In Broadcast - December 2011/January 2012 - 23

InPREVIEW
CABSAT: The Middle East’s Largest Digital Media & Satellite Expo
Organised by the Dubai World Trade Centre, CABSAT is expanding further to accommodate the rapidly increasing exhibition needs of a growing Middle East and North Africa market place…
There has never been a more exciting time to be involved in the satellite, broadcast and electronic media industry in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). In the latest edition of its definitive market sizing study the IABM – the body that represents manufacturers and vendors in the industry – valued the Middle East and Africa region at close to $2 billion in 2011. for content on smartphones and tablets as well as their televisions. CABSAT is now an established part of the calendar, the place where broadcasters and production professionals from the region get together to share knowledge and experiences. Like the industry it serves, CABSAT is growing dynamically: in 2012 it is of exhibition space, growing CABSAT exhibition, alongside the broadcast exhibitors showing the latest products from the world’s manufacturers. Those manufacturers see CABSAT not just as a regional show but as a major date in the calendar. In 2011 Harris chose to launch a key product in its future strategy not at NAB but at CABSAT, with the first use of the new product going to Oman. Paddy Roache, EMEA director of Hitachi, described CABSAT as delivering the quality of people he needed to see, and Awad Mousa of Sony called CABSAT “an absolute must for all members of our industry across the region.” Alongside the exhibition is a range of other events adding value to your visit to CABSAT. These include targeted workshops on key technologies like workflow and shooting with DSLRs; the CABSAT Academy of conference sessions and presentations, in association with twofour54 tadreeb, the leading training centre in the region; and round table networking sessions where major issues affecting the region will be debated. Abdul Hadi Alhassani of Arabsat said “CABSAT has put the MENA region on the world map,” and Mohammed Samur of Warka Trading Company in Iraq said of his visit in 2011, “I have visited the show for three days and have not had enough time to go through everything I needed to see, examine and learn about”. Make sure CABSAT 2012 is in your diary: February 28 to March 1 in the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre.

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CABSAT 2012 in Dubai

The same study suggested growth in the Middle East at 4.5% until 2015, and at 6.4% in Africa, much of that predicted to come from the Mediterranean countries. Those calculations were made before the major political and social changes which have spread across the region this year, so the actual figures are likely to be even more significant. It is also a time of exciting change in technology. DSLRs are bringing a new approach to creative shooting at a reasonable cost; new workflows driven by service oriented architectures enable every broadcaster to be more effective and swift to change to audience demands; and consumers are clamouring

the exhibition space further, filling the new Sheikh Saeed Hall and expanding out into the Arena with satellite dishes and outside broadcast equipment. The exhibition has been reorganised too, bringing the broadcast and satellite areas together in a much more integrated way. Pay television is growing rapidly in the region (15.3% in 2009 alone, according to Euroconsult) and is now the largest source of broadcast revenue in the Middle East, much of it coming from direct to home satellite services. Looking ahead, 2013 will see 19 new satellites launched, providing greatly increased bandwidth for a wide range of services. All these will be addressed by the

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