US technology company Imagine Communications has appointed Stephan Heimbecher as its new international director of consulting services.
The broadcast industry veteran joins Imagine Communications from Sky Deutschland, where he spent the last 16 years at the helm of innovation and standards for the German pay-TV operator.
In his new role at Imagine Communications, Heimbecher will lead a team of industry experts focused on collaborating with customers to solve challenges that currently face the broadcast and media industries.
Imagine’s innovation efforts focus on areas such as IP production and playout, hybrid and IP facility implementation, cloud and virtualised deployment for playout and distribution, and multiplatform delivery and operations across traditional and OTT platforms.
Heimbecher brings with him over 25 years of experience in the broadcast industry, a journey that started when he joined the ranks of German broadcast technology institute IRT as a research associate before moving into consulting around the topics of digital and interactive TV.
Heimbecher has been involved in the development of standards as a long-time member of the DVB Steering Board through SMPTE and more recently the ITU and IEC, as well as other standards bodies and industry associations including the UHD Alliance and the Ultra HD Forum. At German industry association Deutsche TV-Plattform, he has been a board member and working group chairman, Ultra HD & VR, for many years.
“We are delighted to welcome Stephan to the Imagine Communications team, and we look forward to seeing him lead our new consulting initiatives in APAC and EMEA and reinforcing the IP experience we have already gained through the deployment of a significant number of projects around the world,” said Mathias Eckert, SVP & GM, EMEA/APAC, Playout & Networking Solutions, at Imagine Communications.
“As one of the broadcast industry’s IP transformation market leaders, Imagine Communications, under the guidance and creativity of Stephan, looks forward to offering even more services to help guide and educate our APAC and EMEA customers as they move along on their journey to IP, wherever they are in their transition process,” Eckert added.
