Introducing Australia’s Finest Digital Media Consultants and Broadcasting Engineers

Peter Smart is an experienced Media Executive with 30 years in the Technology domain implementing and managing production, terrestrial, cable and satellite subscription broadcasting systems. During his career, Peter has held senior roles as CTO and has acquired a broad depth of knowledge in the Broadcast, IT, IPTV and Operational aspects of the Media Industry. He is a Life Member of SMPTE. 

Peter has the proven capability of leading teams of more than 200 and has seen FOXTEL grow from inception to over 1.6m subscribers. He has overseen a revolution in broadcasting from a simple analogue service to digital content delivered by cable and satellite subscription services, over the internet to IP devices, 3G networks to mobile telephones and direct to aircraft with the Virgin Blue service. Peter has also overseen world leading innovation in personalized video, interactive services, navigation tools and other related technology advances. 

Significant milestones in Peter’s career include: 

• Constructing and launching Imparja Television - subscription satellite and terrestrial network. 
  
• Constructing and launching Prime Television - terrestrial television broadcasting network. 
  
• Constructing and launching FOXTEL - cable and satellite subscription television broadcaster. Principal planning and deal negotiating, JSkyB, Japan – satellite subscription television broadcaster. 
  
• Introducing numerous products HD, 3D, interactive, PVR, push VOD, hybrid IPTV and OTT (mobile, Xbox360) services. 
  
• Planning and launching two satellites with Optus, specifically designed for DTH subscription business. 
  
• Relocating numerous broadcast businesses whilst maintaining no break operations, including – FOXTEL, SkyNews, FOXSPORTS. FOXSPORTS NEWS. 
  

Peter’s relevant skills include: 

• Senior business leadership in the industry. 
  
• Stakeholder management and public policy lobbying. 
  
• Analysing and creating complex business and operational models combined with workflows and concepts. 
  
• Team player with strong people management skills. 
  
• Outcome-focused with strong project management, budget and timeline management.  
  
• Identifying, managing and delivering strategic changes and business transformations. 
  
• Technology architecture and strategy planning (particularly strong in spectrum regulatory affairs). 
  
• Designing and operating multi-channel, multi-format television operations. 
  
• Financial management, including business case support strategies and day-to-day operational P&L management. 
  
• Ability to build highly motivated, skilled and disciplined delivery and operational teams. 
  

Scott has 23 years’ experience in the Construction and Property industry and has been involved in large organisations at a senior executive level (including General Manager and Director). He has extensive skills from a full spectrum of acquisitions, joint ventures, development funding and delivery through to project management, engineering construction, PPP Investments, business acquisitions, design, and contract administration. 

Scott is passionate about developing long-term, trusted client and partnering relationships that are characterised by a deep understanding of a client’s overall development requirements, from the brief through the design and built form, in line with the agreed commercial objectives. 

For the past two years, Scott has project managed the FOX SPORTS relocation project including the design, construction and transition of FOX SPORTS into a new 8,000 m2 broadcast facility. 

Scott’s other relevant experience includes: 

Don first started work in Television in Queensland, Australia, as a part time undergraduate Engineering student and then as a graduate Engineer after obtaining a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering. He has been in senior Engineering management roles for over 20 years. Don is now an independent consultant to senior television and broadcast engineers and management. 

Don has more than ten years’ experience in building, launching and relocating what is recognised as the most complex subscription television platform in the world (simulcrypted, multiple distribution networks and multiple set top box populations). He had operational responsibility for taking the platform from 30 channels to over 200 channels and services. He has also managed launching television services on three different satellites, including one with multi-polarity signals. 

Ron Higgins has over 40 years of experience in Television, Radio and media Technology and Operations in Australia, Asia and Great Britain. He has spent 20 years in senior management roles, including Senior Vice President of Broadcast Operations, Engineering and Information Services. 

Ron has been at the leading edge of most of the significant television developments of the last 30 years. He has converted analogue channels to multichannel digital subscription services. In order to support large-scale expansion into multichannel digital television broadcasting, Ron had to take the lead in designing and developing new Broadcast and Business systems. But first, he had to take the lead in building the enabling technologies such as Digital Broadcast Subscriber Management Systems (SMS), Conditional Access (CA) and new digital stream management systems. 

Under his leadership, Ron has implemented production facilities in China and India, as well as television facilities in Singapore, Taiwan, China and India. His broadcast management responsibilities covered 50 countries with 300 million subscribers, in multiple languages, with multiple cultural rules and regulations about what could and could not be done in different parts of the network. He also took responsibility for designing and building a 3-site platform Playout and Disaster Recovery facility so that any two sites could automatically support the whole platform. 

With Ron’s background in developing new technologies, he has spent much time in Standards and Regulatory roles. He willing provides advice on technical aspects of Patents and information for submissions to regulatory authorities such as the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) and Standards Australia. 

Michael Lilley is an accomplished executive with an exemplary track record and a demonstrated ability to deliver mission-critical results. He has solid experience managing all levels of multiple projects including budgeting and administration. Michael can build and retain high performance teams by hiring, developing and motivating skilled professionals to effectively align with and support key business initiatives. 

Michael’s many skills include:

Core accomplishments:

For the first time in Australia FOXTEL undertook 24 X 7 multi-channel coverage of the Olympic & Commonwealth Games; initially 4 channels for Vancouver, 6 for Delhi and culminating in 8 channels for London. All in high definition with the Olympics in surround sound. A world first was originating all content, including commercial/promo & program, from on-site as opposed to traditional downstream / presentation control rooms. All of this was achieved with a fraction of the staff & budget of our ‘free to air’ contemporaries. 

Key responsibilities were budgeting, contract negotiation with key vendors for Communications and Broadcast facilities. Michael was also heavily involved with interviewing, hiring, management and motivation of staff. Michael was key in co-ordinating the Production requirements with the engineering and operational departments as well as the facilities providers. I also oversaw ground breaking interactive coverage of the above games - 'red button' technology - with all the associated results data, competitor profiles etc. 

Risk management was absolutely essential in the above three projects. 

Michael was a key player in the Director Broadcast Operations for FOXTEL Australia 

and responsible for a department of 180 staff. He appointed, managed, motivated and mentored five Direct Reports. Additionally, Michael launched the FOXTEL Television Centre business (FTC) - an initiative to make better utilisation of the existing operational facilities owned by FOXTEL such as studios, edit suites, audio post-production & graphic design. This involved re-organisation & re-directing my group to be more 'customer focused'. Managers were empowered with commercial acumen & the group was able to bring in significant additional revenue from outside third party clients. This was a very successful project. 

In 2005 Michael oversaw the relocation of the FOXTEL Broadcast Operations business from Pyrmont to a new purpose built facility in North Ryde. This was an enormous undertaking and involved the seamless relocation of at least 120 channels and all associated facilities such as editing, studios, on air presentation, graphics etc. 

Michael was integral to the launch of the FOX Footy channel in Melbourne. This was from the ground up including finding a suitable location, building a studio and control room, edit, graphic facilities and the video communication links to Sydney, as well as assisting in the hiring and developing of staff. He was also heavily involved in negotiation for outside broadcast facilities for this channel. 

Michael was the project lead for an interactive platform with provision for 8 channels of content for Sky News Australia and 4 channels for FOX Sports with its associated data and statistics. 

Michael was awarded the News Corporation Global Excellence Award 2004 for recognition of superior performance, talent, hard work, dedication, role model and inspiration to colleagues. 

As Head of Production and Operations Network Ten Australia, Michael was responsible for all productions and operations within the Ten Network and relocated the entire operation from North Ryde to the City. This move also involved staff restructuring and negotiations for outside production facilities to cover Tens ongoing productions which were unable to be facilitated in the new smaller city premises. The move was initiated by the receivership of the Ten Network. 

Robert is a Bachelor of Science graduate who has been in management, project management and technical communication all his working life, which covers the Television, Telecommunication, Military, IT, Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology industries. He looks after documentation and presentation work for Smart Digital Media clients. 

Robert helps our clients establish the right project management office for their environment and the right end-to-end project documentation life cycle for small, medium and large projects. He also writes or helps produce any kind of documentation our clients need. 

With more than 40 years of working experience his expertise includes project management, all types of system, specification, and design documentation, quality assurance, enterprise information architecture, tenders (preparation and responses). He also managed large teams of writers producing project deliverables under tight deadlines. 

Examples of his work include animated training presentations for subscription television installers, establishing Project Management Offices in several industries, enterprise-wide process analysis and design, project documentation on large-scale Military Specification projects, preparing or responding to over 40 tenders ranging in value from $1 million to $4 billion and numerous Department of Health drug registrations. Robert was also Runner-up in the Australian Software Solution of the Year Awards in 1986. 

Robert is ITIL Service Management certified and a certified PRINCE2 Project Manager.

Ewen Wallace (known in the industry as the CAD bloke) has been documenting and detail-designing broadcast systems for 15 years. He got his start in this field with the travelling broadcast Village for Formula One where he rigged and operated the unilateral interview studio for the top-three qualifiers and finishers at each race. 

Having worked as a wireman, Ewen he has a practical understanding of the real implications of those colourful lines on the page. While at Bloomberg, he was responsible for specifying, redesigning and rebuilding (himself) and managing day-today technical operations of Bloomberg's Sydney television studio for a live breakfast show. He has also created all the drawings for building a new television facility housing more than 100 channels and services. 

Ewen’s experience includes documenting the designs for the Australian facilities covering 2012 London Olympic Games. 

A particular gift is being able to quickly turn working concepts into detailed systems. 

To Ewen, broadcast system design and documentation is much more than just lines on a page, random numbers and a series of seemingly unrelated spreadsheets. CAD drawings are the database and a gateway to understanding a broadcast system. For the CAD bloke, CAD is an obsession.