IBC returns to “pre-pandemic scale” with higher turnout of brands

The Industry trade event International Broadcasting Convention (IBC) taking place in the RAI Amsterdam on September 15-18 in 2023 will have a higher turnout of brands attending, including the return of Chinese vendors.

IBC, chief executive officer, Mike Crimp said this year’s event post pandemic and the removal of covid restrictions will deliver a bigger event compared to its first show in 2022 following the pandemic.

He said, “IBC returned in 2022 with a good, solid charge, everyone seemed really happy with it. Consequently, rebookings have been really strong across the board. The first thing you can expect is as a show of a pre-pandemic scale, all of the big vendors and exhibitors that you’d expect to see there will be attending. I can’t actually think of a single brand that hasn’t signed up for us, so you can expect a large show floor. In terms of the visiting audience, all the indications are that we’re going to see really big numbers, with a much higher total than in 2022. I think walking into IBC2023, you’ll be comparing it more to the 2019 pre-pandemic event in terms of size, scale and energy.”

He highlighted post-pandemic the IBC team have been able to evenly stretch their focus on the event’s content programme rather than the various covid requirements needed to put in place at last year’s show.

“The preparation has been much more like you would expect from a trade show, being able to focus on the layout, the flow, the features, the content programme, the Accelerator Programme, the Technical Papers, the IBC Awards — all of those things returning rather than putting huge amounts of resources, quite rightly, into health and safety. We’ve been able to focus on delivering a creative environment for people from an innovation perspective, rather than focusing as much on process and rules and making sure that everyone was safe in that pandemic period. This time around it feels very different to us.”

The content at this year’s event will be focused on three key themes Transformative Tech, Shifting Business Models, People and Purpose, as well as, the return of the IBC Changemakers Programme.

Headline speakers will include Aditi Pandey, head of Vendor Management & Partnerships at NRK, Allu Venkatesh (Allu Bobby), actor, film producer and entrepreneur at aha, Just Tickets, Anthony Guarino, executive vice president, Global Production & Studio Technology at Paramount, Bill Baggelaar, chief technology officer and executive vice president, Technology Development at Sony Pictures Entertainment, Kishore AK, President Technology and chief technology officer at Zee, Leah Hooper Rosa, Senior Vice President, EMEA Streaming and Global Integration Lead at Warner Bros. Discovery, Michael Wise, Senior Vice President and chief technology officer at Universal Pictures, Natalya Tatarchuk, distinguished technical fellow and chief Aachitect, vice president, Wētā Tools at Unity Technologies, Phil Wiser, Executive Vice President and chief technology officer at Paramount Global, Richard Berger, chief executive officer at MovieLabs, Ralph Lee, chief executive officer at BBC Studios Productions and Valerio Motti, vice president FAST Channels at Fremantle.