As IBC returns to Amsterdam, the European broadcast industry faces a moment of reckoning. A flurry of summer deals between broadcasters and global streamers poses a central question: are these the foundations of true multiplatform reinvention—or the first steps toward becoming commoditised content suppliers?
The answer, I believe, lies not in choosing one path over another, but in embracing an “all-of-the-above” strategy. Broadcasters must both double down on their core loyal audiences and syndicate smartly to reach younger, streaming-first consumers. The trick is to ensure syndication reinforces — not replaces — brand equity, data control, and monetisation opportunities.
The new patchwork of partnerships
Recent deals show how quickly the market is shifting:
- TF1 and Netflix: TF1’s live channels and hits will sit inside Netflix’s French service from 2026, bolstering the streamer’s local appeal.
- France Télévisions and Amazon Prime Video: A vast public service library of 20,000 titles — including live sports — now streams on Prime.
- ITV and Disney+: A curated “Taste of” content swap in the UK, each side retaining its ad sales and data.
For streamers, these are aggregation plays: reasons to log in daily, local content to cut churn, and quota compliance. For broadcasters, they are reach and revenue lifelines.
But there is a structural risk. By giving up the front door, broadcasters surrender the customer relationship — and with it, the data flywheel that powers future advertising, personalisation, and product innovation.
Beyond syndication: what broadcasters can do now
Deals may be necessary, but they are not sufficient. The real opportunity lies in reinvention. Broadcasters should use the financial and audience oxygen these partnerships bring to fuel innovation in five areas:
- Short-form news and storytelling: Recasting trusted brands into mobile-first formats that capture younger attention spans and retain credibility.
- Moderated UGC inside apps: Brand-safe, locally focused user-generated video to deepen engagement and data capture. Own local verticals with local voices, like restaurant openings / reviews and neighbourhood events.
- Smarter sports coverage: Using new production tools to cost-effectively cover women’s and regional sports that global platforms overlook.
- Metadata-driven ad products: Contextual targeting and dynamic creative optimisation that grow yield and relevance.
- Expanding the ad TAM: Leveraging tools like Veo3 to give small businesses affordable creative, unlocking incremental ad budgets.
These are not theoretical. They are experiments broadcasters around the world are already testing — and they show how syndication and innovation can coexist.
The missed opportunity of scale
Here’s where my perspective comes in. Back in 2018, my co-founder and I launched Unite Broadcast Ventures. Our thesis was simple: broadcasters must collaborate—within markets and across them—to gain the scale required for meaningful data, product, and technology investment.
By pooling resources, broadcasters could:
- accelerate the data flywheel, making targeting and personalisation more powerful,
- build stronger distribution leverage against global platforms,
- and share innovation rapidly, from new ad formats to interactive experiences, creating network effects across regions.
At the time, regulatory hurdles and legacy rivalries made cooperation difficult. Initiatives like Salto failed to find their footing. But the dynamics are shifting. As legacy competition fades and the lines blur between “friends” and “foes”—whether Netflix, YouTube, or TikTok—cooperation may now be both more viable and more necessary.
It’s why I wouldn’t be surprised if MFE’s acquisition of ProSieben proves a turning point. Seven years on, we may finally see the promise of broadcaster collaboration at continental scale.
A call to action at IBC
IBC should not just be about showcasing technology, but about articulating a strategy. Europe’s broadcasters still have assets global aggregators lack—trust, local relevance, news, and sport. But those advantages are perishable.
The path forward is clear:
- Defend the core: build distinctive propositions for loyal viewers.
- Innovate relentlessly: short form, metadata, interactivity, new production models.
- Syndicate smartly: use global platforms to reach younger audiences, but with brand attribution and monetisation in place.
- Collaborate for scale: revisit cooperation models to amplify data and innovation.
Broadcasters are not condemned to be factories feeding the global machine. With an all-of-the-above strategy—and a willingness to work together—they can become true multiplatform powerhouses.
