It's always interesting to see the evolution of a trade show and the time it takes for the technology highlighted there to actually reach consumers. Within the broadcast industry, the key show in Europe is what we’re all talking about, IBC. IBC covers just about every field of broadcasting from content management to studio mixing all the way through to interactive services for viewers and satellite transmission. As such Acentic attends every year because whilst the hotel industry has its specificities when it comes to technology its is important to use proven standards and to understand what will hit the living rooms in the future.
Ten years ago when Acentic first started visiting IBC, Digital TV and Video on Demand were the buzz words at the show, its fascinating to see that only now are consumers starting to receive VoD services at home. That’s a ten-year lag for the most mature consumer markets, probably a lot longer for many emerging markets. Interestingly enough, back then hotels were already offering VoD providing guests with total control over recently released blockbusters. For the last 3 to 4 years it has been High Definition Television that has taken the front stage at IBC with all sorts of predictions about consumer take up and services. We don’t think HDTV will take over ten years to develop - in fact HD broadcast services are starting to develop rapidly in Europe, whether its via PayTV providers or free to air offerings through digital terrestrial. HD VoD however has yet to take off significantly.
At Acentic, we believe its important to work with leading industry players in order to deploy HD VoD to hotels before it even figures on the service offerings of most consumer providers. The industry needs to work together with standards based systems so that cost effective HD solutions can be rolled out to the hotel industry bringing a new exciting viewing experience to guests, an experience which guests may once again have to wait several years to see in their living room.
About the author
Alistair Forbes, CEO, Acentic
Alistair Forbes is a highly experienced and creative international managing director with 30 years experience in both retail and business-to-business environments. As CEO of Acentic, he has merged and integrated four competitors to create the major digital interactive TV technology provider to the hotel Industry.
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