Covering the incredible innovations that take place across the media tech arena, one becomes accustomed to always looking forward. Sometimes, however, it’s good to pause, catch a breath and look back. With that in mind, here’s my review of a very busy 2025.
It was rather hard to believe but March brought the fifth anniversary of the UK’s first Covid lockdown. TVBEurope published a two-part retrospective in which figures from across the media and entertainment sector talked about all the ways in which the business has changed in the intervening period—a fascinating insight into the impact of technology.
Being something of an aviation geek, I enjoyed speaking to True North Productions about their work on the Channel 4 series, Top Guns: Inside the RAF, for a feature published in our April issue.
Researching articles means I’m lucky enough to talk to some incredibly interesting people about their work. Although it’s a far from exhaustive list, some stories that have stood out include learning about Stornaway.io’s work using interactive video on Mixmups with Ultra Access to widen access for viewers with additional needs; V2AIR’s Fleetcast automated aerial broadcast platform and the breakthroughs in 4D performance capture made by Clear Angle Studios and their collaboration partners.
In May, I travelled to the pretty Northwestern Swiss city of Basel for an assignment that was some way out of my usual comfort zone. Along with several media colleagues from across the continent, I was invited by NEP Europe to see their operation to support the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest. The production was seriously impressive. NEP deployed a team of pan-European specialists along with two of its largest OB trucks, underpinning everything with its Secure Reliable Transport protocol. The two day trip was both informative and unexpectedly enjoyable, and the British entry provided the perfect headline for my subsequent article: What the hell just happened?
Speaking of headlines, every now and then, those of us who write news are gifted an opportunity that is simply too good to pass up. For me, one such gift arrived in June with news that the Vatican had selected Sony’s HDC-5500 HDR camera system for its historic coverage of the announcement of Pope Leo XIV. Writing for the TVBEurope Daily newsletter, I simply couldn’t help myself. The headline “Pope hopes dope Sony scope can cape” may well be both my best and worst ever.
In summer, I somehow convinced the powers that be to let me have an opinion column in our magazine. There would be no set subject, but I soon realised that being given creative freedom also meant writing about things our highly discerning readers would actually find interesting. Inspiration for my first came unexpectedly one weekend, as I overtook a beautifully restored vintage OB truck on the North Wales Expressway. Some hasty internet research turned up the truck’s owner, who was thankfully only too happy to provide all the information and images I needed. Since then, I’ve covered a range of subjects, including AI and whether we are all worrying unnecessarily, and content security and whether we are all worrying enough.
And at IBC in September, it was gratifying to hear some of my own words quoted back to me in a conversation with Big Blue Marble’s Michael Wagenhofer, who told me he had read my column, asking if broadcast should be treated as critical national infrastructure. We’d spoken via Zoom earlier in the year when Austria’s ORS Group and Insys Video Technologies had announced the unified Big Blue Marble brand but meeting in person is always preferable, and one of the things that makes IBC so special (which is more than I can say about this year’s airline experience!).
Overall, a very productive year. There’s been far too much happening to mention everything here but hopefully this gives an insight into my 2025 with TVBEurope. Bring on 2026.
