Bavaria:

»World-Class Media and IT Hub«

Bavaria is one of the leading clusters for the media and entertainment industry and the information and communications sector (ICT) in Europe. Bavaria not only excels with an unmatched concentration and clustering of native and international media and ICT enterprises but also through the breadth and diversity – regional and sectoral – of its media and ICT industry landscape. Be it publishing, the broadcast sector, internet and new media, media technology, mobile communications, soft- and hardware, creative industries or trade, Bavaria is in a league of its own.

More than a quarter (28 to be precise) of Germany’s largest 100 media enterprises are based in Bavaria. These companies alone generated revenues of close to Euro 14 billion in 2009 and had a combined workforce of nearly 51,000. The companies headquartered in Bavaria include Europe‘s largest commercial broadcaster ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG, Germany‘s leading book publisher Bertelsmann Random House, the country‘s most important film producer and distributor Constantin Film AG, as well as the top German commercial radio station Antenne Bayern. Key global media groups also value Bavaria‘s credentials as a business location and have established major operational centres here:  Yahoo! and Google in the internet and new media field, Vivendi and Nintendo in games, Bonnier and Elsevier in the publishing sector, Disney and NBC Universal in broadcasting, and media technology majors like Avid, Nvidia and Harris, to name but a few.

Broadcasting Hub Munich

The Greater Munich region is Germany‘s undisputed broadcast industry hotspot. More than 40 national and international broadcasters serve the German-speaking markets from here, a whopping third of all nationwide channels in the country. These include the aforementioned ProSiebenSat.1 group with its main channels Pro7, Sat.1 Kabel1 plus a host of digital offshoots as well as the country‘s leading VoD platform, Maxdome; public broadcaster Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR) with its two TV and seven radio channels, operators like RTL II, Sport1, Tele5 and HSE24, as well as the German channels of Disney, Turner broadcasting and NBC Universal. Moreover, the Munich region is also the base of the country‘s leading content platforms and distributors, be it Kabel Deutschland, the top cable operator, SES Astra and APS with Europe‘s largest playout and satellite uplink / downlink hub or Sky Deutschland, the main German pay-TV platform and operator.

Film and TV Production

»When I was location scouting a few months ago, I was actually shocked about Bavaria‘s beauty!«. Thus producer Jeremy Bolt summed up his quest to find suitable locations and settings for the new 3-D filming of the movie classic »The Three Musceteers«. No surprise then that all non-studio on location shootings of the epic, starring Orlando Bloom and due to hit the movie theaters in fall 2011, took place in Bavaria, at Bamberg, Würzburg, Burghausen, Munich and Herrenchiemsee palace. Superb and surprising locations are but a minor facet of film and TV production in Bavaria. The state‘s excellent film funding system, organized by FilmFernsehFonds Bayern, state-of-the-art studios like Bavaria Film‘s Gruenwald facility south of Munich, Europe‘s largest, a comprehensive network of production and postproduction facilities covering the entire process and value chain, and – above all – a multitude of creative artists and technicians, authors, actors, composers, producers and directors make Bavaria a favorite production hub domestically and internationally.

«Vorsprung durch Technik»

This legendary tagline of a world-famous (Bavarian!) car maker also applies to the media and ICT industries in Bavaria. Technology and innovation from Bavaria has had a deep and sustained impact on the media and ICT sectors. In film technology Munich-based ARRI, founded in 1917 by film pioneers August Arnold and Robert Richter, has been defining standards for decades for film cameras, lighting and digital postproduction, achievements that have won the company no fewer than 16 «Oscars» for technical excellence by the «Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences» over the years. A milestone in digital audio technology was the development of the MP3 and MPEG AAC codecs by the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits (Fraunhofer IIS) from Erlangen in northern Bavaria, a key ingredient of the digital media age. Other notable technology enterprises native to Bavaria are global transmission systems maker Kathrein, measurement specialist Rohde & Schwarz, and studio and projection technology maker Kinoton, to name but a few. This line-up also includes the Institut fur Rundfunktechnik (IRT) in Munich, the central research and technology center for 14 public broadcasters in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

ICT and Media Convergence

Media and ICT have a symbiotic relationship. Modern media are digital media and unthinkable without the technology basics supplied by the ICT sector. Conversely, media and media consumers provide key impetus and market opportunities for ICT. Thus Bavaria‘s leading role in the German media industry is mirrored by an at least equally dominant position in the German and European ICT sector. This is reflected both in the presence (in form of major operational units) in Bavaria of global champions such as Microsoft, Adobe, Intel, Oracle, Cisco and Texas Instruments as well as leading German players such as Siemens, Infineon and Giesecke & Devrient.
Here they find key partners, suppliers and markets, not least the media sector. Digitalisation also breaks down the barriers and divisions between ICT and media. A case in point is digital animation, a fast growing area in Bavaria. The numerous top-class specialist enterprises in this field include
Munich-based Flowline, the software development unit of renowned special effects specialist ScanlineVFX. Flowline’s simulation technology for liquids was deployed in blockbusters like »Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix« and won a  Technical Oscar in 2008.

Bavaria goes Mobile

The convergence of media and ICT is nowhere as pronounced as in the field of mobile communications and entertainment. And Bavaria is at the forefront of it. One of Germany‘s top three network operators, Telefónica O2, is based in Bavaria. The company set up in August 2010 its first German LTE (long term evolution) test network in Germany at its Munich HQ. These 4th generation (4G) mobile networks enable web transmission speeds of up to 100 Mbit/s, five times the speed of the existing HSDPA networks. LTE network coverage by Telefónica and others is due to be rolled out across wider areas during 2011, not least in rural areas of Bavaria.
Network equipment supplier Nokia Siemens Networks is another mobile communications heavyweight in Bavaria, where the Nuremberg Metropolitan Region is excelling as a cluster for mobile services and innovation. Here Alcatel-Lucent, one of the world‘s leading network equipment makers, is operating its mobile communications research and development center; Nash technologies operates one of the world‘s largest private UMTS/HDSPA test networks that enables the trial of new technologies and services without the restrictions imposed by networks in public use. Erlangen-based sunhill technologies has developed Europe‘s most widely used mobile phone parking system. Called sms&park, the system was launched as early as 2001 in Croatia‘s capital Zagreb and is now deployed in over 80 European cities, with a take-up rate of close to 85 per cent by motorists. Fraunhofer IIS has launched a WLAN-based mobile location system in Nuremberg and other cities that enables users with appropriate mobile devices not only to precisely locate their position but also to obtain additional useful location-specific data and information.
Elsewhere, Aloqa, a Munich developer of location-based software and technology has just been acquired by Motorola, whilst MindMatics AG, also based in Munich, has become a leading provide of mobile-based micropayment systems and solutions worldwide.

Education, Training and R&D

All these companies and many more, be they in media, ICT or other high-tech sectors can rely on one crucial ingredient in Bavaria: the know-how, education and training of their personnel. They profit from Bavaria‘s excellent education and training systems and facilities. Eleven universities and 17 Univerisities of Applied Sciences ensure the availability to top quality people throughout Bavaria. ICT-related courses alone at Bavaria‘s universities produce more than 4,000 graduates each year.
The HFF television and film academy in Munich is one of the most renowned and respected of its kind in Europe, whilst MedienCampus Bayern, which groups 73 training institutions, fosters targeted training and education of media professionals in the state.
Businesses also profit from the exchange of ideas, know-how, technologies and support with a total of 23 first-rate research institutions. These include nine establishments of the Fraunhofer Society, three Helmholtz research facilities and eleven Max Planck institutes that are at the forefront of the development of new technologies and services. The excellent R&D environment also has convinced Google of Bavaria’s merits. The Internet giant constantly surprises with new services and applications. These are based on intensive research work, some of which is also carried out in Bavaria, where Google operates its sole German development unit.

Support right from the start

Bavaria’s support for start-up entrepreneurs begins way before first successes can be celebrated. A dense, statewide network of 45 start-up technology centres provides fledgling companies with comprehensive services and support. About half of these centres are focussed on specific industries or technologies and often start-ups benefit from the close proximity to potential major customers and partners. This is the case for instance in Munich-Unterföhring where the »b-neun« technology centre since 2000 nurtures media and communications industry start-ups. More than 70 companies have chosen the »b-neun« as a first or temporary base, profiting from the presence nearby of media majors such as ProSiebenSat.1, ZDF or Bayerischer Rundfunk.

Cluster Initiatives

Three cluster organisations in Bavaria facilitate and organise networking and exchange between small and big enterprises in the IT and media sectors. The »Cluster audiovisuelle Medien« for the audiovisual sector, the »Cluster Druck- und Printmedien« (www.cluster-print.de) for print and publishing and the BICC-NET cluster for the ICT sector. All three are part of a major cluster initiative launched by the Bavarian State Government in 2006 with the key aim to foster the exchange between science and business and create networking and business platforms for Bavaria-based enterprises.

Meeting points for the IT industry

The state of the art trade fair and conference centres in Munich and Nuremberg also provide an excellent platform for Bavarian and international companies to market their products and services and find new partners, customers and markets. Top international trade shows such as Electronica in Munich or it-sa in Nuremberg lure IT industry experts and companies from around the globe each year, whilst »MEDIENTAGE MÜNCHEN«, Europe’s largest media conference that enters its 25th year in 2011, attracts more than 8,000 media professionals. The annual »Munich Gaming« meanwhile provides a valuable gathering for the games industry.

Your central point of call

Bavaria’s multiple advantages as a business and investment location attract companies and entrepreneurs from all over the world. To guide and support investors towards successful and profitable expansion and business projects in the state, Bavaria’s Ministry of Economic Affairs provides free and confidential support and consultancy services through a special task force: Invest in Bavaria. It provides valuable, hands-on advice and guidance in all stages of investment and expansion projects, from pre-project intelligence to final implementation, including site and location selection and contacts with and access to local partners and networks. To find out more visit www.invest-in-bavaria.com
or contact: kontaktIT@invest-in-bavaria.de.

Bayerisches Staatsministerium für Wirtschaft, Infrastruktur, Verkehr und Technologie – Invest in Bavaria

Contact: Dr. Johann Niggl

gotoBavaria
c/o Invest in Bavaria

Cluster audiovisuelle Medien
FilmFernsehFonds Bayern GmbH

Contact: Barbara Schardt

Cluster Druck und Printmedien
x-medial Bayern GmbH

Contact: Jens Meyer, Martin Paukner

BICC-NET / Bavarian Information and Communication Technology Cluster
Technische Universität München, BICC-Clusterbüro I&K Boltzmannstr. 3
85748 Garching
Phone +49 89/2 89-17860
Fax +49 89/2 89-17861
clusterbuero@bicc-net.de

Contact: Robert Stabl