theibcdaily Taking the pulse
software-defined The
Charlie Vogt CEO, Imagine Communications
Region: Worldwide Interviewed by: Carolyn Giardina
The future of broadcasting is about IP protocols and software-defined environments that can take advantage of mobility, virtualisation and the cloud says Charlie Vogt, CEO of Imagine Communications. With this vision, he predicts
a bright future for broadcasters and OTT players, but asserts that there are “very few suppliers that get it and are prepared at the scale needed to participate in the window of time that’s going to be necessary.” He continues: “It's said that
there are tens of thousands of ‘snowflake’ networks that were designed in their own way, and that has created a lot
players see this as an opportunity to grow, and there’s certainly a lot of convergence between the traditional IT and telco and MSO landscape with the traditional broadcaster. I think that consolidation is going to spur a tremendous amount of innovation.” Vogt — who joined Imagine
in the summer of 2013 and led it through a transformative year during which it shifted from its longtime moniker of Harris Broadcast and acquired companies including Digital Rapids — believes the innovation will occur during this decade. “There’s going to be some early adopters in 2015, and a second wave in
“Consolidation is going to spur a tremendous amount of innovation”
of limitations for those broadcasters and content distributors to participate in the ‘future’ network. “Networks need to migrate
“What is the ROI for 4K? I don’t see it yet”
away from hardware to those that are defined by software, and move from proprietary to an open service-oriented network architecture. They need to standardise on IP, and take advantage of mobility, virtualisation and the cloud.” With this model, clients
"don't have to upgrade their network every 4-5 years because the hardware that’s tethered to the software has to be upgraded. Some very large
2016 and 2017, and before 2020 a lot of the major broadcasters and OTT players are going to be participating.” He warns that what the
players will need to watch is competition from those who are building out “more efficient and cost effective ways to provide content.” On other topics generating
attention, Vogt is sceptical that there’s an opportunity afforded by higher resolution. “I don't see the large distribution networks racing to deliver 4K when they are not fully monetising HD yet. What is the ROI for 4K? I don’t see it yet.”
future
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