I, Amal Punchihewa, Executive Member of Media Technical Network of IET, contributed to three events during the month of May 2025. On 22 May he presented to an audience from professional engineering institutions that he has connections to, viz., a member of IET, IEEE-BTS and Engineering New Zealand, in Palmy (Palmerston North, Manawatu, New Zealand).
I presented the evolution of broadcasting, especially television (TV) in New Zealand to a local audience in Palmy. I explained the evolution of TV from monochrome (not black and white) to colour television, followed by explanations on DTV in the form of Direct-to=Home (DTH), Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT), Over-the-Top (OTT) and now online delivery.
The public service broadcaster (PSB) in New Zealand, TVNZ, simulcasts linear channels (TVNZ+) on DTH, DTT and online. Also, catch-up and other content are available for New Zealanders, geo-locked and registration is required, but free to access. This enables personalisation, alerts, favourites, reminders, and so on.
On 30th May I presented to the IET Singapore network in contrasting the services of Mediacorp, the PSB in Singapore and their "mewatch" online service in addition to DTV on IPTV, DTH and DTT with DVB-T2 to the New Zealand services.
The talk addressed how important is broadcasting services vis-à-vis health, water, energy, education and transport. The presentation also discussed how rapid technological advancements are disrupting broadcasting operations.
I mentioned “In my view, as the Chair of Engineering New Zealand Te Ao Rangahau Manawatu Branch, Deputy Chair of IET Wellington and South Island Network, and Distinguished Lecturer of IEEE-Broadcast Technology Society, I do not hear much about broadcasting or communications presentations. In the above presentation, as an electronics and telecommunications engineer, I shared the challenges that the broadcasting industry has been going through and how it addresses infrastructure development and economic and environmental sustainability.”
It is 100 Years since John Logie Baird’s historic demonstrations of television at the Selfridge’s department store in London. Television production, distribution and consumption have changed dramatically over this century.
The future broadcasting and media landscape will be dominantly online only. However, Amal asked the question, “Are we ready to embrace some technologies such as AI and content discovery for trustworthy and resilient service?”
The members from the Manawatu Branch, Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) and IEEE members join this event to acquire some insights into the trends in Broadcasting, especially in Television.
I also participated in the BroadcastAsia Conference 2025. BroadcastAsia serves as the premier gathering for Asia’s broadcast, media, and entertainment professionals, providing a platform where the industry’s key players converge to shape the future of broadcast.
I revealed that, in the opening conference session at BroadcastAsia 2025, the industry’s opinion-makers had a major discussion about the future of work, and how this necessitated the need to adequately train people for the future to overcome the very real fear of job loss.
Every time we talk about AI, we feel it can work better and more efficiently, but there is also a lot of staff layoff, and that has caused a wave of fear to pass through the workers in the broadcast industry.
There is also the question of the ethical side of the picture; the human element should never be ignored. An engine which can generate text from a video or given a single still picture, can generate a full video, is dangerous. It should be clearly mentioned that the video or text was generated by AI.
The first two days of BroadcastAsia 2025 saw most exhibitors actively engaged by reconnecting with existing clients and having meaningful conversations with potential customers evaluating products in their respective sectors.
The BroadcastAsia 2026 will be held from 20 to 22 May at Singapore EXPO, to explore cutting-edge broadcast technologies and engage in insightful discussions that will drive the next wave of media transformation across Asia. Participants from broadcasters, content creators, and solution providers, may have an opportunity to connect with industry leaders, discover new solutions, and gain the insights needed to lead in a changing world
