[SatNews] IBC, which opens on September 9th, is poised to reinforce its position as one of the world’s leading meeting place for those involved in the electronic media industry.

More than 1,300 companies are populating 42,000 square metres of exhibition space. Exhibitors include all of the major names in the industry and 250 companies taking part in IBC for the first time. As well as significantly increased exhibitor numbers and space (this year sees the addition of Hall 13), the IBC2010 exhibition includes a number of new initiatives, including the Connected World. This brings together exhibits on IP-based delivery platforms — including online and mobile television and digital out of home — with demos and debates on the new devices available to consumers. Audiences are now consuming content in different ways, at different times, and in different locations, and creators and deliverers of media need to change to meet this revolution.

The conference tackles three fundamental streams of debate: technology advances, creative innovation, and the business of broadcasting, together with other sessions which increase the appeal of IBC. Anchoring the conference program are a number of keynote speakers, including the chair of the BBC Trust Sir Michael Lyons, Manolo Romero, the head of Olympic Broadcast Services, and Texas Instruments senior vice president Kent Nowak. Another innovation this year is a formal training program, the IBC Digital Media Training Workshops, developed and delivered by Future Media Concepts. This is part of a rolling initiative to develop IBC to reflect the structural changes in the world of electronic media. “IBC is run by the industry for the industry,” said Michael Crimp, the CEO of the event. “That gives us a very strong sense of what the current pressures are and where we are heading. Combine that with a responsive and agile organisation, and IBC is unrivalled in its ability to tackle, in a practical and engaging way, the key issues of the moment.”