Outside broadcasting companies say they want media technology vendors to be more transparent about their carbon footprints as the industry aims to become more sustainable.
During a panel on innovative and sustainable solutions in outside broadcasting as part of the Media Tech Sustainability Summit, members of the OB service provider community were asked about ‘greenhushing’, which is when companies aren’t willing to talk about how sustainable their technology is.
Rohan Mitchell, group ESG director at EMG/Gravity Media said that both he and his colleagues are having more and more conversations about the carbon footprint of technology with its supply chain.
“This is really important,” Mitchell added. “We need the data from the supply chain so we can say, OK, [this piece of kit] is X amount of emission when we buy it. There definitely needs to be more conversations happening and more transparency across the business, because with our new reporting legislation that we have in Europe, this is the really important data that we need.”
Claire Wilkie, CEO of Limitless Broadcast, agreed with Mitchell, adding that having conversations with suppliers is “really important”.
“The industry is going through a massive, transformational time, and the rate and speed at which technology is advancing is alarmingly fast,” she continued.
“As technologists and technology companies remaining relevant, being at the forefront is really important. So choosing a business model at this time is crucial to be able to make those decisions in terms of sustainability and cost and also creativity as well. The only way that we can move forward together as an industry is to be transparent. It’s like finding out where your hamburger comes from, where are things from, how are they put together?”
Steve Knee, owner and managing director of Cloudbass, described a conversation that his company had with EVS where they asked if the vendor could implement a standby feature on its replay system. “Quite often what happens is, you rig the EVS and it stays rigged and powered on for eight hours before you go to air,” he explained.
“We asked if we could have a little key press to shut down a few features and save some power. They’ve taken that away to have a look at.”
Day two of the Media Tech Sustainability Summit takes place today. Registration is open here.
