Vol. 21 Issue 03 March 2019 An ITP Media Group Publication MBC’S JOHANNES LARCHER ON WHY SHAHID CAN WIN THE BATTLE FOR THE MODERN ARAB CONSUMER AWARDS TIME! Shortlist for the Digital Studio Awards inside “The Middle East is one of the most fascinating and challenging media markets in the world with a signifi cant opportunity to build a sustainable OTT business” JOHANNES LARCHER P23 SYSTEMS INTEGRATION Special report on SI projects in the Middle East Download the free DS app and be the fi rst to read the latest issue on your mobile devices. LEADING THE PACK PLUS NEWS OPINION INTERVIEWS TECHNOLOGY COMMUNITY TRENDS EVENTS PRODUCTS CABSAT ISSUE WHAT TO SEE AT THIS YEAR’S EVENTCONTENTS MARCH 2019 10 UPDATE FOX RENEWS PLAY- OUR CONTRACT WITH RED BEE, NILE- SAT COMPLETES PLAY- OUT SYSTEM INSTALL, OSN LAUNCHES LOW COST PACKAGE, TRT ARABI LAUNCHES HD VERSION, IMAGE NATION’S FREE SOLO WINS OSCAR & BAFTA, YAHLIVE EXTENDS DEAL WITH TURNER, GATES AIR WINS IVORY COAST CONTRACT, CINEPO- LIS OPENS FIRST GCC CINEMA 21 EDITOR’S COLUMN SHAPING THE FUTURE 30 CABSAT SPECIAL WHAT TO EXPECT AT THE REGION’S BIGGEST INDUSTRY TRADESHOW 76 NAB PREVIEW WHAT’S LAUNCHING AT NAB SHOW 2019? 22 LEADING THE PACK In conversation with Johannes Larcher, newly appointed MD of Digital & VOD at MBC Group on how he plans to lead the OTT market with Shahid 49 SPECIAL REPORT: SYSTEMS INTEGRATION An in-depth look at this vital segment of the industry featuring the latest high profi le Middle East Systems Integration projects and industry interviews 60 DIGITAL STUDIO AWARDS Shortlist inside for Digital Studio Awards 2019 70 NEW PRODUCTS Sennheiser XSW Digital, Insta360 Titan, RED DSMC2 Touch 7.0” Ultra-Brite LCD Monitor, Panasonic 4K pro camcorder, Atomos Shinobi. 22 49 60 76 70 30 www.digitalstudiome.comMARCH 2019 / 3 SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE WWW.ITP.COM /SUBSCRIPTIONS WWWWWWW W.W.W.W.W..WW ITITII P.COM/SUBSCR IPTIONS DON’T MISS AN ISSUE! CH-1CH-2 Published by and © 2019 ITP MEDIA GROUP FZ-LLC MEDIA PO Box 500024, Dubai, UAE Tel: +971 4 444 3000 Web: www.itp.com Offices in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, London & Mumbai ITP MEDIA GROUP CEO Ali Akawi Managing Director Alex Reeve Group Publishing Director Ian Stokes Group Editorial Director Greg Wilson EDITORIAL Editor: Pranav Vadehra Tel: +971 4 444 3419 email: pranav.vadehra@itp.com ADVERTISING Sales Director Andrew Cover Tel: +971 4 444 3502 email: andrew.cover@itp.com Sales Manager Nikhil Mathur Tel: +971 4 444 3501 email: nikhil.mathur@itp.com ITP LIVE General Manager Ahmad Bashour Tel: +971 4 444 3549 email: ahmad.bashour@itp.com PHOTOGRAPHY Senior Photographers Efraim Evidor, Rajesh Raghav, Richard Hall Staff Photographers Lester Apuntar, Aasiya Jagadeesh, Grace Guino, Fritz Asuro, Ajith Narendra PRODUCTION & DISTRIBUTION Group Production & Distribution Director Kyle Smith Production Manager Basel Al Kassem Production Co-ordinator Manoj Mahadevan Outsourcing Manager Aamar Shawwa Senior Image Editor Emmalyn Robles CIRCULATION Head of Circulation Vanessa D’souza Circulation Executive Loreta Regencia MARKETING Director of Awards & Marketing Daniel Fewtrell Events Manager Teri Dunstan ITP GROUP CEO Ali Akawi CFO Toby Jay Spencer-Davies Subscribe online at www.itp.com/subscriptions The publishers regret that they cannot accept liability for error or omissions contained in this publication, however caused. The opinions and views contained in this publication are not necessarily those of the publishers. Readers are advised to seek specialist advice before acting on information contained in this publication which is provided for general use and may not be appropriate for the reader’s particular circumstances. The ownership of trademarks is acknowledged. No part of this publication or any part of the contents thereof may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form without the permission of the publishers in writing. An exemption is hereby granted for extracts used for the purpose of fair review. www.digitalstudiome.com4 / MARCH 2019 he only you needNEWS UPDATE CABSAT 2019 will shine a light on the issues and trends that will shape the evolution of regional entertainment and its future. This year, we can expect lively discussions from media leaders on how they can prepare their business for current and future disruptions to the TV entertain- ment landscape and ensure they are still the market leaders ten years from now. CABSAT’s Content Congress will explore the new challenges of content creation and distribution in the digital age. Along with CABSAT, the 15th Annual #DSAwards gala night takes place at The H Hotel on March 13, and you can fi nd out who made the shortlist on page 60. Come join us in celebrating the indus- try’s achievements. As always, the Digital Studio team will be at CABSAT in force to meet with industry partners and friends and re- port from the show. We look forward to seeing you there! The global broadcast and production industry converges in Dubai for CABSAT 2019. Welcome to the CABSAT Special issue of Digital Studio. CABSAT 2019 CALLING! EVERYONE’S TALKING ABOUT THIS MONTH IN THE TV AND FILM PRODUCTION INDUSTRY 10 UPDATE 21 EDITOR’S LETTER 22 COVER STORY 30 CABSAT SPECIAL 49 SPECIAL REPORT CABSAT 2019 will once again unite the media indus- trys creative experts www.digitalstudiome.com8 / MARCH 2019 Learn more at www.blackmagicdesign.com/ae URSA Broadcast is a flexible new Ultra HD broadcast camera that’s like two cameras in one. It’s an incredible field camera, as well as a professional studio camera. URSA Broadcast works with your existing B4 lenses, shoots HD and Ultra HD, features traditional broadcast controls, built in ND filters, dual SD and CFast recorders, and records in common file formats such as DNxHD 145, DNxHD 220X and ProRes. The new extended video mode shoots incredible looking images with accurate skin tones, vibrant colors and incredible detail that can go straight to air without extra color correction. 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