Riedel CEO Thomas Riedel Reflects on 30 Years in the Business My imagination didn't go far enough. There have been more changes in the last five to 10 years than ever before.' By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Friday, December 8, 2017 - 7:45 am
Print This Story
Story Highlights
Riedel Communications last week celebrated its 30th anniversary, and the event - which was capped off with a massive celebration at company headquarters in Wuppertal, Germany - gave founder/CEO Thomas Riedel a chance to reflect on what has been and what lies ahead for the company.
Our success is the result of a fantastic team, he says. I am guilty for its being called Riedel, but it is not a one-man show. We are a company with 500 people fighting with lots of passion and working extremely hard. We want to change the industry, and we feel we are part of the overall change.
Thomas Riedel greets revelers at Riedel Communications' 30th-anniversary party.
He tends to approach plans in five-year increments although he is the first to admit that, five years ago, he never would have envisioned the scale of what has happened to both the company and the industry.
My imagination didn't go far enough, he observes. There are lots of new players in the industry, and there have been more changes in the last five to 10 years than ever before. At our celebration, we have not only traditional broadcast but also Facebook, YouTube, Riot Games. It is interesting to see how the industry is changing.
When it comes to the future, Riedel believes in investing in engineering (the R&D team will grow from 85 to 100 by the end of next year) and listening to customers and the market. Recent investments in RF, for example, have led to new wireless products and expanded the company's place in the communications business.
I can't remember a product where so many people have come back with nice comments about something boring like an intercom, he says.
Tactical acquisitions also play a part, such as acquiring Mediornet in 2009. Two years of intense development and financial investment without a revenue stream resulted in a product line that has transformed the company and placed it squarely in the signal-routing, processing, and fiber-optic transport business.
At the time, there was a thought that Mediornet could never replace real routers, but we even proved the [in-house] engineers wrong and showed they could do it, he says. That is part of our culture here: believing in our capabilities.
Today, Mediornet is the company's second-biggest area of business, and its technologies are at the center of major global broadcasts, including the Olympics, World Cup, and Eurovision Song Contest. It is also found in many remote-production trucks, where it has replaced traditional routing switchers.
An Industry in Transition
According to Riedel, the industry transition is causing a shrinking of some of the business opportunities, but he sees that challenge as an opportunity, creating a demand for new solutions and new businesses. Event security and the need for more-reliable communication systems is one way Riedel Communications' customers are extending out of the TV compound and into venue and event operations. More clients are allowed to leverage a single Riedel network topology.
The company is also working with the family of Adidas founder Adi Dassler on a startup accelerator called leAD that is for young companies working with sports-related technology.
It is amazing to see what these kids come up, Riedel notes, adding that the future will be a mix of existing business and the evolution of the Internet of Things.
Another area of growth is esports and egaming. Riedel Communications is working with the likes of the Riot Games and ESL to help develop the format and to also be relevant to that market.
They know what they are doing, says Riedel. While their way of doing things is still in the early stage, the outcome has been impressive.
One area that has shrunk a bit is the rental market, which now accounts for about 40% of Riedel Communications' business. That is down from a peak of about 50%, partly because the company is avoiding competing with rental companies that are also its clients.
It is an important part of our DNA, Riedel explains. We will keep being involved with big events, as many of our clients do not have the deep knowledge for those huge events.
Looking to the future, Riedel sees automated processes playing a bigger role for things like camera shading and even audio mixing. But those processes, he notes, will still require human operation to add the artistic element.
We need more people with engineering talent, but artistic talent is needed as well, he says. The content-production area is a mix of people with different disciplines that add to the big picture. The combination of mathematics and art is what we try to do.
The 30th-anniversary celebration, he adds, is part of a larger strategy and, in hindsight, exemplified that commitment to engineering and the artistic. Technologies like robotics and programmable displays and projection systems opened up a pathway for artistic elements to shine.
Doing a crazy party works with our brand because, at the end of the day, it is about telling people about our passion, he explains. We can do things with music and even a sense of humor to really show them the passion.
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
28/11/2025
Nadia Fall attends the 2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Brides at the Egyptian Theatre on January 24, 2025, in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Donyale West/...
28/11/2025
It's easy to ignore those little red update available badges. But when it ...
28/11/2025
WASHINGTON Federal Communications Commission has released a tentative agenda for the December Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Thursday, December 18, 2025 ...
28/11/2025
The Professional Fighters League is looking to super-serve fans of mixed martial...
28/11/2025
Fubo has released in beta on select Roku devices a new feature that lets users display up to four simultaneous streams at once....
28/11/2025
The WNBA playoffs and Week 4 of the NFL regular season highlight the list of live sports events airing on television this weekend....
28/11/2025
The 32nd class of honorees to the B+C Hall of Fame took to the stage at New York's Ziegfeld Ballroom on September 26 for a gala induction event. Click below...
28/11/2025
We hold in our hands the very last Next Text for Next TV, the weekly back-and-fo...
28/11/2025
DirecTV said it made a deal with EchoStar to buy EchoStar's video businesses, including satellite-TV provider Dish TV and virtual MVPD Sling TV, for $1 plus...
28/11/2025
The Broadcasting+Cable Hall of Fame, the premier industry event paying tribute to the influencers, innovators and shining lights of broadcast, cable and streami...
28/11/2025
Friday 28 November 2025
Sky Sports x Slawn drop limited-edition football jersey...
28/11/2025
Rohde & Schwarz shows resilience in a challenging environment, revenue exceeds t...
28/11/2025
Unwrapped: The Toy Show Appeal - airing this Sunday on RT One and RT Player- s...
27/11/2025
LONDON Vizrt has added several AI-driven advanced features offering improved speed, intelligence and accuracy in the newest version of its media asset managemen...
27/11/2025
Prime Video has launched AI-powered video season recaps in a beta version for select English-language Prime Original series in the U.S., a move Amazon is callin...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Netflix's Raat Akeli Hai: The Bansal Murders Marks a Grand...
27/11/2025
27 Nov 2025
GSMA brings M360 Eurasia 2026 to Samarkand in partnership with VEON...
27/11/2025
Tahar Rahim and Izuka Hoyle star in the gripping six-part Sky Original from Acad...
27/11/2025
Thursday 27 November 2025
Sky Arts Reveals the Nation's Greatest Basslines - and Queen Reign Supreme
The UK's most iconic basslines have been revealed...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Stranger Things 5': Prepare for One Last Adventure With O...
27/11/2025
The media industry has a paradox at its core. It's an industry built on light, color and imagination, yet behind the scenes, it's powered by one of the ...
27/11/2025
Rating reflects rating progress across areas including policies, diversity & inclusion, health & safety and Net Zero leadership
Winchester, UK, 27 November 202...
27/11/2025
What are the industry standards for Retail Media? Kathryn explains that certification is based on the IAB Europe Retail Media Measurement Standards and the IAB ...
27/11/2025
World champion boxer and Irish sporting icon Katie Taylor will be in studio this...
27/11/2025
Roblox, one of the world's most popular online gaming platforms for primary ...
27/11/2025
Black Friday is leveling up. Get ready to score one of the biggest deals of the season - 50% off the first three months of a new GeForce NOW Ultimate membership...
26/11/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Prime Video EP Mike Muriano Previews Massive Black Friday Slate Fe...
26/11/2025
A cinematic snow sculpture at the 1995 Sundance Film Festival. Photo by Randall Michelson...
26/11/2025
Book podcasts are booming. On Spotify, you'll find everything from celebrity book clubs to deep dives with bestselling authors. And in markets where audiobo...
26/11/2025
Mumbai, November 24, 2025: In a first-of-its-kind initiative, JioStar, in collab...
26/11/2025
LONDON Factual content producer ITN Productions has launched a new low-latency IP gallery for news bulletins....
26/11/2025
MIAMI TelevisaUnivision said it struck a new multiyear distribution agreement with YouTube TV that includes distribution of TelevisaUnivision's U.S. network...
26/11/2025
OpenDrives, Inc., a leader in software-defined data storage and data services, today announced the launch of the Atlas Corporate Creative Solution. This new Atl...
26/11/2025
Disguise, the industry-leading company powering the world's biggest live performances, is partnering with pioneering LED wall manufacturer DVS to give atten...
26/11/2025
HighField AI, the pioneer in agentic and multimodal automation for broadcast and media production, today announced the expansion of its global channel partner n...
26/11/2025
As high-stakes Premier League fixtures approach and additional premium content launches, with MONO positioning themselves to dominate Thailand's sports stre...
26/11/2025
Hosting a wide variety of events from high-intensity NHL games to complex live music concerts and major entertainment productions, Montreal's 21,000 capacit...
26/11/2025
Vizrt, the leader in live production technology revolutionizing viewer engagement and experience, releases AI-driven advances focusing on speed, intelligence, a...
26/11/2025
ITN Productions, an award-winning factual content producer, today launched a new low-latency IP gallery for news bulletins. Responsible for delivering a leading...
26/11/2025
Ikegami reports ongoing advances throughout 2025 in developing and delivering coordinated television production solutions that maximize quality, versatility and...
26/11/2025
Following the Nov. 21 blackout of NBCUniversal channels on Fubo, the two sides have traded barbs about their inability to reach a new carriage deal....
26/11/2025
LONDON As TV sports rights become increasingly important for both broadcasters and streamers, Ampere Analysis predicts global investment in the genre will surpa...
26/11/2025
LOS ANGELES Vubiquity said it has achieved the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Media & Entertainment Competency as part of the AWS Partner Network (APN). This designa...
26/11/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission's Enforcement Bureau said it has entered into a consent decree with Comcast calling for the cable company t...
26/11/2025
Berklee Named to the Hollywood Reporters Top Music Schools List The publication highlights the college's screen scoring program, industry partnerships, and ...
26/11/2025
Back to All News
Animated Series Love Through a Prism' Casts New Light on ...
26/11/2025
Back to All News
NALIP Unveils Fifth Cohort of Director Incubator
Social Impact
26 November 2025
United States
Link copied to clipboard
The National Assoc...
26/11/2025
YouView Achieves Greenly Gold Certification for SustainabilityNov 26, 2025
YouView is proud to announce a Gold Certification award from Greenly for our perform...
Riedel CEO Thomas Riedel Reflects on 30 Years in the Business My imagination didn't go far enough. There have been more changes in the last five to 10 years than ever before.' By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director 
