By TVBEurope Staff
Published: November 27, 2023 Updated: November 28, 2023
Chris Fellows, senior director of international field engineering at Zixi, tells TVBEurope how his journey in the media industry has led to surfing in Sydney, taking a boat trip down the Nile, watching fireworks in Tokyo and getting lost at 2am in a fish market in Kuala Lumpur! Talk us through an average day in [ ]
target=_blank title=Share on LinkedIn class=share-linkedin>
Chris Fellows, senior director of international field engineering at Zixi, tells TVBEurope how his journey in the media industry has led to surfing in Sydney, taking a boat trip down the Nile, watching fireworks in Tokyo and getting lost at 2am in a fish market in Kuala Lumpur!
Talk us through an average day in your role Having two young children, the day generally starts early and then proceeds to be a whirlwind of tasks until they're at school and nursery!
My role spans both EMEA and APAC, so the working day normally starts with a catch-up with the Zixi team in Singapore and maybe an APAC customer call, before their working day is over.
Being at Zixi means I speak to many direct customers and technology partners alike, and having the opportunity to work with a large range of people is a real highlight for me. Usually, it starts with a couple of Europe-based customer calls and demos, lasting throughout the day, and then ending with some internal company calls with the Zixi US team. I do a large amount of web calls, but also make sure to have some days out visiting clients and attending conferences and exhibitions. I still feel that face-to-face meetings are vital to keeping a healthy work/life and maintaining good connections with people.
I've worked at home for the last five years with Zixi. I'm lucky enough to have a nice office at our house, or I can walk five minutes into the village, and steal a desk at my wife's office, which is a converted 18th-century wicker basket factory. It's often a topic of conversation on web calls!
How did you get started in the media industry? After finishing my Multimedia Technology course at university, I worked in the IT department at a school. It was then that I spotted an advert for a graduate role in broadcast in the Midlands (UK). Since most of the broadcast industry at that time was London-based, this was a rare opportunity. I managed to land the role at a company called Omnibus, which developed broadcast automation systems and had the first channel-in-a-box' playout solution. I started off as a project engineer, doing multiples of customer installations around the globe. It was an incredible opportunity for a fresh-out-of-university graduate. I was lucky to experience surfing in Sydney, taking a boat trip down the Nile, watching fireworks in Tokyo and getting lost at 2am in a fish market in Kuala Lumpur!
What training did you have before entering the industry? During university I studied audio production, video production, 3D animation creation, programming and broadcast video, so I had a good foundation. Then, while working in an IT department at a high school, I learned a lot about networks and security, as well as real-world troubleshooting (plenty of switching things off then on again!) I also gained plenty of experience of communicating through meeting and talking to people in previous jobs, at a supermarket, behind a couple of bars and working for a removal company. I do feel that being able to communicate with people, and being confident to approach and make conversation with people, is one of the greatest assets it's crucial within work and in life in general.
Why do you enjoy working in the industry? I get a kick from the fast pace of development, and the ever-shifting technology in conjunction with the high demand for faultless performance. Meaning that, as vendors, we need to innovate to create interesting new solutions, based on technology advances, but also that they need to work for 99.999% of the time. I also love being able to get my hands on new technologies and getting stuck into figuring out how things work. As well as the technical side, a huge amount of enjoyment comes from the range of people I meet. I feel the broadcast industry has a brilliant, diverse and friendly culture with an affable bunch of people at its core, that makes working within it, a great pleasure.
What piece of advice would you offer someone looking to explore a role similar to yours? My role combines being a subject matter expert, a salesperson and an engineer. I think to do this role, you need to have hands-on experience and have a basis of logical thinking. I would encourage people to find subjects in the field that interest them and try to keep up to date with the latest technology advances. It really helps when talking to potential clients, to be an expert and an adviser and feel confident in answering their questions.
Finally, smile and aim to keep things buoyant. Everyone wants their time at work to be as enjoyable as possible and will gravitate towards people that can help keep things upbeat. That goes for job interviews, sales pitches, internal meetings and pretty much everything else in between.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
06/07/2026
Long-developed relationships and informal access, three production models, and c...
06/07/2026
The deal follows Lumine's recent acquisition of Synamedia's video-networ...
06/07/2026
This former SportsCenter producer is shaping local-team studio coverage to surro...
06/07/2026
IMS Productions and FOX Sports deployed more than 100 cameras, 32 onboard feeds,...
06/07/2026
Lumine Group Inc. has announced the completion of its acquisition of the Video Network Business from Synamedia. The business will operate as a standalone compan...
06/07/2026
NASCAR has announced a content and commercial partnership with Motorsport Network, a motorsports and automotive media platform, to distribute NASCAR original co...
06/07/2026
Versant Media Group has announced a definitive agreement to acquire Full Swing, a sports technology company, from Bruin Capital and a group of minority investor...
06/07/2026
DAZN has announced global broadcast rights to 3ICE, a professional hockey format featuring three skaters and a goalkeeper per side, with no power plays or offsi...
06/07/2026
Bundle gains 100 new synths & more
Synth Anthology 5 the largest and most feature-packed edition of UVI's hardware synth emulation bundle, bringing toge...
06/07/2026
Available now via free firmware update
MOTU have just announced that three of their popular audio interfaces now boast official Milan Certification. The 16A...
06/07/2026
Rohde & Schwarz completes Hunter Preliminary Design Review for the Integrated Co...
06/07/2026
The R&S IMAGER from Rohde & Schwarz uses millimeter wave imaging to inspect the ...
06/07/2026
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sp...
06/07/2026
Digital Domain Appoints Industry Veteran Patrick Davenport as Executive Vice Pre...
06/07/2026
Gravity Media USA appoints Brittney Boston as Head of Business Development
Brie Clayton July 6, 2026
0 Comments
The strategic new appointment supports...
06/07/2026
Remote Editing Without Cloud Storage in Resolve
Michael Cioni July 6, 2026
0 Comments
This is a step-by-step guide that demonstrates how to setup your...
06/07/2026
Automatic Caption Translation in Adobe Premiere Pro
Colin Smith July 6, 2026
0 Comments
Here I showcase the innovative automatic caption translation f...
06/07/2026
Flavor's First Ever Managing Director Neal Cohen Retires; Longstanding Execu...
06/07/2026
How Adam Rosenwach Pivoted from Music to Medtech Without Missing a Beat What do the rehearsal room and the boardroom have in common? More than you might think...
06/07/2026
Zhongyi Optics unveils the Dreamy Zone T1 FF Cine Lens Series on Indiegogo with ...
06/07/2026
Techtel debuts insyght: making ST 2110 media discovery easy
intellisphereinsyght2026
6 July Written By Suzanne Costello
Sydney, Australia - 06 July 2026 T...
06/07/2026
Monday 6 July 2026
Sky agrees to acquire ITV Media & Entertainment, creating a ...
06/07/2026
Fresh from his World Cup heroics with Cabo Verde, Roberto Pico' Lopes will join the RT panel for Argentina v Egypt tomorrow and for the England v Norway q...
06/07/2026
Nations have long invested in domestic infrastructure to advance their economies, protect and use their data, and take advantage of technology opportunities in ...
06/07/2026
Every year, the International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML) reveals where thousands of AI researchers have decided to put their work.
This year's ...
06/07/2026
A death can be unsuspicious, but it has to be explained
What happened to Ke...
05/07/2026
We've gone to another level of integrating the graphics into the set architecture' - Zac Fields, SVP, Graphic Technology and Integration, FOX Sports...
05/07/2026
Browser-based and desktop apps available
Digital Sunset Studios have been busy working on an interesting project: a free software tool that provides compute...
04/07/2026
When Canada qualified for the FIFA World Cup 2026, OneSoccer knew this wasn'...
04/07/2026
Celebrates company's 80th anniversary
Rhodes have recently revealed that they will be producing a limited run of electric pianos in celebration of their...
04/07/2026
Blackmagic Design Cameras Empower Youth Broadcasting Program
Brie Clayton July 3, 2026
0 Comments
Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro and Blackmagi...
04/07/2026
iZotope Joins Boris FX
Boris Yamnitsky July 3, 2026
0 Comments
iZotope, the team behind RX and Ozone, is joining Boris FX. A letter from founder Boris...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
03/07/2026
New bundle & three Single Packs
Continuing to expand their already sizeable orchestral collection, VSL's latest release introduces three new Single Pack...
03/07/2026
Venue installs new ATC-equipped control room
LSO St Luke's, a unique music venue that also serves as the home of the London Symphony Orchestra, have rec...
03/07/2026
Caden Pearson appointed new Commissioning Editor for NITV
3 July, 2026
Media releases
National Indigenous Television (NITV) has strengthened its commitment...
03/07/2026
1 February 2023
SHARE Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email
Munich, Germany, 1st February 2023: Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software technology for digit...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Death Star
Andy Marken July 2, 2026
0 Comments
Look, I can't get involved. I've got work to do. It's not that I like the Empire; I hate i...
03/07/2026
Berklee's New Visual Identity: Honoring Our History, Building for What's...
03/07/2026
Scripps Research scientists awarded $2M to advance global disease surveillance Two Gates Foundation grants will expand wastewater surveillance and AI-driven dis...
03/07/2026
Joan Pulupa joins Scripps Research faculty to study the organization of DNA in brain cells and its links to neurodegeneration Using smell-sensing neurons and ad...
02/07/2026
Entering her senior year, this hometown girl is paving a career in live sports production gaining experience in replay and audio and as a TD
In the live-sports...
02/07/2026
In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...
By TVBEurope Staff 
