Digital initiatives win big at annual ASBU BroadcastPro Middle East 2018 awards

View the photos from the summit and awards here. The eighth edition of the 2018 ASBU BroadcastPro Summit and Awards culminated with a gala dinner and awards ceremony on 13 November at Dubais Habtoor Grand Hotel where excellence in production, VFX, satellite and broadcast services, systems integration and OTT initiatives, among other categories, were recognised. […]

View the photos from the summit and awards here.

The eighth edition of the 2018 ASBU BroadcastPro Summit and Awards culminated with a gala dinner and awards ceremony on 13 November at Dubais Habtoor Grand Hotel where excellence in production, VFX, satellite and broadcast services, systems integration and OTT initiatives, among other categories, were recognised.

The awards ceremony was preceded by a half-day summit where 23 industry executives addressed an audience of more than 300 broadcast professionals on issues ranging from creating Arab content to ensuring a sustainable broadcast industry in challenging economic conditions. The ASBU BroadcastPro Summit & Awards has served the broadcast industry in multiple ways by bringing together industry experts to not just share their knowledge and experience but also connecting individuals and businesses together.

Speakers at the summit included CEOs and executives from Image Nation, MBC, Dubai TV, Fox Networks Group, OSN, Twitter, StarzPlay, Intigral, Arab Format Lab and Facebook, among others.

Opening the gala awards evening was a show-stopping moment when a lady biker starring in the Fox Networks Group’s homegrown reality show The Open Road drove up to the stage in dramatic fashion and spoke briefly about her adventures along with the Producer Alex El Chamy through season one of the show. Later in the evening, the show was awarded the Best Factual Entertainment of 2018.

The MENA-wide panel of judges had more than 130 nominations to sift through to select the contenders that made the shortlist and then declared eventual winners.

Apart from the BroadcastPro ME editorial team, the judges included Abdulla Ahmed Albalooshi, Director of Technical Affairs, Information Affairs Authority (IAA), Bahrain; Houria Khatir, Specialised Analyst, Algerian TV; Ines Jebali Gdoura, Head of Production and Technology and New Media, ASBU; Khaled Abu Ali, Director of Digital Workflow Systems and Yasir Ballal, Managing Director of Mediacast International ; Feten Fradi of the Director Generals office at ASBU; and Dubai-based Director of Photography, Andrew Clemson.

The evenings proceedings began with SatellitePro ME awards being given to achievers in the satellite sector. The launch of the homegrown satellite KhalifaSat by Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre was recognised as the Space Initiative of the Year with a standing ovation from the awards attendees. Intelsat was awarded the coveted Satellite Operator of the Year award for their initiatives in extending connectivity in rural Africa. For their path-breaking endeavour in popularising space education among schools and universities in Egypt, travel company Wild Guanabana and digital agency Isobar were jointly conferred a Special Recognition Award.

The 2018 ASBU BroadcastPro Awards began with the Best Production of 2018 awarded to Arab Format Lab for the Arabic adaptation of the teen comedy drama series Red Band Society. A range of awards were presented for achievements in the digital and OTT space. Vuclips Saudi comedy series Hob El Tayebin was adjudged the best OTT production of the Year. For their inhouse development of an OTT platform, Pan Arab Media Inc. were recognised as the OTT Solutions Provider of the Year. Intigrals deployment of an inhouse CDN as well as initiatives in terms of partnering with original content providers, were recognised as the Digital Strategy of the Year. Zees OTT platform Weyyak was adjudged the MENA trendsetter of the year for expanding its reach to the French-speaking regions of North Africa besides growing its Arabic audience base.

In the keenly contested category of Best Video Initiative on a Social Media Platform, judges jointly awarded Bigfoot Films for the world cup-inspired music video Ya Negm Ya Star by Bigfoot Films and Viacom International Media Networks MENA for Bad Snappers.

Joint winners were also declared in the category of Best Factual Entertainment of The Year. A gritty documentary on two children shot in India titled God Children by Dubai-based filmmaker Reshel Shah Kapoor and Aum Media was awarded Documentary Feature of the Year.

Technical prowess was on full display in the winning clips by Spacetoon International in the animation series Zafari. Declared the Animated Work of the Year, the engaging story was rendered by Unreal Engine. Similarly, for Excellence in VFX, Africa Global by Real Image TV production demonstrated the full extent of the immersive technology. For integrating VR technology in the live telecast of an entire season of the Arab Gulf League, UAEs Pro League Committee was awarded Sports Initiative of the Year for their path-breaking AGL VR Seat Experience.

For developing an inhouse solution to fighting piracy, OSN’s PSIS Anti-piracy solution won the BroadcastProMe Innovative project of 2018. Dubai-based Shock ME’s initiative towards expanding the radio landscape by serving underserved audiences in the UAE, among others, was recognised as the Radio Initiative of the Year. For offering an outstanding range of services to content creators besides hosting multi-million-dollar Bollywood and Hollywood shoots, twofour54 was adjudged the Broadcast Services Provider of the Year. For building an entire set of studios for Jordan’s Al Mamlaka TV with cutting-edge design and technology, Qvest Media was recognised as Systems Integrator of the Year.

The Editor’s Choice awards concluded the evening. For his inspiring leadership, Sam Barnett of MBC Group was declared the CEO of the Year. The editor’s choice for Innovative Media Business Initiatives was awarded to Majed Al Suwaidi, Managing Director of Dubai Media City, Studio City and Production City. For Outstanding Innovation in OB Engineering, ARET Video and Audio Engineering was recognised for creating the worlds first radio OB van. The evening drew to a close with an inspiring and fitting clip on the late UAE President Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan that marks the Year of Zayed, an Action Media project for Etihad Airways that was recognised as the Outstanding Video Project of 2018.

The BroadcastPro Summit and Awards was organised by CPI Trade Media and endorsed by the Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU). The event was sponsored by gold sponsor Akamai; social media partner Twitter; associate sponsor Fox Networks Group; knowledge partner Irdeto; silver sponsors, Lawo, Eutelsat, 7 production, ZEE Entertainment Middle East and UTURN; and our networking sponsor Shock Middle East.

The 2018 winners of SatellitePro Awards

Space Initiative of the Year Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre

Satellite Operator of the Year- Intelsat S.A.

Special Recognition Award – Wild Guanabana/Isobar

The 2018 ASBU BroadcastPro awards winners

Best Production Of 2018 – Red Band Society by Arab Format Lab

Best Factual Entertainment of The Year – The Open Road by Fox Networks Group

Best Documentary Feature of the Year – God Children by Reshel Shah Kapoor, Aum Media

OTT Production of The Year – Hob El Tayebin by Vuclip

Best Video Initiative on A Social Media Platform – Bad Snappers by Viacom International Media Networks MENA

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Ya Negm Ya Star by Bigfoot Films