Thomas Löffler, Assistant VP of Exhibitions, Dubai World Trade Centre, offers a quick brief on what to expect at the show this year.
What are some of the key focus areas at CABSAT this year?
CABSAT is set to reunite the region’s content and broadcast communities in person once again for its 26th edition at Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC). CABSAT 2021’s Content Congress conference will engage a cross-section of senior industry stakeholders with up-and-coming influencers to share insights on how to adapt traditional broadcast models, the benefits of disruptive thinking and the future of worldwide broadcasting. Content Congress will tackle the toughest challenges that the industry now faces, including the survival strategies of smaller OTT players, the future of linear TV, how to capitalise on Gen Z’s changing consumption of content, and how cinemas will adapt to the rise of stay-at-home viewing. CABSAT will also explore the impact of artificial intelligence in the broadcast, content and satellite sectors via the ‘4 C’s’ of AI – how artificial intelligence will understand the citizen, content, context and container (device) used.
Together with Dubai Studio City, CABSAT will launch a new content marketplace, NextGen Content, which is set to attract content creators and sellers who will present their ready-to-be-released content to content buyers in an exclusive, 200-seat cinema at Dubai World Trade Centre.
NextGen Content caters to a mix of expert content buyers from across the region who are looking to acquire content across a range of platforms and genres including TV, film, serial dramas, documentaries, comedy, kids entertainment and animated entertainment. NextGen Content will provide a unique platform to showcase content, explore production and co-production opportunities and spark industry networking.
Can you provide some details of new speakers who will be part of the show?
Despite the pandemic grinding film and TV production to a halt, the UAE was one of only a few global entertainment centres to have overseen over $100 million worth of productions in 2020. Majed Al Suwaidi, Managing Director of Dubai Media City, Dubai Studio City and Dubai Production City, and Hans Fraikin, Film and Television Commissioner, Abu Dhabi Film Commission, will discuss how this was possible in such a testing time for the industry.
Henry Windridge, Senior Director: Marketing, Digital & Creative, EMEA Pay TV & Global Brands at Discovery, and Madeleine Noland, President, Advanced Television Systems Committee, will discuss next-generation terrestrial broadcast systems and the global convergence of IP data networks.
Twitter’s Director of Media Partnerships for MEAT, Kinda Ibrahim, will discuss how content creators monetise their content on the platform. UAE-based startup ScriptDoor, which gives an equal launching pad for businesses, directors, producers, artist, actors and writers, will share their success story, while Karim Rabie, ICT Chief Architect, NEC Corporation, Saudi Arabia, and Yusuf Al-Butti, Head of Technology and Engineering at twofour54, will discuss what 5G and AI will mean for the future of the E&M industry.
There will be a strong presence from Nigerian broadcast experts at CABSAT, and visitors will hear from Aduku Armstrong Idachaba, Director General of the National Broadcasting Commission of Nigeria; Augustus B. Ajibola, Director of the Department of Entertainment and Creative Services, Federal Ministry of Information and Culture in Abuja; and Mo Abudu, CEO of EbonyLife TV, along with other African experts.
What can we expect at the SATExpo Summit?
With the global satcoms market expected to be worth $53bn by 2027, the value of the satellites in the distribution chain is clear, with it remaining one of the most reliable means of communication. Satellite operators have seen a significant increase in demand for capacity.
In collaboration with GVF and the European Satellite Operators Association, CABSAT 2021’s SATExpo Summit will host leading satellite operators who will be exhibiting at the show, including Nilesat, Arabsat, Eutelsat, Russian Satellite Communications Company, Gazprom Space Systems, Azercosmos and Turkmen Hemrasy.
SATExpo’s hard-hitting conference agenda will tackle the most pressing topics in the industry, including how enhanced satellite communication technologies are helping to fight the spread of Covid-19, what’s next for the UAE’s space exploration efforts and what they mean for the country, as well as the ways that satellites are impacting the maritime, transport and government sectors.
