BroadcastAsia 2025: Keep a close watch on IaaS & private CDNs as Asia’s media ecosystem evolves

By Shirish Nadkarni

It is time again to connect with broadcast industry leaders and opinion-makers, discover new solutions, and gain the insights needed to lead in a rapidly changing media landscape.

Whether you are a broadcaster, content creator or solution provider, BroadcastAsia, an integral part of AsiaTech x Singapore, provides you with an unmatched opportunity of staying ahead of the crowd, exploring cutting-edge broadcast technologies and engaging in insightful discussions that will drive the next wave of media transformation across Asia. 

ATxEnterprise, organised by Informa Tech and Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) of Singapore, is being held at the sprawling Singapore Expo from May 27 to 29, and will feature conferences and exhibition booths catering to B2B enterprises across the technology, broadcast media, information and communication, satellite operators as well as innovative start-up companies.

The broadcast extravaganza encompasses BroadcastAsia, CommunicAsia, SatelliteAsia, TechXLR8, InnovFest x Elevating Founders, and more significantly, the AI Summit Singapore, as the country aims to be a thriving hub for AI innovation in the region. The latest innovations from broadcasters, technology providers, and content creators will be on view, focusing on solutions that empower businesses to adapt to the changing media industry.

The event will also feature the annual Asia Pacific Broadcasting Awards – on the evening of 28 May – that seeks to recognise innovation and excellence in the broadcasting industry. This will be the third successive year that APB+ will be hosting these eagerly awaited Awards.

Staying ahead of the rabble requires more than just understanding the latest trends – it demands a commitment to innovation and adaptation. BroadcastAsia 2025 serves as the premier gathering for Asia Pacific’s broadcast, media, and entertainment professionals, providing a platform where the industry’s key players converge to shape the future of broadcast on Asia’s largest broadcast tech stage.

The main theme for BroadcastAsia 2025 is “Broadcast Future Forward”, which focuses on the evolving broadcast industry, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region, as it navigates the shift from traditional broadcasting to a cloud-driven, streaming era. 

“New technology advancements in video and audio acquisition and delivery are unlocking higher fidelity content supply chains to enable audiences to enjoy more immersive viewing and listening experiences,” said Dr Amal Punchihewa, Chairperson for BroadcastAsia 2025. He is also advisor and consultant and distinguished lecturer at the Asia Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD), and a regular APB+ columnist. 

“At the BroadcastAsia conference, we will hear from technology leaders who are enhancing coverage of live events for audiences with the latest innovations in high dynamic range, and high-resolution video alongside spatial audio and other cutting-edge formats that create immersive viewer experiences with high dynamic range (HDR), 4K and beyond.”

Dr Amal added, “On the first day itself, we have a thought-provoking session on ‘Imagining the Media Landscape: Trends and Innovations in Asia’.

“This session, which follows my opening address, examines AI applications in content creation, personalisation and distribution; e-sports and gaming growth opportunities and challenges in the region; augmented reality (AR)/virtual reality (VR) adoption and potential applications; mobile-first content consumption driving media innovations in Asia; and the increasing popularity of short-form video.”

Elle Quan, Producer, Asia Tech x Singapore, and who put together the conference programme for BroadcastAsia 2025, described, “There are other great sessions like ‘Leveraging SuperApps, Distributed Cloud & AI for Seamless Innovation’, and ‘Navigating the Evolving Video Encoding Landscape: Unlocking Cost-Effective Scalability with video processing units (VPUs)’. 

“In these particular sessions, you can compare the cost, performance and network efficiency of on-premise, public cloud and Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) video encoding deployments.”

Quan explained that IaaS is a cloud computing model that provides on-demand access to virtualised computing resources, such as servers, storage, and networking, over the internet. 

“The service offers several benefits, including cost savings, scalability, and agility. Broadcasting companies can leverage IaaS to manage their IT infrastructure, such as content delivery networks (CDNs), streaming servers, and media processing tools, without the need for physical hardware. I’m sure there will be a huge attendance for this provocative session.”

Another conference that is bound to attract interest centres on the rise of private content delivery networks (CDNs). Commercial CDNs remain the standard for video delivery, but growing traffic volumes and rising costs are prompting broadcasters and content providers to explore alternatives in remaking video delivery for a new era. 

“Many broadcasters are seeking greater control, more predictable economics, and delivery performance tailored to specific regional or business needs,” said Quan. “At the same time, the use of public cloud infrastructure at scale, particularly for egre

ss-heavy workloads like video, is raising questions around long-term sustainability.”On the exhibition floor, BroadcastAsia 2025 boasts more than 633 exhibitors, about the same as the number that figured in last year’s show. These include global names to smaller dynamic companies, as well as a number of country pavilions from China, France, Germany, Italy, South Korea, Singapore, Spain, US, Canada and the UK. Overall, the three-day ATxEnterprise event has representation from 120 countries.

Different areas in the exhibition cater to broadcasters, broadcast solution providers and content creators. Broadcasters would get insights on industry and technology trends impacting Asia’s broadcast and media landscape, and can network and reconnect with industry peers in the region to discuss the future of broadcast and the strategies to move forward.

For broadcast solution providers, there would be an opportunity to understand the impact of the evolving media ecosystem and consolidation on their business, meet and network with key decision-makers within the industry, and monitor investment trends impacting the broadcast and media sectors in APAC.

Content creators would be able to obtain insights on how VR, AR and other technologies are creating new content experiences. They could find out the latest creative production technologies that are set to transform the broadcast industry, and discuss content monetisation models that work in Asia.

Meanwhile, funding for AI experiments continues to flow, with AI software expenditure expected to reach US$297.9 billion by 2027, growing at a compound rate of over 19% year-on-year. As it was in 2024, cleansing of data is being considered increasingly essential. Failure to cleanse data can result in damaged reputation, customer loyalty issues, and legal repercussions due to inaccurate information provided by chatbots. 

The organisers of BroadcastAsia have projected an estimated 9,525 visitors over the three-day event at Singapore Expo. This forecast appears realistic, considering recent trends in post-pandemic event attendance.

In the years following the COVID pandemic, industry events took time to regain their pre-2020 momentum. The strongest rebound was observed in 2023, when leading international conventions such as NAB, IBC, and BCA experienced their highest attendance in four years. However, both NAB and BCA have seen modest declines in visitor numbers since. 

Some long-term exhibitors have voiced concerns about shortening the BCA event to three days. 

One regular exhibitor, who preferred to remain anonymous, bemoaned, “I said this last year, and I will say it again — it becomes very expensive to cart all the equipment down to Singapore for just three days, of which the second half of the third day is wasted in winding-up operations.

“I would really have liked a four-day event, without the organisers making it proportionately more expensive by way of stall rentals!”

While some may wish for a longer show, the three-day format reflects a focused and efficient approach that aligns with current industry dynamics. With a strong turnout anticipated and momentum building around cutting-edge themes like AI and media convergence, BroadcastAsia 2025 is poised to deliver meaningful engagement, quality leads, and renewed energy for the region’s broadcast and media technology ecosystem.