Deciphering impact of Brexit on broadcasting

MEDIA consultant Nigel Walley was in Dublin last week and is looking at the city in a new light.

Walley’s companies Decipher and iBurbia Studios have long had an interest in the Irish broadcasting landscape, having carried out work for RTE among others.

But he feels a new opportunity has arisen in the wake of Brexit and believes many international broadcasting groups currently based in London may have to relocate to EU countries.

Among them are Disney and the Discovery channels which use an EU licence to broadcast across Europe from London. Now they are in a regulatory quagmire and the sense is the US companies might prefer Ireland to mainland Europe.

“It may be a massive opportunity for Dublin,” Walley told me. “Everyone is talking about the impact of Brexit on financial services but the TV and broadcasting industry may be in the eye of the storm.”

Unfortunately the drop in sterling makes it all the more expensive for his company to set up shop here, so Walley is trying to build up his business in Dublin to boost his Euro spending power.

He expects to open an iBurbia Studios lab here first, testing the latest in media and gaming technology to work out what impact new innovations will have.

He expects no shortage of clients. “We may end up having a bigger office in Dublin then in London,” he said.