadcasting for much of your career. What would you say have been the main changes in, say, the past two decades?
If you look at it on a global basis, we started at a very limited, free broadcast environment. For most markets that represented the advent of pay-TV, that represented the advent of multichannel, and now people are asking what comes next. It's been an unbelievably dramatic twenty years. If you plucked me off the street in 1994 and put me here? It's unrecognisable in a good way and has transformed probably beyond what most people could have imagined back then.
You are currently expanding in Europe. How receptive are you finding the landscape there compared to other territories?
In the past month we've been noticing that we're over the worst of the challenges that came out of the economic crisis in 2008 and we're now starting to see expansion. We're seeing markets bouncing back and even growing in Spain, Greece and other countries. Plus operators are very keen to address the challenges brought about by new distribution technologies.
Are we close to creating homogenous global markets for broadcast programming yet? Indeed, would that be a good thing?
No, and it may always be no, but with qualifications. If something is good it's going to translate. The Hollywood Studios have been doing that for decades; taking something provincially American and marketing it around the world. In 1994 I could not see any channels from India in the US, and now I can see what's going on everywhere. The barriers have come down and exposed people to more things and wider things. But that doesn't mean that people only want to see one type of programme or genre, there will always be a market for martial arts films in the East, quirky independents in France, and baseball in the US.
You trained as a lawyer. How has the legal and regulatory framework of the industry changed in recent years?
There were few requirements when it came to launching a channel in the 1990s, there were few restrictions on advertising, few production quotas. In many markets it was easier to start overseas than it was in the US. Over time that has tightened, for both good reasons on one hand and some uncompetitive ones on the others. The impact of regulation on businesses has become larger and more complex than it was. Where once there was very little regulation it has now become much tighter.
Some attendees at the Leaders' Summit last year argued that regulatory reform was not just necessary but urgent. Would you concur?
That depends on what country and what type of regulation we're talking about. Where there are requirements to air or not air certain content from certain countries, we understand some of the cultural sensitivities behind that and the principles that some governments want to espouse, but there's a general theme of consumers wanting choice and consumers can always find what they want. Reform means everyone joins hands across borders, but many regulations have arisen from very singular and idiosyncratic reasons in most markets and in many places in the world I see that process continuing.
What do you think are the longer term implications of the net neutrality debate in the US?
The internet has become a public good, it's now the property of humanity and has been real way to advance efficiency, productivity and communications for humanity. No one wants to wreck that, and that's what net neutrality is about: it is freedom to access, freedom to publish, freedom to download and understand. But no one ever realised that there was going to be a crunch for bandwidth, and it is getting crowded. My hope is that we can reconcile the two sets of issues and make everyone get access to the web but with nothing getting too distorted that the true value that the web provides society is somehow degraded.
You're speaking at the session Taking the Pulse' at the IBC Leaders' Summit this year. Briefly, what would you say are the main challenges the industry currently faces?
It remains amusing to me that when you're negotiating or strategising in the business day to day so much of the communication is all about, for lack of a better term, new media. But it's the opposite for consumers. If I use the term OT in front of my most media savvy neighbours, they're like Stop, what are you talking about?' It's all about the impact of digital technology, whether that be in a closed or open environment, and though it may not have reverberated with the mass market much so far, it will soon. Years from now, if not sooner, we really will transform the business.
What are the next disruptors and where are they likely to come from?
It's no surprise that all these ways of delivery are here now, the only surprise is that it happened a bit later than thought. We have seen all the models of disruption now, the questions is regarding who will break through. Everyone will have to accommodate and move to these digital modes. Alongside your linear offering you have to have a very cohesive and eco-system friendly on demand offering, PVR offeri
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
20/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
20/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
20/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
20/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
20/08/2026
IPC Expands Brazilian Presence with New Channel Partner CCATech
Industry veterans Carlos Abrah o and Bruno Lopes strengthen local support and expand IPCs prese...
20/08/2026
Zixi Enters Mauritius Market Through Strategic Deployment with MTC Jockey Club
Worlds Oldest Horse Racing Club in the Southern Hemisphere Selects Zixis Softwar...
20/08/2026
LA JOLLA, CA-Scripps Research assistant professor Tiantian Liu has received a five-year NIAID DP2 award from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Di...
20/08/2026
Audiences reveal appetite for multicultural Australia on-screen 20 August 2026
Dr Georgie McClean, Dr Rebecca Huntley (L-R)
By Dr Georgie McClean and Dr Rebec...
20/08/2026
How Mavis Studio Is Expanding Live Production Teaching at Sussex
Brie Clayton August 19, 2026
0 Comments
Hero image displays a student about to mix be...
20/08/2026
Vertical Unscripted Series Legal Queens Captured with Blackmagic Design
Brie Clayton August 19, 2026
0 Comments
Reality TV veteran Eric Gardner create...
19/08/2026
As the cost of IP nears price parity with traditional SDI, Reynolds argues that ...
19/08/2026
A private 5G bubble was chosen instead of traditional broadcast RF for the race ...
19/08/2026
(L-R) Rafael Manuel and Isabel Sicat attend the Filipi ana premiere during the 2026 Sundance Film Festival at The Ray Theatre on January 23, 2026, in Park Cit...
19/08/2026
Studio owners invited to have their say on rates cuts
The Music Producers Guild (MPG) are inviting UK-based studios to take part in an in-depth survey that ...
19/08/2026
Vintage-inspired desktop interface revealed
Harrison's latest hardware offering sees them head into the world of audio interfaces, delivering a 10-in/12...
19/08/2026
Granular effect remains locked to scale and tempo
Described as your dream granular effect , Minimal Audio's latest creation is capable of turning any s...
19/08/2026
First polyphonic SWAM instrument incoming
Audio Modeling's latest physical-modelling orchestral instrument is just around the corner, and is now availab...
19/08/2026
World Cup Games Generate 84 Billion Minutes Across FOX, Fox Sports 1 and NBCU...
19/08/2026
July brought typical peak-holiday drops in viewership, driven primarily by viewers stepping away from screens and a visible decline in reach across both traditi...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Henry joins BCE as the company accelerates its commercial strategy and expands its international presence across the media, broadcast and technology markets. He...
19/08/2026
iWedia, a leading provider of software solutions for connected TV devices, today announced a major milestone in Android platform optimization with the successfu...
19/08/2026
NTP Technology announces that ST 2110-30 audio-over-IP connectivity with AES67 and RAVENNA capabilities is now available for the brand's world-class audio i...
19/08/2026
Net Insight has been selected to provide its Nimbra platform by the service provider Big Blue Marble, formerly ORS Group, as the core media transport solution f...
19/08/2026
LiveU has supported Coventry City FC and several other top-flight UK football clubs through one of their most demanding live production challenges of the year, ...
19/08/2026
Nature Seekers Documentary Shot with Blackmagic URSA Cine 12K LF
Brie Clayton August 18, 2026
0 Comments
Filming endangered turtles required camera...
19/08/2026
Neyrinck Brings D-Control Consoles Back to Life on Apple Silicon with D-Control ...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/08/2026
Riedel Communications today announced that Edith Cowan University (ECU) in Perth, Australia, implemented a comprehensive communications infrastructure that brin...
19/08/2026
QuickLink, a leading provider of award-winning video production and remote guest contribution solutions, will spotlight a major leap forward in remote guest con...
19/08/2026
Integrated platform melds media asset management, playout automation and newsroom workflows
EMAM, PlayBox Neo and SNEWS have officially launched Nuvex, a conne...
19/08/2026
Screen Australia releases the Private Investment Toolkit to strengthen screen in...
19/08/2026
Do Aussies truly value local content? Unpacking Screen Currency 2026 with Deirdr...
19/08/2026
There's an early Christmas gift for Bookish fans, as UKTV confirms the re-commission of the hit U&alibi drama, created by and starring Mark Gatiss. Viewers ...
19/08/2026
Wednesday 19 August 2026
Sky gives sports fans the chance to watch multiple liv...
19/08/2026
On Saturday September 5 Katie Taylor will step into the ring for the fight of her life against Flora Pili in front of 80,000 fans in Croke Park. A legendary fig...
18/08/2026
SportStream 2026, a free three-day virtual event, will take place September 15-17. One registration provides access to all three days of live programming and on...
18/08/2026
BeckTV will introduce BeckFlow to the European market at IBC2026, demonstrated on the Providius stand (10.F53).
BeckFlow is a web-based schematic documentation...
18/08/2026
Boland Communications will introduce a SMPTE ST 2110 input option for its 4K monitors at IBC2026, along with a new 55-inch super-narrow bezel display for video ...
18/08/2026
Dolby Laboratories and the Seattle Seahawks have announced a partnership integrating Dolby OptiView into the Seahawks' live streaming coverage, making the S...
18/08/2026
For BMG Executive Producer of Sports Production, Graham Taylor, producing live s...
18/08/2026
TMRW Sports has appointed Rufus Hack as President of Golf, a newly created role in which he will lead the company's golf businesses including TGL presented ...
Over the past two decades working in the broadcast industry, Bruce Tuchman has been intimately involved with many channels and broadcasters. Having first trained as a lawyer, he helped oversee international expansion for MTV Networks, Nickelodeon and MGM Worldwide Networks, before joining AMC Networks. He currently serves as Head of AMC - Asia Pacific, as well as president of Sundance Channel Global and MGM Channel Global, leading the strategic distribution, programming and marketing of both. An expert on international broadcast and regulation, he is speaking at this year's IBC Leaders' Summit and in the keynote session Assessing the Health of Broadcast on Thursday 11 September.
