SET EXPO points to the technologies of the future for broadcasting and how to make it

Between August 27 and 30, the event brought together the main companies in the audiovisual production and transmission industry, and over 17,000 attendees, counting the congress and trade show.

São Paulo, September 2018 – The audiovisual content production and distribution segments are some of the world’s most dynamic. How they adapt to changes in consumption – and to what is consumed – is crucial to the success of the companies and professionals in this field. Connected to all this movement, the 2018 SET EXPO hosted over 15 thousand attendees from over 37 countries at Expo Center Norte in São Paulo, between August 27 and 30. In the exhibition area, attendees rubbed shoulders with 200 leading exhibitors like Sony, Canon, Panasonic, SES, Hitachi, Fujifilm, CIS Group, Eutelsat and Epson, among others.

“The exhibitors are content with the movement at the event, which enabled them to consolidate a range of business opportunities, with several important orders closed during the show. In the opinion of Claudio Younis, vice president of SET, the entity that organized the event, “Given the delicate moment from the political and economic and point of view, the 2018 SET EXPO demonstrated the soundness of this market by strengthening the relationship action of the suppliers”.

“Of all the sectorial tradeshows, this is the best. We’ve already closed several deals”, said Sérgio Coimbra, executive director of exhibitors, Cerevo Cinereal, celebrating. This positive feeling was shared on other booths, like that of Tecsys. “The volume of attendees surprised us, especially given the economic situation. People are here looking for new products and business”, says Herbe Zambrone Jr., the company’s sales director.

“This was our ninth consecutive year at SET Expo, and was yet another success; after all, this is the main display case for the sector”, Fábio Eitelberg, director of UCAN asserted. The highly qualified public was also commented on by the CEO of Omnistream, Hagay Avraham; “We are very pleased with SET Expo; we had three times the attendees we expected, and we have no idea how we are going to follow up with all of them”.

The attendees at the exhibition area included executives from various segments engaged in the creation, production and distribution of audiovisual content, including producers, radio and TV broadcasters, schedulers, subscriber TV channels, advertising agencies, government entities, universities, manufacturers, distributors, and integrators.

Besides the practical demonstrations of technology at the booths, the Set Expo Conference discusses the new paths and challenges facing these companies, professionals, and researchers. Over the four days of the event, more than 2,000 people watched the hundreds of talks and debates at the largest audiovisual industry technology forum in Latin America.

Besides market names, associations like the SMPTE – the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers, from the United States; the Fraunhofer IIS Institute (Germany) and Brazilian research centers discussed issues such as remote production over IP, the increasing popularity of virtual reality (VR) devices, multiplatform content, and how to respond to an increasingly demanding – and fragmented – audience. “The most hotly disputed topics were the future of TV, Industry 4.0, artificial intelligence and cognitive platforms, cloud services, entrepreneurship, and innovation, as well a show the internet of things (IoT) can enhance the human experience”, said Younis, summarizing.

Companies like Globo, Record, SBT, Jovem Pan, Sky, Claro, TIM, Embratel, NHK, Mirum, DPZ, Nokia, Samsung, LG, Google, IBM, and Accenture also participated in the discussions and the airing of ideas. In one of the fullest rooms at the event, journalist Roberto Cabrini, for example, discussed the major transformations which his activity has experienced. The director of Verizon for Latin America, Jossi Fresco, was categorical on his: “content may be king, but quality is the queen”. Government bodies such as Anatel – the Brazilian Telecommunications Agency and the Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovations, and Communications (MCTIC) also graced the event and its schedule.

The next edition of SET EXPO will be held in 2019, from August 26 thru 29, in São Paulo.