The UK Section holds monthly evening meetings, where we get together to socialise and discuss topics impacting our industry. Below are write-ups of our meetings in 2025.
Oct meeting in London
SMPTE UK and RTS Technology Centre | Sports Streaming in the Cloud, is it all fluffy or real?
On Thursday 23 Oct 2025, 45 SMPTE UK and RTS members and friends met at IMG Studios, Stockley Park for an evening all about sports streaming in the cloud.
The event was hosted by Ciarán Doran, RTS, and Ian Trow, SMPTE. James Shepherd at InSync gave a tremendous presentation about the challenges of compute infrastructure when used for realtime media processing. Ciarán talked about some of the leading-edge sports streaming projects M2A Media have worked on recently. They were then joined by Andy Wilson from M2A Media and Carolina Dos Santos from Cingularity for a panel session exploring both the technical & commercial challenges behind sports streaming and cloud adoption - in a clear and concise manner and without the fluff!
The future of sports distribution is undoubtedly highly dependent on virtualisation if it is to achieve the scale and reach needed to deliver an ever-expanding schedule of sports coverage. Viewers expectations are high, Tier 1 coverage over linear DTH platforms is well established and sets the bar high in terms of performance, quality, and reach.
The shift to streaming undoubtedly poses unique technical & commercial challenges to rights holders trying to replicate existing delivery models. Add to this the expectation to widen and diversify sports streaming and it’s clear that acquisition, production, and delivery workflows need to adapt and change.
Just like all SMPTE UK events, this meeting was open to existing professionals and students alike. We're grateful to our generous hosts IMG, and to our sponsors M2A Media and InSync for the ample refreshments!
Sept meeting in Manchester
SMPTE UK North - IBC 2025 Round-Up @ Picture Shop Manchester
On Tuesday 30 Sept 2025, 40 SMPTE UK members and friends gathered at Picture Shop Post Production in Manchester for an IBC round-up!
Andy Beale, Director of Technology for Premier League Studios; Sha Thilakawardana, Senior R&D Engineer at the BBC; and Adam Welsh, Director at Big Pic Media were our tremendous panellists for the evening. Many thanks to them and to Kate Lamb at Picture Shop for hosting a very entertaining and informative evening's discussion!
Just like all SMPTE UK events, this meeting was open to existing professionals and students alike. We're grateful to Picture Shop for the hosting us for the evening and for providing the ample refreshments!
Drinks at IBC
SMPTE drinks at IBC with BT Media and Broadcast
On Sunday 14 Sept 2025 at IBC in Amsterdam, 150 SMPTE members and friends met in the sunshine for drinks and networking, including a large cohort of students from both the UK and Germany, and lots of early careers people!
We were joined by the SMPTE global leadership, including President Rich Welsh, and Executive Director Sally-Ann D'Amato.
We're grateful to BT Media and Broadcast for generously hosting the event on their stand in the Outdoor Exhibits area!
Sept meeting in London
SMPTE UK visits Amazon UK... for an evening all about Cloud for Media
On Tuesday 9 Sept 2025, 60 SMPTE UK members and friends met at Amazon UK in London for a pre-IBC session about media in the cloud.
We lined up a packed evening's agenda, with several speakers talking about different aspects of the Time Addressable Media Store (TAMS), including David Mitchinson from Techex, John Biltcliffe from Amazon, and Ian Trow from Sky. We also heard from Michael Rack from the Amazon Kuiper team about how their new Low Earth Orbit satellite system may be used to benefit the media industry.
It was great to see so many people brave London's Tube strike to hear about the future of our industry and network with fellow SMPTE UK members at Amazon's UK HQ.
Just like all SMPTE UK events, this meeting was open to existing professionals and students alike. We're grateful to our generous hosts Amazon Prime for the ample refreshments.
Sept meeting in Leeds
SMPTE UK visits DAZN Leeds
On Thursday 4 Sept 2025, 45 SMPTE UK members and friends visited DAZN at their fabulous Leeds facility! We saw first-hand the preparation taking place ahead of the Inaugural FIFA Club World Cup along with a 'behind-the-scenes' into their day to day operations.
Nick Taylor provided an overview of DAZN, followed by deep dives into Cloud Playout and DAZN's new MCR. We then had a wonderful panel session on Career Development, Mentorship & Recruitment!
Just like all SMPTE UK events, this meeting was open to existing professionals and students alike. We're grateful to our generous hosts DAZN for the ample refreshments.
July meeting near London
SMPTE UK visits BFBS Chalfont Grove
On 16 July 2025, 40 SMPTE UK members and friends met at BFBS at Chalfont Grove. BFBS is a military charity and media organisation that delivers trusted and secure entertainment, news, sport, and information services to the UK Armed Forces and their families worldwide.
This was a truly excellent evening, and we're very grateful to BFBS for their hospitality, as well as the comprehensive talk and tour they gave of their impressive operation.
Just like all SMPTE UK events, this meeting was open to existing professionals and students alike. The evening's ample refreshments were provided courtesy of our generous hosts BFBS.
July meeting in Salford
SMPTE UK North: Behind the Scenes at Coronation Street
On 8 July 2025, SMPTE UK visited ITV Studios in Salford for an exclusive evening exploring the making of a true British television legend — Coronation Street.
We had an insider look at the production process, walked the iconic cobbles and heard from the experts in 'The Nation’s Favourite’ panel, where we explored the integration of technology and production that brings Corrie to life.
This was a great evening, and we're really grateful to the team at ITV for welcoming us back to see another of their famous soap filming locations, following our visit to Emmerdale last year. Huge thanks also to Techex for sponsoring the ample refreshments for the evening.
Photo credit to Mirusha Jegatheeswaran
June workshop near London
Elevate Your Media Skills: An Interactive Workshop
On 26 June 2025 in High Wycombe, SMPTE UK collaborated with the RTS, the IET and the IABM to deliver this essential half-day event, tailored for mid-level professionals across media and broadcast manufacturing.
This workshop offered a mix of practical learning, industry insight, and meaningful connection for those 5–10 years into their career and looking to expand their technical know-how or explore their next move.
The sessions included:
How NMOS makes IP systems work (Who's SDP file is it anyway?)— Ed Calverly, Q3 Media
Navigating Media Cloud — James McDonnell (Tequate Ltd) & Paul Markham
Modernising with the Cloud: A Pragmatic Approach — David O’Dwyer, Livewyer
Lost in the Middle? Getting Clear on What’s Next in Your Career — Sabina Bunger
Keynote from Martin Richards (Arqiva)
Evening Fireside Chat: “Broadcasting: Are We Still Broadcasting?” with Jacob King, Purminder Gandhu, and Louee Dessent-Jackson
Social at Mad Squirrel Brewery with pizza from 7–11 PM
Section Conference
The SMPTE UK Media Technology Conference 2025
On 14 and 15 May 2025 at Olympia Grand Hall in Hammersmith, London, we proudly presented the SMPTE UK Media Technology Conference 2025! This was SMPTE UK's biggest event ever, with over 1,000 people attending the conference over the two days.
Produced in partnership with the Media Production and Technology Show, the annual SMPTE UK Media Technology Conference is an industry-leading event that brings together senior technology leaders and experts in the field of broadcasting and innovation. Featuring a powerful mix of insightful keynote presentations, interactive panel discussions and hands-on workshops, the 2-day conference offers a platform for networking, knowledge sharing, and exploring the latest trends and innovations.
The 2025 conference was open to all MPTS attendees to cultivate conversation and cross industry cooperation among M&E’s technology community. We're tremendously grateful to our sponsors Appear, Megapixel, Imagine, Net Insight, Techex, Ateme and IBC for their support; and to all the speakers and panel members for their contributions to this important UK conference.
The full schedule for the conference is on the MPTS website. Look under 'Programme' and apply the 'Media Technology Conference' filter to see the schedule.
April meeting in Salford
SMPTE UK visits BBC Research & Development at MediaCityUK
On 30 April 2025, 40 SMPTE UK members and friends including students from Salford University met at the BBC Research & Development North Lab in the Imaginarium, Dock House, MediaCityUK. All who attended saw first-hand the innovative work the BBC is doing, including:
SMPTE UK Young Innovators 2025 - Northern Edition
On 25th March 2025, SMPTE UK held the first ever Northern Edition of Young Innovators!
Hosted at University of York, and sponsored by Techex, we gathered students, early career engineers, and media and motion picture engineering pros… all in one space. This was a huge event, with 150 people in attendance!
What we covered:
- Engaging Tech Talks & Fireside Chats: We heard from talented students and early-career engineers as they shared their innovative ideas and projects.
- Networking Opportunities: Attendees met industry pros and peers, and made valuable connections that could shape future careers.
- Attracting Talent: We enabled engineering managers to connect with emerging talent, giving them direct access to the next wave of tech innovators.
Overall, this was an an amazing evening, and thanks to everyone who participated. Many many very positive conversations were in evidence both during and after the event. We're grateful to our generous sponsors Techex for the Ample refreshments!
March meeting in London
Mid-Careers Event: Navigating the Changing Media Tech Landscape
March meeting in Leeds
SMPTE UK North visits... Sky Leeds
On 6 Mar 2025, 60 SMPTE UK members and friends from across the North of England met at Sky in Leeds for our fifth SMPTE UK North event and our first of 2025!
This time we met at Sky’s offices in central Leeds for an evening of discussion around the transformation to a more software-defined broadcast workflow. We heard from Dave Travis (Group Director of Content, Broadcast & Platforms) about Sky’s journey to develop their new cloud based, data driven, event-based sports broadcasting platform.
This was followed by a panel “Broadcasting in Transition: The Current State and Future of Software-Defined & Cloud-Driven Workflows".
We're grateful to our generous hosts Sky UK for a warm welcome and for the ample refreshments!
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January meeting in London
SMPTE UK Young Innovators 2025 - Southern Edition
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