IBC 2005 :: Exhibition Introduction

IBC 2005 - Introduction

Reporting from the 11-hall extravaganza that is the IBC exhibition, Bob Crabtree sets the scene for our show coverage

Every year, the IBC exhibition is where the movers and shakers of the television world get together to strut their stuff. Most are trying to sell their products or services to fellow exhibitors or visitors, of course, or, at very least, impress the hell out of them (especially if they're competitors).

The show (Sept 9-13) is THE place to visit to try to get a handle on new broadcast technologies and services - the things that shape what sort of programmes are coming to our TV sets, or computer screens, some time soon (and how they'll be arriving).

Dope-heads looking for an excuse to visit one of Amsterdam’s “coffee” shops might also find the show useful.

HEXUS.net’s main area of interest at the show is the development of TV over IP – the broadcast of TV programs, movies and more over the internet. But we’d be doing you a major disservice if our coverage of such a wide-ranging show were restricted solely to IPTV. So it isn’t.

Trouble is, IBC is massive. Its sub-title, “The world of content creation management and delivery”, might give some clue as to the show’s breadth but nothing like as good an idea as learning that the event sprawls over 11 halls - most of them large - and has a catalogue that, at 480 pages, is much thicker than many a paperback pot-boiler.