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 ...
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...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/05/2026
Zero in on one that says yes (and no)
Andy Marken May 29, 2026
0 Comments
Hero image courtesy of Deposit Photos
For content creators the most difficu...
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
Back to All News
Latino Film Institute Fellows Screen Their Short Films at the Egyptian Theatre
The Inclusion Fellowship and Spark Animation Grant uplifts 15 ...
29/05/2026
GLOOKAST LAUNCHES CINNAFILM TACHYON PLUGIN FOR MEDIA PRODUCER AND MEDIA SERVICES
This release first appeared here.
Visit our Tachyon product page or contact...
29/05/2026
May 29 2026, 09:00 (PDT) Dolby and rednote Bring More Immersive Storytelling to...
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...
By TVBEurope Staff 
